US2447861A - Oil thief - Google Patents

Description

1943 A. J.-JUNGE 2,447,861

OIL THIEF Filed Feb. 21, 1947 INVENTOR ARTHUR J JUNGE- ATTORN EY Patented Aug. 24, 1948 UNIT E D S TAT ES PATE F F ICE 2,447,86i OIL T IEF Arthur'd". Junge, St. Louis, Mo.

Application February 21, 1947-, SerialNo. 780,118

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to. oil. thievesand the like.

Devices of this character are principally used in samplin a body of liquids where the. liquids havev a tendency to stratify. This occurs in stored gasoline and oils and also in tank cars used in transporting the same. calculate thearnount of water present in the bottom of. a tank it is necessary to take an accurate.

sample. A sample must be taken with a sampling device which will least disturb the stratiflcaw tion of the liquids during entrapment.

It is an object of. the invention; therefore, tov

provide an oil. thief which will not disturb the strata during suspension and. one in which the releasing mechanism-used to operate a valve for entrapping the sampled liquids in a container will not disturb this stratification whileclosing,

It is also an object of the invention to provide an oil thief inwhicha quantity of the liquids to be sampled areentrapped therein by a valve-which.

is closed after suspension of the device to the. bottom of a tank in which the liquidsare .contained, said valve bein closed by a slackening of an element for suspending the device.

'It is a further object ofthe invention to provide an oil thief that is simple in construction and that will be emcient and durable in operation.

While the scope of the invention is defined in the appended. claims, the following. detailed description of a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, will disclose the. invention, its construction and use.

Fig. 1 is a vert cal sectional view of an oil thief embodying the invention as it is suspended in a liquid medium,

Fi 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same in which the entrapment ball has been released, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the same at right angles to Fig. 2.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has an elongated cylindrical body or barrel H which is constructed of a transparent material. On each end of the body or barrel I I, top and bottom end members I2 and I3, respectively, are secured to form a container M.

The top end member 12 has an opening l5 whose edges are straight. An aperture I6 is formed into the bottom end member l3. This aperture [6 is so fashioned as to have its inner portion conically shaped to form a seat l! for an entrapment ball is to act as a valve for entrapping the sampled liquid in the container [4 (Fig. 2). On the outer portion of the bottom member I3 the sides of the aperture l6 are straight.

In. order to be ableto.

. 2 Ih'.oi'derto. hold the ball l8. away from the seat H as thecontainer I4. issuspendedin the liquid" to be sampleda ball retaining and release mechanism.l9 is provided. This mechanism l9 has a trigger arm. 21 attached thereto for suspending the container M in the liquid. As is shown in the drawings, theball retaining and release mecha-.

nism i9 and thetrig er arm. 2| are fashioned from arod bent so as to form a suspension eye 22 at its upper or. protruding end. The bottom end is bent to. form a looped, hooked shaped're t ainer 23 to hold the ball l8. Thus, it can be seen that the trigger arm 2 l is slidably mounted in they opening 15' of the top end member l2. The diameter of the Opening, 15, however, is not critical. but itshould' be of such diameter as to allow for efficientoperation without the hindrance. of frictioriand also be small enough so as not .to' cum an excessive amount of play.

A. pin 24"which is diametrically positioned be.- tween the walls of the barrel H is encased with a tubular covering 25 to sealthe inside of the container l4 at joints 26'. This. pin 24 withits'" covering 25 acts as a stop to engage an inwardly slopingportion Z'T'of the retainer 23 as the con;- tai'nerdd is suspended by the suspension eye-22.. It, therefore, is apparent that the pin 24 and-its covering 25 perform an additional function of camm'ing the retainer 23 to hold the entrapment ball l3 betweenthe former and the wall of the barrel H. Further, the pin restricts the movement' of'the ball [8 within the barrel ll between it'and the bottom endmember l3. This will-have apparent advantages as will be seen in the de"- scription of the use of the invention.

A bent portion 28 of the trigger arm 2| is formed to enable a larger hooked, shaped retainer 23 to be fashioned, and also to give greater movement to this retainer 23. Thus, the bent portion 28 allows surer releasing of the ball l8 and at the same time allows greater ease in inserting the ball/ l8 into the retainer 23.

