Improvements in Self-acting Apparatus for Raising or Forcing Liquid by Steam, Compressed Air, or other Elastic Fluid under Pressure.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 27th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 27th Jan., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Self-acting Apparatus for Raising or Forcing
Liquid by Steam, Compressed Air, or other Elastic Fluid under
Pressure.
I, PAUL KESTNER, of 40 Boulevard Vauban, Lille (Nord), France, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:—
In the Specification to my Patent No. 15648 of 1892 1 described an apparatus
for raising or forcing liquid by elastic fluid pressure consisting of a closed vessel
communicating firstly with a vessel containing the liquid to be raised or forced,
secondly with the vessel into which the liquid was to be raised or forced, thirdly
with a pipe supplying the fluid pressure, and fourthly with an escape pipe for air.
The openings of the escape pipe and the fluid pressure supply pipe were con-
trolled by a double valve connected to a float in such a manner that when the
vessel was being filled with the liquid to be raised, the float by its weight held the
valve of the fluid pressure supply closed and the valve of the escape pipe open,
while when the vessel was filled with liquid, the float allowed the valve of the
fluid pressure supply to open and closed the valve of the escape pipe.
With this arrangement it was necessary to allow the whole of the liquid to be
forced out of the vessel, for the fluid pressure therein to escape through the
discharge pipe before the escape valve could be opened by the weight of the float,
and the fluid pressure valve be closed thereby.
According to one of my present improvements I obviate this defect by dispensing
with the float described in the said Specification, and substituting therefor a body,
which may be non buoyant, which exerts a downward pressure equal to its full
weight when not immersed in liquid but which pressure is reduced by that of the
displaced liquid when it is immersed, the said body being made of such a form that
it will remain partly immersed in the liquid in the vessel until this has sunk to a
level near the bottom.
Thus it will be seen that as soon as the liquid sinks below the above mentioned
level, the said body will act with its full weight to pull open the valve of the
escape pipe and to close that of the fluid pressure pipe so that only the fluid
pressure contained in the vessel will now escape through the escape pipe, instead of
a larger volume of fluid pressure escaping through the discharge pipe as before.
The said body may be constructed in a variety of ways for carrying out my said
invention; thus it may be a solid or hollow buoyant or non buoyant body, or it
may be a metal shell filled with liquid, or it may consist of two separate bodies,
one situated in the upper part and the other in the lower part of the vessel and
connected together by rods.
According to another improvement, the said body together with the valve is
suspended by a spring which assists in the raising of the double valve as described
when the vessel is filled with liquid.
According to another arrangement, the said body may consist of a flat or dished
plate fitting easily in a small chamber at the top of the vessel, so that while the air
can escape freely between the disc and the sides of the chamber while the vessel is
filling, the liquid, when it reaches the plate, will force this upward, in endeavouring
to pass through the narrow annular space between the disc and the chamber, and
will thus enable the fluid pressure valve to open and the escape valve to close.
The disc, as also the valves may be prevented from contact with the liquid, by
providing an elastic diaphragm below the disc, a separate small tube being provided
for allowing the escape of the air from the vessel. According to another arrangement,

page_text: for preventing contact of the liquid with the valves, the latter are contained in a
separate small chamber above the vessel and communicating therewith by a vertical
tube through which passes a rod connecting the float or other body in the lower
vessel with the valves.
a
The two valves need not necessarily be combined in one piece but may be
separate from each other, the float or other body being connected, say, to the valve
of the escape pipe so that when the body pulls this open on the emptying of the
vessel, it bears upon the fluid pressure valve and closes it, or vice versa.
According to another arrangement the above named body may consist of a cage
or framework connected to the valves, within which cage is a loose float that rises
and falls with the liquid in the vessel, so that when the vessel is full the float in
pressing against the top of the cage will allow the fluid pressure valve to open and
the escape valve to close, while when the vessel is empty, the float in resting with
its weight upon the bottom of the cage, would assist this in reversing the valves.
