US2029463A - Packing for homogenizers - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 4, 1936. CLARK 2,029,463

PACKING 'FOR HOMOGENIZERS Filed Sept. 28, 1935 Patented Feb. 41, 1936.

f. STS

PWENT PAGKING FOR HOMOGENIZERS Application September 28, 1933, Serial No. 691,339

1 Claim.

This invention relates to homogenizers used extensively by dairies for treating milk and cream.

It has been common practice to clean and sterilize such apparatus periodically, usually at the beginning or end of the days run. In fact, it frequently is necessary to clean and sterilize the apparatus more often if the bacteria count of the product is running abnormally high. Even with such painstaking care it has been impossible for dairymen to maintain the bacteria count of the product as low as desired. This is due in part, at least, to the fact that the operative parts of the apparatus have been accessible only with great difficulty. Consequently, it has been diificult to clean and thoroughly sterilize the apparatus. These difiiculties have been overcome to a large extent by the construction described in my copending application Serial No. 504,322, filed December 23, 1930, wherein the intake manifold and intake valves are easily removable.

The product to be treated is supplied to the compression cylinder of the homogenizer where it is subjected to high pressure by a plunger reciprocated in the cylinder by an external force. The stuffing box surrounding the plunger cannot be removed from the apparatus without substantially completely dismantling the apparatus. Consequently, it has been impossible to clean and sterilize the stufilng box and the packing therein. This stuffing box, therefore, has been a constant source of bacteria formation which could not be overcome because the stuffing box could not be removed and sterilized.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this dimculty by the provision of a stufing box so constructed that it may be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing: in which,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a portion of an apparatus embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the apparatus.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and or being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

An homogenizer embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and comprises a casing It having a cylinder block H provided with a bore or cylinder l2. A plunger 55 extends into the bore l2 and is reciprocable therein. The outer end of the plunger [5 is suitably connected to a cross head It reciprocated through a connecting rod ll connected to a revolving crank (not shown) The casing I0 is provided with a chamber l8 adjacent the outer end or the bore 52 and is accessible through an opening normally closed by a detachable cover l9.

The outer end of the bore i2 is provided with a threaded enlargement 22 adapted to receive the outer threaded sleeve 23 of a stufling box which surrounds the plunger H5. The inner end of the sleeve is provided with a circular groove 24 adapted to receive a packing ring 25 for effecting a rluid-tight join between the sleeve 23 and the cylinder block ii. A plurality of flexible or compressible packing rings 33 are interposed between the sleeve 23 and the plunger i5. A solid packing ring 32 is interposed between the packing rings 3t and the cylinder block Ii. A solid pecking rings 32 is interposed between the packrings and the inner end of an inner adjustable sleeve 33 having threaded engagement with the outer end of the outer sleeve 23.

If it is desired to clean and sterilize the stufiing box the outer sleeve 23 is removed from the threaded enlargement 22 of the bore l2 and is moved to the left, as viewed in Figure 1, along the plunger iii. The adjustable inner sleeve 33 is then adjusted to force the packing rings 30 out through the inner end of the outer sleeve 23 as shown in Figure 2. The stufiing box may then be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized. Preferably, the packing rings 36 are split, as shown at a in Figure 2, so that they may be readily removed from the plunger 9 and thoroughly sterilized.

I claim:

In an apparatus having a stationary cylinder block provided with a bore having a threaded enlarged outer end and a reciprocable plunger extending into said bore, the combination therewith of a stufilng box surrounding said plunger comprising an outer sleeve threaded in said enlarged outer end of the cylinder and having an inner packing receiving chamber extending from its inner end to a point adjacent the outer end, the outer end portion of said sleeve being internally threaded, an adjustable inner sleeve of a length substantially equal to the length of the outer sleeve, said inner sleeve being externally threaded for engagement with the internally threaded portion of the outer sleeve and normally positioned substantially outside the packing receiving chamber, and packing rings normally positioned in said chamber and projectable along the plunger when the outer sleeve is removed from the cylinder block and the inner sleeve is threaded therethrough.

JOHN A. CLARK.

Images