Improvements in Automatic Pressure-regulators and Pump-governors.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Apr., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 5th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 14th Mar., 1896
Improvements in Automatic Pressure-regulators and
Pump-governors.
I ARTHUR WISE CASH, of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States
of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to that class of pressure regulators and governors in which
the movement of the valve controlling the pressure supply is itself controlled by
the delivery pressure of the fluid acting upon a diaphragm or piston against the
action of a spring or weight.
While my invention is applicable to the construction of regulators in which either
a diaphragin or a piston is used to control the valve, I will here describe it as
provided with a diaphragm, which I prefer, but it will be understood that by the
use of the term "diaphragm" in the following description, I do not exclude the
use of a piston except when I specifically limit the term "diaphragm" by
the qualifying adjective "flexible."
According to my invention the body of the regulator comprises a valve casing
proper with an upper dish-shaped part of the valve casing. The latter has an
inlet and outlet and has seats for a balanced valve, which is carried by a spindle.
This passes through the dish-shaped casing with a close fit of such a character as
to prevent any appreciable amount of steam or other fluid escaping from passing
through, while permitting the spindle to move therein.
The upper end of the spindle is secured to the centre of the flexible diaphragm
by the clamping of the diaphragm between a shoulder on the spindle and a screw
nut threaded on to the upper threaded end of the spindle. The outer rim of the
diaphragm is clamped to the outer rim of the dished casing by an open cover bolted
to the casing. Communication is had between the interior of the valve chamber
and the diaphragm chamber, that is, the space within the dished casing below
the diaphragm, through a port, the opening of which is controlled by a screw.
To act against fluid pressure upon the under side of the diaphragm, there is
provided a counteracting compression spring which is located outside of the pressure
chamber so that it cannot be affected by the high temperature of the fluid which-
would otherwise have a tendency to alter the tension of said spring and to
compensate for the variations in the powers of this spring under its varying
degrees of compression, I provide the following construction: Upon the upper
side of the diaphragm, there is mounted a loose bearing piece supporting the
adjacent ends of toggle levers.
The outer end of one toggle acts indirectly against one end of the spiral spring,
while the outer end of the other toggle lever acts indirectly against the T-head of
a rod which carries the spring. The opposite ends of the spring are provided with
bearing washers loose upon the rod and in contact with one of these washers is a
nut adjustable on the threaded end of the rod to adjust the tension of the spring.
The outer face of the other washer is provided with bearing edges for the upper
end of a supporting link interposed between the end of the first toggle lever and
the spring, while the lower end of the said link finds a bearing in the open cover.
A similar link also finding its bearing in the cover has its upper end interposed

page_text: between the second toggle lever and the T-head of the rod. These links, together
with the toggle levers thus support the rod and spring.
Instead of having the inner ends of the toggle levers near together, the bearing
piece upon the diaphragm may be constructed with the inner ends of the toggle
levers some distance apart. In this modification I interpose between the upper
end of the spindle of the valve and the underside of the diaphragm, reducing
levers. The diaphragm is clamped between a post or bracket and a cap, and to
this post or bracket are pivoted the two levers with pin and slot connections.
The outer ends of these levers find bearings on the upper dish-shaped casing in
pockets provided for them. The inner ends of the levers are pivoted to the upper
end of the spindle.
I make the inclined bearing face of one valve and its seat at a different angle
from that of the other.
In order to facilitate the fitting of the valves to their seats, particularly after
re-grinding I make the two valves in two parts, the upper valve being sleeved with
a tight fit upon a reduced extension of the shank, and an intermediate spring
washer being interposed.
.
In some cases it may be convenient to fit the retaining nut for the valves with
wings or projections embraced by the forked upper end of a stem passing through
the bottom of the valve casing.
I fit into the first casing a threaded plug in order that when it is desired to use
the regulator as a pump governor, this plug may be removed and a pipe connection
from the water pressure from the pump, fitted into its place.
Then upon closing the passage for the steam, and admitting the water pressure
to the under side of the diaphragm, the water pressure from the pump can be
made to automatically govern the supply of motive fluid pressure to the pump
admitted through the regulator valve, as will be readily understood.
As a safeguard against accident from excess of pressure on the delivery side of
the valve due to possible leakage past the valve when closed, I provide on the
diaphragm chamber, a safety or relief valve which will take the place of the
threaded plug before mentioned. This relief valve. will not only prevent
accumulation of pressure, but will give warning to the engineer, of a leak.
Dated this 5th day of April 1895.
improvements in Automatic Pressure-regulators and
Pump-governors.
I ARTHUR WISE CASH, of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States.
of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is so be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to that class of pressure regulators and governors in which
the movement of the valve controlling the pressure supply is itself controlled by
the delivery pressure of the fluid acting upon a diaphragm or piston against the
action of a spring or weight.
The main objects of my invention are to compensate for the changing power of
the counteracting spring under its varying conditions of compression, to insure a
tight seating of the balanced valve under varying temperatures, to permit of
repairs to the diaphragm without detaching the regulator or cutting off the
pressure supply to permit the grinding and fitting of such valve without the need

page_text: Regulators
pressure under the diaphragm, and finally to adapt the regulator to be used as a
pump governor where desired.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a regulator constructed in accordance with my
invention.
Fig. 1 is a view of an attachment which may be employed.
Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are views of details.
Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a modified form of valve.
Fig. 5 is a diagram drawn to a larger scale to illustrate the angles of the valve
seats. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 6-6, Fig. 5.
Figs. 7 and 8 are views of details; and
Fig. 9 is a view of the parts of the balanced valve detached.
While my invention is applicable to the construction of regulators in which
either a diaphragm or a piston is used to control the valve, I will here shew and
describe it as provided with a diaphragm, which I prefer, but it will be understood
that by the use of the term "diaphragm" in the following description and claims
I do not exclude the use of a piston except where I specially limit the term
diaphragm" by qualifying the adjective "flexible."
"
The body of the regulator comprises the valve casing proper A with an upper
dish-shaped casing A, suitably mounted upon or forming part of the valve casing.
The latter has an inlet X and outlet Y' and has seats a a' for the balanced valve B,
which is carried by the spindle S. This passes through the dish-shaped casing A¹
with a close fit of such a character as to prevent any appreciable amount of steam
or other fluid pressure from passing through, while permitting the spindle to move
therein.
In the construction shown in Fig. 1, the upper end of the spindle is secured to
the centre of the flexible diaphragm D by the clamping of the diaphragm between
a shoulder d on the spindle and a screw nut D¹ threaded on to the upper threaded
end of the spindle. The outer rim of the diaphragm is clamped to the outer rim
of the dished casing A' by an open cover A' bolted to the casing A¹. Communi-
cation is had between the interior of the valve chamber and the diaphragm.
chamber, that is,--the space within the casing A¹ below the diaphragm, through a
port b, the opening of which is controlled by a screw, b. It is through this port
that the reduced or regulated fluid pressure passing through the valve has access
to the diaphragm to act thereon and by throttling this port with the screw
be
"chattering" of the valve any violent vibration of the diaphragm can
prevented.
If while the regulator is in use, the diaphragm, spring, or any of the connecting
parts should receive an injury, the closing of the port by the screw 6' will shut
off the pressure from the diaphragm chamber without disturbing the flow of fluid.
through the valve.
To act against this fluid pressure upon the under side of the diaphragm, there is
provided a counteracting compression spring W, which is located outside of the
pressure chamber so that it cannot be affected by the high temperature of the fluid.
which would otherwise have a tendency to alter the tension of said spring and to
compensate for the variations in the powers of this spring under its varying degrees
of compression, I provide the following construction :
Upon the upper side of the diaphragm, there is mounted a loose bearing piece d
supporting the adjacent ends of the toggle levers T T (Figs. 1 and 3). The
outer end of one toggle T acts indirectly against one end of the spiral spring W,
while the outer end of the other toggle lever acts indirectly against the T-head r
of a rod R (Fig. 4) which carries the spring. The opposite ends of the spring
are provided with bearing washers w w¹ loose upon the rod R and in contact with
one of these washers to is a nutr¹ adjustable on the threaded end of the rod R to
adjust the tension of the spring.

page_text: The outer face of the other washer is provided with bearing edges for the upper
end of the supporting link which is shown as interposed between the end of the
toggle lever T and the spring while the lower end of the said link finds a bearing
in the open cover A2. A similar link t¹ also finding its bearing in the cover A'
has its upper end interposed between the toggle lever T' and the T-head of the
rod R. These links, together with the toggle levers thus support the rod R and
spring W, which are shown arranged in a horizontal position over the regulator.
From this explanation it will be readily seen that as the diaphragm rises under an
increase of the fluid pressure to close the valve, the toggle levers T, T' will tend
toward getting into a straight line with each other, compressing the spring W, but
as the leverage of the toggles will increase and compensate for the increasing power
of the spring due to its increasing compression, the power exerted in opposition to
the fluid pressure will remain practically constant.
Instead of the having the inner ends of the toggle levers near together, the
bearing piece upon the diaphragm may be constructed as shown at d¹ in the
modification, Fig. 5, with the inner ends of the toggle levers T T' some distance
apart. In this modification I have shown a construction whereby large valves may
be provided with diaphragms, which are not abnormally large. I interpose between
the upper end of the spindle S of the valve and the under side of the diaphragm,
reducing levers E, E. The diaphragm D is clamped between a post or bracket D
and a cap and to this post or bracket, which is shown in under side view in
Fig. 7, are pivoted the two levers E with pin and slot connections, as illustrated
. in Fig. 5. The outer ends of these levers find bearings on the casing A' in pockets
provided for them. The inner ends of the levers E are pivoted to the upper end
of the spindle (Figs. 5 and 6) so that for a given lift of valve spindle the lift of
the diaphragm will be reduced one-half, and consequently the diaphragm may be
proportionately smaller for that size of valve.
One great difficulty in these regulators in which balanced valves are used has
been to get the two clappers to fit to their seats under varying conditions of
temperature. It is usual to hold the double valve upon the spindle S with a nut m
and to fit the valve loosely on the spindle, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1,
so that the valves will accommodate themselves to their seats if the spindle be not.
quite in the centre but this does not meet the difficulty that although the two.
valves may be truly fitted to their seats under one temperature one of the valves,
owing to expansion and contraction, will not close properly to its seat when the
other does, under a different temperature. To meet this difficulty I make the
inclined bearing face of one valve and its seat a different angle from that of
the other. Thus, as shown in Figs. 1, 5, and 9, the upper valve has its inclined
bearing face fat a relatively acute angle to the bottom of the valve while the
inclined bearing face fi of the lower valve is relatively obtuse.
The diagram Fig. 54, illustrating the seats on one side, is drawn to a larger scale
to show the relative angles of the two seats more clearly.
Owing to the acute angle of the bearing face of the upper valve the latter can
expand under heat diametrically without forcing the lower valve and intermediate
shank downward to an excessive degree, while the lower valve having an obtuse
angled bearing-face, its diametrical expansion compensates for longitudinal
expansion of the shank /*.
g
In order to facilitate the fitting of the valves to their seats particularly after
re-grinding, I make the two halves in two parts, as will be seen more clearly on
reference to Fig. 9, the upper valve being sleeved with a tight fit upon a reduced
extension of the shank, and an intermediate spring washer 9 being interposed.
Thus each disk may be ground separately without special tools or the need of
special skill, and when the valves are to be put back, the upper valve is placed on
the shank a little high, and then both valves are forced to their bearings by a blow
from a hammer and are thus maintained at a fixed distance apart.
In some cases it may be convenient to fit the retaining nut m for the valves with
wings or projections embraced by the forked upper end of a stem n, passing.

