Automatic Water Trap for Air Compressors.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Oct., 1895-Accepted, 30th Nov., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Automatic Water Trap for Air Compressors.
I, PETER BROTHERHOOD, of Belvedere Road, Lambeth in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, 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 :-
In compressing air for torpedoes and other purposes it is usual to inject water,
preferably distilled water, into the compressor in order to fill up clearance spaces,
to cool and lubricate the working parts and moisten the packings. This water
issuing from the compressor along with the compressed air has to be separatel
therefrom by means of a trap in which the water is deposited, and from which it
is run off from time to time as it accumulates. My invention relates to a construc-
tion of trap for this purpose, which operates automatically, the water issuing from
it whenever it accumulates to a certain extent, without requiring the intervention
of any attendant. I shall describe a trap according to my invention referring to
the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the upper part on a plane of section at right angles
to that of Fig. 1.
Within a closed tubular casing A I suspend by a central rod B a tubular
receptacle C which is closed at the bottom and has fixed within it near its top a
guide ring D which is free to slide vertically on an inner tube E which is open at
the bottom and at the top is fixed in the central part of the cover F. This cover
has, on the one side, an inlet G for the damp compressed air leading to a drip
pipe g, and, on the opposite side, an outlet H for the air from which the water has
been deposited. Also, from the upper part of the cover F there is an outlet J for
the deposited water. The upper part 6 of the central rod B is formed as a piston
slide valve, above which it has screwed on it a nut K which rests on a helical
spring. Above the nut K there is a striker L, the stem of which extends
up through a hole and is attached to a sliding cap M containing a helical spring m.
The apparatus operates as follows:-
The spring being adjusted by the nut K so as to support the weight of the
receptacle C and control rod B in such a position as that shewn, in which position
the slide valve b closes the passage to the outlet J, water dropping from the
drip pipe g accumulates in the lower part of C increasing its weight until it
descends lowering the valve b so far as to open the passage to the outlet J. The
water is then forced from the bottom of Cup the tube E past the valve b and out
by J until the weight on the spring is so far reduced that B and C rise again
closing the passage to J. In case the valve should accidentally stick it can be
readily loosened by a blow on the cap M causing the striker L to strike the end
of the rod B. The striker is then raised again by the spring m and seats itself as
a valve preventing escape by the hole through which its stem / passes. The
cover F is made in two parts, the upper part being screwed at finto the lower
part; so that on unserewing and removing the upper part, all the internal parts
of the apparatus can be drawn out of the casing A for cleansing or repair. Any
water that may accidentally accumulate at the bottom of A can be run off by an
opening closed by a screw valve a.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
An automatic water trap for air compressors constructed and operating substan-
tially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 28th day of October 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.