US97822A - Improvement in pneumatic engines - Google Patents

Description

aient wir.

` y, Inon- ERT srnAR, or NEWHAVEN, ooNNncTIcUT.

`Letters Patent Noi 97 ,822,- elated December 14, l1869'.

IMPRQVEMENT IN PNEUMATIC:` ENGINES.

The Soheule-referred to in these Letters`Patent and making part of the same.

. Beit known that I, ROBERT SPnAn, of N ew Haven, inthe county of New Haven, and State of -(lonnecticut, l

have invented-certain new and useful Improvements in Mine-Draiuing Engine; and I do hereby declare s, that the following is afull, clear, and exact description l thereof, reference being had to the accompanying draw# ings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon, which 4forni a part of this specification.

Thenat-ure of myinvention consists inthe construe-- for draining mines orjother purposes.

In orderY to enable others skilled in the art to whlch `my invention appertains, to make and use the same,dI will now` proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view ofthe engine, a portion andarrangement ofa hvdraulic engine,` to be used tion of the cylinder beingbroken `away to show the piston; v Figure 2`is a side elevation; and l Figure 3 is a horizontal'seotiou of the same. A represents the cylinder, made rery strong, and

1 fcapable of sustaining'a pressure of several hundred pounds when it is required toraise the water to a great height, or of suicient strength to correspond vith the requiredlelevation of thewater, for whatever purpose itmay be used.

Inthe side of the cylinder, near'or at its bottom, is

aman-hole, B, for the purpose of cleaning the cylinder `of any dirt and sediment settling within the same from the-water, said man-hole being closed any suitable Near the bottom, on one side ofthe cylinder,-i`s the inducting water-valve C, and on the opposite side, at

. the same height, is the @ducting water-valve I), cou'- `nected with the pipe E, to carry or raise the water to l any desired height.

The inductng-valve O is `so constrnctedcas to openinwardand allowfree ingress to the `water, but will l, close to any pressure from the inside, .preventing the water from passing'out through the same.

f lThe egress-valve D isj ust the reverse, opening outward, seas -to allow thewater to be forced through' Sliding collar h, which, acting upon the spiral -spring the same. Y v l Within the cylinder A is placed the piston G, which `isof such sizeas to leave a space between its outer circumference and the` inner surface of the cylinder,k

as shown in iig. 3. l

' The piston Gr is` guided in its motion up and down witlin the cylinder' by means of two ribs or tongues,

1 va a, placed verticallyin the sides of the cylinder, and

projecting into .notches ornsuitable grooves made for that' purpose in the edge of the piston. i

" '.[he piston-rod H, secured to thecentre of the pisl toiifGpasseS upward through a stning-box in the l upper head of thecylinder. l

In the upper h ead of the cylinder are'two pipes, I and J, the pipe I being the inducting force-pipe, and

J, the exhanst-pipe, both being provided with valves vI) and zZ, respectively,.and said valves or stop-cocks are connected, by. means of a rod, c, so as to be operated simultaneously. They are, boweverfso arranged that Y 'when one is open, the other is closed, and vice versa.

lo the valve-connecting rod c is attached a verticaL rod, f, which passes up through a horizontal plate, K,"v

secured to the pipes I and J, and through which the .piston-rodH also passes. .On the opposite side of the piston-rod H'from that on which the rod f moves, is placed a standard, L, between the cylinder and the cross-head K.

This standard i's provided with a groove, i, vertical in the centre, and curved. at both ends, and around eacliend of said standard is placed a spiral spring, g. l

g g, is placed a loose collar, 7i, which moves'up and down on the standard, and is guided by a pin or feather on its inside, fitting in the groove'i. y

From the outside of the collar I projects a pin, as'seeu in fign. y

Upon the piston-rod H, at a suitable point, is secured a collar, k,.having` au arm, n, extending outward toward the standard L, and another arm, o, extending in the opposite direction, that is, toward the rod j,

upon whichy are placed two adjustable collars, p p, at 'suitable distance apart.

