US1308550A - manly - Google Patents

Description

C. IVI. MANLY. CONTROL APPARATUS FOR POWER DRIVEN MECHANISM.' APPLICATION FILED ocT.1|,19|1.

Patented July 1, 1919. 3 SHEETS-SHEET l C. M. MANLY.

CONTROL APPARATUS FOR POWER DRIVEN MECHANISM.

APPUCATION FILED ocT.11.1911.

'1,308,550'. Patented July 1, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. IVI. MANLY.

CONTROL APPARATUS FOR POWER DRIVEN MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-11,1911.

Patented July 1, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wvefwtoz @Ho/Muna CHARLES M-ATTHEWS MANLY, 0F FREEPORT, NEW YORK.

v CONTROL APPARATUS FOR POWER-DRIVEN MECHANISM.

.To all whom t may concern:

4 lng mechanism of the revolving gun turrets employed in modern naval vessels.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and effective means in such mechanisms for enabling the operator to control the movements of the power-drjven mechanism, accurately and quickly and by substantially the same movement that the mechanism could be directly operated by hand were it light enough to be operated 'by moderate manual exertion. A further object of my invention is to provide a mechanism of the character described such that the operator may be stationed at a distant point from the position of the driving mechanism and yet control the mechanism as accurately and rapidly as if he were close at hand.

' My invention further consists in various novel details of construction as will appear from the following specification and be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated'a preferred embodiment of my invention, and in the said drawings; .f

Figure 1 shows in vertical section, a gun turret having a driving mechanism equipped with my improved control apparatus.

F ig. 2 is a plan view partly in section of a portion of the driving'and control mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View on the plane of the .crank shaft of the hydraulic variable speed gear employed for operating the turrets.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views which will be hereinafter described.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views, 10 indicates portions of the frame work of the ship and 11 the deck thereof. Supported on the frame 10 is the stationary armor belt 12 which surrounds the circular track 13 ofA the turret. The turret comprises a rotary armor belt 14.- having an armored roof 41'5 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led October 11, 1911.

Patented J uly 1, 1919. Serial No. 654,129.

and supported by a frame Work 16 carried by a circular bearing 17 resting on rollers 18 on the Acircular track 13. The guns 19 are supported in the turret by any suitable means not shown,a and also carried by the turret on the floor 20 thereof is the driving mechanism for rotating the turret. This driving mechanisml .comprises an electric motor 21 driven from any suitable source of power not shown, and driving through a hydraulic'variable speed gear 22, which will be later described, a shaft 23 provided with a worm 24 which meshes with a Worm wheel not shown, on a vertical shaft 25 which carries a pinion 26 meshing with a stationary rack on the inner face of the circular track 13.

The hydraulic variable speed gear forms per so no part of the present invention and therefore only such parts thereof as are necessary to an understanding of the operation of my improved control mechanism will be specifically shown and described in this application.` The gear selected for illustration is generally similar to the gear disclosed in my prior Patent #801,097 granted Oct. 3, 1905, and is identical with the gear disclosed in my prior Patent N o. 1,206,453, granted November 28, 1916. It comprises a variable capacity multi-cylinder pump 27 adapted to be continuously and uniformly driven by the electric motor 21 and having fluid transmitting connections with a hydraulic motor 28 also of the multicylinder type which drives the shaft 23, so that the pump, motor and connections form a closed fluid circuit having a high pressure side and a low pressure'side dependin on the direction of flow ofthe fluid. are provided for varying the capacity of the pump from a maximum quantity flowing in one direction through zero to a maximum quantitymiowing in the opposite direction. It will be1 obvious therefore that by adjusting the pump capacity the speed and direction of rotation of the motor may be varied as desired within the limits of the maximum forward and reverse speeds for which the mechanism is designed.

