Improvements in or relating to Lubricators.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 16th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 24th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Lubricators.
I, JOHN MCEWAN WRIGHT of 23, Chapel Street, Lower Ince near Wigan in
the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to sight feed lubricators applicable for steam engines or
for other purposes. It is so designed that, when the steam is shut off, the
lubricator will stop working but will commence working again when the steam is
turned on.
In carrying my invention into effect, the plan I prefer is to provide the lubricator
with two valves: one at or near the bottom of the sight feed glass, and the other
at or near the top or above the glass. These valves are formed in a peculiar
manner: one of them (the lower) having a nozzle or cone, a valve seating with
small openings at the side and a ball or other suitable valve; the other valve (the
upper one) is formed with a seating and ball valve, and, instead of the cone,
a suitable stop may be provided for preventing the ball rising too high. The
valves are, of course, made of such weight that steam will raise them off their
seats when required.
In my experimental apparatus, the lubricator is mounted on, or in connection
with, an oil cistern from which the supply of oil is obtained. The intake pipes
communicating with the condenser may be fixed to the steam pipes between the
engine and throttle valves, and the discharge pipes passing through the oil
cistern aforesaid may be fixed to the steam pipes between the boiler and the
throttle valve.
The mode of action is as follows :-
The force of oil passing through the lubricator will open the valve, but when
the throttle valve is closed and the steam shut off the intake pipes, the upper ball
valve will be forced down on its seat by the pressure of steam in the discharge
pipes, thus causing the lubricator to stop working when the steam is shut off the
engine. The motion of the oil passing through the nozzle of the lower valve is so
slow that the oil will find its way through the small openings in the seating when
the ball is resting in its seat, but, should the sight feed glass break, the velocity of
the oil thus liberated will cause the valve to be forced up into the cone of the
nozzle, as the openings, under such conditions, are too small to enable the oil to
pass through quickly enough. This forcing up of the ball into the cone will close
the passage and prevent any loss of the oil until the glass is repaired. At the
same time, the pressure in the discharge pipes will force the ball of the other valve
down on its seat and prevent any escape of oil in that direction. I propose to
carry the discharge pipe through the centre of the oil tank, by which means the
oil in this tank is kept at a high enough temperature to enable the lubricator to
work in the coldest weather, and the use of a gas jet or lamp to prevent congealing
is obviated.
It is preferable to have a tap between the condensor and the oil cistern, together
with a small pet tap on top of the condensor to let the air off before starting
the lubricator.

page_text: The main advantages of my invention are as follows-
1st. If it be fixed on an engine and steam be shut off, the lubricator will
immediately stop working, but will commence working again when the steam is
turned on.
2nd. If the sight glass should break, no oil will be lost, as the ball valve would
at once be forced up into the cone by the pressure of the oil.
3rd. The lubricator is self-heating by passing discharge pipes from the lubricator
through the oil cistern.
I have described one way in which my invention may be carried into effect, but
it is obvious that, having once given the idea, other kinds of valves beside balls
may be employed, also that my arrangement of valves may be applied to almost
any kind of lubricator, as I do not limit its use to lubricators of any particular
kind.
Dated this 15th day of January 180
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Lubricators.
1, JOHN MEWAN WRIGHT of 23, Chapel Street, Lower Ince near Wigan in
the County of Lancaster 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 relates to sight feed lubricators applicable for steam engines or
for other purposes. It is so designed that, when the steam is shut off, the
lubricator will stop working, but will commence working again when the steam is
turned on.
The invention will be understood from the following description, reference being
had to the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my apparatus, and
Figures 2 and 3 detail views.
In carrying my invention into effect, I provide the lubricator with two valves,
one A near the bottom of the sight feed glass A' and the other B at or near the
top or above the glass. These valves are formed in a peculiar manner, one of
them A having a valve seating c with small openings at OO, a ball c' or other
suitable valve and a nozzle or second valve seating C; the other valve B is formed
with a seat band valve b¹ and instead of a conc, a suitable stop D may be provided
for preventing the valve rising too high. This elongated stop D is hollowed out to
receive the part of the valve and I find in practice that by this construction
the valve bis shielded to a sufficient extent from the back pressure. E is a stopper
or cap which enables the sight feed glass to be filled with water. The lubricator
is mounted on or in connection with an oil cistern or reservoir F from which the
supply of oil is obtained, and this reservoir is filled through the plug F¹. It is
provided with a drain valve e and vent plug e. G is the condenser formed of a
hollow bulb, H the intake pipe which receives steam from the steam pipe, preferably
at a point between the engine and the main valve or regulator. I the dip pipe
which communicates at its upper end with the condenser and at its lower end with
the oil reservoir. J the discharge pipe which communicates with the steam pipe
which leads to the steam chest or other part of the engine. Na pet tap on top of
condenser to let the air off before starting the lubricator.
The mode of action is as follows →
The sight feed glass being filled with water through the stopper E and the
valves K L M opened, the steam entering through H passes into the condenser G

