US1449947A - Power-reverse gear for steam engines - Google Patents

Description

Mam 2? 1923.

-Filed May 10, 1918 4 sheets-sheen 1 am ucmtoz Mai". 27, 1923. K 1,449,947

' W. F. KIESEL, JR"

POWER REVERSE GEAR FOR STEAM ENGINES Filed May 10, 1918 4 sheets-sheen 23 Mar. 27, 1923.

FiledMy 10 1918 4 sheets-sheet awn M21 5,-

Mar; 27, 1 923. r

' w. F, KlESEL. JR

POWER REVERSE (SEAR FOR STEAM ENGINES Filed May 10, 1918 4 sheets-sheet er .&

Patented Mar. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES 1,449,947 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR., OF ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA."

POWERr-REVERSE GEAR FOR STEAM ENGINES.

Application filed May 10,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM F; KIEsEL, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and residing at Altoona, Blair County, State of Pennsylvania, have; invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Reverse Gears for Steam Engines, of which the foland to provide means whereby the piston is maintained at any desired point of its travel regardless of leakage of fluid. Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from the description taken in view of the drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofan embodiment of the invention as applied to a steam locomotive, parts of the lo comotive being shown in dotted lines to illustrate the location of the apparatus;

Fig.2 is a .longitudinal seetional'elevation through the cylinder and piston forming the motor for actuating the steam engine valve gear; I

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the valve 88 device for controlling the movement of the piston;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3; I v Fig. 5 is a plan view-of the valve device;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View through the on the line 6-6 of Fig. 7.; Figl 7 is a sectional plan view taken substantially on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the air valve taken substantially on the line 88 ofFig.4. I It is to be understood, although the steam engine valve gearis not illustrated, it is adapted to be adjusted'by connections to the arms '10 secured. on the rock shaft 11, there being one of these arms on each side of the locomotive. The shaft 11 is adapted to be rocked by means of an arm 13 at one end of the same having its free end pivotally liquid controlling valve taken substantially 1918. Serial No. 233,701.

attached to a piston rod 14, which in turn is pivotally connected as at 15 to a piston 16. As shown this piston has a head 17 carrying the packing cups 18 and 19 slidably fitted in a section 20 of a cylinder. The cylinder comprises a section 20 closed at one end by means of a head 21 and the projecting sect-ion 22 of smaller diameter than the section 20, the small section having the radial flange 23 at one end thereof secured to flange 24 on the large section by bolts 25, the opposite end of section 22 being closed by head 26 through which the piston rod 14 passes. The piston head 17 has the projecting sleeve 27 secured to the same, as

bymeans of bolts 28 and the. end of said' sleeve opposite the head 17 carries a packing cup 29 slidably fitted in the small section 22 of the cylinder.

1 The flange 23 is formed with a threaded op'ening28 for-a pipe28' (Fig. 1) connected to the compressed air system of the locomotive. A stop valve30 is provided in the pipe 28 but is normally open so that a compressed air issupplied to the c linder and acts on the right hand end of'tlie piston-head, as viewed in Fig.2, of the piston headv being subjected tothis pressure being the annular area between the sleeve '27 and. the outer periphery of the piston head. In this manner means is provided for constantly tending to move the piston toward the left as viewed in Fig.2.

In order to control the movement of the piston 17, the head 21 of the cylinder is formed with a threaded opening 31 for a liquid pipe 32, this pipe extending to a valve device A. A liquid reservoir 33 is provided and a pipe 34:, extending from a lower part of the reservoir to the valve device A. The

.air pipe 35 extends from the compressed'air system. of the locomotive to the valve device and an air pipe 36 extends from the valve A to the top of the reservoir. 33. The valve device A is constructed so that in one position the reservoir 33 is placed in communication with the compressed air system of the locomotive thereby subjecting the liquid in the portion the reservoir to the same pressure as the air system. Under this condition if the liquid pipe 34 is placed in communication with liquid pipe 32 the liquid will pass to the section 20 of the cylinder acting over the entire head of the piston and thereby overcoming the air pressure acting on the other right of the piston to move the piston toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2. This motion may, take place untilv the exhaust of fluid from section 20 is prevented by closing the valve A. Then the piston will be held at the desired point, as the air pressure on the one side acts to push the piston toward the left, butmotion inthis latter direction is prevented because the liquid is incompressible and is held trapped in the section 20 by the valve A.

