Year: 1885

page_text: I, WARREN SEYMOUR JOHNSON, residing at 2429, Cedar Street, Milwaukee, in
the County of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, in the United States of
America Electrician, 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:―
My invention relates to that class of devices which regulate temperatures by
automatically controlling the sources of heat such as steam pipes hot air flues etc,
and consists of a system of temperature regulation which will be more fully set
forth hereinafter.
In the drawings
Fig. 1 is a representation of a system of steam heating with my system of
automatic regulation combined therewith.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of one of my main diaphragm valves..
Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view and
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of my electrically actuated auxiliary valve which
controls the admission of the fluid used to the expansible chambers of the diaphragm
valves.
My invention more directly relates to the system of controlling the source of
heat by means of a thermostat which makes and breaks an electric current the
said electric current in turn operating a small valve which is connected with some
fluid under pressure such as steam, water, air etc.
As the current operates the small valve the fluid under pressure enters an
expansible chamber by the movement of whose walls the main valve is operated.
My present invention has special reference to certain forms of steam and hot
air heating.
A is a steam or hot air generator supposed to be placed in the basement of a
building. The generator A has the supply pipe a, with its divisions a¹, a¹, leading
to the coils or radiators B, B, B.
It has also the return pipe c, with its branches c¹, c¹, leading from the radiators B, B,
back to the generator A. Each of the coils or radiators B, B, is provided with the
supply valve C and the return valve C¹, and these valves are of the construction
shown in detail in Fig. 2.

page_text: Each valve C and C has the valve disc D which serves to control the steam
passages a¹ and c¹, of the supply and return pipes respectively and each valve is
also supplied with an expansible chamber E¹ having a movable wall or diapbragin E.
When the chamber E¹ is expanded by means of the admission of a fluid under
pressure it pushes the valve D to its seat by means of its stem d.
The expansible chambers E' of each of the valves C, C, C, and of the valves C¹,
C₁, C¹, are connected by the pipe F and its branches f, f, f, and f¹, f¹, ƒ³, respec-
tively to the reservoir G of fluid under pressure (as compressed air tank of
water etc) and between the reservoir G and the first valve (C) of the system is
situated in the pipe F the electrically actuated valve H which serves to admit the
air or other fluid to the expansible chambers of the main valves C, C, etc or to
release said air or other fluid therefrom and when said air is released from the
expansible chamber E¹ the pressure of the spring which surrounds the valve stem d,
against its cup shaped top part will raise the same and with it, stem d, and
valve disc D and open the passage below said disc D. as hereinafter described. The
auxiliary valve H is shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. I is a thermostat situated
in the apartment which the coils or radiators B, B, B, are intended to heat.
This thermostat is connected by the wires i, i, i, with the electric battery J and
the electrically actuated valve H. This valve H consists of a chamber H¹ con-
taining a piston valve h, which is lifted by the armature lever h¹, when the electric
circuit is made by the thermostat and this permits the fluid from the reservoir G
to enter the valve chamber H' from the pipe F through the passage h² and to pass
out of said chamber through the passage h³ into the pipe F on the other side of the
valve H and thus through the branches finto the expansible chambers E¹ in the
valves C, C, C, as hereinafter explained and the said valve chamber H has an
outlet at the top which is closed by the upper end of the piston valve h, when
the passages h², H, ³, are open as shown in Fig. 3.
The particular location of the reservoir G and battery J is immaterial and the
pipe F may be bent in any way (as shown in Fig. 4) necessary to secure a con-
venient location for the auxiliary valve H. The thermostat I serves by changes
of temperatures to make and break the electric circuit which operates the valve H
which in turn admits or releases the fluid under pressure to or from the expansible
chambers E, E¹, etc in the main valves. As the expansion and contraction of the
said chambers operates the valves, it is evident that the making and breaking of
the electric current by the thermostat I will control the supply of steam and thus
the temperature of the room.
My present invention essentially consists in so systematizing this manner of
regulating temperatures that a single thermostat and electrically actuated valve
will control a great number of valves which govern the supply of heat to a room
and to effectually exclude the source of heat from each part of the system.
To accomplish the latter effect, I have heretofore used check valves on the return
pipes c¹, c, c¹, of the coils or radiators B, B, B, but owing to the lack of reliability
of action of check valves I have devised my present method of closing both the
supply valves C, C, C, and the return valves C, C, C¹, automatically by fluid
under pressure thus effectually excluding the steam or other fluid which is the
source of heat.
In placing the supply valve C and the return valve C', on the pipes I place
them so that when they are closed the pressure in the supply pipe a¹ will tend to
press against the underside of the valve disc D, in the supply valve C and open it
while the pressure in the return pipe c', will press against the upper side of the
disc D in the return valve C₁, and tend to keep it closed.
The reason of this arrangement is as follows Each radiator is necessarily
supplied with an air valve K for when said radiator is for a longer or shorter
period shut off from the steam system it will unavoidably be filled with air.
When the steam is again admitted if there is no escape for the air the radiator
will not be perfectly filled with steam. The air valve K is so made that the air
can escape but when steam or hot water endeavors to pass through it automatically

