US1536961A - Atttdmattc sewage-screen bake - Google Patents

Description

May 5, 1925. 1,536,961

H. L. M MLLLAN AUTOMATIC SEWAGE SCREEN RAKE Filed April 28, 1923 In venior:

Patented May 5, 19 25.

' umTto HENRY L. Mauritian, or CHICAGO, IL'ii'INois.

fAUToivfmT'Io SEWAGE-SCREEN RAKE.

'Applicetion fild-Ajiril 28, 1923. Serial No.-635249.

To all whom it may 001mm.-

Be it known that I; HENRY L. MoMrnLAri,

a citizen of the United ste tesrresiding at Chicago, in the countyof 'cook and State of Illinois, have "invented certain new and useful Improvements in Autonmtic Sewage Screen Rakes, of which the'tollowingis a specilic'zition;

This invention relzite'sto dppztrstus'for automatically removing the floating and submerged materiel and articles from a flowing stream of 'sewa 'e', and while capable oiuse' :tor other purposes is particularly adepted for freeingstorm sewers, andthe like, from solidineterfialhnd articles which would have a tendency to eventuallyclog the water course intoiwhich thdsewer'dischanges, or to interfere fwith subsequent trezitniei'it of the sewage. i i

29 One of the primary?purposes of'this invention is to .providejan apparatus of the character indicated which willbe entirely automatic in its operation, and which will normally. operate continuously; but should it accidentally becomecloggjed; no damage to the apparatus will ensue, but the'epparatus will remain idle Until the obstruction has either cleared itselflor been reinjiwed,

whereupon the operation of the'apperatus will be uutoinatioally res'uine'd.

Another purposeis to provide an apparatus which will causethe'ruke to travel in a desirable pzith, preferably generally elliptical in shape, so that the rake wi jenter the sewage stream some distance" above or up stream from the screen,"whereupon it will be dragged alongthe floor ofthesewer to,- ward the screen, thence upwardly arlong' the screen, at the uppe1"endof which the 1mterial removed will be dinnped upon & pldtform, whereupon the 'rukew'il l he moved shove the line of the sewage level-in an up; stream direction. to 'the 'p'oi'nt where it is again lowered. into the streznn. I A further object is .to provide an apparatus in which ell'of thereke moving'zind'opcrating parts will be dis josed"entirely uhwe the sewage level in the'sewer,' so that they will not be affected byWtrizrtions in the'level or by floating or subn' erged objects in the smv:1g;e,- or damaged b w ntinued' "contest with the sewz-ig e'or solid riittj matter carried alonghythe sewegm a'ndwill furthernore be zz'cce'ss'ibl'eztt all ilililS for inspection and repairs,'1t necessary", withoutdewatr "ing the chamber" in wl'n'ch the a aratus 013- eretesf i Still another object is to firo'v'ideflin'ap v peretus which "will be siniple in constriiction, reliablein operation, and strong, sub

stantial and"durahl e iiruse; v

Other 0131' ects of the intention should i be readily appreciated as the seine heooines hefl ter understood by reference to the -following description, when considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawing'3 Referring to the drawings:-- 7 Figfll is a. longitudinal seetioner view through a sewer, showingniy invention in side elevation; I Fig. 2 is afragmentary sectionaljview through the sewer screen, showirigthe' "rake in cooperative relation thereto; and} Fig.3 is a deta'il 'of one ofthe Valve "01% crating mechanisms. Referring to thedraWin-gs inore in detail, reference character 5 intimatesgenerally a sewer provided wiumn enlarged chzi'inher 6 having throughout a portion or it s'length' a floor or ledge 7 above the sewage level, upon which the solid matter removed "tram; the sewage is deposited, end fro'inwhicllit iney be removed throu' shown). 1 c

A screen, indicated generallyby reference character 8; comprising at series oifphra l lel bars 9 extending in an"inolined direetion from the edge'ofthe ledge 7' to the floor of the. sewer, extends across the sewer to intercept floating or 'subinergejd 'nmteriai or articles carried along byfthe sewage-strewn, which flows'in the directionindicetedonthe drawings by the arrows. A heavy rake 11, provided"witlrlpm'iillcl teeth 12, adzipt'cd to enter het'ween'the sere'en hers 931s illustrated in is adepted to he inzmipulated to remove 'tl eobjects inter- 'cepte'd by the screen and deposit thenrupon the ledge? The tines 'of thonkehre' tfon" nected 'by one or niorerods 13,111 d are'inziin t-(unod in spaced relation by'fiibes, rollerm blocks 14 carried bythe rod hetweenedjecent tines, and these ineinhers, duri n gdhe travel of the rake upwardly along" the screen, ride upon'"tl1eupper'edges of the screen hers, absorbing the wear -betweenthe III rake and screen, and limiting the projection of the rake teeth through the screen between the bars. It should be understood that the term rake is employed in a generic sense, and is not restricted to a large tined implement, as illustrated, but comprehcnds instruments having extremely line teeth or even bristles, such as might be employed in brushes revolving or otherwise for cleaning line screens or other surfaces.