The pump 27 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 comprises radi-al cylinders 30 provided with the usual pistons 130. The pistons are reciprocatcd by the shaft 31 which is coupled to the shaft of the electric motor 21. The shaft lhas a variable stroke crank pin con` eaIlS sisting of a crank pin 131 integral with the shaft and having an eccentric bushing 132 loi equal eccentricity rotatably adjustable thereon. It will be obvious that when the bushing is in one position of adjustment relatively-to the crank pin the pu-mp pis/tons will have a stroke equal to twice the eccentricity of the crank pin and when the bushing is adjusted around the crank pin the stroke of the pistons will be reduced by imperceptible degrees until the bushing and crank pin counteract each other at a position 180 degrees angularly from the first mentioned position where the pistons will have no stroke. If the adjustment of the bushing be continued in the same direction the stroke of the pistons will be gradually increased until at Ia point 360 degrees from f inders is controlled by piston valves workingV the irst mentioned position they will again have their maximum stroke. The intake and delivery of fluid to and from the vpump cylin valve chambers 32 connected to the cylinders by passageways 33 and means are provided for reversing the relative positions of the pistons and valves when the eccentric bushing is adjusted from one side to the other of its no-stroke or zero position, so that when the eccentric bushing is adjusted through 360 degrees the speed of the motor will be varied from full speed in one direction of rotation through all intermediate speeds to full speed in the reverse direction. For adjusting the eccentric bushing there is provided a sleeve 133 rotatably mounted on the shaft 31 and operatively connected lto the eccentric bushing by an internal gear 134 meshing with gear teeth cut in the adjacen-t end of the bushing. The portion of shaft 31 surrounded by the of thesleeve and is .threaded as indicated at 135 to receive a nut 136 which nut is connected to the sleeve for rotation therewith lbut for independent longitudinal movement :by means of a series of shoes 137 attached to 'thenut andworking in longitudinal slots 138 in the sleeve.A A yoke v34 surrounds:l and rotatably engages ythe nut so that longitudi- Piston rods 35 are attached to the yoke 34'- and'carry pistons 36 Working in horizontal formed in the crank casmg of cylinders X3 between the -cylinders 30. The

vthe pump front ends of all the cylinders 37 are con--` nected bypassages 38 formed in the pump casing and the rear ends are all connectedV by similar passages 39. A passage 40 conne'cts the passages mounted in a suitable housing formed inthe pump casing above the shaft 31. A passage sleeve is of' smaller diameter than the interior diameter 38 with a port 41 formed in the -control valve block 42 whichy is .-f

port 44 of the valve block and between thel V ports 41 and 44 is a port 45 which-'may be supplied with Iiuid pressure from any suitable source, for instance, the circuit of the hydraulic gear through the automatic valve mechanism disclosed in my prior Patent' No. 1,206,453 referred to albove. Immediv ately in front of the port 41 isan exhaust or low pressure port 46l and immediately to the rear ofthe port 44' is a similar vexhaust |port 47. A piston valve,` 48 hereinafter termed-the control valve, is mounted in a bore 49- of the valve Vblock which intersects the ports 41, 44, 45, 46 and 47 and is provided -with heads 50, 51 which exactly close the ports 4l and 44 in vone position` of the valve 48. It is obvious that when the valve 48 ismoved toward the left rom'the position shown vin Fig. 2 the/port 41 and consequently the front en-d of the cylinders 37 Y high pressure port 45 and the por-t 41 will Ibe connected to its exhaust port 46 so that l'mL the yoke 34 will be moved to the left as long -as the valve is open. A. ioating lever 52 is connected at its middle point wi-th the valve 48 and one end of the leve'r is connected `to the yoke 34 and the other end to a rod 53 slidingly mounted in the pump casing at one side of the control block 42. It is obvious that the position of the rod 53 will deter-.-

mine the position of adjustment of the eccentric 'bushingjand consequently the speed v and direction of rotation of thev driven mo-4 tor 28. In Fig. 2 I have shown the parts in position for full. speed in one direction of rotation. If it be desired to reduce the Speed the rod.l 53 will -be moved toward the left, turning the floating lever 52 onits connection with the yoke 34 as r.. fulcrum and moving the valve 48 to connect thev front 'ends' of the adjusting cylinders 37 with the high pressure port 45 thereby causing the c yoke. 34 to be moved toward the right. As the yoke moves toward the right the end of the lioating lever will then turn on its connection with the rod 53 as a fjulcrum and .c'lose the valve 48 when the yoke has moved as far in the opposite direction as the rod 53 was moved.

