Steam-pressure-reducing valve.

.Application filed April 22, '1904. Eonewed March 30,1905, Serial Ho, 252,918.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, George W. Collin, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and 5 State, of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Pressure-Reducing Valves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful imro provements in steam-valves, and more particularly to steam-pressure-reducing valves, such ps are employed upon railroad-locomotives, intermediate of the steam-supply for heating the passenger-cars, or in marine prac1.5 tice or like places where high pressures of steam are reduced to lower pressures for various purposes and uses.

It is the object of my invention to improve the construction of devices of this class by '20 producing a reducing-valve which has a supplementary regulating-port between the main valve and the lovyer-pressure side, to regulate the» movement of the main valve in a manner to prevent its hammering or chattering when 25 opening or closing, and to provide means for so regulating the flow of steam -that the valve will pot be wire-drawn or cut by the steam, as will later be explained; finally, to provide a valve which consists in partof amain valve, 30 an auxiliary valve, a diaphragm, and means for regulating the tension on the same, said valves being located in separate chambers of the valve-casing and independent from said diaphragm, so· as to be removable without dis35 turbing said diaphragm.

With.the above objects in view my invention residesand consists in the novel construction and combination of parts shown upon the accompanying two sheets of drawings, form40 ing.a part of this specification, upon which similar characters of reference denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures, and of which— .ligure 1 shows a vertical central sectional 45 view through my improved valve complete.

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross-section taken on line 2 2 of'Fig. 1. Fig. 3 j_{s a cen}f_ril] _vertical section somewhat similar to Fig. 1, but showing a slightly-modified form of my in5° vention.

.My device,, as will be seen, comprises a suitable casing in which the main - valve body, with its several elements, and the auxiliary valve are held in their respective chambers 55 and operated through, the medium of a diaphragm. This diaphragm is operated by the system-pressure and is. provided with a spring and means for regulating the tension of said spring against said diaphragm. The whole device is constructed in a way to allow free 60 access to the valve mechanism in case inspection or repairs are desired, and likewise to insure perfect drainage.

Referring in detail to the characters of reference marked upon the drawings, and more 65 especially to Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates the main, casing of the valve, which, as shown, is provided with an inlet-nipple A.', and a coupling B for connection to the locomotive or initial pressure,.and an outlet-nipple A with a 7: coupling B' for connection with the heating system, as is obviously necessary. C indicates a body, the bottom of which forms a valve to contact with a valve-seat I) of the casing A. The upper part of the body forms 75 a reciprocating piston D', that loosely engages the bore C' of the casing in a way to admit a slight passage of steam thereby, and the lower end of the body contains a stem that engages a guide-lug I of the casing. Below the valve- 80 seat D is formed a cushion-chamber G and a supplementary regulating-port H to receive the plunger G' on the depending stem of the valve-body C, which plunger enters the port H of‘the casing in a way to loosely close the 85 same. The top of the bore of the casing is closed by a plug F', which projects downward in reduced size, forming a hub F, upon which a spring E' is clamped and which extends to the bottom of the hollow valve-body C for its 90 engagement. By inserting a hook into eye V of the valve-body C the same and spring ca:i bo lil ted out of the bore, allowing free access to the interior of the casing, there being but two elements —the plug F' and valve-body (J — 95 to disassemble and assemble in case cleaning is necessary. . The steam-passage S'connects the chamber F above the piston D' to the service system through auxiliary valve J and allowing the steam which escapes by the piston 100 D' from valve-chamber E to the chamber Fto enter the service system when auxiliary valve J is open in a way to insure an equal pressure in chamber F and the low-pressure side of the device when the auxiliary valve is open. The 105 auxiliary valve J is for the purpose of governing the pressure in the chamber F above the piston D' and is grooved to allow steam to pass when open. It is horizontally chambered in the casing, as seen in Fig. 1, and has a stem 1i 0 on both ends. The stem J extends through a guide L in plug S and into a hub U, which

802,496 *5

3°

5° valve body and the auxiliary valve can be drawn from the casing, thus removing the entire valve mechanism andjeaving the interior of thecasing f ree for inspection or cleaning The passage S takes the place of the 7° passage S' in the wall of the main casing (show'll in Fig. 1) and furnishes an outlet between chamber F and the low-pressure side of the casing when auxiliary valve J is open.