According to another arrangement the float may be mounted on a lever, to act
like the float of a ball cock, the lever being made to raise a weight connected to
the valves when it is raised by the float, and to leave the weight free to close the
Huid pressure valve when the vessel is nearly empty.
Dated this 27th day of March 1893.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
CUMPLEIE
DIECIFICATION.
Improvements in Self-acting Apparatus for Raising or Forcing
Liquid by Steam, Compressed Air, or other Elastic Fluid under
Pressure.
I, PAUL KESTNER, of 40 Boulevard Vauban, Lille (Nord), France, 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 the Specification to my Patent No. 15648 of 1892 I described an apparatus
for raising or forcing liquid by elastic fluid pressure consisting of a closed vessel
communicating firstly with a vessel containing the liquid to be raised or forced,
secondly with the vessel into which the liquid was to be raised or forced, thirdly
with a pipe supplying the fluid pressure, and fourthly with an escape pipe for air.
The openings of the escape pipe and the fluid pressure supply pipe were
controlled by a double valve connected to a float in such a manner that when the
vessel was being filled with the liquid to be raised, the float by its weight held the
valve of the fluid pressure supply closed and the valve of the escape pipe open,
while when the vessel was filled with liquid, the float allowed the valve of the
fluid pressure supply to open and close the valve of the escape pipe.
With this arrangement it was necessary to allow the whole of the liquid to be
forced out of the vessel, for the fluid pressure therein to escape through the
discharge pipe before the escape valve could be opened by the weight of the float,
and the fluid pressure valve be closed thereby.
According to one of my present improvements I obviate this defect by dispensing
with the float described in the said Specification, and substituting therefor a body,
which may be non buoyant, which exerts a downward pressure equal to its full
weight when not immersed in liquid but which pressure is reduced by that of the
displaced liquid when it is immersed, the said body being made of such a form that
it will remain partly immersed in the liquid in the vessel until this has sunk to a
level near the bottom.
Thus it will be seen that as soon as the liquid sinks below the above mentioned
level, the said body will act with its full weight to pull open the valve of the

page_text: escape pipe and to close that of the fluid pressure pipe so that only the fluid
pressure contained in the vessel will now escape through the escape pipe, instead
of a larger volume of fluid pressure escaping through the discharge pipe as before.
The said body may be constructed in a variety of ways for carrying out my said
invention; thus it may be a solid or hollow buoyant or non buoyant body, or it may
be a metal shell filled with liquid, or it may consist of two separate bodies, one
situated in the upper part and the other in the lower part of the vessel and
connected together by rods,
According to another improvement, the said body together with the valve,is
suspended by a spring which assists in the raising of the double valve as described
when the vessel is filled with liquid.
I will proceed to describe variously modified constructions of the said apparatus
by which my said invention may be carried into effect, for which purpose
I shall
refer to the accompanying drawings-
Figure 1 shews a vertical section of one arrangement of the apparatus which by
way of example is shewn as a feed apparatus connected to a steam boiler. The
apparatus consists of a closed cylindrical receiver A on the top of which is fixed a
valve box B. In the receiver A are two vessels C C¹ both open at the upper side
and connected together by a rod D, the vessel C being situated at the upper end
and Cat the lower end of the receiver. Within the box B is a double valve, or
rather two valves E E¹ of which the lower one E serves to close the steam supply
pipe F leading from the boiler G while the upper one E' serves to close the escape
pipe H for the air and steam. The valve E' is connected by a looped rod D' to
the vessels C, C, so that the downward pull exerted by these tends to close the
steam inlet and open the escape pipe. The looped rod D¹ is not attached to the
lower valve E but bears with a pointed stud D2 on a recess in its upper surface.
The weight of the two vessels C C₁ when empty and that of the connecting
rods D D are balanced by a helical spring from which the rod D' is suspended
and which is contained in a cylindrical casing B¹ fixed to the top of B, as shewn
more clearly at Fig. 2.