In the use of the device, the ball 18, which is restricted to movement in the lower portion of the container l4 between the pin 24 and the bottom end member I3, is placed into the retaining hook 23. This is accomplished by tilting the container l4 sufficiently to let the ball [8 roll into the retainer 23. The trigger arm 2| is then pulled out by the suspension eye 22 to hold the ball [8 between the retainer 23 and the wall of the barrel H as aforedescribed. It is apparent that since the barrel is constructed of a transparent material the insertion of the ball l8 into the retainer 23 can be accomplished with great ease.

The container 14 is now held by the suspension eye 22. A suspending means such as a line or string is attached to the eye 22, thereby rendering the device ready to be placed into a tank to be sampled.

After the device has been suspended to the bottom of a tank, the ball is held in the retainer 23 for several seconds to allow the liquids to stratify to approximately the same extent as the liquids in the tank. Thesuspension line is then slackened slightly, thereby releasing the ball l8 which drops into the seat I! as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by the downward movement of the triger arm 21. The container [4 is then withdrawn from the tank with the sampled liquid having the same startification characteristics as has the liquid in the tank.

The movement of the trigger arm 2| downwardly in releasing the ball [8 from the retainer 23 is such that at no time are the layers or strata of liquids in the container 14 disturbed to an appreciable extent. This is due primarily to the fact that the releasing mechanism I 9 operates in the lower portion of the container 14 near the seat H which generally contains one stratum of liquid, also, because this releasing mechanism is placed in the lower portion of the container 14, the ball 18 has a very small distance to drop to entrap the sample in the container [4.

Therefore, it can be seen that the device of the instant invention accomplishes its objects in that the disturbance caused by the releasing mechanism will be so small that none of the strata of liquids in the container 14 will be greatly changed and the sample taken will correspond to the actual strata of liquids in the sampled tank.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of this invention. Parts of the invention may be used without the whole and improvements may be added while retaining some or all of the advantages of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an oil thief, an elongated barrel having a first aperture at one end thereof, a ball for closing said first aperture, a trigger arm carried in said barrel and extending through a second aperture in the other end of said barrel through which liquid is passed having a suspension eye at one end thereof adapted to receive a suspending line, a retainer at the other end of said trigger arm, and a stop against which said trigger arm is movable to position said retainer to hold said ball out of engagement with said first aperture while said device is lowered to a bottom of a tank of liquids, said trigger arm being further operable to release said ball to close said first aperture and thereby entrap a sample of liquids in said barrel upon a slackening of the suspending line.

2. In combination with an oil thief having an elongated barrel, an aperture at one end thereof and a ball for closing said aperture and retainable in a seat formed as a part of said aperture, a valve operating mechanism comprising a trigger arm carried within said barrel having a suspension eye at one end thereof protruding outside and through another aperture in said barrel said eye being adapted to receive a suspending line or string, a ball retaining hook at the other end of said trigger arm, and a stop against which said trigger arm is movable to hold said ball out of engagement with said seat as said device is lowered to the bottom of a tank, said trigger arm being movable also to release said ball upon a slackening of said suspending line to close said first mentioned aperture and entrap a sample of liquids in said barrel after said device has been lowered as aforesaid.

3. In an oil thief having an elongated transparent barrel, a top and member having an opening therein, a bottom end member having an aperture therein and a ball valve for closing the aperture in said bottom member, the improvement of a ball operating mechanism comprising a trigger arm within said barrel having a suspension eye at one end thereof protruding outside said barrel and adapted to receive a line for lowering said device to the bottom of a tank of liquids to be sampled, a ball retaining hook fashioned at the other end of said trigger arm, and a pin carried horizontally in said barrel and affixed thereto, said pin being actionable to cam said retaining hook to retain and hold said ball within said hook as said device is lowered as aforesaid and to release said ball upon a slackening of said line to entrap a sample of liquids in said barrel after said device has reached the bottom of said tank.

ARTHUR J. JUNGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 1,511,591 Colligan Oct. 14, 1924

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