Improved Gas and Air Water-sealed Valves, Seats, and Spindles for Regenerative or other Furnaces.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 10th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 1st Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Gas and Air Water-sealed Valves, Seats, and Spindles
for Regenerative or other Furnaces.
FREDERICK MILLS 11 West Villas Stockton-on-Tees Metallurgist, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
--
1. The valve, which is made of cast, or wrought, iron or steel, and may be of
any shape, is formed in such a manner that the upper surface is slightly convex
and terminates at the edges in a rim or trough so formed and sufficiently deep
to hold water; the under surface is so formed that the rim projects sufficiently
to form a water tight joint with the lower seat of the valve, and may also be
made to have an annular chamfer forming the rim and capable of also holding
water.
2. The upper seat is of the nature of an angle so formed that the vertical rim
(which may also be made in the annular form) projects sufficiently far into the rim
or trough on the upper side of the valve so as to form a water tight joint.
3. The lower seat is of the nature of a trough and is filled with water sufficiently
deep to form a water tight joint with the lower rim of the valve.
4. The spindle is made hollow, and is supplied with water at the top, and my
invention consists of apparatus as described above worked by allowing water to run
down inside the spindle to the bottom thereof, and out at convenient holes over the
upper surface of the valve, filling the upper trough and running therefrom, at the
"back," of the valve, into the lower trough or seat, and thence to an overflow pipe
as waste.
Dated this Eleventh day of December 1893.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Gas and Air Water-sealed Valves, Seats, and Spindles
for Regenerative or other Furnaces.
I, FREDERICK MILLS, of 11 West Villas, Stockton-on-Tees, in the County of
Durham, Metallurgist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to improved valves for use in connection with
regenerative and other furnaces for the purpose of reversing the direction or
controlling the flow of air and other gases.
Hitherto with valves of this kind, considerable difficulty has been experienced in
obtaining perfectly gas tight joints between the valves and valve seats in each of
the extreme positions of the valves, and an object of this invention is to obviate
this difficulty. For this purpose the valves and the valve seats are according to
this invention so constructed and arranged that the valves will be sealed in each of
their extreme positions, the arrangement moreover being such as to render the
valves durable and capable of being easily manipulated, as I will now proceed to
explain by reference to the accompanying drawings in which,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line of Fig. 2, showing a pair

page_text: of valves with their seats and spindles according to this invention, the said parts
being arranged to form a gas reversing valve suitable for use in connection with a
regenerative gas furnace.
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line y y of Fig. 1, the upper valve seat of the
left hand valve being removed.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line zz of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a vertical central section through a valve and its seats showing a
modified construction.
Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation hereinafter referred to.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, 1, are valve casings formed of any suitable
material such as cast or wrought iron, or steel, and each provided internally with
upper and lower valve seats 2 and 3 respectively, between which is arranged a
vertically movable valve 4. The upper portions of the casings are connected by &
passage 5 that is adapted to be placed in communication with a gas main 6, by
a branch passage 7 controlled by a mushroom valve 8. The lower portion of each
valve casing is provided with an opening 9 by which it can be placed in connection
with a chimney, and with a lateral opening 9* and branch passage 10, by which
combustible gas, or products of combustion, as the case may be, can pass to or
from the corresponding furnace flue which would be in connection with a pair of
regenerators, as well understood.
To each of the valves 4, in each arrangement, the following description applies.
The valve is carried by a spindle 11 that passes through a stuffing box 12 carried
by the cover 13 of the corresponding casing 1. In order that the valve may make
a gas tight joint with its seats 2 and 3 respectively, these seats and valves are
constructed as I will now explain. The upper valve seat 2 consists, in the example
shown, of a square plate that is supported by cross ribs or bearers 2 carried by
ribs 1 at the inner sides of the casing 1, and is formed with a downwardly pro-
jecting annular rim or flange 14. The lower valve seat 3, also consists, in the
example shown, of a square plate formed with upwardly extending flanges, that
form with the said plate, a practically annular trough 15. The valve 4 is made,
on its upper side, with an annular rim 16 that forms, with the valve body, a
trough 17 adapted, when the valve is moved into its raised position, to receive the
downwardly extending rim or flange 14 of the corresponding upper seat 2, as shown
at the left hand side of Fig. 1. The valve is also provided at its lower side with a
downwardly extending annular rim or flange 16 that is adapted to enter the
trough 15 in the corresponding lower seat 3, when the valve is moved into its
lower position, as shown at the right hand side of Fig. 1. The valve and the rim
or flanges of the valve seats instead of being of circular form in plan as shown,
may be of any other suitable form, for example square.
To enable a gas tight joint to be made between either seat and the valve, the
troughs 15 and 17 are charged with water so as to form water seals for the rims or
flanges 14 and 16 respectively. For this purpose, the valve spindle 11 is made
hollow, and at its lower end; is formed with perforations 18 at a point just below
the level of the top of the hollow central boss 4" of the valve, which may be loosely
connected to the spindle by forming the lower end of the latter with a flange 11*
that is held within the said boss by a ring 19 fixed in place by pins 20 which pass
through recesses in the ring, and through holes in the boss. To the outer end of
the spindle is attached a tube 21 arranged to slide telescopically over a branch
pipe 22 connected to a water supply pipe 23. By this means water can be caused
to flow, in all positions of the valve, down the hollow spindle 11 and evenly over
the back or upper side of the valve, thus preventing these parts from becoming
unduly heated, the water flowing into the trough 17 so as to form a water seal with
the rim or flange 14 of the upper seat 2, and so produce a gas tight joint when the
valve is in its raised position. From the trough 17, the water Hows into the
trough 15 of the lower seat, so as to form a water seal for the rim or flange 16 of
the valve, and so produce a gas tight joint when the valve is in its lowered position.
For this purpose the water may flow over the top edge of the rim or flange 16, but