The at present tion of the piston in the manner outlined above will now be described. As shown this device includes two valves, one for controlling the movement of the liquid to and from the cylinder, and the other controllingv the admission and exhaust of air under ressure to the reservoir 33. Both of these va ves are arranged in the valve .body 37, which is also formed with the bolt holes 38 for the bolts 39, whereby the valve device is supported in the cab of the locomotive. Figs. 3, 6 and? it will be seen that the liquid pipes 32 and 34 have communication with a liquid chamber 40 formed in the body ofthe valve device. Between this chamber 40 and the liquid pipe 34 is a passage 41 which is normally closed by a vertically movable poppet valve 42. This valve is guided in its movements to and from its seat 43 by means of the radial webs 44 having bearings in the passage 41. The extent of the opening movement of the valve 42..is limited by the stops 45. The valve is adapted to be raised from its seat by means of a rotatively mounted stub shaft 46, which has an arm 47 engaging the lower end of the stem 48 of the valve. It will be seen when the shaft 46 is rotated in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, the arm 47 will act on the .stem 48. to raise-and thereby open the valve 42. The chamber 40 has an opening in its front wall closed by means. of a plug 49 and this plug is formed with a .bore 5O for the stub shaft 46 and with a counterbore 51 for the hub 52 of a handle 53. The stub shaft 46 is formed with a recess 54 and a.

spring 55 is seated in the same and tends to ,force the flange 56 on the shaft against a seat 57 on the plug 49, forming a ground joint and thus preventing leakage of fluid from the chamber 40 outward along the outer surface of the stub shaft. The outer end of the a stub shaft is made square to fit a correspond ingly shaped recess within the hub of the Referring to handle 53, so that movement of the handle oscillates the stub shaft. The handle is'secured on the stubshaft and the flange 56 drawn against its seat 57 by means of a nut 58 screwed on the end of said stub shaft.

It will be observed that the arrangement of the. poppet valve for controlling the 1iquid is such thatwhen the liquid in the res- .ervoir 33 issubjected to air pressure, the poppet valve will be vforced to its seat and ;Hence "i the poppet valve 42 is closed and preferred embodiment of v the valve-device A for controlling the mo-f there is air pressure in the reservoir33, the piston l6' will be held against movement by the liquid. .On the other hand, if it deuid under pressure to the section 20 of the cylinder; If it is desired to 'move piston 16 tow 'd the left, as viewed in Fig.2, then the air ressure 33 must be removed from the reservoir permitting the air pressure in the cylinder to push the piston toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, thereby exhausting liquid from the section 20. As soonas the piston reaches the desired point of adjustment. then its motion may be stopped by admitting air under pressure to reservoir 33, thus causingthe valve 42 to be closed.

The a'i'rvalve for controlling 'thejs'npply of air under pressure to and from reservoir 33 is illustrated inFigs. 3 and-8. As shown thebody 37 of thevalve device is formed with a chamber 59 which has communica tion with the air supply pipe 35. This chamber through a passage 60 also hascommunication with the pipe 36 for conducting the air to the reservoir 33. -The chamber 59 is formed with a conical seat 61 at one end thereof and the bore 62 connects the chamber with the outside atmosphere. Aplunger 63 is slidingly fitted in the chamber 59-and fhas a stem 64 extending through the bore 62 and projecting slightly from the body of the valve device. The plunger63 is formed-with I aconical portion 65 which is ground against the seat 61 to give an airtight closure; It]

will be observed that the plunger when in the position illustrated in Fig.8 does notclose the opening of passage 60 into chamher 59. Thus air under pressure may pass from the compressed. air system of the l o'comotive through 'pipe 35 into chamber 59 through passage 60 and pipe 36 to the res-' ervoir 33. As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the

handle 53 has a lug 66 projecting rearwardly therefrom arranged so that when the handle 53 is swung to the left from the position shown in Fig. 3, the said lug will strike the end of the stem 64 thereby moving the air plunger 63 toward the left as viewed in Fig.

8, until the said plunger has moved to the.

the position which permits movement of the piston toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 2.

