Improvements in Regulating Devices for Use in connection with Vacuum Pumps.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd June, 1839-Accepted, 20th July, 1893.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by Louis WEHNER, of Point and Elm Streets,
Camden, in the County of Camden, State of New Jersey, United States of
America.]
Improvements in Regulating Devices for Use in connection with
Vacuum Pumps.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 apparatus where a vacuum pump is operated to create a partial vacuum it
is desirable that a uniform partial vacuum should be maintained.
This is particularly desirable in those steam heating systems where a vacuum
pump is utilized to create a partial vacuum at the tail end for the purpose of
drawing out of the heating apparatus the air or water of condensation. In such
systems the varying conditions under which the system is operating, such e.g. as
a change of the amount of radiating surface, by the opening or shutting off of
radiators, or an increase or decrease in the supply of steam, are liable to affect
the partial vacuum created or maintained in the returns, and it is desirable that
the vacuum creating devices or pumps, should be correspondingly regulated to
meet such changed conditions and maintain a uniform, or substantially uniform,
partial vacuum.
For this purpose I have provided a governor device of special construction,
adapted to control the supply of steam to a pump or other vacuum creating
device, regulated by the partial vacuum created thereby.
My improved apparatus for this purpose is shown in the accompanying drawing
in which:
Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a governor embodying my invention; and
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a pump with the governor attachment.
A is a hollow casing flaring at the bottom at B and provided with an inlet a
connected with a branch suction pipe C communicating with the suction side of
the pump D.
E is a flexible diaphragm, which may be of leather or other suitable material
secured to the base of the casing A and closing the bottom thereof.
F, G are metal discs or plates located one above and one below the central
portion of the diaphragm and connected together by a screw f passing through
the diaphragm and clamping the plates F, G, firmly upon it.
H is a spring within the casing A, bearing upon the upper plate F at one end,
and at the upper end against a nut I. J is a screw extending through the top
of the casing and bearing against the nut I, by which the nut may be adjusted
to regulate the tension of the spring H upon the diaphragm.
K is a fráme located below the casing A and secured to the flaring base B
thereof. The upper portion of this frame K consists of an annular plate K¹

page_text: and is fastened to the base B by screws k, with the outer edge of the diaphragm E
clamped between the parts B and K' as shown.
The central portion of the frame K' is open so that atmospheric pressure will
act externally upon the diaphragm E.
"
L is the casing of the steam supply valve to the pump D. The bonnet L' of
the valve casing L is connected with the depending frame K in line with the
center of the diaphragm E.
M is the valve in the casing L which controls the passage of steam through
the supply pipe N to the pump D. The stem of the valve M extends up
through a stuffing box in the bonnet and is connected with the lower plate G
of the diaphragm E, preferably through an adjustable connection by the screw
threaded endo, engaging a threaded bossy in the plate G, and the nut P.
The operation of this device is as follows:
The pump D is driven by steam supplied through a pipe N and operates to
create a partial vacuum in the suction pipe C₁; this partial vacuum or suction
extends through the branch pipe C into the governor chamber A. The spring H
therein acting on the diaphragm E tends to hold the valve M open, so that the
steam is supplied freely to the pump D through the pipe N. The spring H is
adjusted to maintain the valve M in proper position to impart the desired speed
of operation in the pump to produce the amount of partial vacuum desired.
Whenever the partial vacuum created exceeds this amount the pressure within
the chamber A is lowered and atmospheric pressure acting externally on the
diaphragm E, against the action of the spring H, will lift the diaphragm and
proportionally close the valve M and decrease the steam supply to the pump D,
correspondingly decreasing its speed and the partial vacuum created in the
pipe C. Any decrease in the partial vacuum created by the pump N will corre-
spondingly increase the pressure in the casing A and operate the diaphragm
to proportionally open the valve M and increase the supply of steam to the
pump D.
The details of construction that have been shown may be varied without de-
parting from the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
First: The apparatus for controlling the operation of vacuum pumps sub-
stantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Second: The apparatus of the character described for controlling the operation
of vacuum pumps carried by the supply pipe through a depending frame K.
Dated this 23rd day of June 1899.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.