Various means, mechanically, pneumatically, or hydraulically actuated, may be em ployed to manipulate the rake, but I have shown herein, for illustrative purposes, a simple, compact, and ellicient hydraulic apparatus, which will now be described as illustrative of the principles of my invention.

To the upper end of the rake 11 there is attached one end of a. cable 15, and to the other end of the rake at the base of the teeth 12 there is attached a second cable 16, it being understood, of course, that these cables may be divided and each attached to the rake at a plurality of points, to preclude tipping of the rake, and that the cables may be made of hemp, or in the form of chains, but preferably are heavy wire cables, as shown.

The apparatus for i'nanipulating these cables is preferably mounted above the upper floor 17 of the chamber 6, and while the apparatus is shown somewhat diagrammatically, and partially in section, it should be manifest that it is substantially mounted and supported upon suitable s upportmg structures. The motive apparatus 1 by which the cables are ma m pulateu comprises in the present instance a pair of cylinders 18 and 19, in which the pistons 21 and 22 are arranged to reciprocate, res ectively. It will be observed that the cylinder 19 is substantially one-half the diameter and twice the length of the cylinder 18, although obviously other desired relative proportions might be employed. T he outer end of the piston rod 23, connectec with the piston 22, is attached to the cable 1", which is trained over a pulley 24 and a pulley disposed substantially above the rip-stream end of the desired path of travel of the rake. The other piston rod 26, connected with the piston 21, carries at its outer end a pulley 27, over which the cable 15 is trained, the end of this cable being anchored to a fixed anchor block 28. From the pulley 2", the cable 15 passes over a pulley 29, thence downwardly through the floor 17 and over a second pulley 31, disposed above and a limited distance downstream from the downstream end of the desired path of travel of the rake. It should be understood that the pulley 27 carried by the piston rod 26 is used only to permit a short cylinder 18 to be used instead Of one smaller in diameter and substantially twice as long, and that the same expedient may be utilized in the case of cylinder 19 and piston rod 23 to ai ford the use of a shorter and larger cylind than is herewith shown. Furthermore, pulleys 27 and 28 may be used in duplicate, or otherwise, to afford shorter piston move ment for the same amount of rake travel, or pulley 27 may be omitted and cable attached directly to the piston rod 26.

The pistons 21 and 22 are hydraulimilly actuated to draw in and pay out their re spcctive cables by water from a supply pipe 32, connected with any suitable source of water supply under pressure. valve for the cylinder 19 is shown as being of the usual four-way type, although a slide valve or other preferred type of reversing valve might be used, the water supply being furnished thereto through a branch pipe 84f, and the exhaust being delivered therefrom through a branch to the main exhaust line 36. Vhen the valve is in the position shown in Fig. 1, water from the branch 34: will be delivered through the valve and through the pipe 37 to tlie left hand end of the cylinder, while simultaneously the exhaust from the cylinder will be discharged through the pipe 38, the valve It contml a:

33 and the branch into the exhaust line.

hen the valve is moved to reverse position. as will be later explained, pipe 38 becomes the supply pipe to the cylinder, and pipe 3? the exhaust pipe therefrom.

Cylinder 18 is provided with av similar control valve 39, adapted to receive water from the supply pipe 32 through the branch 41. From the valve the water delivered when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, through the pipe 42 to the cylind r. the exhaust therefrom being discharged through the pipe 4:3 to the valve 39, and thence through the exhaust branch l -l. into the exhaust line 36. When valve 39 is reversed, pipe becomes the supply pipe for the cylinder and pipe .12 conducts the exhaust from the cylinder to the valve.