page_text: through the bottom of the valve casing, as shown in Fig. 1. Upon loosening the.
jam nut n' the stem n can be turned to turn the nut m upon the threaded end of
the valve spindle S to set the valves up.
I fit into the casing A' a threaded plug P (Fig. 1), in order that when it is
desired to use the regulator as a pump governor, this plug may be removed and a
pipe connection from the water pressure from the pump fitted into its place. Then
upon closing the passage b for the steam, and admitting the water pressure to the
under side of the diaphragm, the water pressure from the pump can be made to
automatically govern the supply of motive fluid pressure to the pump admitted
through the regulative valve as will be readily understood.
As a safeguard against accident from excess of pressure on the delivery side of
the valve due to possible leakage past the valve when closed, I provide on the
diaphragm chamber a safety or relief valve P¹, (Fig. 14) which will take the place.
of the threaded plug P (Fig. 1). This relief valve will not only prevent
accumulation of pressure but will give warning to the engineer of a leak.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what mauner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A regulator having a flexible diaphragm and valve chamber containing the
regulating valve mechanically connected with the diaphragm, and a chamber
between the valve chamber and diaphragm for the reception of the fluid to act
upon the diaphragm in combination with a spring to counteract the fluid pressure'
on the diaphragm, and means for adjusting the spring, a port directly in the casing
between and connecting the diaphragm chamber and valve chamber, and means
controlled from the outside for restricting or closing the said port, substantially as
described.
2. A regulator having a diaphragm and a chamber for the fluid pressure to act
on the diaphragin in combination with a valve chamber containing the regulating
valve mechanically connected with the diaphragm, a closing port connecting the
valve chamber with the diaphragm chamber, means controlled from the outside for
closing said port, and a connection for a pipe from a pump to the interior of the
diaphragm chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.
3. A regulator having a flexible diaphragm, a chamber for the fluid pressure to
act on the diaphragm, a valve spindle passing through the casing of said chamber
with a close fit and connected to said diaphragm, a spring to counteract the fluid
pressure on the diaphragm and means for adjusting the spring in combination with
the valve chamber containing the regulating valve on said spindle and a closable
port directly in the casing between and connecting the valve chamber with the
diaphragm chamber, the latter chamber being between the valve chamber and
diaphragm, and means controlled from the outside for restricting or closing said
port, substantially as described.
4. A regulator having a valve and a diaphragm with a pressure chamber on one
side thereof, said diaphragm being subjected to the action of the delivery pressure
and controlling said valve, in combination with a counteracting spring located
outside of the pressure chamber and toggle joint levers between the spring and
diaphragm, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. A regulator having a valve and a diaphragm subjected to the action of
delivery pressure and controlling the valve in combination with a rod carrying the
counteracting spring supporting links for the rod and spring and toggle levers
between the diaphragm and the rod and spring, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
6. A regulator having a valve chamber containing the regulating valve, a
spindle carrying the valve, a diaphragm adapted to be subjected to the action of
the delivery pressure and reducing levers connecting the valve spindle with the
diaphragm, whereby the movement of the diaphragm may be relatively smaller

page_text: than the movement of the valves, and relatively larger valves may have diaphragms
of small diameter, as and for the purpose set forth.
7. A regulator having a diaphragm adapted to be subjected to the action of the
delivery pressure and a valve chamber having seats for a double valve in
combination with a balanced valve controlled by the said diaphragm, the said
balanced, valve having its two clappers with bearing faces at different angles,
substantially as described, whereby the diametrical expansion of one clapper will
compensate for longitudinal expansion of the connecting shank between the
clappers to insure tight bearings on the seats of both.
8. A regulator having a diaphragm adapted to be subjected to the action of the
delivery pressure, in combination with a valved chamber containing a balanced
regulating valve with its two clappers separable from each other, and normally
maintained a fixed distance apart, with an interposing spring washer between said
clappers, in combination with the valve chamber having seats for the valves,
substantially as described.
Dated this 5th day of February 1896.
HUGHES, SON & Co.,
38, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.