Improvements in Heating Railway Cars.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Heating Railway Cars.
I, THEODORE STAUNTON GLOVER, of 133 Walter Street, South Norwalk, Fairfield
County, Connecticut, U.S.A., Mechanic, 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 the heating of railway cars, and has for its object to produce
a system in which the train shall be heated by steam supplied by a heater exterior to
the passenger cars, said heater being specially constructed, and supplied with
automatic safety devices, so that in the event of an accident the steam shall be
instantly cut off from the cars, and the fire shall be extinguished.
With these ends in view, I have devised the novel construction, of which the
following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification,
numbers being used to denote the several parts.
Fig. 1 is a cross section of a car showing the heater case in elevation, a portion
of the case being broken away to show the heater itself, and the safety devices;
Fig. 2, a cross section of the heater case at the ash pit, the section line being
indicated by zz in Figs. 1 and 3 ;
Fig. 3, a partial vertical section through the fire box, grate, ash pit &c. the line
being indicated by xx in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4, a section through the ash pit and grate on the line y y in Fig. 2 ; and
Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are detail views on an enlarged scale, illustrating special features
of the mechanisms which act to cut off the steam, and to extinguish the fire in the event
of collision, derailment, or any serious accident.
1 denotes the shell of the heater; 2, the fire box; 3, the grate; and 4, the ash pit.
These parts may be of any ordinary or preferred construction. As the special style
of furnace and boiler are not essential features of my invention, they are not con-
sidered to require specific illustration. In the drawing, I have shown the water tank 5
as placed in the top of the car; this, however, is in no way essential to the operative-
ness of the construction. 6 denotes a case made of heavy boiler iron, within which
the entire heater is inclosed. 7 denotes the smoke pipe which is made double, as
indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as to increase the strength of the construction,
and also to afford an independent passage way out from the case for steam and the
vapour of chemicals in the event of an accident. 8 denotes a sliding door leading
through the case and into the ash pit, and 9, a similar door through the case which
registers with an inner door 10, leading through the shell of the heater itself and into
the fire box. Doors 8, 9 and 10 are all sliding doors and move on vertical ways 11,
the ways for the outer doors being clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Doors 9 and 10
which lead to the fire box are rigidly connected by a brace or braces 12 riveted to the
bottom of door 9, and to the top of door 10, or vice versa, as clearly shown in Fig. 2,
so that said doors move together. The doors are operated by means of levers 13,
pivoted to brackets 14 on the front of the case and extending through metallic straps 15
on the doors, the free ends of said levers being provided with handles 16, as clearly"
shown. At the bottom of each of the outer doors I provide a rigid bevel nosed
catch 17, which is straight upon its upper side. 18 denotes spring latches which are
beveled upon the upper side and straight upon the lower side, so as to engage with
and lock catches 17 when the doors are allowed to slide down far enough. 19 denotes
vertical racks whose ends are pivoted in brackets 20, so as to permit them to turn
freely in either direction. In ordinary use, these racks stand edgewise, as at the
bottom in Fig. 1, and levers 13 engage one of the teeth of said rack to hold the door
in the closed position, but to retain the catch out of engagement with the spring
latch, as is shown at door 8 in Fig. 1. In the event of the overturning of the car or
[ Ꭰ

page_text: of any shock or unusual movement, the racks will swing one way or the other, as
shown at door 9 in Fig. 1. The instant the rack is turned the lever is of course
disengaged and the weight of the lever and the door, in the case of the fire box the
two doors, will instantly cause the doors to drop to their lowest position, so that
catches 17 will be locked by the spring latches, as clearly shown by door in Fig. 1.
It will thus be seen that I provide a double guard to prevent the coals in the fire box
from getting out, door 100 acting to prevent them from getting out of the fire box into
the case, and door 9 preventing them from getting outside of the case even should
any get outside of the fire box from any cause whatever. The contents of the ash pit
likewise are prevented from getting outside of the casing by means of door 8.
21 denotes the ordinary observing glass; 22, the steam gauge; and 23, water cocks.
