US2781052A - Fluid loader - Google Patents

Description

Feb. i2, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 24, 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Feb. l2, 1957 w. F. scHAE'rzLY FLUID LOADER 3 Shaaets-SheLaI 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 'fili/gir IIII INVENTOR imi ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 w. F. scHAl-:TZLY 2,781,052

' FLUID LOADER Filed Aug. 24, 1953 s sheets-sheds Z' Sa/willy ATTORNEYS BYWMM United rates Patent FLUHD LADER Wiliam F. Schaetzly, Louisville, Ky.

Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 376,013

12 Claims. (Cl. 137-276) This invention relates to iiuid loaders, and more particularly to loaders equipped with counterbalances for balancing the tilling pipe at all angles of adjustment.

j Loaders of the general type to which the invention relates have been in use for some time, land have been used extensively' in loa-:ling petroleum products. Such loaders usually consist of a standpipe having a swing joint at its top to which is attached a horizontal pipe having a depending ller pipe at its outer end. Many loaders are equipped with weight counterbalances to balance the horizontal and iiiler pipes in various positions of adjustment. The weight type counterbalances have not been Vsuthciently delicate in their operationto properly balance the device in all positions of adjustment, and usually they are designed to hold the device in substantially vertical inoperative position. This resulted in the operator having to hold the horizontal pipe in its overhanging delivery position.

The object of the present invention is` to provide a loader of this Vgeneral type in which the weight of the delivery end of the device is compensated for in all positions of adjustment.

Aiurther object or the invention is to provide compensating mechanism associated with the swing joint to form a unit, wherein the mounting of the compensating mechanism will permit free and normal movement of the swing joint about its several axes.

Another object is the provision of compensating mechanism'which is adjustable for variations in weight load.'

Other objects of the invention will become apparent romth'e following description of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction withthe drawings which accompany, and form a part of, this specification.

in the drawings: v

Figure l is a perspective View of the upper portion of a loader embodying the principles of the present inven-A tion;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the swing joint and compensating unit and associated parts;

Figure 3 is a furtherenlarged vertical section, through that portion of the device shown in FigurerZ, and is taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3 on the horizontal axis of the swing jointj Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on the lines-S ot' Figure 3; i

Figure 6 is a vertical section at right angles Yto Figure 3, and is Vtaken on the line 6-6 of Figure 3;,a'nd,

Figure 7 is a sectional View through one buer Tot the compensating mechanism showing a modified forni.

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional View lthrough' a modiform of joint and compensating unit and as-A upper end, and 'a delivery pipe-'secured tothe swing joint,

straight section 7, the S-shaped casting 8, and the S- shaped casting 9.

The straight section 7 forms a vertical pivot to permit the delivery pipe to be moved in a horizontal plane. vlt is provided with a bushing 10 at its lower end, threaded externally as at 11, for attachment to the upper end c-t the standpipe 1. Above the threads l, the bushing is peripherally grooved to form a ball bearing race 12. A tubular casting 13 having its lower end reduced to form a shoulder A ts within the bushing with the shoulder' 14 resting upon the ball bearings 15 in the raceway 1?.. This forms a thrust bearing to take the weight of the superimposed structure and permit the casting 13 to rotate freely with respect to the bushing it). Bushing 19 has an opstanding collar 16 which is spaced from, and surrounds, the lower portion of casting i3 to form a stutng box. The usual packing 17, follower 18 and gland nut i9 are provided to provide a seal to prevent leakage. The bushing is exteriorly threaded to receiv the threaded lower end of a cageZ. The upper end of the cage is threaded to receive a bearing retainer 2l which seats upon ball bearings 22 in a raceway 23 formed upon an annular ange 24 projecting from the casting 13. By means of this structure, two spaced bearings are provided for the casting to ensure it being held firmly in position and yet permit easy rotation.

