US389633A - bennett - Google Patents

Description

No Model.) 3 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. W. BENNETT.

' GAS SAVER. No. 339,333. Patented Sept; 18, 1333..

4 z r y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORSON W. BENNETT, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

GAS-SAVE-R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,633, dated September 18, 1888.

Application filed January 14, 1888. Serial No. 260,680.

To aZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ORSON W. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gas- Savers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in gas-saving devices in which a flexible diaphragm is employed for automatically controlling a valve for regulating the transmission of a uniform flow of gas to the burners, and thereby prevent waste resulting from undue pressure at the burners and the escape of unconsumed carbon, the blackening of the walls and paintings with smoke, and the contamination 0f the air in the apartment by noxious gases; and the objects of my improvement are to provide for increasing the durability and imperviousness of the diaphragm, toincrease the sensitiveness of the diaphragm, to simplify and perfect the construction of the device, and to save gas. In such devices the diaphragm when made of leather soon becomes hard and stiff, and is liable to crack and the pores to open from the drying action of the air on one side and the bad effects of gas in the pressure-chamber. The leather, moreover, is not impervious to gas under pressure, and, as it loses its flexibility under the hardening action of the 'air and gas, it is not so uniformly and readily sensitive to the pressure of the gas, and'the device thereby fails to be reliable. My improvement is directed to provision whereby the diaphragm is protected from the drying and hardening action of the airand gas and rendered impervious and sensitive. 'For this purpose the diaphragm is made to hold a lubricant in a floating condition, so as to practically form a covering therefor, spread out upon'the top of the dia phragm to a sufficient depth to last a considerable time. This top covering-seal greatly increases the durability of the diaphragm and maintains its sensitivcness to a degree which is highly important in its function of effecting a uniform flow of gas through the device under varying degrees of pressure.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of my improved gassaver, and Figs. 2 and 3 show modifications in the construction of the case.-

its entire surface.

(No model.)

The case a, which forms the diaphragnrcontaining chamber a and contains the inlet-tube d, may be of any suitable form and size; but I prefer to spin the body in the form of a cup having an outlet-pipe, 0, extending from its side for connection with the burner-supply ing pipe, and having an open bottom neck by which it is soldered toa central inlet-tube, d, which extends and opens within the chamber of the ease. The top of this case is closed by the diaphragm e; and I have provided a very simple means for securing the edges of the diaphragm to the top edges of this case, which means consists Qf'liWWniDg-bmIdS7 f' fOflIf1- equal width, betWeeii whlblr thwedges of the diaphragm are first seeured,and the inner ring,

f of least width, isthen soldered around the outside of the top edge of the case.

To the outerring of greatest width I hinge the cover 9, by which access maybe had to the diaphragm, said co ver having provision for locking it. 7

The lower end of the inlet-tube has the valve-seat formed in it and also has an exterior screw-thread to receive a valveehamber forming coupling h, which may be connected to the meter outlet-pipe by a screw-coupling, i as shown. The valve is carried by a stem, j which is fitted to workin guides 76 in the inlet-tube, extends through and is secured centrally to the diaphragm, and is weighted to obtain a balancing adjustment of the valve with the pressure of the gas. This connection of the valve-stem with the diaphragm is made by clamp-plates riveted together with the diaphragm-between them.

The diaphragm is specially constructed to hold a covering lubricant in fluid conditiop for keepirigit soft and rendering it impervious to the gas, and for this purpose the diaphragm is made sufficiently full to retain the form of abasininallthevaryingmovements. Thecupor basin will retain o l, wjfilfl bygapillar and rsraritmrilt ta rw k fatdbf the leather sathr'ated and rising an fallingw'ith itthat 1s, moving with the diaphragm in a floating body and serving to seal By this top oil-covering I am enabled to use a thicker and stronger KOO leather, by making it soft and more sensitive,

'with less danger of rupture of the leather or leak of gas through its pores from the press are it is obliged to endure. I prefer to use leather of the character stated; but any suitable flexible material may be used having proper sensitiveness and which will retain a covering floating lubricant. The oil in the diaphragm-basin can be renewed when necessary to preserve the diaphragm in the desired condition, which is a matter of great importance in such a device.

It is important to protect the valve from the direct impingement of the gas,and it is equally important to protect the diaphragm from the direct impingement of the gas, and for this purpose I provide a shield,m,in the valve-inlet coupling, so that the inflow will be directed up over the walls of the valve-chamber, and Iprel'erably close the upper end of the inlettube and provide thelatter with side openings, 02, so that the inflow will be arrested at the top of the tube and flow out said openings, filling the pressu rc-chamber, and thus prevent a strong current of gas impinging upwardly against the under side of the diaphragm and affecting the position of the valve under an ever-varying volume of gas from the inflow.

