US943911A - Steam and vacuum pump. - Google Patents

Description

R. E. CECIL & G. R. WASSELL. STEAM AND VACUUM PUMP. APPLIUATION rum) NOV. 4. 190a.

Patented Dec. 21, 1909 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 CeciZ 641101 we a munzw 1 oamm co. PNHOMXNOGRAPHERS. vumnmw. c, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFTCE.

ROBERT E. CECIL, OF AMBRIDGE, AND CLIFFORD R, WASSELL, OF SEWICKLEY,

PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM AND VACUUM PUMP.

Application filed November 4, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that we, Ronnn'r E. CECIL and mrronn R. \Vassnnn, citizens of the United States, residing at Ambridge and Sewickley, respectively, in the counties of Beaver and Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Steam and Vacuum Pump, of which the following is a specification.

(Eur invention relates to means for elevating water or other liquids, and particularly to that class of pumps used for this purpose, in which a vacuum is caused within a chamher by the coiulensation of steam, the atmospheric pressure forcing water into this exhausted chamber, steam then being readmitted to the chamber to force the water therein up to a higher level through a discharge pipe.

The primary object of our invention is to provide a novel, simple and effective structure of this character, which will be automatic. which will require practically no attention. and in which a maximum of water shall be pumped with a minimum of heat unit applied to the steam generator.

A further object is to provide an apparatus which is particularly adapted for do mestic purposes, as for instance, country or suburban places where local water systems are necessary.

()ther minor objects are to provide for a proper condensation of the steam at the proper time. to prevent the condensation of steam prior to the filling of the pump chamber, and to provide for a regular intermittent supply of water to the generator.

Several en'ibodiments of the invention are disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical sectional yiew through one form of construction. Fig. 2 is a similar view on an enlarged scale of the upper portion of the water supply means and steam pipe connection for the generator. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through a modified form of construction.

Fig. -t is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through still another form of structure.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of the check valve used in the form shown in Fig. 1. Fig. (3 1s a fragmentary section of the upper end of a pump chamber showing a differentmeans for securing a supply of water to the generator at regular intervals.

Similar relbrenee nlu'nerals designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring first to the embodiment disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, a pump barrel or chamber '7 is provided, which is preferably cylindrical in form, and has a closed top and bottom. A stand pipe 8 forming together an intake and discharge pipe has a lateral connection 9 at the lower portion of the chamber, and is provided with upwardly opening check valves 10 ar 'anged above and below said connection. The lateral pipe 9 is preferably extended through the bottom of the chamber into the lower portion thereof and is covered by an inverted cup 11 that constitutes a condenser, as hereinafter explained. A steam generator is employed in the form of a closed casing 12 having a bottom 13 that is preferably ribbed or provided with projections 14 to increase the heating surface thereof. From the top of this steam generator extends a steam-conducting pipe 15 that projects through the bottom of the chamber 7 and terminates within said chamber, just short of the top thereof. The portion of the steam-conducting pipe that is within the chamber, is preferably surrounded by an insulator tube 16 connected at its upper end to the upper end of the pipe, as shown at 17, the lower end of the tube being secured to the bottom of the chamber, as illustrated at 18 the space between the tube and pipe thus being open to the outer air. WVithin the upper portion of the pump chamber 7 is a supply reservoir 19 for the steam generator, this supply reservoir being in the form of a cylinder open at its upper end and having an inlet port 20 in its lower end. A siphon pipe 21 has its short leg 22 arranged in the lower portion of reservoir 19, while the long log 23 of the siphon pipe extends longitudinally downward within the steam-conducting pipe 15. This long leg is preferably surrounded by a heat insulating tube 2 1. In this form of construction, the inlet port 20 of the reservoir 19 is preferably of considerable size, and an automatic valve 25 controls the same, this valve opening downwardly and having a guide stem 26 that projects through the port. The valve is carried by an arm 27 depending from a fioat- 28, the arm being slidably guided in a bracket 29 secured to one side of the reservoir. A plug 30 is preferably located in the top of the pump chamber for the purpose of filling the same prior to first starting the pump. The operation of the mechanism is substantially as follows. For domestic purposes, the steam generator 12 is placed in an ordinary cooking range or other stove, though heat may be applied in any way desired. The pump chamber 7, together with the generator 12 and the various pipes are first filled with water through the opening normally closed by the plug 30. Heat is then applied to the generator and as soon as steam has been formed, the same will pass upwardly through the pipe 15 into the upper portion of the chamber 7. The water in said chamber will consequently be forced out, and as the lower check valve 10 in the pipe 8 will be closed, it must be elevated through the upper portion of said pipe. As soon as the water has been expelled, the steam that is now located in the chamber 7 will be condensed by the loss of heat during expansion and by contact with the relatively cold inverted cup 11, thereby causing a partial vacuum that will be destroyed by the water entering through the lateral pipe 9. The water will thus fill the chamber 7, and consequently enter through the inlet port 20 of the reservoir 19 until the float 28 rises and causes the valve 25 to close said port. When this occurs, the siphon has begun to operate and consequently the small jet of Water flowing through said siphon will be immediately turned into steam and the expelling action will be repeated. The size of the reservoir 19 is of course depend cut on the size of the chamber 7, and the height to which the water is to be elevated. This revervoir is furthermore constructed of such a size that the water will not be entirely expelled from the pump chamber. Consequently the inverted cup 11 will always remain full of water, as shown in Fig. 1, and will act as a condenser to more quickly effect the changes from the expelling to the intake action.

