Improvements in and connected with Self Acting Temperature Regulators.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 2nd June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Self Acting Temperature
Regulators.
I, EMIL HEINRICH CONRAD OEHLMANN, of Karlsbad, 20, Berlin, in the German
Empire, Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to apparatus for self actingly regulating the temperature of
air or liquids heated by hot fluids and consists in a novel or improved construction
and arrangement of a chamber expanded and contracted in length by changes in
the temperature of the air or liquid surrounding the same and connected to the
valves or equivalent parts through which the heating fluid is admitted to the air
or liquid or to the heating apparatus contained therein. The same expansible
chamber can also be applied where a regulated supply of cooling fluids is
required, the connection with the admission valves or their equivalents being in
that case so arranged that an increase of temperature increases the admission of
cooling fluid.
On the drawing appended hereunto
Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section of the expansible chamber, when cold or
contracted.
Fig. 2 the same when expanded or in action.
Fig. 3 a modification of the same in section.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show the application of the chamber for regulating the tempera-
ture, or connected with the admission valve for the heating fluids.
Fig. 7 shows the same provided with a rod which may be connected in any
suitable way to fluid admission regulators of any kind, for instance with flap valves
or dampers of hot air heating apparatus, or with throttle valves of steam heating
apparatus or any other kind of regulating device suitable to the kind of heating
apparatus or fluid used.
The expansible chamber A consists of two stiff end plates a and b, connected
by a longitudinally extensible wall c, so as to form a closed hermetically tight
vessel or chamber, a spring d being arranged in the inside of the chamber which
draws the extensible wall c together. The chamber is filled with a liquid, for
instance with ether, which acts either by expansion or contraction, the spring in
the latter case being so arranged as to push the end plates a and b apart. The
ends a and b may be connected as shewn by a wall made for instance of sheet
metal formed with a number of deep folds or corrugations, but instead thereof
any other kind of longitudinally extensible and contractable wall may be used,
for instance an elastic membrane which is protected against circumferential
expansion by a jacket. Such a jacket may be formed by two tubes or pipes
attached respectively to the ends a b and telescopically pushed over one another,
so that the movement of one of the ends or longitudinal extension of the chamber
is not prevented.
In some cases it may be convenient or important to pass the rod hereinafter
referred to, which serves to transmit the movement caused by expansion or
contraction, through the chamber or end plates. For this purpose the expansible
chamber may be arranged as shewn by Fig. 3. The liquid acted on by changes
of temperature is in this arrangement enclosed in an annular space. The outer
wall c, and inner wall care both formed with folds or corrugations, so that by
closing or opening these folds the contraction or expansion of the liquid can move

page_text: one of the ends relatively to the other. In this case also the walls c c may
be formed of an elastic membrane supported on the inside and outside by jackets.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6, show how the expansion and contraction of the chamber is
utilised for operating a stop valve, thereby regulating the flow of heating fluid
through the same. The chamber A is placed into a casing B mounted upon the
valve casing C and provided at its upper end with a cover D containing mechanism
for adjusting the chamber and thereby regulating the action of the valve. The
moving end plate bis formed with an extension f guided in the casing B and has
attached to it a spindle g connected at its lower end to an equilibrium valve h.
The rod is guided in a stuffing box i. The upper end plate a is formed with a
boss e, which is tapped for a screw k.
The latter is formed with a collar held
between the boss of the lid D and a nut 1 screwed upon the same, and has fixed on
it a lever p formed with an indicating finger m and having a set screw n screwed
through its end. The point of the set screw can be screwed into recesses o of the
nut and the lever p fixed thereby in the desired position on the nut 7. By turning
the screw k to the right, the chamber A is raised, and the closing of the valve h
and shutting off of the heating fluid will only occur after a greater expansion of
the chamber A. If by turning the screw to the left the chamber is lowered, the
reduction of the opening of the valve and the closing of the same will take place
correspondingly sooner, or at a lower temperature of the air or liquid surrounding
the chamber. This is shewn by Figs. 4 to 6. Fig. 4 shows the chamber A drawn
together and the valve opened. In Fig. 5 the chamber has been raised by the
means before described, and the valve h is opened more. In Fig. 6 the chamber A
is shewn expanded by an increase of the temperature of the air or liquid in which
it is placed, in consequence of which the end 6 and rod h have been moved down-
wards and the valve closed. Other arrangements for varying the distance of the
chamber A from the valve casing C may be employed.
The valve his shewn as a tubular double seated valve, but may be of any other
construction so long as it is equilibrated and the pressure of the heating fluid not
transmitted to the end plate of the chamber A; the friction in the stuffing box i
must also be reduced to a minimum.
Fig. 7 shows the chamber A also placed inside a casing or framing B, and the
moveable end b connected to a rod 9 guided in a bush q. The rod can be connected
in any way suitable to the locality and kind of heating apparatus to the regulating
mechanisms for the latter; for instance in hot air apparatus the rod can be either
connected directly to the damper or flaps through which the hot air enters the room,
or if the movement of the plate of the chamber is insufficient, levers or other
mechanisms may be interposed to obtain the desired movements of the parts
regulating the admission of hot air.
As already mentioned, the chamber A may act either by expansion or contraction,
only in the latter case the spring d must be arranged so as to push the ends a
and b apart, when the contraction of the liquid contained in A will cause an
approach of the ends ab towards each other in consequence of the external air
pressure. In this case also the action of the apparatus can be regulated by raising
or lowering the chamber A. The same object may also be attained in both
cases by making the rod y or other connections adjustable in length, for instance
by making the rod 9 in two pieces screwed with a left and right hand thread
and connected by a corresponding double nut or in any other suitable known
manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The construction and use of a longitudinally expansible chamber (A) composed
of two rigid ends (a, b,) connected by an extensible wall (c) or by extensible
walls (c, c) and filled with a liquid acting either by expansion or contraction and

page_text: provided with a spring (d) acting in a contrary sense, so that a forward and back-
ward motion of one end of said chamber is produced by changes of temperature when
the other end is fixed in position, substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the drawings.
2. The combination of an expansible chamber constructed as specified in the first
claim with an equilibrated valve or equivalent device for controlling the supply
of heating or cooling fluid and operated by the expansion and contraction of the
chamber, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings.
3. The arrangement or mounting of an expansible chamber constructed as specified
in the first claim in such a manner that its distance from the valve or its equivalent
regulating the admission of heating or cooling fluid can be varied so as to effect the
closing of the valve or its equivalent at different temperatures of the air or liquid
surrounding said chamber, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the
purpose set forth.
4. The combination of an expansible chamber constructed as specified in the first
claim with mechanism for fixing one end plate of the same in different positions and
with a rod attached to the other end plate and connected in any suitable manner to
a valve or its equivalent regulating the admission of heating or cooling fluid, sub-
stantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings and for the
purposes set forth.
R. J. URQUHART,
37, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.