Detachable turbine-bucket.

Application filed August 21,1902. Serial No. 120,561. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Henry Geisenhoner, a citizen of the United States,residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New S York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Detachable Turbine-Buckets, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to detachable turbine-buckets, and has for its object to proto vide a simple bucket structure of low first cost and one that can be applied to or detached from the support or wheel with a minimum amount of labor.

To this end one feature of my invention 15 comprises a bucket of suitable shape made of thin pieces of metal, preferably iron or steel, piled flatwise and having suitable. clamping or retaining devices for securing it to a support.

In certain types of turbines it is found desirable to increase the cross-sectional area of the fluid-passage between each pair of buckets from the inlet to'the outlet end. When my improved buckets are applied to such a 25 turbine, this expansion is provided for by a novel form of bucket-cover, comprising in general a ring made in sections or in a single piece, as desired, which ring is beveled from one side to the other. By reason of this con30 struction the radial depth of the buckets can be increased from one side of the wheel or support to the other. Hence the cross-sectional area of the fluid-passages is also increased. Since the buckets themselves are made of 35 relatively thin pieces of metal of a given cross-section, it follows that some means must be provided to compensate for the beveled face or portion of the cover in order to provide a firm seat therefor. Such a means is 40 found in the beveled or wedge-shaped pieces which are inserted between the end of the buckets and the cover.

The scope and nature of my invention will be more fully set forth in the description and 45 in the claims appended thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illus trate one embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a partial elevation of a turbine wheel or support fitted with my improved buckets.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a wheel, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of a bucket wheel or support, showing the relation of the buckets one to another. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modified form of one of the bucket laminae. Fig. 5 is 55 a vertical section of a wheel, taken on a line corresponding to 5 5 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 shows the wedge-shaped pieces located between the inner end of the bucket and the support. 60 represents the support or wheel, as the case may be. When my improved buckets are applied to the rotary member of a turbine, the support takes the form of a wheel, whereas when they are applied to the sta- 65 tionary part of the turbine the support is rigidly attached to some stationary portion of the casing. The periphery of the wheel is provided with a flange 2, which is turned true and is adapted to receive the detachable 70 buckets 3.' The buckets are made of relatively thin pieces of sheet iron or steel 4, which are piled flatwise one upon the other until the desired depth of bucket is attained. The pieces of laminse of which the buckets 75 are composed can be punched out of sheet stock with an ordinary punch and die. These can be made at a very small cost, as manifestly each piece is like every other piece or plate in the buckets. At the time the punch- 80 ing is made the holes 5 can also be made to receive the retaining-bolts 6. Each of the laminae is provided with a curved face 7, against which the fluid impinges and causes the rotation of the bucket-wheel. In case of 85 a stationary intermediate the curved face receives the motive fluid and reverses its direction and causes it to strike the buckets on the moving wheel at the proper angle. The rear of each of the laminae is also curved, as in- 90 dicated at 8. It will thus be seen that between the adjacent buckets a fluid-passage 9 is formed, which passage has a cross-sectional area that is suited to meet the given conditions. Owing to the curvature of the support 95 1, the laminae are also slightly curved. The more nearly straight the support is the more nearly straight will be the laminae. By properly arranging the punch-press the lamina) can be given this curvature at the time they 10c

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730,363 are macle, thus doing away with a separate operation.

Surrounding the wheel or support ina manner to inclose the buckets is a cover 10, which 5 may be formed in sections or in a single piece, as desired. Extending inwardly from the cover ancl passing through the laminae are bolts 6, which are retained in place by nuts 11. By employing two retaining-bolts, oneon io either side of the central plane of the wheel, the buckets are prevented from twisting out of line.

Referring to Fig. 4, I have shown a slight modification of the form of the bucket where15 in the laminae are provided with curved front .and rear faces 7 8, as in the previous figure; but instead of employing two bolts for retaining the buckets in place a single rectangular opening 12 is provided in each bucket, 2o which hole is designed to receive a rectangular bucket-retaining device. In other words, instead of providing two bolts for each bucket having cylindrical bodies I may employ a single bolt having a rectangular body in 25 which the bucket is prevented from turning, due to the angular sides.

In certain types of turbines it is desirable to increase the cross-sectional area of the fluid-passage between the point where the 30 fluid enters the wheel or support on one side and leaves it on the other. In order to provide this increase of sectional area, the cover 10 for the buckets is made somewhat wedgeshaped, as is shown in Fig. 2, it being thicker 35 on the receiving side than on the delivery side of the wheel or support. In .order to hold the laminse firmly in place and afford a seat for the cover and also to complete the walls of the fluid-passage between the buck40 ets, wedge-shaped pieces 13 are employed which have the same contour as the laminse. These pieces are thinner on the receiving end of the wheel or support and thicker at the delivery end. The increase in thickness 45 toward the discharge end is equal to the decrease in thickness of the cover 10 at this point. I have shown the wedge-shaped piece 13 situated at the outer ends of the buckets; but, if desired, they may be placed at the inner 50 ends of the buckets, in which case the support 2 would have a beveled periphery, the angle of which would depend upon the desired increase in cross-sectional area of the fluid-passages. In this case the thickness of 55 stock oh the sides of the cover would be the same. In other words, I desire to be understood as also claiming the reversal of the parts. A construction of the kind referred to is found in Fig. 6, wherein the wheel or 60 support 2 is provided with a beveled surface, and between it and the detachable buckets 3 are the beveled pieces 13. The cover 10 in this ease is rectangular in cross-section. In so far as the use of wedge-shaped pieces is 65 concerned I may make the buckets of laminated material, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, or out of solid stock, as is shown in Fig. 6. I may also use the wedge-shaped pieces in connection with buckets of different form.

In accordance with the provisions of the 70 patent statutes I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus 75 shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means.