U.S. patent number 3,612,213 [Application Number 05/035,707] was granted by the patent office on 1971-10-12 for silent housing for air pumps and compressors.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Medicor. Invention is credited to Zoltan Piko.
United States Patent |
3,612,213 |
Piko |
October 12, 1971 |
SILENT HOUSING FOR AIR PUMPS AND COMPRESSORS
Abstract
A silent housing for air pumps and compressors is of
sound-deadening material and has an air inlet filter, a pair of air
intake resonant valves tunable to an upper frequency of the pump or
compressor, and a pair of outlet valves tuned to the same frequency
as the intake valves and discharging in opposite directions into a
common outlet channel for sound interference.
Inventors: |
Piko; Zoltan (Budapest,
HU) |
Assignee: |
Medicor (Budapest,
HU)
|
Family
ID: |
10999201 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/035,707 |
Filed: |
May 8, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
May 12, 1969 [HU] |
|
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ME-1061 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
181/200;
417/312 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04B
39/0055 (20130101); F04B 39/0038 (20130101); F04D
29/4226 (20130101); F04D 29/668 (20130101); G10K
11/161 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F04D
29/42 (20060101); F04D 29/66 (20060101); F04B
39/00 (20060101); G10K 11/16 (20060101); G10K
11/00 (20060101); G10k 011/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;181/33.4 ;417/312 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tomsky; Stephen J.
Claims
Having described my invention, I claim:
1. A silent housing for air pumps and compressors, comprising a
sound-deadening air inlet filter, at least one inlet valve that
receives air from the filter and that releases air to the pump or
compressor in the housing, means to tune said at least one inlet
valve to an upper harmonic of the speed of the pump or compressor,
at least one outlet valve that receives air from the pump or
compressor, means to tune the said at least one outlet valve to
said upper harmonic, and means to discharge air from said at least
one outlet valve to the exterior of the housing.
2. A housing as claimed in claim 1, there being a pair of said
outlet valves in parallel, said discharge means comprising a
channel to which air is discharged from said outlet valves in
opposite directions from opposite ends of the channel, said channel
having an outlet intermediate its ends.
3. A housing as claimed in claim 1, of a sound-deadening
material.
4. A housing as claimed in claim 1, there being a pair of said
inlet valves which receive air in parallel from said filter.
5. A housing as claimed in claim 1, each of said valves including a
valve member for closing the valve and means yieldably urging the
valve member toward closed position against the force of air
entering the valve.
6. A housing as claimed in claim 1, each of said valves comprising
a valve body, a valve seat at one end of the body, a valve member
seated on the valve seat, a resilient element urging the valve
member against the valve seat, a spindle screw-threadedly disposed
in the valve body and bearing against said resilient element, and
means to rotate said spindle to adjust the stress in said resilient
element.
Description
The present invention relates to silent housings for air pumps and
compressors.
In measuring and control techniques and in automation, the use of
air as an energy carrier has become increasingly prevalent.
Pneumatic pumps or air compressors are used to feed such pneumatic
systems, and it is desirable that these operate silently.
Silent operation can be achieved by the provision of a central air
supply network, but such a system is undesirable because it is
fixed and involves complicated piping and high initial cost.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide
silent housings for air pumps and compressors, which will be of
relatively small size.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of such
housings that will permit a high rate of air delivery for a
relatively small installation.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of such
a housing which will be portable.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a
housing which will be relatively simple and inexpensive to
manufacture, easy to assemble, install, operate, maintain and
repair, and rugged and durable in use.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from a consideration of the following description, taken
in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic perspective view of a housing
according to the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a
tunable resonant valve for use in the housing of FIG. 1.
Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, and first to FIG. 1
thereof, there is shown a housing 1 for a pneumatic pump or
compressor, made of a conventional sound-deadening material, and
having an air inlet through a porous sound-absorbing air filter 2.
Air from filter 2 then proceeds in parallel paths to a pair of
resonantly tunable intake valves 3 and 4, which are both tuned to
the same frequency which is an upper harmonic of the speed of the
pump or compressor.
From the valves 3 and 4, the air proceeds to the pump or compressor
(not shown) which is housed in the region 5 of the housing 1. From
the outlet of the pump or compressor, the air then enters a pair of
resonantly tunable outlet valves 6 and 7 which are both tuned to
the same frequency as each other and the same frequency as valves 3
and 4. From the valves 6 and 7, the air continues to follow the
paths shown by the arrows in FIG. 1, and enters opposite ends of a
sound-interference air conduit 8. The oppositely moving streams of
air in conduit 8 move at an angle of 180.degree. to each other and
meet at the midpoint of the conduit 8 with a sound-deadening
effect, and then leave the housing through outlet fitting 9 with a
minimum of noise.
An individual resonantly tunable valve, such as 3, 4, 6 or 7, is
shown in cross section in FIG. 2. As is there seen, each of these
valves comprises a stem 10 which is externally screw-threaded and
which has a slot 10a at one end for longitudinal adjustment by
rotation with a tool, and an abutment shoulder 10b at the other
end. Shoulder 10b bears against a coil compression spring 11 with
an adjustable force that tunes the valve. Spring 11, in turn, bears
against a valve member in the form of a ball 12. The valve body 13
screw-threadedly receives stem 10 and is provided with a valve
chamber 13a within which the abutment shoulder 10b, the spring 11,
and the ball 12 are disposed. Body 13 also has outlet orifices 13b
for the escape of air from the open valve.
Stem 10 is sealed against valve body 13 by an annular sealing
washer 14 at one end of chamber 13a; and at its other end, chamber
13a is closed by an inlet fitting 15 which provides a valve seat
and which has an axial inlet opening 15a that is closed by the ball
12.
The opposite end of body 13 is covered by a cap 16 which is
removably screw-threadedly secured thereto, selectively to expose
or to cover the slot 10a.
In operation, with cap 16 removed, a tool is inserted in slot 10a
to rotate the stem 10 to change the compression of the spring 11 so
that the frequency of ball 12 on the seat provided by fitting 15 is
such that the valve will be tuned to an upper harmonic of the speed
of the pump or compressor. Air then enters casing 1 through filter
2 and proceeds to and through the valves 3 and 4 and to and through
the pump or compressor and in parallel paths to the valves 6 and 7,
whose outlets are opposed in conduit 8, and thence through the
outlet 9 to the ambient atmosphere.
It will of course be understood that when air enters the resonant
valves, the ball 12 is pushed from the seat provided by fitting 15
so that a through passage from inlet 15a to outlet 13b is provided.
In the course of this motion, the ball loses a portion of its
potential energy and spring 11 is compressed. By virtue of the
inertia of the ball, the ball moves away from its seat until its
potential energy is counteracted by the spring force, whereupon the
ball stops and tends to move again toward its seat, this process
being reversed and repeated until pressures acting on both sides of
the ball become equal. Thus the effective cross section of the
valve depends not only on the diameter of the inlet 15a, but also
on the mass of ball 12 and the pressure in spring 11.
Although the present invention has been described and illustrated
in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood
that modifications and variations may be resorted to without
departing from the spirit of the invention, as those skilled in
this art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations
are considered to be within the purview and scope of the present
invention as defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *