US291769A - Steam gage and alarm - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheefis-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. PORTILLO. STEAM GAGE AND ALARM.

No, 291,769 Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

fiufawior duywslwl orlz'llo,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. PORTILLO.

STEAM GAGE AND ALARM.

(No Model.)

Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

UNrrr: STATES ATENT FFIQEO AUGUSTUS PORTILLO, OF LO\VELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEAM GAGE AND ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,769, dated January 8, 1884.

Application filed October 18, 1883.

To aZZ whom iv may concern:

. Be it known that I, AUeUsrUs PORTILLO, a citizen of Mexico, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Steam Gages and Alarms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to steam pressure gages, and has for its object to produce, by a simple and efficient construction, a gage that will both indicate the pressure in the boiler and sound an alarm when the pressure exceeds a predetermined limit, the construction being such that it may be applied to steamgages already in use; and it consists in a primary and asecondary index-hand and an alarmbell, combined in such a manner that the secondary hand may be set to indicate the predetermined pressure, and the alarm sounded when the primary hand reaches on the scale, by reason of the steam-pressure, the pounds pressure indicated by the secondary hand, the details of which means I will now proceed to describe.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a front view of the gage with my improvements applied; Fig. 2, a similar view with the face of the gage re moved; Fig. 3, a'detailed perspective view of the springplate, pinion, scapement-wheel, and pallet.

In the drawings, the letter A indicates the case provided with the face B, having thereon the scale of pressure, and containing the spring-tube C, segmental rack D, connectinglink E, pinion F, meshing with the rack, and primary index-hand G, all of which parts are of the ordinary construction and application,

and therefore need not be more fully described. I secure, by screws or other means, to the inside of the back of the case, and in proximity to the segmental rack, a spring metallic plate, H, which is curved or formed so that it will be slightly above the back of the 'case and free from contact therewith from its rivetingpoint, or a point in advance thereof, forward to its front or free end, where it is provided with a pin, I, which projects at right angles to the face of the spring-plate. A post, J,

is passed through the back of the case and through the spring-plate intermediate of its ends, and is provided near its inner end with (N0 model.)

a laterally-extending pin, K, and at its end with an angular shoulder for the attachment of the secondary index-hand L, which projects over the pin, and for the application of a key to turn" the post. WVhile the post may be turned by the application of a key or other tool, still it fits tight enough not to be accidentally turned, and for those purposes it may be secured either by fitting snugly in the opening made in the back therefor, or by the application thereto of a spring pawl and ratchet, or otherwise, as may be found most desirable; but in GWBTY case the springplate will be free to slide to some degree thereon. A pinion, M,

is fitted loosely around the post between the pin K thereof and the spring-plate, so as to be free to turn without moving the post, and its teeth mesh with those of the segment-rack. This pinion is provided 011 its face with a collar, N, the exposed face of which is either in contact with the under side of pin K or in close proximity thereto, and provided with a lug or cam, 01, the face of which cam is preferably flattened; but it may be made pointed or rounded.

If desired, a spring, I), may be made to encircle the post J between the plate i, below the dial-plate, and a collar, 9', 011 the post just below the dial-p1ate, so as to have a tendency to press the port upward, and thereby hold its head 7; tightly against the back plate of the case, so as to increase the friction between the two parts and render the post more difficult to turn; but such construction is not essential, and may be omitted.

A post, 0, is pivoted in the case, and is provided with a tripping arm, P, which normally bears against the side of pin I on the spring-plate; and it is further provided with an arm, Q, at the end of which is a'hammer, q, that strikes against a gong, R, secured, preferably, to the periphery of the ease. The post 0 is also provided with the verge S, which engages with the scape-wheel T, which forms one member of a train of clock-work mechanism of ordinary and well-known construction, and embracing the cog-wheels U and V, the barrel-pinions a r, and spring WV. If de-' sired, the cog-wheel V might be omitted and the cog-wheel U made to mesh directly with the pinion v but, as stated, any ordinary clock-alarm mechanism suitable for the purpose may be employed, and therefore it need not be described in detail.

The secondary indeX-handL has on the face of the casea dial corresponding in scale to that of the primary index-hand. In this i11- stance both scales registering one hundred and eighty pounds pressure, and the connection of the pinions of the two index-hands suming that the primary index-hand and the cam of the secondary hand are in their'normal positions opposite zero of their respective scales, and that the limit of pressure, for purpose of illustration only, is thirty pounds, the primary index-hand will be set opposite the scale of 30 on its dial by means of a key or other means. Then if the pressure of steam be raised to thirty pounds, the primary indexhand will indicate that pressure on its scale, and the cam on the secondary index-hand pinion will be forced against the pin extending laterally from the post of the secondary hand, and,as such is rigid and immovable as against the pressure of the cam, the latter will be pressed under the pin and force down the pinion so as to depress the springplate and free the pin at the end thereof from contact with the arm extending from the pallet-post. The resistance to the pressure of the clockwork spring being thus removed, that spring exerts its motive power on the train of clock-work and sets the same in motion, so that through it the verge and its post are oscillated and the hammer caused to strike the bell and sound the alarm. The alarm continues to'be sounded until the cam passes from under the pin, when the spring-plate will throw upward its pin into the line of movement of the arm extending from the Verge-post, so as to check its oscillation and stop the sounding of the alarm. The length of time that the alarnr will be sounded depends on the length of the cam or on the time taken to reduce the steampressure.

Instead of forming the cam above the face of the collar, the latter may have a notch or recess made in its face and the spring constructed and applied so as at all times to exert an upward pressure against the laterallyextending pin, and the pin at the end of the plate applied so as to extend downwardly and bear against the verge-post arm, instead of upwardly. Under such modification when the notch should reach the lateral pin the spring would force the pin upward, the pin at the end thereof would be carried from the vergepost arm,and the verge allowed to oscillate to give the alarm, as in the other case.

There may be departures from the construction of the several parts described and from their arrangement without departing from the spirit of my invention, which consists, mainly, in combining a Bourdon steam-tube, a primary indexhand, a secondary index-hand adapted to apredetermined pressure and alarm. mechanism in such manner that the alarm will be sounded when the primary index-hand registers the pressure at which the secondary index-hand has been set. One modification, as illustrated in Fig. 4, consists in extending the post of the verge through the dial-plate and securing thereto the secondary indexhand, which will have the scale as in the other form. The verge and hammer will be connected with the post, so as to turn therewith. The index-hand in this modification will be connected with a sleeve encircling the vergepost, to the lower end of which sleeve there will be attached a bevel-gear, a, which will mesh with a bevelear b connected to the,

case by an arm and collar or fork, so thatit may be free to revolve and oscillate, but not to slide vertically. Through the gear 1/ a threaded shaft, 0, will pass and then extend through the verge-post and be permitted to slide but not turn therein by means of a pin passed through the post and into a groove made longitudinally in the shaft, and when the gear I) is revolx ed by turning the indexhand to set it, the shaft 0 will be caused to rise or fall, according as the index-hand is turned in one direction or the other. There will be rigidly connected to the expansible steam-tube an arm, (I, which will extend into such proximity to the shaft 0 that the latter cannot oscillate until the arm is moved above the end of the said shaft. The length of the shaft 0 and its adjustments with reference to the movement of the secondary index-hand are such that the distance the arm will have to travel. to pass the end of the shaft will be in proportion to the pressure of steam requisite to reach the number of pounds pressure indicated by the secondary index-hand on its dial. When the arm passes the end of the shaft, the verge will oscillate and the alarm be sounded. It will be observed that the secondary index-hand in this modification will be set and remain fixed as in the first-described con struction. Vhen this modified construction is used, the spring-plate, pinion, and arm con necting the pallet-post with said plate are omitted. Such is the case also when the construction in Fig. 5 is used. In this last modification the verge-post shown in Fig. 3 will be used and there will be extended upwardly from it an arm, 0, against which there will abut or extend in close proximity thereto a rearwardlyextended arm connected with the secondary index-hand. The index-hand in this case will be connected by a thumbscrew, f, to the vertical arm 9, connected rigidly to the steamtube, and a vertical slot in the dial-plate of the case will permit the index-hand to be adjusted higher or lower upon said arm, so as to bring the rear end of the index-hand nearer to or farther from the upper end of the arm 0. A scale corresponding in divisions to the other scales, but in this instance made vertical instead of circular, will be formed along the edge of the slot, and will descend numerically,