It will be seen therefore that when the piston has been actuated to any desiredpoint of its travel to thereby adjust the steam engine valve gear, it may be held at such point by liquid trapped between the piston and the poppet valve 42, the valve being forced toits seat by the fluid pressure in the reservoir. However if there should be any leakage of the liquid, of course the piston would then creep toward the left asviewed in Fig. 2. It is one of the important features of the present invention to provide means for..maintaining' the piston at any desired point regardless of leakage of fluid. For this purpose means is provided adapted to be operated by undesired movement of the piston to actuate the valve device in a direction to cause the piston to be returned to said point. As shown, the piston rod 14 has an arm 68 and this arm is connected to a lever 69 by a link 70 so that movement of the piston rod rocks the lever 69. The upper end of this lever has a rod 71 pivotally se cured thereto, this red extending to the valve device A and being slidably supported near its free end by a bracket 72. The portion of the rod 71 at the valve device A is formed with ratchet teeth 73. As shown inF'ig. 3, the handle 53 is formed with a projecting pin 74 at the bottom thereof and with a lateral arm 75. The arm is formed with a slot 76 and a pawl 77 is supported on. the arm by a pin 78 seated in the'slot 76. One end of the pawl is adapted to cooperate with the ratch'ct teeth 73 and the other end is formed with an opening 79 for the pin 74. A spring 80 is interposed between the arm and the pawl on the side of the pivot 78 opposite from' the pin 74, this spring acting to keep the pin 78 at the bottom of the slot 76 and the pawl in contact with the ratchet teeth 73.

If for any reason such as leakage of fluid, the piston 16 after having been set at a desired point, moves toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2. this motion will be trans-- mitted to the rod 70 and one of the ratchet teeth 73 acting against the pawl 77 will push the pawl toward the left thereby through the connection with pin 74 turning the handle 53 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3. This rocking of the handle will take place against the resistance of the pressure on the poppet valve and spring 80 and will be in a direction to open the liquid valve 42, whereupon liquid under pressure will pass by the said valve and move the piston toward the right as viewed. in Fig. 2. This motion toward the right through the connections will also move rod '71 toward the right thereby permitting the pressure on the poppetvalve, augmented by the spring 80 to act to return handle 53 to its vertical or normal position. It will be observed that in this manner the piston is returned to the point where it was set and thus maintained at said point regardless of the leakage of ii ui n addition to actuating the valve device, the end of the rod 71 may also perform the function of an indicator. The motion of to the motion of the steam valve gear reversing mechanism, and hence the'position of this end corresponds to the position of the said mechanism. Hence the operator merely by noting the location of the end of the rod 71 relative to some fixed point will know the position of the steam valve gear mechanism.

The normal position of the handle 53 is illustrated in Fig. 3 andthe handleis held in this position by the pressure on the'poppet valve and by the spring SO 'acting on the one side thereof and the stem 64 of the plunger valve 63 acting on the other. will be noted that the air pressure acts on the end of the plunger valve 63 to keep it in its retracted position with the stem 64 thereof in the position illustrated in Figs. 3 and 8. Ifit is desired to move the piston 16 of the servo-motor toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2, the handle 53 is moved in a counter clockwise direction (Fig. 3) to project the plunger valve so that it closes the air passage 59 and moves far enough to the left (Fig. 8) so that the pressure in the reservoir is relieved by allowing air to escape along the channels 67 in the stem of the plunger and also lifts pawl 77 out of contact with the ratchet teeth ofrod 71. This permits the constantly acting force on the righ hand sideof the piston to move it toward the left (Fig. 2) forcingliquid by the poppet valve back into the reservoir.

tion which opens the poppet valve permitting liquid under pressure to flow to the cylinder thereby overcoming the air pressure acting on the opposite side thereof and moving the piston toward the right. This motion will continue until the handle is allowed to return to normal position. The operation of the automatic device for compensating for leakage of the liquid whereby the piston is maintained at any desired point has been described above.

' Although a specific-embodiment of the invention has been described it is to be understood'that the invention is not limited to the specific structure illustarted, but includes 'c'hangesand modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A power reverse gear for steam locomotives including in combination, a cylinder, a piston therein connected to adjust the valve gear of the engine, the cylinder on one side of the piston'constantly connected with the compressed air system of the locomotive and on the other side'with a supply of liquid, means for controlling the supply of said liquid to the cylinder, means for normally maintaining said valve means in position to prevent exhaust of liquid from said cylinder whereby the piston may be held at any desired point of its travel, and

means operatedby undesired movement of said piston in one direction from said desired point to actuate said valve means ina direction to cause the piston to be returned to said point whereby the piston is maintained at' the desired ,point regardless of leakage of liquid. i

2. A power reverse gear for steam locomotives including in combination, acylinder, a piston therein connected to adjust the valve gear of the engine, the cylinder on one side of the piston being-constantly connected with the compressed air system of the locomotive and on the other side with a supply of liquid, valve means for controlling the supply of said liquid to the cylinder, means for normally maintaining said valve means in position to prevent exhaust of liquid from said cylinder whereby the piston maybe held at any desired point or I its travel, and'means operated by the movement of said piston in the direction toward the liquid end of said cylinder to actuate said valve means to admit liquid under pressure to return the piston to said point.

