US1691673A - Pressure regulator - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 13, 192s.

L.. H. F. Rol-1E ET A1.

PRE S SURE REGULATOR Filed April 30. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet H73 www Nov. 13, 1928.

L. H. F. ROHE ET AL PRESSURE REGULATOR Filed April 30. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov.. 13, 19,28.

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LoUIs n. F. Roan Ann SAMUEL nenn, or Minenno orrx, Taxes. assrenons or cnn FOURTH T JOHANNES ll. ROBE, OF MRAND() ,C'lYr, TEX/(3S.

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Application filed Apri-1730, 1925. Serial No 105,791.

This invention relatesto pressure regula-k tors and has 'for its primary object the provision of an automatic apparatus whereby natural gas or other fluid flowingfrom a source of supply under varying' pressure may be delivered at a point of use at a uniform pressure. The invention also seeks to provide a simple means whereby 1n its passage to the point of use the gas will be relieved of.

impurities, and a further object ofthe inven- `tion is to provide novel means whereby the flow ofthe gas will be automatically cut-ofil or set up as the pressure varies. All thesey stated objects, and other objects which will incidentally appear hereinafter, are attained in such an apparatus as is illustrated 1n the.

accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be vparticularlyY pointed out in the appended claims.

Inthe drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of one embodiment of our invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlargedlvertical section' of the valve; Q

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section of Fig. 6 is an elevation showing a further l adaptation of the invention.

In carrying out our invention, we employ a tank or reservoir 1 which is open at its upper end and is filled with water or some similar fluid, as indicated at 2, to a level near its Aupper end. Fitting loosely in the upper open end of the tank or reservoir lis a bell 3 open at its lower end and closed at its upper end, the external diameter ofthe bell being somewhat less than the internal diameter of the tank so that the bell may operate freely in the tank and the liquid in the tank will form a Vseal to prevent escape of gas through the space between the tank and the bell. The bell is provided at itsvtop with laterally extending guide arms 4 which may be the ends of a cross bar, as shown in Fig. 1, and these guides loosely engage standards 5 erected at the sides of the tank so Ithat the bell will be held to a rectilinear path in its vertical movements.v

in sockets 6 provided therefor upon the inlet The lower ends of the standards 5A may be iixed in the ground or 'may be seated Vpipe A7 andthe outlet pipe Siespectively.

The inlet pipe 7 extends ,from the source of supply into the tank 1 at the bottomjthereof and is coupled to an upright branch 9 with- 1n the tank. To the upper end of the branch 9 isA secured a U coupling or return bend 10 from which a nozzle 11 depends to a point below the water level. rlhe outlet pipe` 8 leads to the engine or other point of use through the wall of the tank 1 atvthe bottom thereof and the gas is admitted into the outlet pipe 8 througha vertical branch 12 which' extends upwardly in the tank to a point above the water supply and is preferably equipped with a lateral inlet nozzle 13. It will bereadily noted that the gas flowing. through the inlet pipe 7 will rise through the pipe or branch 9 and be delivered Awithin the body of liquid below the level thereof. The gas will, f l

of course, rise to and above the surface of the water and will accumulate in the bell 3, the pressure of the gas tending to lift the bell so that, if the inflow is greater than the out- 4flow 'through the nozzlellS, the bell will rise.l

As the pressure ofthe gas decreases, thebell will, of course, descend by gravity and will therebymaintain a uniform-'pressure upon the outflowing gas. If the weight of the bell in itself is not sufficient to keep the outflow-l ing gas under a uniform predetermined presf sure, any convenientform of weight may be placed upon the top of the secured thereto. v I l The inlet pipe 7 has a vertically extending portion 14 adjacent the tank 1, as shown clearbell o r otherwise ly in Fig. 1, and above the said upright por? tion is equipped with a hand-controlled cuty i oft' valve 15 whereby the iiow of gas may be entirely arrested when desired.

ume. Fitted in the vertical branch 14 below the upperend thereof is an automatic cut-oi or regulating valve, indicated at 16. L This valve is preferably ofA a well-known tapered turning plug type and we provide means whereby the plug will beturned to cut-oft' or permit the inflow of gas automatically by the ascent or descent of the bell-.3. For this pur# pose, a rod 17 is secured at its upper end to the top of the bell and is constructed at its lower end to s lidably engage the adjacent standard 5, as indicated at 18. Atproper points upon this'rod are ab'utments 19 which may be stop collars or rings adjustably held upon therod Obviously, also, this valve may be adjusted so as to keep .T .the maximum ilow to a' predetermined volin any approved manner. Loosely engaged around the rod 17 between the said abutments is an eye 20 provided at the upper end of a link 21 which depends from the eye and hasits lower end pivotedl to a lever 22. As shown most clearly in Fig. l3, the lever consists of two similar members each having a laterally extending portion 23 and an end portion`24, the

end portions being disposed in parallelism and the two members being so arranged that together they constitute a yoke spanning the casingof thel valve 16. The terminals. of the.

end portions24are pivoted on thel trunnions or stemsQo the turning plug 26 which conlever and the yoke respectively,` as clearlyr shown. Assuming `the parts to be in the Vposi- 1 tion shown in Figs. 1 and '2,it the lever 22 be swung downwardly, the springs 2S will be placed under increased tension, asY the lever passes vto and into alinement with the yoke 27.