To permittheini'low and the ontflowofthe air into and from the ease-chamber above the diaphragm, I provide a short vertical tube, r, in the top of the case-cover, and to prevent injury to the diaphragm by a puncturing instruinent introduced through this opening I provide a cover or guard, s, for the tube, placed either 011 the outside or on the inner side of the case-cover, having openings at, so that the air can enter and pass out of the top chamber to relieve the diaphragm from compressing the air within the top chamber. In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the inlet-tube serves as asupport for the case, the valvcseat, ascrew-coupling for the valve-chamber, forming section It, and a guide for the valve-stem, and makes a convenient and cheap construction.

Tar and drippiugs which may collect in the pressure-chainher can be removed by plug Securing the diaphragm to the top edge of the ease gives the advantage of first securing the diaphragm between riugbands, which can be conveniently soldered to the top edge of the case and thus make aconvenicnt and cheap construction, and the joint of the diaphragm, being outside of the case,can be easil y soldered at the edges of its fastcningrings around the outside of the case.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 I use a diving outlet chamber, to the top plate of which the diaphragm-seenring ring-bands are soldered, while Fig. 3 shows separate inlet and outlet chambers and an inlet-tube having a piston-valve operating inverted-V-shaped openings in the sides of the tube.

Now, as the function of the valve is to regulate the flow of the volume of gas into the pressure-chamber, it will readily be seen that the diaphragm that controls the valve should be durable, sensitive, and impervious to gas, and this is what my improvement effects in a greater degree of perfection than hitherto attained.

Referring to the diaphragm and to the floating lubricant which it carries, I prefer to use neats-foot oil as such lubricant, because it contains oil, glue, and water, and in a short time after being placed upon the diaphragm will produce a thin glutinous film on the surface of the lubricant, which will serve to prevent the evaporation of the latter and cause it to last a long time. Moreover, this glutinous film will form a coating for the surface of the diaphragm and aid in keeping it saturated with the oil and sealing its pores, because, although the valve-connected part of the diaphragm is always below the line where it joins the ring-bands, the lubricant will, by capillary attraction, be caused to spread up and over the diaphragm and cover it by such film to itsjoining with the ring-bands.

The state of the art in devices of the kind herein described shows that it has been proposed to lubricate the leather diaphragm by surrounding its lower edge with a body of oil contained in an annular space within the wall of the casing, so that the diaphragm, absorbing the oil around its lower edge, may, by capillary attraction, keep the whole body of the leather lubricated. In such provision the lubrication of the diaphragm must depend solely upon the attraction of the oil in minute hair-like ramifications over the surface of the leather. This capacity of the pores of the leather to attract the oil all over it is not sufiicient to prevent the drying action of the air all over the top of the diaphragm, nor the drying and hardening action of the gas on its under side, because the capillary method of lubrication is too limited and too slow. Moreover, by this method the ab sorption ofthc oil is constant, as the drying action upon the leather is constant, and the supply of the oil must therefore be frequently renewed, which is both troublesome and inconvenient to the user of the device. This method, moreover, is not sufficientto saturate the leather so as to render its pores impervious to gas under pressure.

By my improvement, which transfers the lubricant from the lower edge to the top surface of the diaphragm, the oil is caused to act by gravity in a body to fill the pores of the leather,and the oil is caused to saturate the dia phragm by its weight and by a soaking action. The oil,standing in a body upon the top surface of the diaphragm, covers and seals it against the drying action of the air, and so completely fills its pores that the absorption is not constant, and the oil supply will last longer. Making the diaphragm as the receptacle for the oil dispenses with provision for forming the oil receptacle within the casing and simplifies the construction and lessens the cost of the device. Making the diaphragm the holder for the oil renders its lubrication uniform at every point and renders the softness of the dia- ICC phragm uniform at every point,while the dia-- phragm forms an oi1reservoir, the overflow from which seals the joint of the diaphragm of the pressure-chamber. I claim- 1. In a gas-regulator, the combination, with a suitable chamber-forming case, of a flexible diaphragm having a top floating, lubricating, and sealing body, Z, an inlet-tube, and a valve controlled by said diaphragm, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a gas'regulator, of the diaphragm and its separate fastening ringbands f f, with the chamber-forming case part to which said ring-bands are soldered, and the valve 1), controlled by said diaphragm, as shown and described.

. 3. In agas-regulator, the combination, with the cup-forming case a and its inlet-tube d,

of the diaphragm, its ring-bands f f thelat- 2o 'ter being soldered around the top edge of said cup, and the valve controlled by said diaphragm, as shown and described.

4. The combination of the cup-forming case a, the diaphragm, and the valve controlled 25 thereby with the inlet-tube d, soldered to the neck of said case, screw-threaded, and having a valve-seat at its lower end, closed at its upper end, and having side openings, at, and the coupling 71, havingthe shield m, all con- 0

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