y In my Patent No. 1,206,453, above referred to, the rod 53v is adapted to be operatedy directly by the attendant, but when the hydraulic variable speed gear is used to operate gun turrets in the manner disclosed in this application, such direct operation is not der 60 attached thereto.

desirable for the reason that the gunner who' 5 the exceedingly minute adjustments necessary to cause the movement of the turret to exactly compensate for the varying-motion of the ship and .keep the guns aimed at the target or vessels to be hit.n As shown in Fig. 2 the control rod 53 projects through the front wall of the pump casing into a cylin- Attached to the rod 53 in the cylinder is a piston head 61 which occupies a; position exactly midway of the 4cylinder when the stroke adjusting mechanism is in its zero or no-stroke position before described. The rod 53 projects through a stuffing-box 62 in the front end of the cylinder and between each end of the cylinderand the piston head 61 is provided with collars 63 which act as stops for the inner ends of ay flanged Isleeve 64 surrounding ythe rod. The sleeves 64 have inturned flanges 65 which engagethe collars 63 and out-turned flanges 66 which form seats for springs 67 arranged between the flanges 66 and the piston head 61. The length of the sleeves 64 is such that when the head 61 is exactly in the middle of the cylinder the flanges 65 just engage the collars 63 and the distance between the flanges 66 is exactly equal to the inside length of the cylinders 60. Pipes 68 and 69 connect with the cylinder 60 on opposite sides of the piston 61 and turret. See Fig. 1. Mounted on a standard i 71 on the platform 70 is a gear pump 7 2 `with the opposite sides of which the pipes 68 and 69 connect. The pump 72 comprises a cas ing 73 having two cross shafts 74, 75 to which the pump gears 76, 77 are attached.

74, between the gears and the side plate 80 of the casing so that the wear on the side facesof the gears may be taken up from time to time as may be necessary by thin sheets of packing placed between the washers and the plate 80; A small b v-pass from one side ,to the 'other-fof `the gear pump is formed by intersecting bores 81, 82, 83 drilled in the pump casing 73 anda needle valve 84 is arranged between the bores 8-1 and 82 so that the size of the by-pass may be regulated. A small reservoir 85,y is connected with the bores of the pipes 68 and 69 by downwardly opening check valves 86, 87, 65 thc purpose of which is to permit the Apump' through these pipes fluid under pressure ,e

Washers 78, 79 are mounted on the shafts quently the Speed of the driven motor.

the operator -wishes to stop the movement to draw from the reservoir whatever fluid may be necessary to compensate for any leakage in the pipe connections or through the bearings of the pum shafts or rod 53. The shaft 74 of the gear 176 projects on each side beyond the casing and to its projecting ends hand wheels 88, 89 having oppositely arranged handles are attached so that the gunner on the platform 70 may operate the pump in either direction at any desired speed.

Whenever there is no pressure on either side of the piston 61, which is always the case when the pump 72 is not operated, the springs 67 hold the piston 61l in its middle position and the stroke adjusting mechanism at zero. 'Let it be assumed that the parts are in this position and the gunner wishes to turn the turret to bring the guns to bear on the target or other objectto be fired at. He has merely to rotate the hand wheels 88, 89 in the proper direction to cause the pump to deliver fluid to the proper pipe, say the pipe 68, to shift the rod 53 in the desired direction. The pressure generated in the pipe 68 will depend on the speed of operation of the pump gearsand the areaof the by-pass as deternnned by the adjustment of the needle valve 84. If the gears are rotated` comparatively slowly, the fluid circulated by the pump can pass through the by-pass at a low pressure and the piston 61 will be shifted but a small distance before the spring 67 on the opposite side of the piston will be compressed sufficiently to exert a pressure equal to the pressure of the fluid and hold the piston stationary in that positionas long as the pump gears are operated at that speed. If the gunner wishes to increase the speed of rotation of the turret he increases the causes the pressure of the fluid to rise to the point necessary for the increased output of the pump to all pass' through the needle valve 84. The increased pressure of the fluid will shift the piston 61 farther to the right until the spring 67 is compressed sufficiently to balance the fluid pressure thereby increasing the pump stroke and conseof the turret he holds the hand wheels 88,

