Year: 1886

page_text: I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from
W. A. Ogden Hegeman of 261 Broadway, New York, United States of America
Counsellor at Law) 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 safety or relief valves.
The object is to produce a safety or relief valve which shall be simple and
economic in construction and positive and reliable in operation; and between the
working parts of which there will be little or no friction to retard the movement
thereof; the said valve to be capable of being applied either directly to a reservoir
containing fluid such as gas, air, steam or water under pressure, or to the outlet
therefrom; and adapted to be operated to allow the escape of the fluid when an
excess of pressure exists thus to maintain an even pressure in the reservoir; the
said valve being capable of being adjustable to hold the fluid at any suitable
pressure without allowing it to escape.
With these objects in view the invention consists essentially of the combination
with the outlet pipe of a reservoir steam dome or the like of a valve and cylinder
situated a suitable distance apart connected with said reservoir or pipe and
communicating with each other by a common conduit or by independent
connections with the said reservoir steam dome or pipe containing the fluid
under pressure; the valve being joined to the piston of the cylinder by an
operating lever provided with an adjustable weight which tends to keep the valve
closed whilst the pressure of the fluid acting upon the area of the piston in the
cylinder tends to lift the valve opening it; so that as the piston noves up and
down the valve is opened or closed. Furthermore the invention consists in various
novel details of construction combined, as will be clearly hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 is a central, longitudinally vertical section of a portion of the outlet
pipe from a reservoir steam dome or the like in which fluid is held under pressure
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page_text: Figure 2 represents a similar view of a modified form of the relief device for
valve, the same being shown as connected directly with a reservoir steam dome or
the like.
In these drawings A represents the outlet pipe which is connected at any suitable
point to the reservoir in which the fluid is contained. B represents a cylinder.
which is placed in the outlet pipe from the reservoir or pipe containing the fluid
under pressure and through which cylinder the fluid passes from the reservoir.
This cylinder may be set in the circuit or outflow from the reservoir containing
the fluid under pressure so that said fluid may escape or flow from said reservoir
past the piston on which it acts and thence through the relief valve opened; or
the cylinder may be directly connected or connected by a pipe from and
communicate with the said reservoir but have no communication with the valve
by conduit but the escape of the fluid through the valve when opened be by means
of a pipe or connection communicating with said reservoir independently of the
cylinder. In the cylinder B is a piston C provided with the projection C which 1
extends upward beyond the packing of the cylinder and is provided with a
bifurcated end in which is mounted a roller c upon which bears a lever D or said
lever may be otherwise suitably connected with said piston. c¹ represents a button
or projection at base of piston or it may also be at base of cylinder to insure
pressure at base of piston. E represents a valve chamber which is placed in an
outlet pipe from said reservoir a suitable distance from the cylinder B. This
chamber contains a valve F which consists of two portions of f and f¹ connected by
a rod 2. The valve F is provided with the upward extending stem f³ and the
downward extending stem f. The lower stem enters a socket e in the lower
portion of the valve chamber in which it slides and by means of which it is 1
retained in its proper place and guided in its movement up and down. The upper
stem fais pivotally connected with the operating lever D by means of which it is
moved up and down. The outside of the valve chamber is provided with the
rigid guiding arm e¹ and the pivoted arm e². To this latter the end of the
operating rod D is pivoted.
The valve chamber E is provided with two ports E¹ and E' so arranged that the
lower wall of the upper chamber forms the upper wall of the lower chamber and
the opening or diaphragm in the same forms the seat for the valve Ff f¹.
Thus it will be seen that the wall referred to, forms what is practically a
diaphragm which in connection with the valve affords means of allowing reducing
or stopping the flow of fluid through the valve chamber. E³ represents a vent in
the side of the valve chamber situated below the portion "f" of the valve, the
purpose of which opening is to admit air below the valve for the purpose of
compensating for the atmospheric pressure on the upper portion of the valve;
likewise for the escape of any fluid which may leak through the packing of the
lower piston f.
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The pivoted lever D which is connected to the piston rod and the valve is
provided with the movable and adjustable weight D¹ which tends to keep the valve
closed having a set screw D*' by means of which the said-weight may be secured to
the lever at any desired point to regulate the force necessary to be exerted upon
the piston to raise it and thereby open the escape valve. The nearer the weight is
placed to the point at which the lever is connected to the valve, of course the easier
it will be to raise the said lever and vice versa.
In Figure 2 of the drawings I have illustrated a modified form of the safety
valve which is adapted to be placed directly upon the reservoir, steam dome or the
like instead of upon any suitable pipe therefrom. In this form the cylinder B
and the valve E are each connected directly (but communicate independently)
with the body of the receptacle; and the pressure of the fluid contained therein is
exerted directly upon the piston C and is communicated to the operating lever D
by means of which the valve is operated: In order to simplify the construction of
this modified form, the valve is so arranged as to be depressed when an excess
of pressure exists in the reservoir thus forming an opening around the top of the

page_text: valve chamber. The interior of the valve chamber communicates directly with
the reservoir or dome and it is provided on the inside with a cylinder H suitably
connected by radial arms with the wall of the valve chamber E in which the valve
body F moves up and down being provided with the packing suitable for the fluid
to be used and is also provided with a circular internal passage between said
cylinder H and the outer wall of the valve chamber E for the escape of the fluid
through the reservoir when the valve is depressed and opening in the diaphragm
made in the top of the chamber.
When the valve is in a closed position, its upper end which is slightly tapering
presses against the upper end of the valve chamber which forms the valve seat the
opening in which is slightly flared in order to form a close joint with the valve.
Inasmuch as in the modified form of the valve the valve proper has to be depressed
in order to allow the escape of the fluid, instead of raised, as in the preferred form
the operating lever is pivoted between the points at which it is joined to the
operating piston and the valve instead of beyond where it is joined to the valve as
in the preferred form to raise it as shown in Figure 1.
It will of course be understood that although I have particularly described the
construction and arrangement of the improved fluid or relief valve, various
modifications thereof other than shown may be employed without departing from
the spirit of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :—.
The herein described safety valve consisting of the combination with the outlet
pipe of the cylinder the balanced valve and the piston each communicating with
the fluid under pressure in a reservoir and an operating lever connecting the piston
of the lever and the valve; the said lever being connected with an adjustable
weight whereby the degree of pressure necessary to operate the valve is regulated
substantially as described.
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