Improvements in Central Valves for Gas Purifiers.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th July, 1893-Accepted, 19th Aug., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Central Valves for Gas Purifiers.
We JOHN HEARNE, Gas Meter Maker, and WILLIAM JOHN STRONG, Black-
smith, both of No. 1063 Park Avenue, New York, in the County and State of
New York, United States of America 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 :-
66
Our invention relates to improvements in that class of valves known as centre
seals" which are used in connection with a plurality of gas purifiers, to direct the
gas into and out of said purifiers, and the object of our invention is to produce a
simple and easily operated seal which may be made of a capacity to connect with
any necessary number of purifiers, which is provided with a gas inlet and outlet
arranged in such a manner that the gas may flow unobstructedly through the seal,
and which has a plurality of supplemental and easily operated valves by which the
gas may be directed to any desired number of purifiers or may be cut off from one
or all of the purifiers without interfering with its flow through the seal, and this
arrangement is especially advantageous as it enables the operation of purifying to
be carried on through certain of the purifiers, even though the others should be out
of repair or unfit for use.
To these ends our invention consists in certain features of construction and
combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the
claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a plan view of the centre seal embodying our invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view, with the top portion removed;
Figure 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 3-3 in Figure 1 ;
Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 in Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 in Figure 1 ; and
Figure 6 is an inverted plan view of the top or cover of the seal.
The seal is provided with a suitable shell 10, which has a top or cover portion 11,
the interior construction of which is substantially like that of the bottom portion
of the seal, but this top portion may be turned on the lower portion so as to bring
the purifier ports into a desired position in relation to the gas inlet and outlet, as
hereinafter described. The shell 10 is provided with a vertical annular partition 12,
and with a plurality of radial partitions 13, thus dividing the shell into two series
of chambers 14 and 15, the series being placed concentric, and the chambers are
entirely separated from each other by the partitions named. In the centre of the
seal is a vertical partition or tube 16 which serves as an outlet tube, and the main
gas inlet pipe 17 extends inward through one side of the shell and terminates in a
vertical inlet pipe or tube 18, which extends up centrally through the outlet tube 16,
as shown clearly in Figures 2 and 3. The top 11 has the partitions 12 and 13,
which are placed exactly as in the lower portion of the shell, and when the
partitions above and below register, the chambers 14 and 15 are continuous from
the top to the bottom of the seal.
The tube 18 at its upper end, that is, that portion of the tube which is carried
by the top or cover 11, is cut away on one side, as shown at 19, to provide for the
passage of gas, this arrangement being best shown in Figure 4, and two adjacent
chambers 15 of the upper portion of the shell are provided with a transverse
partition 20 at this point, and the partition 20, as well as the two side partitions are
extended inward, as shown at 21 in Figure 6, to connect with the side opening in
D....6.1

page_text: the pipe 18, so that the gas which flows in through the said pipe will pass into the
upper part of one of the chambers 15, and to provide for the outlet, the plate or
partition 20 is extended across the second chamber 15, and this chamber is placed
in communication with the outlet tube 16, as shown clearly in Figure 6. The
tube 18 is braced opposite the cut-away portion by a rib 23, extending from the
wall of said tube to the wall of the tube 16. The chamber 15 connecting with
the outlet tube 16 through the passage 24, see Figure 5, is the last chamber through
which the gas passes after going through the purifiers, and from this point it passes
downward through the tube 16 and out through the outlet tube or pipe 25.
In the top of the seal, near the intersection of the partitions 13 and 12, are holes
or ports 26 and 27, which are arranged in pairs, the ports 26 communicating with
two adjacent chambers 15, and the ports 27 with two adjacent chambers 14.
Pivoted on the top of the case above these ports are revoluble supplemental
valves 28, which have a closed top 29, and each valve is provided with a vertical
transverse partition 30, which is adapted to register with a partition 13, or to lie
against the top of the case at right angles to said partition, thus separating the
chambers 15 completely from the chambers 14.
It will be seen that when the partition 30 registers with the partition 13, the gas
may flow from one chamber 15 through the valve and into the opposite chamber 14,
but when the partition 30 is at right angles to the partition 13, the gas will flow
upward from one chamber 15 through the valve 28, and back into the next
chamber 15. The valves 28 are each provided with a handle 31, by which they
may be turned, and their position may be determined by the handle and a suitable
mark on the seal top.
The chambers 14 are in connection with the gas purifiers (not shown) and as
illustrated the seal is adapted to connect with four purifiers, although it may be
made of any capacity. The gas under the arrangement shown will therefore flow
out from one of the chambers 14 through an outlet pipe or port 32, and back to the
next chamber through a port or pipe 32, thence through one of the valves 28, and
so through the next purifier, as will be described presently.