89 stationary or releases them, and the compressed spring will 'return the piston 61 and control rod 53 to zero forcing the fluid from the opposite end of the cylinder 60 through the vlay-pass. If the operator wishes to reverse the direction of rotation of the turret, he operatesthe pump 72 to deliver the fluid pressure to the pipe 69 instead of the pipe 68. It will beclear from the above that the speed of operation of the turret is proportional to the spe/ed of operation of the hand pump and not its extent' ,of movement. This is particularly advantageous for the reason that small changesin the speed of a continuously operate d member may be made with much greater accuracy than minute changes in the position of a normally stationary member.v Further, the gunners are all trained tofoperate the guns by hand gear in case of damage to the power gear and theyare therefore skilled in varying the speed of movement of their operating cranks with accuracy. By means of the .needle valve 84;Y the ratio of the speed of the hand pump and the motor 28 maybe adjusted to a nicety to suit the preferences of the individual gunners. A further advantage of my improved control mechanism is that the hand pump may be placed any distancevfrom the hydraulic speed gear without affecting the speed or accuracy of adjustment, as the circulating Huid, preferably oil, is substantially incompressible and the circuit is maintained full at all times by the surplus lluid in the reserof sai `Justing the speed ratio of said operated driven means to operate said member at a,

speedlproportional to the speed of operation movable means, and means for admember and said movable means.

2. The combination of a driving member,

' aI driven member, a hydraulic 'variable speed gear interposed between these mem bers, and means for controlling the gear comprising a manually rotatable controlling member, and means for altering the gear ratio with changeset speed of movement of the controlling member, whereby the driven member is caused to move at a. speed proportionate to the speed of movement of the controlling member.

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

4the combination of a driving member, a

driven member, a variable speed gear interposed .between said members, means for controlling said variable speed gear comprising f a movable member and means foi-causing said driven member to move at a speed proportional to the `speed of movement of said movable member, and means for varying the speed ratio of said driven member and said movable member.

' 4. In an apparatus of the class described,

'the combination of a driving member, `a

driven member, a variable speed and reverse gearl interposed between said 'members, means for controlling said gear comprising a movable member and means or causing said driven member to be operated at al speed proportional to the speed of'movement of said movable member and in a direction corresponding to its direction of movement and means for varying the speed ratio of said driven member and said movable member. .l

. 5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a member to be operated, power driven means for operating said member,4 and means for controlling said ,power driven means, com rising .a movable element for generatingv uid pressure and means operated by .'said fluid pressure for causing said power driven means to operate said member at a speed proportional to the speed of movement of said movable element.

6. In an apparatus of tlie'class described,

the combination of a memberv to be operated, power driven meansfor operating said member, means for controlling said power driven means, comprising a movable element :for generating iiuid pressure and means operated by said fluid pressure for causing saidpower driven means to operate said member at a speed proportional to the speed of movement of said movable element, and means for varying the speed ratio of^ said operated member and said movable ele- 7. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination ofa member'to be operated, power driven means for operating, said member in opposite directions, and means for controlling said power driven means comprising a movable element for generating uid pressure and -means operated by said fluidv pressurefor causing Vsaid power driven means to drive said member. at a speed proportional to the speed of movement-of said movable element and in a direction corresponding to its direction of movement;

8. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a member .to be operated, power driven means for -operating said member in opposite directions, means for controlling said power driven means comprising a movable element for generating fluid pressure and means operated by said uid pressure for causing said power driven means to drive said member at a speed proportional to the speed o f movement of said movable element and in a direction correspending toits direction of movement and means for varying the speed ratio of said operated member and s aid moyable element.