The water is supplied to the receiver A through the pipe I on which is a check
valve J, and K is the discharge pipe for conveying the water from A to the
boiler G. The vessels C and Care filled with water their volume being so
adjusted that the weight of the upper one, which is the smaller of the two, when
so filled is sufficient to effect the opening of valve E' and the closing of the steam
admission valve E, when there is no steam pressure in A. The diameter of the
discharge opening is larger than that of the steam inlet. The steam pipe F is
carried down in the boiler to the mean water level.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-Assuming that water is entering the
receptacle A through the pipe J, then the steam valve E will be closed by the
weight of the upper vessel C and the discharge pipe H will be open, thus allowing
any steam or air that may be contained in A to escape as this becomes filled with
water.
The pipe H being connected to the water supply pipe I, such escaping steam
will be condensed by the water flowing through I.
As soon as A is filled with water, the steam valve E, being relieved of the
weight of the water in C, will be at once opened by the pressure of the steam in
the steam pipe F, and the upward motion of E will cause E to close the escape
pipe; the steam will now force the water out of A through pipe K into the boiler.
While this is taking place, the escape valve E' will still remain closed because the
upward pressure of the steam on the underside of the discharge valve will exceed
the downward pull exercised by the water in C, and this will continue until the
water has been almost entirely discharged from A, when the lower vessel C¹ being
uncovered, its weight added to that of the vessel C will pull the escape valve E¹
open and close the steam valve E. The steam in A will now escape through H
and become condensed in the water entering A. through I or otherwise. When it
is necessary to produce a more or less perfect vacuum in the vessel A in order to

page_text: enable the feed water to be raised from a lower level, this may be readily effected
by connecting the lower part of A by a small pipe with an air vessel, into which a
portion of the water is forced so as to compress the air while the steam is forcing
the water out of A. When the pressure in A has been relieved by the opening of
the escape valve E, the compressed air will force the water back into A, where it is
made to enter through a spraying nozzle so as to be converted into spray for
condensing the remaining steam in A.
Figure 2 shews another modification in which there is only a single vessel C,
extending from the top to the bottom of the receiver A, and made either solid or
hollow, with sufficient buoyancy to cause the discharge valve E¹ to remain closed
and the steam valve E to remain open by the joint action of the steam pressure and
the spring L until water has been nearly discharged from A, when the weight of
the uncovered part of C will be sufficient to pull the discharge valve open and to
close the steam valve.
In this case both the water supply pipe I and the discharge pipe K, each
provided with a check valve, are arranged at the bottom of A.; the other parts are
arranged as before described and are indicated by the same letters of reference.
Figure 3 shews an arrangement in which the body C formed so as to float in the
water, is free to slide up and down upon a tube M, which can slide upon the fluid
pressure supply pipe F which in this case rises vertically in the receptacle A. The
upper end of the tube is fixed to the double valve E E' (in this case formed in
one) so that by the upward motion of the tube, the valve El will close the discharge
pipe H, while by the downward motion the valve E will close the steam pipe F.
On the entrance of the water into A, the float will rise on the tube M until it
comes in contact with the shoulder Mi on the upper end thereof, when it will lift
the tube so as to open the supply valve, the fluid pressure entering A through
lateral holes in M. On the sinking of the water the Hoat will slide downward on
the tube M until it rests upon the bottom flange M2 thereof, when its weight will
close the steam valve and pull open the discharge valve.
In the arrangement at Figure 4, the body C is replaced by a disc N, situated in
a reduced cylindrical part A' of the receptacle A and connected by a tubular stem
to the double valve E E'.
The disc being made to fit the extension A' with a small amount of play, it will
be seen that when the liquid is rising in A the air or other elastic fluid will readily
pass between the disc and the sides of A' to the escape pipe H, but when the water
has risen to the under side of the disc N, it will require to exercise some pressure
thereon before it can pass through the narrow interstice between N and A', and
this pressure will enable the supply valve to open and the escape valve to close.
