US2120506A - Damper regulator - Google Patents

Description

June 14, 1938. J. R. OROURKE DAMPER REGULATOR Filed April 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 23 O Zhwentor A J .s' E. OZmu/ce (Ittorngs,

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 W W MI Snnentor wh attorneys zzmm- M June 14, 1938. J. R. OROURKE DAMPER REGULATOR Filed April 13, 1957 June 14, 1938. J K 2,120,506

DAMPER REGULATOR Filed April 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 '1 F -36 F .5 l 5 30 39 i l (Q? Zmventor 7 23 7 1722272195 25. 050w Patented June 14, 1938 UNITE STATES ATENT OFFIQE DAMPER REGULATOR Application April 13, 1937, Serial No. 136,662

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in damper regulators, and more particularly refers to a damper regulator for controlling automatically the flow of free flowing granular ma- 5 terials in a spout. The invention is particularly applicable to the control of grain passing through spouts from an elevator to a conveyor.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved damper regulator for spouts and the like in which the advantages of choke feed are improved and whereby the quantity of grain or other material that can be loaded from a spout onto a belt conveyor within a given time is materially increased.

15 A further object of the invention resides in providing an improved draft regulator which substantially eliminates dust at the point where the grain or other material is loaded onto the conveyor.

' A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved draft regulator which will eliminate wear in the spout and require the grain to travel slowly and in contact with substantially all surfaces of the spout.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to 30 like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a vertical fragmentary section taken through parts of the grain elevator showing the spout thereof with the improved damper and its regulator applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 22 in Figure 1 and with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view of a portion of the spout with parts broken away and parts shown in section and with the improved regulator shown in side view.

Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken through the regulator cylinder.

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on the 45 line 55 in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 66 in Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line '!'l in Figure 6. 50 Figure 8 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 88 in Figure 3, and

Figure 9 is a longitudinal section on a somewhat reduced scale over that shown in Figure 4 of the regulator cylinder showing the supple- 55 mentary by-pass.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, and to Figure I particularly, the improved device is shown in connection with a system of grain handling equipment in a grain elevator. Such elevator consists generally of the hopper or bin It at the bottom of which there is the valve H. Below the valve 5 l is the spout l2, the upper end of which is enlarged to form a hopper l3. The spout l2 may be of any size, shape or construction of closed spout for conducting grain or --10 other material. At the lower end of the spout I2 is a loading hopper i l for loading the grain or other material onto a belt or other conveyor l5.

In the spout l2 at a point just above the loading hopper M is a sliding gate it having a handi piece I! for hand operation. This gate is shown more particularly in Figures 2, 6 and '7.

The gate can be maintained in any desired position from fully closed to wide open by the keepers l8. In the spout l2 just above this gate I6 is a damper l9 suspended in the top of the spout from a shaft 26 more particularly shown in Figures 2, 3 and 8. The damper is affixed to the shaft in any appropriate manner whereby the turning of the shaft will cause the damper to assume any desired angular position in the spout between an entirely closed position and a wide open position.

The purpose of the invention is to automatically control the position of the damper 19 in 30 the spout l2 and thereby regulate the flow of grain or other material between the bin I1! and the belt conveyor i 5. The purpose of the damper I9 is to cause the grain or other material in the spout ii to be held under a choke feed, that is, to be held back so that there will always be a full flow of grain or other material in the spout l2 until the bin It) is empty. When operated under choke feed. the grain or other material in the spout l2 entirely fills the spout, moves uniformly down the spout, and feeds uniformly and slowly through the loading hopper l4 onto the belt or other conveyor [5, thereby increasing the quantity of grain or other material that can be loaded from a spout onto a belt conveyor in any given interval of time.

The choke feed also eliminates dust at a point where the grain or other material is loaded onto the conveyor. The choke feed also eliminates Wear in the spout l2 because the grain or other material under the choke feed travels slowly and in contact with all surfaces of the spout; whereas when flowing freely without choke feed the grain or other material wears the spout away rapidly.

In order to improve the choke feed and to covered by a disc valve 40.

maintain at all times a properly restricted port area at the damper to take care of all sorts of materials and of the pressure and volume in which they are fed down the hopper I2, I provide a damper regulator. This regulator includes a cylinder 2|, shown more particularly in Figures 4, 5 and 9, such cylinder being closed at its lower end for instance by the end cap or head 22 having a bearing 23 through which a pin 24 passes for the purpose of swivelly supporting the cylinder 2| upon a bracket 25. The bracket is affixed, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, to a wall 26 of the grain elevator or to other appropriate support. The cylinder 2| is also closed at its upper end by an end cap or cylinder head 21 having a stuifing box 28 therein through which reciprocates the piston rod 29. Within the cylinder 2|, the rod 29 connects with a plunger or piston 30 mounted to reciprocate within the cylinder.

The piston rod 29 is connected at the upper 'endthrough a pin and link 3! to a lever arm 32 which is keyed to the damper shaft 2!). This construction is best seen in Figures 2 and 3. Keyed to the same damper shaft 2|] is a second lever arm 33 on which there is adjustably positioned a counter-weight 34 whereby the weight may be set in any position along the arm 33 with reference to the shaft 20 whereby to change the leverage of the counter-weighting action.

A by-pass pipe 35 connects the two ends of the cylinder 2| as best seen in Figure 4. In the by-pass there is an adjustable cock 35. A second or supplemental by-pass pipe 3! connects the top of the cylinder 2| with a port 33 in the side of the cylinder located an appreciable distance above the lower end of such cylinder. The bypass 31 and port 38 are shown more particularly in Figure 9. 7

As shown more particularly in Figure 4, the piston 30 has a number of holes 'or passages 39 therein opening through the upper and lower faces of the piston. These holes 39 are normally The disc valve 49 is slidable up and down .on the piston rod 29 toward and from a closed position against the ports or holes 39.

The disc valve 40 is normally and yieldably urged to a closed position against the upper face of the plunger 30 by a coil spring 3|, the load of which may be adjusted by a set nut 42 threaded upon a threaded portion of the piston rod 29. The cylinder is filled with fluid. A reservoir or oil cup 43 contains a reserve supply of fluid .and connects with the upper portion of the cylinder 2| by a pipe 44 by which the reservoir 43 may be supported from the cylinder. It will be understood that fluid in the cylinder 2| is gradually lost due to operation, the losses occurring around the piston rod while in operation. The cup 43 is provided with a ball check valve 45 acting to automatically open to replace fluid in the cylinder 2| whenever the condition of fluid therein falls below the value of the load of the spring of the ball check valve 45.

In operation, when there is no grain or other material flowing in the spout I2, the counterweight 34 on the lever 33 will operate by gravity to move the damper l9 to a closed position, as shown in Figure 3. The piston 39 is at this time at the bottom of the cylinder 2|. When grain or other material is put into the spout l2, the weight of the grain acting against the damper l9 tends to force the damper upwardly, raising counter-weight 34 and also raising piston 30 in the cylinder 2|.

As the piston 30 moves up it diminishes the space in the cylinder 2| above such piston 30, which space is the upper chamber of the cylinder. Accordingly, the fluid is driven out of this upper chamber through the by-pass 35 past the cock 5 36 and into the lower chamber of the cylinder 2| below the piston 30, the upper movement of which tends to create a partial vacuum in the lower chamber to assist the propelling action in the upper chamber, both forces contributing to the circulation of the fluid through the by-pass 35 to the lower chamber of the cylinder 2|.

It will be understood that the cook 36 is adjustable. The rate at which fluid may pass through the by-pass 35 and permit the piston to be raised and the damper to be opened is therefore controllable. Now when the piston 30 is in the lower part of the cylinder 2| the port 38 of the supplemental by-pass 31 communicates with the upper chamber of the cylinder. Therefore this supplemental by-pass does not function until the piston 30 has moved the required distance upwardly to pass such port 38 and to unmasknthe port 38 into communication with the lower chamber of the cylinder 2|. Thereupon fluid s begins to flow through the supplementary bypass 31 from the upper chamber downwardly into the lower chamber. In this way the exchange of fluid from the upper to the lower chamber is accelerated and the damper l9 may open Wider atn an accelerated speed. The cock 36 will be adjusted experimentally so that the spout l2 will.be entirely filled with grain before the damper 19 is entirely open. The weight of the grain in the spout l2 will continue to hold the damper |9e35 open until the grain in the spout is entirely exhausted. The maximum rate of flow may be controlled by the proper setting of the slide gate Hi.

When the grain in the spout I2 is exhaustedoaio it is desirable that the damper I9 close quickly in order to be in the closed position when the next draft of grain or other material is turned into the spout l2. The counter-weight 34 tends to close the damper l9 whenever pressure of the grain issg5 relieved, and in so doing causes piston to move downwards in the cylinder 2 To facilitatespeed in the closing of the damper I9, the ports 39 are provided in the piston 30. On the downward movement of the piston 30 in the cylinder 2| the cm pressure of the fluid in the lower chamber .exerted through the ports 39 upon the under face of the disc valve will exceed the load of the spring 4| and this pressure will require the opening of the disc valve which is of less diameter than the cylinder 2| whereby such fluid escaping upwardly through the ports 39 may flow about the edges of the disc valve 40 and .freely into the upper chamber of the cylinder 2|.

Therefore the descent of the piston 30 mam-r 0 take place rapidly without substantial interference from the fluid pressure; whereas the upper movement of the piston will require that the fluid pressure be received upon the top surface of the disc valve 4|! thus adding the fluidac5 pressure to the expansive action of the spring 4| in tending to close, and maintain in a closed position, the disc valve 4!! against the ports 39. While the piston 30 is descending in the cylinder 2| the fluid also passes from the lower chamber 'm upwardly through the by-pass 35. For a portion of the descending movement of the piston 30 fluid will also be forced from the lower chamber to the upper chamber through by-pass 31. When, however, the piston 30 reaches a position opt5 7 to, and desirable in, a grain elevator, especially in connection with the weighing of grain in hopper scales. In Figure l the bin [0 may be a scale hopper in which grain is weighed in carload lots and discharged through spout [2 at frequent intervals. It is also desirable in any closed spout carrying free flowing granular materials where materials are discharged at the open end of the spout for loading onto belt conveyors or for discharging to other devices.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of con struction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:--

1. In combination with a closed grain spout, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, adjustable means tending to close said damper and to hold the damper closed until the spout is sub stantially full of grain, and a regulator coupled to said damper for slowing and restricting the opening movement thereof.