page_text: I prefer to provide the trough 17 in the valve 4 with depending pipes 24 (Fig. 3),
the upper ends of which terminate slightly below the level of the top of the
Hange 16, and which extend downwardly through openings in the bottom of the
trough 15 into somewhat larger tubes 25 that have closed lower ends and are
secured to the underside of the said trough 15. By this means all splashing of
the water is prevented. There might be only one such set of pipes 24, 25. A
waste pipe 26 is provided to conduct away surplus water from the trough 15.
Valves with seats and water spindles as herein before described may advan-
tageously be combined in pairs as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 to form a gas reversing
valve. With the arrangement of such a valve described and shown, assuming the
valves 4 to be in the positions represented, and the mushroom valve 8 to be open,
then combustible gas can flow from the main 6 through the right hand casing 1 and
lateral passage 10 to the furnace flues leading to one of the gas regenerators, while
the hot products of combustion escaping through the other gas regenerator and
furnace flues, will pass through the left hand passage 10 and opening 9, and thence
to the chimney, and upon reversing the positions of the valves, the direction of flow
of the gas and products of combustion will also be reversed, each valve, in each of
its extreme positions, forming a gas tight joint with the corresponding seat. In
the case of air reversing valves, the branch passage 7 would communicate with
the external atmosphere, the communication being controlled by a suitable valve,
and the two lateral passages 10 would be placed in communication by separate flues
with the two air regenerators of a furnace. In other respects, the set of air
reversing valves would be similar in construction and work in the same way as the
set of gas reversing valves. For a regenerative gas furnace, there would be a set
of gas reversing valves, and a set of air reversing valves similar to the gas valves,
except in the particulars mentioned.
In the modified arrangement illustrated in Fig. 4, the rim or flange 14 of the
upper seat 2 is formed with a trough 27, and the rim or flange 16 of the valve is
formed with an outwardly projecting trough 28, the arrangement being such that
these troughs will become charged with water and offer an additional protection
against damage by heat.
A water seal and water supply spindle may be applied in connection with the
mushroom valve 8 for ensuring a gas tight joint when such valve is in its closed
position. Fig. 5 shows a construction suitable for this purpose. The valve 8 is
carried by a hollow spindle 8 through which water is caused to pass, and thence
flow through openings 8b, over the upper surface of the valve into a stationary
trough shaped seat 29 into which takes a downwardly extending rim 8d at the
periphery of the valve, when the valve is closed, the water finally flowing away
from the said seat through an overflow pipe 26. This valve may also be fashioned
in a similar manner to the upper surface of the valve 4 and be provided with one
or more depending telescopic pipes.
Although I have shown a pair of valves 4 with seats and hollow spindles, it will
be obvious that in some applications, a single valve with upper and lower seats
constructed as described might be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. A valve for regenerative and other furnaces, comprising a valve casing
provided with upper and lower valve seats of which the former has a downward
extension and the latter is formed as a trough, a vertically movable valve body
arranged to work between said seats and provided at its upper side with a trough
adapted to receive the downward extension of the upper seat, and at its lower side
with a downward extension adapted to take into the trough in the lower seat, and
means for supplying water to the troughs in the valve body and lower valve seat
respectively, substantially as herein described.
2. A valve of the kind referred to in the preceding claim in which the vertically

page_text: movable valve body is provided with a hollow spindle formed with water exit
openings at its lower inner end, and through which water can be caused to pass so
as to flow over the top of the valve body into the trough therein and thence to the
trough in the lower valve seat substantially as herein described.
3. My improved water sealed valves constructed and arranged substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to and shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, or
modified as shown in Fig. 4, whether used in pairs as reversing valves as shown or
singly.
Dated this 10th day of September 1894.