24 denotes the steam supply pipe by which steam is conducted from the heater to the
various cars to be heated. 25 is an ordinary valve in pipe 24 operated by a hand
wheel 26, and 27 is a valve operated by a lever 28. The action of both of these valves
is to shut off the steam from the cars, valve 25 being used to regulate the amount of steam
allowed to pass into the cars, or to cut it off entirely under ordinary circumstances, and
valve 27 being constructed and adapted to close automatically in the event of an accident,
as will presently be explained. 29 denotes still another valve which connects directly
with the steam space within the shell. Valve 29 operates on substantially the same
principle of an ordinary safety valve. 30 is an arm projecting upward from the
body of the valve; and 31, a lever pivoted thereto, to which the valve stem 32 is
connected, or against which it bears. At the outer end of lever 31 is a chain 33
which extends upward over a pulley 34 fixed in any suitable position, and is provided
at its lower end with a weight 35 which is preferably a ball. 36 denotes a shallow
cup, the base of which is secured to lever 31 by means of a set screw 37. Under
ordinary circumstances, the weight rests in cup 36, the parts being so proportioned
and adjusted that the weight will hold the valve closed under all ordinary
circumstances. In the event of any accident, however, that would seriously disturb
the equilibrium of the car, the weight would necessarily be thrown out from the
shallow cup. The instant this takes place, the action of the weight would be in the
same direction as the steam pressure, instead of against it. The steam would,
therefore, lift the valve and lever 31 which would permit the steam to pass into
pipe 38. Simultaneously with the entrance of steam into pipe 38, the steam would
be cut off in supply pipe 24. This is automatically effected by the opening of
valve 29, as I will now explain. 39 is an arm projecting upward from lever 30,
and 40 a link connecting arm 39 with lever 28 which operates valve 27. 41 is a
spring, one end of which is connected to lever 28 and the other to the inner side of
the case. In Fig. 1 the parts are shown at their normal position. It will be noticed
that the tension of the spring is in a direction slightly within the pivotal point of
lever 27, said spring, therefore, assisting to hold valve 27 at the open position. As
soon, however, as lever 31 is lifted by pressure of steam in valve 29, arm 39 and
link 40 will act to carry lever 28 backward, that is toward the left, far enough so that
spring 41 will be carried past the pivotal point of lever 28. Said spring will,
therefore, act in the opposite direction to automatically close valve 27, and thus shut
off the supply of steam to the cars. As has already been stated, this automatic
shutting off of the supply of steam to the cars takes place simultaneously with the
entrance of steam into pipe 38. The position of this pipe is clearly shown in dotted
lines in Fig. 1. I preferably bifurcate this pipe and extend the branches, which are
denoted specifically by 38, down upon opposite sides of the case, at the corners
thereof. 42 (see detail Fig. 5 in addition to Fig. 1) denotes an ordinary union in
each of the branches of pipe 38. Between the ends of the pieces of pipe, joined by
the union, I place a light ring of metal 43 which is provided with inwardly extending
tongues 44 of sufficient strength to support a ball 45. The instant, however, that
steam enters these pipes from the heater, the balls are forced through the rings and
drop down into compartments 46, in the corners of the ash chambers. In each of
these compartments I place a hermetically sealed glass cylinder 47 containing fire
extinguishing chemicals. Any preferred chemical compound or solution may be used

page_text: in these cylinders. I ordinarily use a solution of bi-carbonate of soda and sulphuric
acid. The weight of ball 45, alone, is sufficient to break the cylinder. In practice,
however, it is driven down with great force by the steam pressure, so that the cylinder
is inevitably fractured, and the chemicals allowed to escape into the compartment.
In practice, these compartments are additionally shut off from the ash pit by walls 4*
(see Fig. 2). 48 is a pipe leading from each of the compartments and provided with
branch pipes 49, each of which is upwardly turned, and is closed by a hinged cap 50.
The instant the cylinders are broken, the contents thereof are forced out through
pipes 48 by the pressure of the steam, and into branch pipes 49. The hinged caps
are lifted, as shown in Fig. 7, and the chemicals, mingled with steam, are forced out
under the grate, the effect of which is to extinguish the fire instantly, the surplus
steam escaping freely through the smoke pipe. 51 denotes hinged doors in front of
the case, covering openings therein leading to the unions, and 52, similar doors leading
to compartments 46.
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 combination with the shell of a heater having a door sliding vertically, and
a case inclosing said shell, also having a sliding door registering therewith, of a
brace 12 connecting said doors so that they will rise and fall together.
2. The combination with the case, of a vertically sliding door having a catch 17,
and a spring latch 18 adapted to engage said catch and hold the door locked when at
its lowest position.
3. The combination with the case and a vertically sliding door having a strap 15,
of a lever pivoted to said case and extending through said strap, and a swinging rack
adapted in one position to be engaged by said lever to hold the door at any desired
position, and in another position to release the door.
4. The case, and a vertically sliding door having a catch 17, in combination with
a spring latch adapted to engage said catch, a lever engaging the door, whereby it
may be raised or lowored, and a swinging rack, which is adapted in one position
to be engaged by said lever, and when swung out of said position allows the door to
drop and to be locked by the engagement of the catch and latch.
5. The case, and a rack pivoted thereto and swinging in the horizontal plane, in
combination with a vertically sliding door having a bevel nosed catch, a spring latch
adapted to engage said catch, and a lever for raising and lowering the door, which is
adapted to engage said rack to hold the door in the opened or closed position
under ordinary circumstances, and which, when swung to the right or left,
allows the door to drop and be locked by the engagement of the latch and
catch.
6. The combination with a heater, of a case inclosing said heater, doors in said
case registering with each other, and a brace connecting said doors.so that they
operate together.
7. The combination with a steam heater of ordinary construction, and a steam
supply pipe leading therefrom, of a valve in said pipe adapted to cut off the steam,
a lever by which said valve is operated, and a spring connected to said lever and to a
fixed point, the line of tension of said spring being slightly within the pivotal point
of said lever, so that said valve is held at the open position until said lever is swung
backward far enough to cause the spring to act on the opposite side of the pivotal
point of said lever, said spring then acting to close the valve.
8. The combination with a heater, a pipe 24 leading therefrom, said pipe having a
valve 27 operated by a lever 28, a valve 29 upon the heater, and a pipe 38 leading
therefrom, of a lever 31 pivoted to valve 29 and having a cup 36, a weight adapted
to rest in said cup in its normal position, a chain extending from said weight over a
pulley and connected to the end of the lever, and an arm and link connecting said
lever with lever 28, so that when the ball is thrown out of the cup, steam is cut off
from pipe 24 and admitted to pipe 38,

page_text: 9. In a heater of the class described, valve 29, pipe 38 leading therefrom, and a
lever 31, ball 35, chain 33, and cup 36, whereby said valve is normally held in the
closed position, in combination with a ring 43 in said pipe having tongues supporting
a ball, a cylinder containing a fire extinguishing solution, and a pipe leading there-
from under the grate, whereby; when ball 35 is thrown from the cup, valve 39 is
opened admitting steam to pipe 38, which forces ball 45 through the ring causing it
to break the cylinder and allowing the fire extinguishing solution to be carried by the
steam under the grate to extinguish the fire.
10. The combination with the ash pit, grate &c. of a heater, of compartment 46, a
pipe leading therefrom having capped branches extending under the grate, a cylinder
containing a fire extinguishing solution in said chamber, a pipe 38 leading therefrom
to the steam chainber of the heater, and a ball in said pipe which is supported under
normal conditions, and which, when steam enters said pipe, is driven downward to
break the cylinder, as and for the purpose set forth.
11. The combination with the ash pit and grate of a steam heater, a compartment 46,
a cylinder containing fire extinguishing chemicals in said compartment, a pipe
leading therefrom and having branches covered by hinged caps, and a pipe 38
leading from said compartment to the steam chamber of the heater, of a ring 43.
in said pipe having tongues, and a ball supported by said tongues, which when
steam is admitted to said pipe is driven through the ring and acts to break the
cylinder, so that the chemicals are carried by the steam under the grate to extinguish
the fire.
12. The combination with a chamber 46 containing a fire extinguishing cylinder,
a pipe 38 leading from the steam chamber to said compartment, and a pipe 48 leading
from said compartment under the grate, of a ball supported in pipe 38, a valve 29
between pipe 38 and the heater, and connections substantially as shown, which
normally act to close said valve, but which, when the equilibrium is disturbed permits
the steam to open said valve, pass into pipe 38, dislodge the ball, and break the
cylinder, so that the steam and chemicals pass under the grate and extinguish
the fire.
13. In a heater of the class described, the combination with a fire extinguishing
cylinder, a pipe 38 leading from the heater and containing a suspended ball, a valve 29
in said pipe, steam supply pipe leading from the heater, a valve 27 in said pipe, a lever 31
pivoted to valve 29, a cup on said lever, a ball resting in said cup, a chain extending
upward therefrom passing over a pulley and connected to the end of a lever, and an
arm and link connecting said lever with valve 27, whereby, when the ball is thrown
from the cup, the steam is cut off in the supply pipe and allowed to pass into pipe 38,
and release the ball and break the cylinder.
Dated this 17th day of February 1890.
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