The top 11 may be turned by means of any suitable mechanism, and as the seal
is usually a somewhat massive affair, gearing is generally employed to turn the top.
The top is provided with indicators or pointers 33, which project outward and
which are spaced so that one will be above a pipe or port 32 when the other is
above the next pipe or port 32ª. One of these indicators is directly opposite the
inlet opening or port 19 in the pipe 18, and consequently the position of these
indicators or pointers will show the point at which the gas enters the seal, and the
first purifier to which the gas naturally flows.
If the gas is to be sent to all the purifiers, the several valves 28 are set with
their partitions 30 parallel with the partitions 13, and the top 11 is adjusted so
that the upper and lower portions of the partitions 12 and 13 register, so that the
chambers 14 and 15 are continuous from top to bottom. The gas will then flow
inward through the pipes 17 and 18, pass through the opening or port 19, through
the port or passage 21 to the upper part of one of the chambers 15, thence up
through a port 26 above the seal top, thence through the adjacent port 27 to the
outer chamber 14, thence out through one of the ports or pipes 32, through the
purifier connected with the said pipe, thence back through the next pipe 32ª to
another chamber 14, thence up through the opposite side of the valve 28, thence
back through a port 26 to the next chamber 15, thence through the next valve 28
and the next pair of pipes 32 and 32ª and the purifier connected therewith, and so
on around the entire seal and the whole series of purifiers until the gas which
passes the last valve 28 enters the upper portion of the last chamber 15 above the
partition 22, and from here the gas passes out through the port 24, the outlet
tube 16 and the outlet pipe 25.
The gas may be shut off from any purifier by simply turning one of the valves 28
above the pipes connected with said purifier, so that the partition 30 is at right
angles to the partition 13 beneath, which is illustrated at A, in Figure 1. When

page_text: this is done the gas which passes upward into the valve from the chamber 15
beneath, cannot pass the partition 30 to one of the holes 27, but passes through the
side of the valve and into the next hole or port 26 to the adjacent chamber 15,
and so on to the next set of purifiers, and it will be readily seen that in this way
the valves 28 may be adjusted if desired so as to shut off all the purifiers and
permit a free flow of gas through the seal, or any particular one or more can be
shut off if desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is -
1. A centre seal for gas purifiers, comprising a shell having a revoluble top, a
plurality of inner and outer concentric chambers, a plurality of valves arranged
upon the shell and adapted to direct the flow of gas from the inner to an outer
chamber or from one inner chamber to the next inner chamber, an inlet pipe
adapted to deliver into an upper compartment of one of the inner chambers, an
outlet pipe in connection with an upper compartment of an adjacent inner chamber,
and ports or pipes opening into the outer chambers and adapted to connect with gas
purifiers, substantially as specified.
2. A centre seal of the kind described, comprising a shell having a revoluble top
portion, inner and outer concentric chambers arranged within the shell and formed
by radial and concentric partitions, compartments formed in the upper portions of
two adjacent inner chambers, inlet and outlet tubes placed concentrically in the
centre of the seal, the inlet tube delivering into one of said upper compartments
and the outlet tube being in connection with the other compartment, a gas supply
pipe connected with the inlet tube, ports produced in the top of the seal and above
the intersecting partitions, revoluble valves held to turn above the ports, each
valve having a transverse partition, and ports or pipes connected with the outer
chambers of the seal and adapted to connect with the gas purifiers, substantially as
specified.
3. A centre seal for gas purifiers, comprising a shell having a plurality of inner
and outer concentric chambers, a transverse partition arranged in the upper part
of two inner chambers so as to form compartments in said chambers, an inlet tube
arranged vertically in the seal and connected with one of the said compartments,
a supply pipe connected with the inlet tube, an outlet tube arranged around the
inlet tube and connected with the other of said compartments and with an outlet
pipe, ports leading from the outer chambers of the seal and adapted to connect
with gas purifiers, ports produced in the seal top near the walls of adjacent
chambers, and revoluble valves arranged above said ports and adapted to connect
the inner and outer chambers or to connect the inner chambers and shut off the
outer chambers, substantially as specified.
4. A centre seal for gas purifiers, consisting of the shell 10 having the revoluble
top 11 and provided with the inner and outer chambers 15, 14, two of the
chambers 15 being divided by the partition 20, the central vertical outlet tube 16
the laterally extending outlet pipe 25 connected with the tube 16, the inlet tube 18
within the tube 16 and having its upper part cut away at 19 and the inlet pipe 17
connected with the tube 18, and the revoluble valves 29 above the top of the
casing and provided with the vertical partition 30, the said valves being adapted to
establish communication between the inner and outer chambers 15 and 14 or with
two of the inner chambers 15, substantially as herein shown and described.
voury 1000.
J. HEARNE,
W. J. STRONG,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.