3. A power reverse gear for steam en-" the piston is maintained at the desired point regardless of leakage of the fluid.

4. 'A power reverse, gear for steam engines including in combination a cylinder having a piston slidingly mounted therein,

means constantly acting to move the piston in one direction, a valve constructed and arranged to admit liquid under pressure to the cylinder to move the piston in a direction opposite to the first mentioned direction, or to permit liquid to be exhausted from said cylinder to allow the piston to move under the influence of said first mentioned means, or to prevent exhaust offiuid to thereby hold the piston from movement at any point of its travel, and meansoperated by undesired movement of said piston in one direction from said point to actuate said valve in a direction to cause the PIStOIt to be returned 'to saidpoint, where-- by, the piston is held at any point regardless of leakage of fluid.

5. The combination with 'a-power reverse gear having a cylinder, a piston slidable therein, means constantly acting to move the piston in one direction, liquid means for moving said piston in the opposite direction,

and a valve for controlling the action of the liquid whereby the piston may be moved to any point of its travel and held there; of means for returning the piston to said. point in case it moves due to leakage of liquid including a one way motion transmitting con nection between the piston and valve constructed and arranged to actuate the valve in proportion tosuch movement in the direction to cause the piston to be returned to said point.

' 6. The combination with a power reverse gear having acylinder, a piston slidable therein, means constantly acting on one side of the piston to move the same in one direction, a valve constructed and arranged to move to accomplish three results, one to admit liquid under pressure to the cylinder to move the piston in' opposition .to said first mentioned means, a second to allow the liquid to be exhausted from the cylinder bymovement of the piston under the influence of said first mentioned means and a third in which the liquid is trapped in the'cylinder and the piston therebyv held against movement and means for yieldingly maintaining the valve in position for said third result whereby the piston is held at any point of its travel; of means to return due to leakage of the liquid including a connection between the piston and valve constructed and arranged to actuate the valve in proportion to such movement, in the direction to cause the piston to be returned to said point.

7. A power reverse gear for steam engines including in combination, a fluid operatedservo-motor, a valve device for controllingthe operation of said motor normally in position to hold the motor inoperative, and means for compensating for creep of the motor due to fiuid leakage including a rack associated with the valve actuated by movement of the motor, a handle for actuating the valve having an arm, a pawl pivoted on said arm by a slot and pin connection having one end engaging the rack and the other end connected to the handle, and a spring interposed between the arm and pawl acting to hold the pawl in engagement with the rack and the han dle in position corresponding to the said normal position of the valve.

8. A power reverse gear including in combination, a servo-motor, means constantly acting to actuate the motor in one direction, a liquid reservoir, a conduit connecting said reservoir and motor, a supply of compressed air, a conduit connecting said supply and reservoir, a valve device intsaid conduits including a poppet ValWB for controlling the flow of liquid and a normally open valve for controlling the flow of compressed air to the reservoir, said latter valve also constructed to relieve the pressure in the reservoir, and a single means for actuating said valves.

9. A valve device for controlling the operation of a power reverse gear including in combination, a valve body formed with a liquid passage and an air passage, a normally seated poppet valve for controlling the flow of liquid, a normally retracted plunger adapted to be projected to obstruct the air passage and on further movement to put the assage on one side thereof in communication with the atmosphere,-and a handle for selectively operating said plunger and poppet valve.

10. A valve device for controlling theoperation of a power reverse gear, including in combination, a valve body having two non-communicating chambers, said body having openings through its wall in com munication with said chambers, a valve in each chamber controlling the flow of fluid through said openings, a rotatable shaft extending through the wall of the body having means within the body operable on one of said valves, and a handle secured to said shaft and having means operable on the other valve.

11. A valve device for controlling the operation of a motor for power reverse gears including in combination, a valve body, two valves therein, one being a poppet valve, said body having a passage leading to a reservoir and another passage leading to the motor, said passages being controlled by one of said valves, the body also havunder pressure, a passage leading to said reservoir and an air exhaust passage, saidthree passages being controlled by the second valve, and a single means to actuate said valves.

12. A valve device for controlling the operation of a motor for power reverse gears including in combination, a valve body, two valves therein, one being a poppet valve, said body having a passage leading to a reservoir and another passage leading. to the motor, said passages being controlled by one of said valves, the body also having a passage leading to a supply of air under pressure, a passage leading to said reservoir and an air exhaust passage, said three passages being controlled by the second valve, and means to actuate said valves including a rockable member having a cam disposed within the body operable on one of said valves, and the other valve having a part projecting outside said body and disposed to be operated by said member.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR.

Images