AN IMPROVED STEAM-TRAP APPLICABLE ALSO AS A GAS PRESSURE REGULATOR
Year: 1885

page_text: I, RUDOLF KULLIG, Engineer, of Elberfeld, Germany, do hereby declare the
nature of said Invention for "AN IMPROVED STEAM-TRAP APPLICABLE ALSO AS A
GAS PRESSURE REGULATOR," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This improvement relates to steam traps and has for its object to remove the
drawbacks, contained in Royle's apparatus,
In Royle's apparatus, working with a bell-shaped float, the lateral steam inlet
tube forms also the axis of the bell float, and the steam tube and the float form
together a stop-cock.
The improved steam trap, illustrated by the annexed drawings, Figs. I-III,
belongs to Royle's system, that is to say, it works with bell-shaped float, under
which steam has accumulated, which lifts the float and thereby stops the steam
inlet, until the steam under the bell is condensed.
By condensing, the bell falls, and the condensed water runs out. When
subsequently steam begins to flow out of the pipe f, the bell is again lifted and
thereby the pipe closed.
The improved apparatus has, over the hitherto used Royle's steam traps, provided
with a lateral steam inlet pipe and with a stop cock, the advantage, that no
packing is required for a rotating axle, because the inlet pipe enters the bell freely
from underneath. Further, by this arrangement of the lower inlet pipe, a valve
may be used, which is completely separated from the oscillating bell c and is
applied directly to the stationary inlet pipe f and guided along the same.
A further advantage is the application of a lifting valve, in lieu of the hitherto
used circular slide valve, required by the hitherto used lateral arrangement of the
steam inlet tube. By these means, not only is the valve under steam pressure,
by which it is always securely opened, but also by increasing the volume of
steam in the bell c, the pressure of the valve against its seat is increased (by the
increased buoyancy) that is to say, eventual leakages of the valve are compensated
for by stronger pressure..
.
The described arrangement offers the great advantage, that the inlet pipe f and
the outlet are completely free, when the valve is open.

page_text: -
None of the existing appliances is provided with this free inlet and outlet, one
of which being always narrowed by the valve seat, valve-rod etc.
Also regarding the system with pot-shaped floats, the improved apparatus offers
the afore mentioned advantages in combination
1) with less condensation of steam, the steam always being condensed only in
the bell, surrounded with hot water, whereas with the pot-float, the free exposed
condensing vessel offers a much larger and more effective surface for condensation.
2) with greater protection from explosion, as only the inlet pipe f is under
steam pressure both advantages are shared by all appliances of Royle's system.
a is a balance weight, secured to the bell c and serving to adjust the action of
the bell; 6 is an air valve, as used in Royle's steam traps.
The bell c with the weight a and arm de swings after the filling of c. d is the
fulcrum. The lever de is provided with a set screw for the correct support of the
valve, the valve being preferably loose in or on the inlet pipe f.
U
This apparatus may, in its complete combination, also be used as a gas pressure
regulator, as the pressure can be varied at pleasure and always exactly regulated.
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
In steam traps and gas pressure regulators:
The combination of a steam inlet pipe f, leading into the bell from underneath,
with a valve or flap, adapted to be opened by the pressure of the steam and to
close under the influence of the buoyancy of the bell, acting on a lever so, that the
closing pressure of the valve increases with the buoyancy..