For the purpose of operating the control valve 39, which controls the direction o't movement of the piston 21, the piston rod 2;; is provided with an upwardly extending); actuating finger 15, adapted upon movement toward the right, viewing Fig. .1, to eneja and swing the arm 46, which is connected by a link 17 with an arm 48, lxcd on the pro- ]ecting axis of the valve 39. Upon re. movement of the linger this linger directly engage the army 18 and swing lhi, valve 39 into the position shown in Fig. In order that the linger -15 may i-zllv pa.

arm 18 in its movement. toward the right, this arm is equipped at its lower end with a pivoted extention 4-9 (Fig. 3), adapted. as will be apparent from this figure. to permit movement of the finger 45 to the right wire- Ill) out actuati 11;; the arm, but adapted-to be disposed in thepath of movement ofthrs lin ger to the deft-to swing the arn tS in a clockwise di rection upon movement of the finger to gages a pivoted arm 53, which, through a link connection 54 with the-arm 59., swings this arm in the *opposite direction to reverse the valve 33. Obviously, other valv iarrangements and other means .for" operating the reversing valves than: the specific 5 for'm illustrated are. comprehend-ed scopeof my invent-ion.-'

Assuming the-parts-to bein the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, it will be ob served that valve/39 is positioned to deliver water undenpressure-to the cvlinder 18 through the pipe 42, thereby forcing the pistonLQl .to theliniit of its travelntoward the left. As thefinger '5 1 approached the limit of its travel toward the'left, the arm 52 was actuated thereby'to reversethe valve 33, so that, as shown in Fig.1, waterunder pressure is just beginning-tobedelivered throughthe pipe.;37 to the left-hand end of the cylinder 19.; The?" cable 5 being entirely "paid out, and the cable 16 beingentirely drawn in, the rake 1-1 will be suspended from these cables above the water level in the sewer in substantially the full line'position sho'wnin Fig. ,1. Asj'the piston 22 now n'mvestoward theright, thecable 16 will be paid out, thus lowering-the ralteinto within the the sewage stream at a pointconsiderably.

lip-stream from the screen ,8." "The cable .16 will cont nue to be paidout as'the piston 22 moves toward the 'righhand-when the piston approaches the limit of its movement,- finger lfiwill engage the arm &6, swingn 1gthe samev in a conntenclockwise direction ttoreverse the valve 39. Water will thereupon .be delivered to the left-hand end of cylinder" 18 through the pipe 43. and'exhausted fI'O'llllJllQ cylinder through, the pipe ;42. if Movement of the piston 21 toward {the right will tl-iereupon draw in thecableflf). and since the cable 16 isslack, the rake will-be drawn first along the-floor of the sewer to the base of the screen, and; thenupwardly}along the screen to the upper .end thereof. The rake will be carried above and downstream with respect to the upper'end of the screen before the piston 21 reaches-the'limit of -its movement toward the right, and since p'ullev 31 is mounted considerably to the left "of the screen, the rake, when it'olears the npper end .ofthe'screen, will travel for a limited distance toth-e left along the ledge't', so .as to :carry 'the material brought up bythe ralze well ontolt-he "ledge and away from the screen; As the piston. 21 "approaches" the :limit of its travchtheifinger 51'will engage I thearm 53 and swing the same to .thcright,

of this reverse action, the piston will begin to travel toward the left, thereby exerting through the cable16 a pull uponthe rake '11 toward the pulley 25, which action will 'lift therake above the ledge into the position shown in dotted-lines in Fig. 1, thereby fre'ein -the rake from the material dc iosited on, the ledge. When the piston 22 is movcda shortdistance toward the left, the finger -15 will engage the pivoted extension il-S) of the arm 48 to thereby swing this arm toward the left and reverse the valve 89, which reverse L actioncauses the piston 21 to begin to travel toward th left, paying out the cable 15, whilefinger 4-5 slips past the end of extension 49 and continues its travel toward the left. The cable 16 is at the sametim-e being A drawn in, and the rake therefore, suspended by two cables, will be carried from the dotreached their extreme left position, the valve 38 will have been reversed by the'finger 51. and thecycle of movement of th rake just described will be repeat-ed. The orbit or path of movement of the-rake head is indicated bypthe dotted orbitwhilethe path .of theupper end of the rake is indicated by the orbit 56. These orbits are ofcourse illustrative merely. sincethey will vary in accordance with differences in the length of theeables, therelativ speed at which thev are drawn in and paid out, and also with differences in the relative weights of the head and the upper end ofthc rake.