The upper end of casting 3.3 is threaded into the lower end of S-shaped casting S. The two members are drawn into tight engagement so that they function as a single unit. Thus, when casting S is turned in a horizontal plane, the straight, vertical section 7 will be caused to rotate in its bearings. Due to the S shape of casting 8, the axis of its upper end lies in a horizontal plane. A bushing 25 is threaded into the upper end ot' casting S and forms a journal inewhich a thimble 26 threaded into, and projecting from, the end ofv S-shaped casting 9 is seated for'rotativemovement. Bushing 25 has a projecting annular collar surrounding, and spaced from, the thimble 26 to forma stufling box. Packing 27, follower 2S and gland nut 29 are used to provide a liquid-tight seai between the Abushing and thimble. Dae to the shape of casting 9, the outer end of the casting will have its axis in the plane of the axis of vertical casting 7 in all positions of adjustment ofcasting 9. Delivery pipe 3 has its end threaded into the outer end of casting 9.

From the above description it will be obvious that the delivery pipe may be moved in a horizontal arc by the rotation of the vertical casting 7 in its bearings, and in a vertical direction by reason of' the swivel connection between the castings 8 andV 9. This provides universal movement for the delivery pipe.

By special construction, the weight loadis removed from the swivel joint between castings 8 and 9, and means are provided adapted tobe mounted directlyupon the swing joint assembly mechanism for counterbalancing the weight of the delivery pipe and to compensate for the varying weight loadupon progressively increasing or decreasing the overhang of the delivery pipe in use. For this purpose,V the castings 8 and 9 have outwardly projecting bosses which serve as trunnions and are journalled in bearings supported Afrom thecastings. In other words, a boss projecting from one casting is journalled in `a piston 4G and a compression spring 41. Y. head 42 closes the bottom of the cylinder, and a head'43 closes the top. V'The spring 41 has its ends bearing against a Abearing supportedV by theother casting. Casting 8 l has a boss 39 projecting from Vits side Y'withits axis Ycoincident with the axis ofgthe horizontal swivel joint between the castingsV 8 and 9. The end of the boss Vis of reduced'diameter and fits within an anti-friction bearing V3,1 'which is "threaded into a circular open ing inthe end of a bracket 32 projecting from the castillg ,9. Casting 9 has a similarl boss 33! whose axis" isscoincident Ywith that of the'swivel joint, working in the bearing 34 threaded in an opening in a bracket 35 extending from casting S. The load of the delivery pipe, therefore, is transferred from the casting 9 through i. bracket 32 and the boss 30 to casting S, and through boss 33 and bracket 35 to casting S, thus relieving the swivel connection between the castings.Y

piston 49 and head 43, Upward movement of the piston serves to compress the spring. The piston has the usual rod ai which passes through 'an opening in the head 43 andV has its outer end connected Vto one end of chain 38.

A bellows -S surrounds'the opening in head 43 and the piston rod to prevent leakage of. the hydraulic fluid 'within' Y the' cylinder. The bellowsis'suliciently ilexible toV allow some sidewise movement' to compensate for Vside draft upon the piston rod'caused by the bell-crank 37 following an arcuate pathof movement. Piston 40 is provided with ports 46 to permit ilow of uid past the pistonas the piston moves upwardly within the cylinder. A ap valve t7 closes the ports as the piston moves downwardly.

4. V toV receive a pin 60 which also passes through openings Y61 in the -bifurcated arins'Si.V Openings 61 are arranged Vin two rows 62 and 63 which diverge radially from the pivotal points of the bell-cranks. By placing the pin 60 in selected ones of the openings 61 different degrees of tension may be obtained in the buers. After the pin 60 is positioned, line adjustment. may oe made by means "of the screw 58.

lri Figure 7 a buffer having a mechanical, rather Vthan a hydraulic mechanism is shown. This differs from the butter previously described only in the substitution of a solid piston head 64 for the hydraulic head 46. A similar spring'41is`used within the cylinder 39. Air within the Y cylinderserves'to retard, or slow Vup, piston action in substantially horizontal position. It will be obvious that thiscauses the casting 9 Vto pivot about its connection with casting 8, rocking the bell-cranks to raise therarms 574. VThis, raises the pistonsY in the butler cylinders and compresses springs 41. The increasing compression of the springs will compensate for the progressively increasing' Y v overhang of the delivery pipe. lf thercompression of the springs was at a uniform rate, the torque of the loader would increase to the point that it would be difficult to pullY the delivery pipe to horizontal position. It will be notedyhowever, that bell-crank arms 54 move on an arc and the increased spring compression will not be at a. uniform rate. This will venable the delivery pipe Yto be pulled down into horizontal position with little eort,

ye't the springs are suiliciently compressed to lift kthe de# livery pipe to vertical.inoperativeposition when the pres- J sure'upon the pipe is released. It will also be'noted'that Y all parts of the compensating mechanism are carried by the units of the swing joint, so that no strain is placed Head 43 is formedV integrally with a bracket 48 which Y V'pr'ojec'ts outwardly from the lower portion of casting 8.

There is a bracket for each butler 36, arranged toV hold the buffers symmetrically positioned on either side of the swing joint. The lower ends of the buffers are joined byY means of a tie bar 49.

Y The bell-cranks 37 are connected to the casting 9 to. move with it. Each bell-crank is fastened tothe casting by two cap screws 50 and 51. The screws pass through one arm 52 of the bell-cranks so that the axis of rotation of the bell-cranks will be the same as that of the casting 9. The cap screws 50 .and 51 attaching the bell-crank 37 Y shown at the left in Figure 3'are threaded in the bracket 32 projecting from casting 9, and cap screws 50 and 51 attaching bell-crank V37 atVV the right Vof VFigureV 3 are Ythreaded respectively into a boss 53 formed on casting,

upon the standpipe or delivery pipe. The swing jointand compensating mechanism become a unitary assembly, with ,the bell-'cranks serving to hold the swing joint inV assembledposition. Y Y Y '.In Figures 8 and 9 there is shown a modified form of swing joint and compensating'mechanism. In most respects; thelstructure is the same as that previously der scribed, and the changes are made primarily Yto provide a structure which is more practical with heavier loads andlonger delivery pipes, and particularly with telescoping Vdelivery"'pij'pes. The Vmodiied structure permits'the usel of longer crank arms on the compensatingm'echanism Vto balance heavier loads.V The'changes principally yconcern the lower straight'section of the swing yjoint andthemounting of the' buffer cylinders.V

' The upper Sfshaped section 65 has its horizontal terminalV portionV swivelly connected to'- the horizontal ter- Y Y, minal'portionof the' intermediate S-shaped section 66VV ing endwise movement of the bosses intheir respective j earings'and securing Ythe castings 8 and 9 in assembled The second arm 54 of Yeach yof thebell-cranks is conrelation. Y

nected to one of the chains 38 to YcoupleV each bell-crank Y toits respective bufferso that rotative movement of cast? asfbefore, Theflower vertical section 67andY cage 6,8 are reversed. YTher lower vertical sectionV isexternally threaded atpitsV lower end to screw into the topof the standpipe; and has an annular flange 69 between its ends toi seat fa bearing race 70. An internal anger71 onn cage 68 bears against the opposite side of bearing race 70'and. al second bearing race Y72 is positioned againstV Ythe opposite sidehof Vflange 71. Ajamb nut 73 ,threads balais/:ek the delivery pipe ini .itsn changed position. Awrms Y 54 archifurcat'ed'soY that the chain couplingmeansrnay be i received between the two armpositions. 'l The 'chainshaveY draw'buckles' at t'heir'upper ends, eachrhaving an ad- 'justablei pivot .block slidfably VVniounted. within"Y itr'and "held-1 u i i" 72 to lock-the bearing assembly, in place.` The; upper end ofthecage isV internally threadedtorec'eive apunion 74 jwhich'is -threadeditor receive theV nipple 75 screwed. .i into the vertical'Y terminal portion ofk the Vinterrnedlate j Y' Sg-s'hapedrse'ction 6,6. VUnion 74 has a downward'exten'- sion 76 terminating'closely adjacent the top.cif'the-lower..Y vertical section 67andl is.V of ,the samediameter Vas theV Y lower section. The.Y outerv walls; of the downward exten? 7. sioni andthe top. otthelowe'r section are.V peripherally Y grooved to receive sealing rings 77. A seal ring 78 bridges the space between the downward extension and the lower vertical section and covers the sealing rings to make a duid-tight connection between the two elements.

In this form of the invention the buffer cylinders 79 are provided with the top and bottom cylinder heads, as in the previous form, and these heads are held upon the cylinder ends by means of tie rods. In this form, however, a bracket 80 having a central opening is slipped over the cylinder to a position midway between its ends and short tie rods 81 are provided which pass through openings in the top and bottom cylinder heads and are threaded into the bracket 80. Horizontal extensions 32 on the brackets 80 are bored to receive the ends of a shaft S3 which is journalled in a boss 84 formed on the rear of the cage 68. The ends of the shaft are peripherally grooved, as at 85, and set screws 86 threaded in the brackets Si) seat in the grooves to lock the cylinders into position upon the cage. rlhis mounting will permit the cylinders to rock slightly as the bell-cranks 87 through the chain connection 88 draw up the pistons in the cylinders. This will provide a straight line pull at all times and gradually reduce the friction upon the piston rod.

The bell-cranks 67 are provided with set screws 89 which may be adjusted to contact chains 88 when the delivery pipe is pulled down and the upper S-shaped section of the swing joint rocked about its pivot. Usually the screws will be so adjusted that they will contact the chains and push them outward, thus eectively shorteningtheir lengths to further compress the springs in the buiers just as the delivery pipe reaches horizontal position. This will compensate for the extra load imposed when the telescopic sections of the delivery pipe are extended.

While in the above practical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be evident that the structure described and illustrated is merely by way of example, and changes may be made from the precise details disclosed without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A load compensating swing joint for uid loaders comprising, a lower vertical section, an S-shaped intermediate section having one vertical and one horizontal terminal portion with the vertical terminal portion swivelly connected to the top of the lower vertical section whereby said intermediate section may rotate with respect to the lower section about a vertical axis, an S- shaped upper section having one horizontal and one vertical terminal portion with the horizontal terminal portion swivelly connected to the horizontal terminal portion of the intermediate section whereby said upper section may rotate with respect to the intermediate section about a horizontal axis, a pair of buer elements one mounted vertically on each side of said intermediate section with the vertical plane of the buffers being substantially parallel to `a vertical plane passing through the horizontal axis of rotation between said upper and intermediate joint sections, a pair of actuating arms carried by said upper section with one on each side of said upper section and extending perpendicularly to the horizontal xis of rotation of said upper section, and flexible means connecting the free ends of said arms and said buffers.

2. In a load compensating swing joint for fluid loaders as claimed in claim 1, means for adjusting the lengths of said connecting means to vary the strength of said buffers.

3. In a load compensating swing joint for uid loaders as claimed in claim 1, each of said buiers comprising a cylinder, top and bottom cylinder heads. a piston in the cylinder, a piston rod connected to the piston and projecting through the top cylinder head for attachment to 6 said connecting means, and a coiled spring positioned between said piston and the top cylinder head.

4. In a load compensating swing joint for uid loaders as claimed in claim 2, means to adjust the length of said connecting means to vary the initial compression of said springs, and said arms having a plurality of openings spaced along their lengths to provide attachment for said connecting means whereby the eiiective length of said arms may be varied.