The engine is operated by being placed at the lowest point from which it isy desired to elevate the water, and in such a manner that the water can flow around and as high as, or higher than the top of the cylinder,

which is lled by the dow of water through the valve C. The piston G is so constructed that it floats in the l water inthe cylinder, and israised asthe water flows intov it. The pistou is guided clear of -thecylinder by means -of the ribs or tongues, as above'mentioned.

l The use of the piston is to alternately open and closethestopocks b d, in the. force and-exhaust-pipes I J,

' and is accomplished in the following manner:

Near the close-of .the upward stroke of the piston Gr, the arm n, ou its rod ]:l, meets the pin m, on th'e above,tends`to retard the ascent of the piston and depress itin thewater in the cylinder.

The collar h, however, following the curvature at the vupper end of thegroovc fi, gradually turns away v from the arm n, and becomes, at the proper point,

disconnected from the same.

, Airthe same time the short arm o strikes the upper collar 1, upon` the rod f,. which issnddeuly elevated by the depressed piston rising in the water.

This action closes the exhaust-valve al and opens the force stop-cock b, allowing the compressed air to pass through the force-pipe I, and act directly with its Around the standard L, between the spiral springs full force upon the water, expelling the same through the cducting-ra'lve D and pipe E. A

At the inst-ant when the pin m, upon the slide h, becomes disengaged from the arm n, as above described, the slide falls down along the standard L, following the groove t', until itrests upon the spring g, ready to be acted upon at the descent of the piston.

The pistonG contains an amount of gravity together with its own weight, corresponding with its liftingpower or buoyancy7 by which, in its descent, it is made to reverse the action of the stop-cocks by a sudden motion, in precisely the sinne-manner as described for its ascent, thus opening the exhaust and closing the force-pipe.

It is, of course, understood that the machine should be so constructed, that when the piston descends, it will, under no circumstances, come below the inductiug and educting water-pipes.

The reason of the devices for checking the piston in its ascent and descent is, that the stop-cocks oper- -ated by its action require to be opened suddenly, as it is obvious that if otherwise worked, as soon as the cocks were opened to a limited extent, there would be force admitted suficient to check the risc of the piston, but not enough to expel the water, so that the action of the engine would become neutralized, which difficulty is entirely ohriated by the sudden action of the reserved or accumulated force of the piston, which can he so constructed, without in any manner injuring the action of the engine, that any desired amount of force required for this purpose can always he obtained.

From what has been said, it isobvious that to complete the combination, an air-condensing engine is required, which is connected with the hydraulic engine by the force-pipe or conduit I, which is of sulcient size to :ict as a reservoir, or to be supplied with force from a reservoir, into which air is forced by the condensing-engine.

The air exhausted at the upward stroke of the engine may be utilized for Ventilating the mine in which the hydraulic engine is placed.

As a conduit for transmitting force from the condensing-engine to the hydraulic engine, I intend to employ the means patented by me, October 5, 1,869, (mode of transmitting power,) by which means the condensing-engine may be placed at any desired distance from the mine.

I do not confine myself to the exact construction or arrangement of the mechanism composing the engine herein described, as the principle embraced is susceptible of other embodiments or modifications, and yet employ substantially the invention which I desire secured hy Letters Patent.

1. A pneumatic engine into which condensed air is admitted, and from which it escapes through alternating cocks,- automatically operated,substantially as described.

2. A plurality of cocks, connected by. a crank or cam-arrangement, and operated by the ascent and descent of the lient-stem, substantially as described.

3. An engine constructed and arranged as described, so that it will work; .automatically for ejectin g the water when a given quantity thereof` Shail he received into the engine, and by which means the power is admitted to expel the water, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing asv my own, I `affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT SPEAR.

Witnesses:

T. H. ALEXANDER, M. A. Busen.

Images