It willbe apparent from thqlforegoing; that therake IlS caused to travel in a generally elliptical orbit, which enables the rake to gather materialan d objectsupon the floor of the sewer, andalsothat intercepted bv the screen, and deposit the same upon the ledge 7, clearof the upper end of the screen. Furthermore, the timing: of the cable n'iovemcnts is such that :the rake is dumped or freed from the material and is returned up-stremn but entirely clear of the sewage to the desired point where itis again lowered into the stream. The apparatus for manipulating; the rake is disposed entirely clear of the sewage stream, where it is accessible at all "times for inspection and repairs. andeis not subectto in ury or damageby heavy articles or materialcarried by theisewage, or by submersion, and the chaniber'in which the 1 thereby reversing the valve 33. As theresult rake operates does not require dewatering to enable the inspection or repair of any part of the apparatus. Furthu'more, should the rake become clogged by excessively large objects, such as floating logs or the like, or should the tines oi the rake become ammed in the sewer with material from the sewage, no injury to the mechanism can result, since the parts will sin'iply remain stationary until the rake, as the result of continued pull thereon, frees itself, or the obstruction has been otherwise removed, or the rake has been lifted from the screen by manually reversing the valve thereby causing the cable 16 to be drawn in, whereupon the operation of the apparatus will be auton'iatically resumed. The apparatus is entirely autoi'natic in operation, and will operate for an extended period of time without supervision or attention.

The details of construction may obviously b untied within wide limits without departing from the essence ot the invention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim: 7

1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sewer, a screen therein, a rake, a. pair of cables attached to the ends of said rake respectively, and means for drawing in and paying out said cables whereby said rake is caused to move forwardly along the floor of said sewer towards the screen, upwardly along the screen, forwardly beyond the upper end of said screen, then backwardly above the water level in the sewer to a point remote from the screen and then downwardly to the floor of said sewer, the movement of the rake being in a generally elliptical path the major axis of which is substantially horizontal.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination or a sewer, a screen therein, a. rake, and means for supporting and moving said rake in a substantially horizontal elliptical orbit whereby the rake is caused totravel toward the screen along the bottom of the sewer, thence upwardly along the screen, then forwardly beyond the upper end of the screen and then rearwardly to a point remote from the screen at which point it is lowered to the floor of the sewer.

In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sewer, a screen therein, a rake, a cable attached to the front end of the rake. a second cable attached to the rear end of the rake, said ralte being entirely guided in its movements by said ables, and means for actuating the cables so as to cause the rake to move along the floor of the sewer to the lower end of the screen, thence upwardly along the screen, then forwardly beyond the upper end. of the screen and then rcarwardly and downwardly to the starting point, the path of travel of said rake being in a substantially horizontal elliptical orbit.

l. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sewer, a screen therein, a rake, a pair of cables attached to the ends of said rake respectively, pulleys itorwardly and rcarwardly of the path of travel of the rake over which said cables are respectively trained, and means for drawing in and paying out said cables over the pulleys to cause the rake to travel along the floor of the sewer to the screen, thence upwardl along the screen, thence forwardly beyond the screen where the material colected by the rake is dumped, thence rearwardly above the water level in the sewer and then dtnvmvardly to the floor of the sewer.

5. In an apparatus of the character d.c scribed, the combination of a sewer, a screen therein, a rake, and means above the sewage level including a pair of cables attached respectively to the front and rear ends of the rake and wholly supporting the rake whereby said rake is moved upwardly parallel with and in proximity to said screen, then rearwardly above said sewage level, and then downwardly to the sewer floor, and then forwardly along said floor to the base of said screen.

6. In an apparatus o1 the character described, the combination of a rake, a. plurality of cables attached to said rake at the front and rear ends thereof respectively, guiding pulleys for said cables mounted above and at each end of the path of travel of said rake, and means for automatically drawing in and paying out said cables over said pulleys in predetermined timed relation to thereby cause said rake to travel in a generally elliptical orbit the major axis of which extends substantially horizontally.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sewer rake, a plurality of cables attached thereto near the opposite ends thereof and entirely supporting the rake, pulleys over which said cables are trained, and hydraulic means for automatically manipulating: said cables to cause said rake to travel bodily in a generally horizontal orbit.

S. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination ot a sewer take, a pair of cables from which'said rake is suspended, a pair of hydraulically actuated pistons to which said cables are respectively connected, and automatic controlling means for causing said pistons to reciprocate in predetermined timed relation to move said rake in a generally elliptical path.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sewer ralte, a pair of cables by which said rake is suspended, a pair of hydraulically operated pistons to which said cables are respectively llfi lit)

connected, a control valve for each piston,

pended, a pair of'hydraulically operated pistons to which the cables are respectively connected, control valves for the respective pistons, and means movable with each piston for reversing at a predeterlnin'ed point in its travel the control valve for the other piston.

11. In an apparatus of the character del scribed, the combination of a pair of hydraulically operated pistons, a control valve for. each piston, means actuated by each piston for operating the control valve for the other piston, a sewer rake, and connections between said rake and said pistons whereby 20 said rake is manipulated.

HENRY L. McMILLA-N.

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