In Fig. 3, a still different form of construction is shown. The pump chamber therein is designated 31, and the stand pipe 32 has an offset connection 33 therewith. A steam generator 34, located below the chamber 31, has a steam pipe connection 35 there with, said connection having its upper portion inclosed in an insulating pipe 36. A supply reservoir 37 is located in the upper portion of the chamber 31, and has a small inlet port 38 in the bottom ,thereof. A siphon 39. leads from the reservoir 37 to the generator, and has its long leg located in the steam-conducting pipe and surrounded by a similar pipe 40. A rapid condensation of the steam in this embodiment of the invention is secured by a jet from the pipe 32 formed by a nozzle 41 leading from said pipe above the check valve 32 into the lower portion of the chamber. It will be evident that the action of this structure is substantially the same as that already described. The only difference is in the form of the condenser and the elimination of the valve controlling the inlet 38 to the supply reservoir. In the structure shown in Fig. 3, the port 38 must be considerably smaller than that disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2.

A preferable form of our invention is shown in Fig. 4, and we have found it in practice to be of great value, operating perfectly and elevating water from a depth of a hundred feet. This type of pump is adapted for use where the suction is greater than say 20 or 25 feet as the pump chamber can be immersed in the water in a well or placed anywhere less than the above mentioned distance above the surface of the water. In this form of construction, the chamber is designated 57, the intake pipe 58 being connected to the bottom of the chamber 57 and having a check valve 60 therein, the discharge pipe 59 extending from the lower portion of said chamber through the top thereof and having a check valve 61. The steam generator is designated 62 and has a steam-conducting pipe 63 leading from its top downwardly to the top of the pump chamber 57 provided with a check valve 63 shown in detail in Fig. 5. The seat for this valve is set on an incline so that the valve is normally open but closes when the pressure is greater in pipe 63 than in the generator. The generator has an upstanding neck 64 carrying a supply reservoir 65 connected with the discharge pipe 59 by a lateral pipe 66. In this pipe is located a controlling valve 67 and a check valve 68. A siphon is employed, the long leg 69 of which extends downward through the neck 64L toward the generator and is preferably surrounded with the insulating pipe 69, while the short leg in the form of a hood 70, is arranged within the reservoir. A draft equalizing pipe 71 communicates with the neck 64 of the generator and with the upper portion of the reservoir 65. A condensing jet pipe 59 may be effectively connected with the discharge pipe 59 which will operate in the same man ner as the pipe 41 of Fig. 3. The action of this structure is as follows. A small quantity of water is discharged by the siphon into the steam generator, and the steam produced thereby, passing down the pipe 63, expels the water out of the pump chamber 67. Condensation then starts, and as soon as the pressure is relieved, in the steam generator, water is caused to flow into the resernecessary to allow the siphon to discharge,

as otherwise a higher vacuum would be formed in said reservoir than in the steam generator.