so that, for instance, if the alarm is to be given at thirty pounds pressure, the index liand will be set opposite the figure 30 on the scale, and then the pressure of steam must be sufficient to expand the tube so as to raise the indexhand from 30 to zero, when the index-hand will have passed the end of the arm e and the alarm sounded by the oscillation o'fthe pallet. It will thus be seen that in this form, as the secondary index-hand moves with the expansion of the gage-tube and the hand is set to a predetermined pressure, the approach to that pressure will be indicated by the approach of the hand to zero on the scale.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is k 1. The combination, with a Bourdon pressure-gage and its primary index-hand, of a secondary index-hand adapted to be set at a predetermined pressure, an alarm, means for connecting both hands with the extensible steam-tube of the gage, and means for releasing the striking mechanism when the primary index hand registers the pressure at which the secondary index-hand has been set, whereby the movement of the primary indexhand and the sounding of the alarm are controlled from the eXpansiblc steam-tube, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a Bourdon pressure-gage and its primary index-hand, of the movable post provided with a secondary index-hand adapted to be set at a predetermined pressure, a pinion mounted loosely on said post and meshing with the sector-rack of the gage, a cam operated from the loose pinion, an alarm and mechanism for striking the same, a plate engaging with a portion of the alarm mechanism'to prevent its movement, and a projection for the said cam to operate 011 to release the alarm mechanism and cause the alarm to be sounded when the predetermined pressure is reached, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the primary in dex-hand, its pinion, steam-tube, and sector- .rack of a pressure -gage, of a post, a projection extending laterally therefrom, a secondary index-hand mounted on the post over the said projection, a pinion fitted loosely on the said post, a cam between thepinion and projection of the post, adapted to vary the distance between the pinion and said projection, a springplate beneath the pinion, provided with a pin at one end, a postcarrying a hammer, verge, and arm engaging with the pin on the spring-plate, the gong, and the train of clockwork mechanism, substantially as described.

4. "he post provided with the lateral projection and secondary index-hand adapted to be set to a predetermined pressure, the pinion mountedloosely on the post and carrying the cam, and the spring-plate, in combination with the primary index-hand, an alarm, and mechanism for operating the several parts when the predetermined pressure is reached, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the sector-rack, the primary index-hand and its pinion meshing with the rack, the post carrying the secondary index-hand, the pinion mounted loosely on said post and meshing with the sectorrack, the cam operated from the pinion, and a projection for the cam to operate to slide the said pinion for the purpose of operating an alarm-striking mechanism, substantially as described.

6. The combination,with a Bourdon steamgage, of the post provided with the hammer and tripping-arm, an alarm gong, a scapewheel operating the verge, a secondary index-hand adapted to be set at a predetermined pressure, a primary index-hand connected with the expansible tube of the gage, and means operated from the said expansible tube for tripping the arm to cause the alarm to be sounded at a predetermined pressure, indicated by said secondary index-hand, substan tially as described.

7. The combination,with a Bourdon steamgage, of an alarm, a primary index-hand-to indicate the varying pressure of the steam, a secondary index-hand to designate the point at which the alarm shall be sounded, means for connecting the primary index-hand with the stean1-gagetube,and means operated from said expansible tube for releasing the striking mechanism of the alarm, whereby the expansion and contraction of said tube will control the sounding of the alarm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

A. PORTILLO.

\Vitn esses:

JAMEs L. NoRRis, JAMES A. RUTHERFORD.

Images