page_text: closes by the expansion due to the heat, as is well known in ordinary air valves of
this kind.
Now if the valve C and C¹ both open at the same time the steam would enter
equally at both ends and before the steam from the supply pipe at had forced out
the air from the air valve K the steam or, water, from the return pipe c', would
reach it and close it by means of the expansion due to heat, and thus the
radiator, B, would still retain a great part of the air, and not be sufficiently
heated.
On the other hand, if the valves, C, and, C³, are arranged as in my device, the
valve, C, will open first, and admit the steam, since the pressure on the valve
disc, D, of the valve, C, will hold it shut until the pressure is equalized, when it
will open by means of its spring.
In large apartments it is either inconvenient or impossible to so arrange the
pipes which supply the heat that a single valve will serve to shut off the supply,
and a single valve the return.
At the same time it is unnecessary or inconvenient to have more than one
thermostat and electrically actuated valve which controls the fluid under pressure
and for operating the main valves, and hence, in my present system I connect all of
the various supply and return valves of the pipes which heat the room with one
electrically actuated valve, controlling the supply of air or other fluid under
pressure, and use a single thermostat which automatically actuates said electric-
valve.
By this system the making and breaking of the electric current will operate the
entire series of main valves, thereby controlling all of the various sources of heat
simultaneously.
It will be understood that in describing the heat, while I have most generally
used the term steam my present invention is adapted equally as well to for hot air
heating.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
Ist. In a system of temperature regulation, the combination of one thermostat
which serves to control, through the means of a liquid under pressure the valves
which govern the supply of heat to an apartment, with said valves, and the fluid
under pressure, and a supply valve which shuts against the pressure from the
steam generator, and a return valve which shuts with said pressure, substantially
as set forth.
2nd. In a system of temperature regulation, the combination of one thermostat
which serves to control, by means of a fluid under pressure, the valves which
govern the admission of heat to the apartment in which the thermostat is situated,
with said valves, and the fluid under pressure, and two or more main valves con-
nected with the source of heat, whereby all of the main valves are operated at the
same time by means of one thermostat, substantially as set forth.
3rd. In a system of temperature regulation, the combination with a system of
heating pipes, of a system of pipes containing fluid under pressure, and a thermostat
that serves to control said fluid under pressure, whereby said fluid under pressure
operates the valves governing the supply of heat in the heating system, sub-
stantially as set forth.
4th. In a system of temperature regulation the combination of a system of
heating pipes having valves operated by a fluid under pressure, a system of pipes
containing and conveying said fluid under pressure, an electrically actuated valve
which serves to admit or release the fluid under pressure when it actuates said
valves in the heating system, and a suitable electric generator and thermostat in
circuit with said electric valve, whereby the thermostat through the means of the
electric-valve and the system of pipes containing a fluid under pressure operates
the entire series of main valves in the heating system, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 5th. In a system of temperature regulation, the combination of a heat
generator, A, and system of heating pipes leading therefrom, provided with
the supply valves, C, and return valves, C, with the coils or radiators, B, B,
reservoir, G, containing fluid under pressure, pipe, F, and connections, and
thermostat, I, connected by wires, i, i, i, with battery, J, and valve, H, on the
pipe, F, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 1at dahan 100%