`When thelever passes below the pointv of alinement with the yoke, the springs at once contract and pull the yoke down and hold the lever and yo re inthe lowered position, the

descent of the yoke opening the valve which will remain open until reverse action of the l yoke takes place. To limit the movements of` the lever andthe yoke so that the-turning plug fof the valve will come to rest in either the -fully opened or the fully closedposition, we provide stop arms 29 and 30 which are carried by the yoke 27 and the lever respectively, the stop arm V30 being mounted upon a cross bar 31 which extends between the end portions 24 of the lever. In the ends ot these `stop arms are -abutments '32 which may convenientlybe set screws, as shown, so that they may b e easily adjusted to insure the desired operation. i

To hold the tapered plug properly seated in the valve casing, we provide a coiled spring 33 which is secured at one end to the larger end of the valve casing and at its opposite end 'to one side of the yoke 27,' as shown most clearly 'in Fig. 3. The tension of this spring Will be exerted longitudinally of the plug against the smaller end thereof so that the binding-or wedging of thel plug in the casing will 4be counteracted althoughV the plug will be` held properlyvfseated to prevent leakage. The desired results can, of course, easily be obtained by employing a spring of the proper tension or strength. Y i i Assuming theV gas to be-entering'the tank at a higher pressure or more rapidly than it is escaping through the nozzle 13 and the outlet pipe 8, the gas will obviously accumulate within the bell 3 and will cause the Sameto rise. The abutment rod 17 will, follow the movement of the bell and, as a result of the 19 will eventually be brought into contact with the eye 20 so as to exert an upward pull lupon the link 21 and rock'the lever 22 up! wardly.y rThe upward movement of the lever will Yeliiect rotation of the valve to cut-off the low of gas and through contact ot the abut v i ment screws or stops 32 with the upper end of the valvecasing will check the ascent of the bell. The infiow of gas 'being thus cut-off, the weight ot the bell will be exerted against the Yvolume of gas therein soas to drive the same the lever 22 will be rocked downwardly and Vupward travel of the bell, the lower abutment i the valve 16 opened, as above des `3ribedv whereupon the gasmay again flow into the Y bell or holder. Vlt will thus be seen that we have provided a very simple apparatus which will operate automaticallyto efficiently control the pressure otgas delivered for use.

The invention is not limited, to the regulation of pressure in inflowing iiuid but may be employed to serve vas an automatic vent for accumulated pressure in al storage system, or

as ay safety. valve. In the oil lields, crude Voil is stored in Vlarge tanks, and there is always" moreor less gas accumulating at the'top of the tank. If the tanks are left open,thereiis a very appreciabler loss of oil through evaporation to prevent which itis common practice to build the tanks with tightly closed tops'and providea safetyvalve therein to relieve exf cessive gas pressure. Our device can be emf ployed for this purpose and will accommodate. any desired pressure Vdepending on the height of the tank and bell, the water level v in thetank, and the weight placed onthe bell,

the arrangement being shown in Figs. 4v and 5. The tank and bell are of the same conn struction as shown in Fig. 1 and before described, but `the pipe 44 which is --in the same relation to the tank as the pipe 14 is-open to the atmosphere, instead of vbeing equipped with a cutoff valve 15. The pipe 8 is connected with the top of the oil storage tank (not shown). The valve 16 is 'fitted'in the pipe 44 near the lower end thereof and is reversed,relative to the-arrangement in Fig. 1, so that itis closed when the bell is down. The actuating rod 17 isr the same as that previouslydescribed but the link 41 is longer ythan the link 21 to accommodate the lower location of the valve. As the pressure builds up in the storage tank,- the gas flows through the pipe :8V into ythe bell 3 and raises the same, eventually bringing the lower abutment 19 into engagement with the linkA 41 to lift the lever 22 and open the valve,lpermitting the excess gas to escape to the open air. Of

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course, the bell then descends and ultimately Y the valve will be again closed. v

The arrangement shown in Fig. 6 is the same as that shown in' Fig. 1 except that a vsecond valve 6l, reversed relative to the valve 16, is fitted in the pipe 14 near the lower end of the same. A third abutment. 62' is secured upon the rod 17 below the lower abutment 19, and a link 63 extends from the lever 64 of the valve to engage the rod 17 below the abutment 62. The valve 61 is normally open and the end of the link 63 is below the normal Y lower limit of the travel of the bell and the abutments. If, for any reason, the inflow or` supply of gas should cease, the decrease in the pressure would be so great that the bell would drop far enough to bring the abutmentV of fire due to the stop cock at the point of use.

being left open while the pressure is oli".

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. In a gas-regulating apparatus, a gas supply pipe, aout-0E valve inthe gas supply pipe, a lever terminating in a yoke spanning the valve and mounted for rocking movement about the axis thereof, means for rocking said lever, a yoke disposed at the opposite side of the valve fromfthe lever and connected with the valve, and a tension spring 'extending between and attached to said yoke and the lever whereby to yieldablyv maintain the lever in its raisedor lowered position. and hold the valve Closed or opened.

2. In a gas-regulating apparatus, a gas supply pipe, a cut-off valve in the gas supply pipe, a lever mounted or rocking movement aboutthe axis of the valve, meansv for rocking said lever, a yoke disposed lat the opposite side of the valve from the lever and secured to the valve, a tension spring extending between andfattached to said yoke and the lever whereby to yieldably maintain the lever in its raised or lowered position and hold the valve l closed or opened, vand stop elements carried by the yoke and the lever to check the movements of the same in either direction.

ln testimony whereof we allix -our signatures.

LOUIS H. F.Y ROHE. [1.. s] SAMUELv ROHE. [n s]

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