page_text: where it condenses and finds its way by the dip pipe I into the oil reservoir F in
the form of water, and acts as a medium for raising the oil, the oil floating on the
surface of the water. The valve M being open, the oil passes through the small
openings in the valve A, ascends through the water in the sight feed glass
through valve B and along the pipe J to the pipe H and thence to the steam pipe.
When however the steam is shut off the engine, the upper valve B will drop down
in its seat by its own weight and the lubricator will stop working. The motion of
the oil, when the lubricator is in action, passing through the openings O of the
lower valve A is so slow that the oil will find its way through these openings O
when the ball is resting on its seat c, but should the sight feed glass A' break, the
velocity of the oil thus liberated will cause the ball c' to be forced up into the cone
or second seating C, as the opening under such conditions is too small to enable the
oil to pass through quick enough. This forcing up of the ball into the cone will
close the passage and prevent any loss of oil until the glass is repaired; at the
same time the pressure in the discharge pipe will force the upper valve onto its
seat and prevent any escape of oil in that direction.
The discharge pipe J is carried through the centre of the oil tank F by which
means the oil in this tank is kept at a high enough temperature to enable the
lubricator to work in the coldest weather and the use of a gas jet or lamp to prevent
congealing is obviated.
The main advantages of my invention are as follows-
1. If it be fixed on an engine and steam be shut off, the lubricator will
immediately stop working, but will commence working again when the steam is
turned on.
2. If the sight glass should break, no oil will be lost, as the ball valve would at
once be forced up into the cone by the pressure of the oil.
3. The lubricator is self heating by passing discharge pipes from the lubricator
through the oil cistern.
I have described one way in which my invention may be carried into effect but
it is obvious that having once given the idea, my arrangement of valve may be
applied to other kinds of lubricators, as I do not limit their use to lubricators of
any one kind. Furthermore, it is obvious that the discharge pipe J may lead
direct to the steam chest or other part of the engine instead of discharging into the
steam pipe.
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 :-
1. The improvement in sight feed lubricators which consists in providing them
with automatic shut off valves so arranged that if the sight glass breaks the force
of oil, steam or water impinging against them will force them against valve seats,
thus closing the valves and so preventing the loss or escape of oil, steam or water
until the connection with the boiler is cut off, substantially as described.
2. An automatic valve for sight feed lubricators formed of a valve seating c with
small openings o for the passage of oil, a ball or other suitable valve c¹ and a nozzle
or second seating C whereby when the lubricator is in action the oil will find its
way through the openings O, but should the sight feed glass break, the velocity of
the oil thus liberated will cause the valve to be forced up onto the second
seating C and close the valve, thus preventing any loss of oil until the glass is
repaired.
3. In a sight feed lubricator, the arrangement for keeping the oil warm in the
reservoir namely, arranging the discharge or delivery pipe for the oil in com-
munication with the steam pipe or steam chest of the engine and carrying this
discharge pipe through the oil reservoir, whereby the steam in the pipe will keep
the oil in the reservoir at a high enough temperature to enable the lubricator to
work in the coldest weather.

page_text: 4. The automatic shut off valve sight feed lubricator as a whole substantially as
set forth.
Dated this 15th day of October 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, and London,
Patent Agents.