2. In combination with a closed grain spout, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, an adjustable regulator coupled to the damper and regulatable to permit opening of the damper only when the spout is substantially full of grain, said regulator comprising a cylinder, a piston movably mounted in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into opposed chambers, and a by-pass connecting said chambers.

3. In combination with a closed spout for granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper until the closed spout is transversely full of grain, a regulator coupled to the damper and comprising a cylinder, a piston movably mounted in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into opposed chambers, a by-pass connecting said chambers, and means in the by-pass for regulating the flow volume therethrough.

4. In combination with a closed spout containing granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper when the spout is not substantially full of grain, a regulator coupled to the damper and comprising a cylinder, a piston movably mounted in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into opposed chambers, a by-pass connecting said chambers, and a supplemental by-pass of shorter length than the first mentioned by-pass controlled by the position of said piston to place the second by-pass in communication with both opposed chambers of the cylinder.

5. In combination with a closed spout containing granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, means for adjusting the closing action of said last named means to maintain the damper in closed position except when the spout is substantially full of grain, a regulator coupled to the damper and comprising a cylinder, a piston movably mounted in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into opposedchambers, a by-pass connecting said chambers, asupplemental by-pass connecting with the upper portion of the cylinder and with a point spaced appreciably above the lower end of the cylinder whereby such supplemental by-pass will only establish communication between the opposed chambers of the cylinder after the piston has traveled an initial distance upwardly in said cylinder.

6. In combination with a closed spout containing granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, adjusting means for the damper closing means whereby to cause closing of the damper except when the spout is substantially full of grain, a draft regulator comprising a cylinder, a piston therein having ports therethrough, and a one way opening valve for said ports.

'7. In combination with a closed spout containing granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, adjustable means associated with said damper closing means adapted to be adjusted to retain the damper closed until grain collects in a substantially solid mass filling the cross-section of the spout, a draft regulator comprising a cylinder, 2, piston therein coupled to move with said damper, said piston having ports completely therethrough, a disc over the upper portion of said piston for covering said ports, spring means for holding said disc against said ports, and means for adjusting the load of said spring means.

8. In combination with a closed spout normally containing granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, adjusting means for the damper closing means adapted to be set up to resist opening of the damper except upon a full spout, a draft regulator comprising a cylinder, a piston therein coupled to said damper and movable conjointly therewith, said pistons having ports therethrough, a disc valve of less diameter than said cylinder lying freely on top of said piston, spring means normally urging said disc valve against said ports, and. means for regulating the load of said disc valve.

9. In combination with a closed spout normally containing granular material, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, adjusting means for the damper closing means adapted to be regulated to maintain the damper closed except upon a substantially full spout, a draft regulator comprising a cylinder closed at both ends, a piston mounted for reciprocation in said cylinder, a piston rod coupled to said piston and having connection to said damper, said piston dividing the cylinder into upper and lower chambers, a by-pass connecting the upper and lower chambers, a valve in said by-pass, a second supplemental by-pass connecting with the upper portion of the cylinder and with an intermediate point therein above the lower end of the cylinder, said piston having ports therethrough, and valve means for yieldably closing said ports when the piston travels upwardly and opening the ports when the piston travels downwardly.

10. In combination with a spout, a movable damper therein opened by the movement of the material through the spout, means tending to close said damper, a regulator for said damper, and anindependently-operable gate adjacent 'saiddamper for regulating-generally the volume of flow in the spout. i

11. In an apparatus for transferring granular material from a bin to a conveyor in a grain elevator, a closed spout through which the granular material is adapted to gravitationally flow from the bin to the conveyor, a damper in said closed spout, means 'for movably mounting said damper in the spout, means for biasing said damper to a closed position, and regulating means acting conjointly With the damper closing means for retaining the damper substantially closed against a free-running grain and until the closed chute is substantially filled with the grain.

12. In an apparatus for transferring granular material from a bin to a conveyor in a grain elevator, a closed spout through'which the granular material is adapted to gravitationally flow from the bin to the conveyor, a damper in said closed spout, means for movably mounting said damper in the spout, means for biasing said damper to a closed position,- regulating means acting conjointly with the damper closing means for retaining the damper substantially closed against a free-running grain and until the closed chute is substantially filled with the grain, said regulating means including means to resistthe initial opening action of the damper to a higher degree than the final opening of the damper and also including means for permitting of. a more rapid closing of the damper than of the opening movement thereof whereby to promptly shut off the flow of free-running grain when the closed spout is not filled throughout its diameter.

JAMES R. OROURKE.

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