5. A load compensating swing joint for uid loaders comprising, a ylower straight vertical section, `an S-shaped intermediate section having one vertical `and one horizontal terminal portion with the vertical terminal portion swivelly connected upon the upper end of the lower section whereby said intermediate section may rotate relative to ythe lower section about -a vertical axis, an S- shaped upper section having one horizontal 'and one ver tical -terminal portion with the horizontal portion swivelly connected Ito the horizontal terminal portion of the intermediate section whereby said upper section may rotate relative to the intermediate section about a horizontal axis, a trunnion On each of said intermediate `and upper sections projecting outwardly in opposite directions coaxially with the axis of rotation between said upper and intermediate sections, a bracket projecting from each ot' said upper and intermediate sections in which the trunnions of the other of said upper and intermediate sections is journalled, bell cranks hav-ing one yarm connected to said upper section and extending across the axis of rotation between said upper `and intermediate sections and over the ends of said trunnions to prevent endwise movement of said trunnions in said bracket-s, said bell cranks each having another arm projecting perpendicularly t-o the axis of rotation between said upper `and intermediate sections, a pair of buer elements one mounted vertically on each side of said intermediate ysection with the vertical'plane :of the buffers being substantially paralklel to a vertical plane passing through the horizontal axis of rotation between the upper and intermediate sections, and flexible means connecting the free arms of said bell cranks and said buiers.

6. In a load ycompensating swing joint for uid loaders as claimed in claim 5, means for adjusting the lengths of said connecting means to vary the strength of said buffers.

7. In a load compensating swing joint for fluid loaders as claimed in claim 5, each of -said buters comprising a cylinder, top and bottom cylinder heads, a piston in the cylinder, a piston rod connected to the piston and projecting through the top cylinder head for attachment to said connecting means, and a `coiled spring position between said pi-ston and the top cylinder head.

8. In a load compensating swing joint for uid loaders as claimed in claim 7, means to -adjust the lengths of said connecting means to vary the initial compression of said springs, and said free arms of said bell cranks being bifurcated to receive said connecting portions between the resulting pairs of arms, said pairs of arms having a plurality of openings spaced along their lengths whereby attachment to said connecting mean-s to vary the etective lengths of said free arms.

9. In a load compensating swing joint for uid load ers as claimed in claim 8, the means for adjusting the lengths of the connecting means comprising a drawbuckle connected to said connecting means, -a block movable in said drawbuckle and attachable to the free arms of said bell cranks, and means to move said block.

l0. A load compensating swing joint for uid loaders comprising, a lower vertical section, an S-shaped intermediate section having one vertical and yone horizontal terminal portion, a downwardly extending cage carried by the vertical terminal portion of the intermediate section surrounding and swivelly mounted upon the lower vertical section whereby said intermediate section and cage may rotate with respect to the lower section about 7 at vertical 1, axis; an i SL-shape upper; section; heyingvv one; horizontal4 and. one: vertical terminaliportiont with; the.l horizontal terminal'- portion swivellyfY connected; to the horzentalY terminalportionv ofi: the intermediate;Setion,V whereby, said upper: sectionY may,V rotate; with, respect` to.C the lintermediate section Iabout;a ,horizonta1;axis, .aLpairv of bufferY elementsA one. pivotaliy,Y mounted on.r each, side` of' the cage, at pair of actuating arms carried; by said` upper section one on each side thereof and; extending.r

perpendiculai'ly` to the, horizontalY axis of: rotation of said upper section, and exibleA means: connecting the. free e ends-of said'arms and said;but`fers.

11. In a load'compensatinggswing joint foi: uidioaders asclaimed-in claim 10,- eachof; saidbufferscomprising Va cylinder, top andf bottom; cylinder; heads, apistonpin tween; saidmston and Said; top-1 @winden-head1 and.v tbs piyotal; connection of;A said; bii. ,S1 being; apprmatel References Citedtinthell@ 0i this peteat UNIIEDSVTATES PATENTSl 958,504 KnightY Mayw 17, 1910 2,250,227 Kiel Iuly 22, 1,941 t 2,361,214 Krone` et a1.' Oct. 24, 1944V 2,409,251 Cantley et al Oct. 15, 1946 2,492,049 Krone et al. Dec. 20,1949 2,509,120Y Warren` r V May 23, 1950

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