In all the forms of our device so far described, a siphon has been used to secure an intermittent supply of water to the generator, but in Fig. (3, we show a float actuated tipping bucket for the same purpose. In this figure, 8O designates the pump chamher and 81 the steam conducting pipe leading from the generator. The generator supply pipe 82 is surrounded by the insulating pipe 83 and provided at its upper end with a tunnel shaped mouth 8- For the purpose of intermittently introducing water into the pipe 82, we use an automatically actuated tipping bucket which is preferably tipped by the lifting power of a float, and as shown in Fig. (3, consists of a bucket 85 having three sides and hinged to the upper edge of the funnel 82. To the underside of the bucket is attached a float 86. It will be seen that when the water in the pump chamber reaches the top thereof, it will begin to flow into the bucket 85, until the buoyancy of the float counterbalances the weight of the bucket, when the bucket will rise and pour its contents into the funnel 84. Steam will then be generated in the heater and the water in S1 forced out in the usual manner.

In actual practice we have found our pumps to be very simple and effective. Their advantages reside in their simplicity of construction, which permits them to be made of ordinary pipe fittings at a low cost, the positiveness of the operation and particularly in the small quantity of water used for generating steam and the small amount of steam necessary, and consequently the small amount of heat required beneath the bottom of the generator. This is of particular importance in pumps of this kind.

Another feature of our invention lies in the means for condensing the steam within the pump chamber which permits a relatively rapid action of the pump.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as pew, and desire to secure by Letters Pate11t,is:--

1. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a water conductor carrying water to the generator, and automatic means for intermittently directing into the generator a predetermined quantity of water less than the cubical contents of the generator to instantaneously flash the whole of such water into steam.

2. A. steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber. inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a reservoir located above and connected with the generator to supply the same, and a "alve-controlled by-pass be tween the discharge pipe of the pump and reservoir to supply water to the latter.

3. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a water conductor leading to the generator, and a reservoir arranged to intermittently receive a predetermined quantity of water and to automatically discharge through the said conductor when the water reaches a predetermined level in the reservoir.

4. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a water conductor leading to the generator, and automatic means for 'in termittently directing a definite quantity ot water into said generator by way of said conductor, said means located above the generator to feed the water by gravity thereto and automatically started into operation by the water reaching a predetermined level.

A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe directly connecting the generator with the chamber, a water supply pipe carrying water to the generator, a reservoir connected to the upper end of the supply pipe, and an automatic valve admitting water to said reservoir.

6. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, means through which wa- &

ter is alternately admitted to and discharged from the chamber, a steam generator, a pipe for conducting steam from the generator to the chamber, a reservoir connected with the generator to supply the same, and supply means connected with the reservoir for supplying water thereto independently of the filling of the pump chamber.

7. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a water supply pipe connecting with the generator and with a reservoir, and a siphon on the upper end of said pipe, the short leg of which extends into said reservoir and the long leg connects to said supply pipe.

8. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a

steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a water conducting pipe supplying water to the generator, a reservoir into which water is supplied intermittently and a siphon at the upper end of said conducting pipe and adapted to be operated when the Vater has reached a certain level within said reservoir.

9. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, a reservoir above the generator, a fine bore pipe having its upper end disposed in the reservoir to receive water therefrom and its lower end disposed to supply the generator, and means for controlling the supply of water to the reservoir.

10-. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes from said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the chamber, means for supplying water to the generator, a reservoir, siphonic means for conducting water from the reservoir to the generator, and means for periodically condensing the steam within the pump chamber.

11. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes from said pump chamber having check valves, a steam generator located above the pump chamber, a steam pipe connecting the steam generator with the upper end of the chamber, an upstanding neck on said generator, a water reservoir carried on the end of said neck, a pipe for supplying water to the reservoir, and a siphon located within the reservoir, the long leg of which extends through said neck into the generator.

12. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, an intake pipe leading to the lower end thereof, a discharge pipe arranged to receive water from the lower end of the chamber, and then upward therefrom, a steam generator having a steam pipe connected with the upper end of the pump chamber, said generator having an upwardly extending neck, a water reservoir located in said neck and having a supply pipe connected to the discharge pipe and provided with a check valve, and a siphon in the reservoir, the long leg of which extends downward into the generator.

13. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, an intake pipe extending into the lower end of the pump chamber, an outlet pipe arranged to receive water from the lower end of the pump chamber, check valves in said pipes, a steam generator having an upwardly extending neck and connected by a steam conducting pipe to the upper end of the pump chamber, said pipe being provided with a check valve which is normally open, a water reservoir located in the upper end of the generator neck, an equalizing pipe leading from the upper portion of this reservoir into the space inclosed within said neck, a water supply pipe extending from the discharge pipe and leading into the water reservoir, said pipe being provided with a check valve, and a siphon located within the reservoir, the long leg of which extends downwardly into the generating chamber.

let. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, a steam generator located above the pump chamber and connected to the upper end thereof by a steam conducting pipe provided with a normally open check valve adapted to close against pressure within the pump chamber, a water inlet pipe leading into the lower end of the pump chamber, a discharge pipe opening into the lower portion of the pump chamber, both of said pipes being provided with upwardly opening check valves, said generator being formed with a body having an upwardly extending neck, a reservoir supported within said neck, an equalizing pipe leading from the upper end of the reservoir through the bottom thereof, into the space inclosed within said neck, a supply pipe passing through said reservoir and connected with the generator, an inverted cup placed over the upper end of the said pipe and forming therewith a siphon, and a water supply pipe connecting the discharge pipe with the reservoir and provided with an inwardly open ing check valve.

15. In a steam and vacuum pump, a pump chamber, intake and discharge pipes having connection with the pump chamber, a steam generator, a steam pipe connecting the generator with the upper end of the pump chamber, means for intermittently supplying to the generator a definite quantity of water less than the cubical contents of the generator, and means for condensing the steam within the chamber.

16. In a steam and vacuum pump, the combination of a pump chamber, an inlet pipe, a discharge pipe, a steam generator, a reservoir, means for conducting a predetermined quantity of water from the reservoir to the generator automatically, means for automatically discharging water from one of the pipes to the reservoir, and a steam pipe between the generator and pump.

17. A steam and vacuum pump including a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber, a steam generator, a steam conducting pipe connecting the generator with the chamber and automatically measuring water-supplying means for feeding a predetermined amount of water to the generator.

18. In a steam and vacuum pump, a pump chamber, inlet and discharge pipes communicating with said pump chamber, an intermittently operating steam generator having means of steam communication with the chamber and means of communication with a source of water, and an auxiliary automatically operating device for measuring and supplying substantially uniform predetermined quantities of water to the generator at the successive operations of the pump.

19. In a steam and vacuum pump, the combination of a pump chamber having an inlet and a discharge, an intermittently opcrating steam generator, a steam pipe directly connecting the generator and pump chamber, and means for conveying a predetermined amount of water to the generator from a source independent of the filling of the pump chamber.

20. In a steam and vacuum pump, the combination of a pump chamber having an inlet and discharge, an intermittently operating steam generator, means for supplying a predetermined amount of water to the generator from a source independent of the pump chamber, and a valve between the generator and pump chamber in said conveying means to prevent a passage of water from the pump chamber to the generator.

21. In a steam and vacuum pump, the combination of a pump chamber having an inlet and a discharge, a steam generator, means for feeding a predetermined measured quantity of water to the generator, means for conveying steam only from the generator to the pump chamber, and a valve between the generator and pump chamber in said conveying means to preven't the passage of water from the pump chamber to the generator.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto a'tlixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT E. CECIL. CLIFFORD R. \VASSELL.

Vitnesses SAMUEL R. MomusoN, II. J. SAMUELTAN.

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