9. In an apparatus of the class described the combination of a member to be operated, a driving. mechanism for operating 4said member at any speed from zero to a maxii Imum speed, means for controlling said drivmember at various speeds, means for controlling said driving mechanism comprising a member whose position of adjustment determines the speed of operation of said first mentioned member, fluid pressure operated means for adjusting said member to an eX- tent proportional to the pressure in said means, and a pump having fluid connections with said means and provided with' means whereby the pressure generated by said pump is proportional to its speed of operation.

l1. In an apparatus of the class described,

l the combination of a member to be operated,

a driving mechanism for operating said y member at various speeds, vmeans for controlling said driving mechanism comprising a member whose position of adjustment determines"the speed of operation of said first mentioned member, fluid pressure operated means for adjusting said member to an eX- tent proportional to the pressure in said means, a pump having fluid connection with said means and provided with means Wherev' by the pressure generated by said pump is. 'proportional to its speedl of operation, and

means for varying the ratio of the speed and pressure of said pump. i

12. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a member to be operated, a driving mechanism for operating said member at various speeds and in opposite directions, means for controlling said driving mechanism comprising a member whose position of adjustment determines the speed and direction of operation of said rst mentioned member, fluid 'pressure operated means. for adjusting said member to an extent proportional to the pressure in said means, and a pump having fluid connection with said means and provided with Lmeans whereby the pressure generated by saidV pump is proportional to its-speed of operation.

13. In an apparatus of the class described,

- the combination of a member to be adjusted 1n opposite directions, means for yieldingly holding said member in an intermedlate neutral position, and-means, comprising a manually operatable device, forv adjusting said member away from its normal .posltion to an extent proportional to the speed of opv speed eration of said device and in a direction corresponding to its direction of operation.

14. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a member to be adjusted in opposite directions, means for yieldingly holding said member in an intermediate neutral position, means, comprising a manually operatable device,l for adjusting said member away from its normal position to an extent proportional to the speed of operation of said device and in a. direction corresponding to its directionof operation, and means for varying the ratio between the speed of operation of said device 'and the extent of operation of said member. 15. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a member to be adjusted in opposite directions, means for adjusting said member comprising a cylinder, a piston, springs in said cylinder on opposite sides of said piston, a pump for generating fluid pressure in proportion to its speed of operation and fluid transmitting connections between the opposite sides of said pump and the opposite ends of said cylinder.

16. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a hydraulic variable speed VJgear device having an engine section and a pump section, and also having a regulator for governing the action of the pump section, means for moving said regulator from a neutral or pump stopping position to a pump starting position to thereby start said pump and therefore said engine, and independent means kfor returning said regulator to said neutral position.

'17. In an apparatus ofthe class described, the combination of a hydraulic varialble speed device comprisin means for starting the same, and indepen ent means active in opposition to said other means and tending to stop said device.

18. In an apparatus of the class described,

-the combination of a hydraulic variable speed gear device comprising manually governed means for starting said device, and independent means [automatically thrown into action when said device is started, active in opposition to said othermeans and tending to stop said device.

19. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a hydraulic variable gear device comprising a Variable stroke pump, a motor driven by said pump at various speeds-depending upon the adjustment of the stroke of said pump, and means for adjusting said pump stroke comprising a member to be manu-'ally rotated, and connections 'between said member and said pump for producing alterations in pump stroke upon changes in speed of operation of said member 1n such manner that the speed of the driven motor is maintained at a predetermined ratio to the speed of rotation of said y' member.

' 2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a hydraulic variable 'speed gear device comprising a variable stroke pump and a motor operated by the fluid delivered from theI pump, means for varying the stroke of the pump comprising a member adjustable to dierent fixed posi- 4tions to correspondingly vary the pump stroke, and means for operating said member comprising a manually rotatable part, and connections between said member and said part whereby the speed of rotation of

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