With this arrangement the weight of the disc is such as not to enable it to draw
down the double valve when the water sinks in A, so that the water will require to
be entirely forced out of A to allow the steam to escape through pipe K before the
disc can drop so as to close the steam valve and open the discharge valve.
Figures 5 and 54 shew the same arrangement as at Figure 4 but with a flexible
diaphragm O fixed below the disc N, so as to prevent the contact of the liquid in A
with the disc.
In this case the valves E E¹ are placed in a separate chamber P which is
connected to A by a pipe Q while the disc N is connected to the valves by an
external looped rod R.
Figure 6 shews another arrangement in which the chamber P containing the
valves E E is some distance above the receptacle A containing the liquid to be
forced, and above level in feed tank being connected with A by a tubular stem S,
through which passes the rod T connecting the valves with the float C, so that the
valves being raised up some height above level in feed tank they are kept out of
contact with the liquid therein.
Figure 7 shews an arrangement in which the body C that acts upon the
valves E E is formed as a float, being closed at top and open at bottom so as to
allow the fluid pressure supply pipe F to pass up through it; it is connected by a

page_text: swivel joint to the discharge valve E', and bears upon the separate fluid pressure
valve E, which slides with a cap shaped guide E' upon the end of the pipe F, the
cap being provided with lateral openings, as shewn, for the issue of the pressure
fluid.
Figure 8 shews a modified form of the arrangement of the float shewn at
Figure 3, the float C being in this case contained loose in a metal cage U which
is connected to the valves, so that according as the float rises to the top of the
cage or sinks to the bottom, it opens and closes the valves as before described.
Figure 9 shews an arrangement in which the float C is fixed to the end of a
lever X pivotted to the upper side of the receptacle A the lever X being formed
with a loop that can slide between stops on a jointed rod V attached to the double
valve E E¹, so that when the receptacle A is empty and the float is in the lowered
position, the lever will pull the escape valve open and close the steam valve, while
when raised to the dotted position it will reverse the position of the valves.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for raising or forcing liquid such as is herein referred to, con-
trolling the admission and discharge valves for the elastic fluid pressure of the
forcing receptacle by means of a body so arranged that when the receptacle is
filled with liquid the said body will cause or allow the escape valve to close and
the steam valve to open, but when the liquid has been discharged more or less
completely from the receptacle, the weight of the said body will effect the opening
of the discharge valve and close the steam valve without requiring first to effect
a reduction of pressure in the receptacle substantially as described.
2. In apparatus such as is referred to in the first claim the use of a spring for
balancing a portion of the weight of the said body, substantially as described.
3. In apparatus such as is referred to in the first claim, constructing the valve
separate from the discharge valve for the elastic forcing fluid the said body being
connected to the latter and made to bear with its weight upon the steam valve so
as to close it, substantially as described.
4. In apparatus such as is referred to in the first claim, constructing the said body
that acts upon the valves of two separate parts, one of which constitutes a float
which in rising and falling freely with the liquid is made to act upon the other part
towards the end of each motion so as to cause it to effect the opening and closing of
the valves substantially as described.
5. In apparatus for raising or forcing liquid such as is herein referred to, con-
trolling the fluid pressure admission and discharge valves by means of a metal disc
arranged in a restricted part of the forcing receptacle so that the liquid in rising in
the latter, is made to press upward upon the disc so as to cause the steam valve to
open and the discharge valve to close.
6. In apparatus for raising or forcing liquid such as is herein referred to,
enclosing the fluid pressure supply and discharge valves in a chamber separate
from the forcing receptacle, so that the liquid acted upon does not come in contact
with the valves, substantially as described.
7. The several improved constructions of apparatus for raising or forcing liquid
herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 27th day of December 1893.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.