The plunger G (shown in Fig. 3) is made de- 75 tachable to permit its removal, if desirable. The piston D' on valve-body C, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided with steam-packing T and a small port T through the side of the body C to permit the initial steam from valve-chain- so ber E to enter chamber F and exert a pressure on piston D' when auxiliary, valve J is closed.·

As previously stated, the operation of the two constructions are precisely the same and 85 substantially as follows: When the steam is . admitted to valve-chamber E,the pressure,acting on the lower side of piston D', forces the valve-body C upward, lifting the valve from its seat D against the spring E', which has no 90 pressure on the valve-body when the. valve is in a closed position and is only to prevent a too-violent lifting of the valve-body when the steam is first admitted to chamber E. .With the opening of the main valve, as above set forth, steam is obviously freq to enter the service system to the pressure desired, which when obtained causes the valve to automatically operate and sustain said pressure in the following way: When the pressure in the system reaches the height 'desired, regulated by the pressure of spring M' on diaphragm L, said diaphragm is forced outward, releasing· the auxiliary valveJ arid permitting spring Mto push the auxiliary valve J into its seat,, cubting off the escape of steam from chamber F to the system through the intervening passage, causing the pressure to rise above tne piston D' until it overbalances the initial lifting-pressure, forcing the valve-body C down. As the valve-body descends the plunger enters its port before said valve reaches its seat D, cutting off the free passage of steam, which being checked in cushion-chamber G forms a pressure-cushion below the valve, cnecking 115 its descent. The pressure then rises in cham. ber F, overcoming this resistance and forces the valve to' its seat without hammering or chattering. The area of the bottom of the valve being' greater than the area of the plunger gives a pressure-cushion to the bottom of the valve, and with proportions of parts shown in thedrawmgs there will bea cusnionresistance of eighty-eight pounds when the plunger G' enters its port II, providing the ini. tial pressure is two hundred pounds. When the pressure becomes reduced sufficient to al• low the spring M' to force the diaphragm L • inward, the auxiliary-valve stem J' is pusned back, opening the auxiliary valve J, allowing is pressed inward by spring M- The guide L ¹is pinned into the plug S, making a permanent < assembly of the elements which are chambei eo · therein so they can be removed and handled as j if but one piece. The inner stem J extends across the barrel and through a hole m the । opposite wall of -the easing and into tiie dia- । phragm-chamber against diaphragm L .. As here'shown, the auxiliary valve J is entirely separated from the main valve and can be removed from its chamber and cleaned should it become foul and fail to properly operate., This is accomplished by first removing plug S, taking hold of the stem J, and drawing the valve out of its chamber, which exposes the valve-seat near the surface so as to be readily cleaned. The diaphragm-chamber Ν'' is separated from the barrel of the casing, except by the drilled passages for the valve-stem J and the lowei passage L for steam-inlet and drainage-outlet. The diaphragm is clamped between the threaded hub N and the bonnet N. The presser-hub N' is interposed between the said diaphragm L' and the spring M', which is | housed within the sleeve of the bonnet. Hie opposite end of this spring is engaged by a nut P, which has ears P' to engage grooves in the sleeve of the bonnet to prevent its turning·. This nut is adjusted to and from . the diaphragm by means of an adjustingscrew Q, which is journalecl'in capQ , Ghreacably attached to the sleeve of bonnet N. Unon the outer end of the adjusting-screw Qis attached a hand-wheel by means of ; which the screw’ is turned to adjust? die,pressure of nut P on the regulating-spring M ._ a -friction soring-disk B.' is interposed in a pocket of the cap Q'' and between the same and the wheel R and clamped between them by a screw Y, which is set into the squaied end of the barrel of the adjusting-screw Q, forcing the wheel ΪΙ down to its pliice^rnd spreading the spring-disk R' in a way to frictionally hold the adjusting-screw Q and “Wheei R in their adjusted positions.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen tnat the construction therein shown differs but slightly’ from that disclosed·in Figs. 1 and .2 so far.as its nractical operation is concerned, the principal difference in construction being the location of the diaphragm, its bonnet, and^aujusting mechanism, which, as shown 111 Fig. 3, is located' at the bottom of the valve-cas-. ing, while in Fig. 1 it is located at the sicie or .the’valve-casing. The location of the auxiliary valve J is also different, oeing a? langed vertically and directly beneath the guide-stem H' of the valve-body C. The upper stem J of this valve extends centrally through the passage S of the valve-body, and into the spring-actuated hub O’, housed in a suitable recess of -plug F'. By removing the plug F the sirring E and the parts mciosec. oy tne guide L can· be removed together,· and by tak•05 ing hold of auxiliary-vaiye stem J the mainιοο

120 ^Ι25

130

802,496 the steam-pressure in chamber F to escape to the system through passage S', and the initial ] rcssure in valve-chamber E, acting on the lower side of the piston D, again lifts the 5 valve-body, opening the main valve. When the valve begins to lift from its seat D, as above, steam enters the cushion-chamber G and will sustain the initial pressure therein so that there will be no velocity of steam through io the valve until the plunger G' is lifted from its port to allow a free passage of steam to the system, at which time the valve will be so far above its seat that wire-drawing is impossible.

in this invention I do not wish to be limited 15 to the details of construction shown, since these can obviously be changed without departing from the essence of the invention. This is particularly true with reference to the location of the diaphragm or auxiliary valve ²⁰ and likewise the several features of the main valve and auxiliary chambers.