US2580731A - Control valve for automobile lifts - Google Patents

Description

into operation sheet ejection controls. Instead of single sheets, a continuous form may be used, and then the ejection controls are arranged to carry the strip from form to form with differential movements calculated to bring the first heading line or the first item line in position after an ejection operation.

The mechanism used is disclosed in greater detail in Patent 2,189,025, but the operating controls are fully disclosed herein.

Turning to Fig. a, it is seen that a line space control relay R1 is connected by a wire I 32I to cam contacts CF4. when calling for line spacing in conjunction with a function such as printing. a circuit is partly established and at the proper time the cam contacts close to send an impulse through the line space control relay. The relay then operates to close contacts R111 and a holding circuit is established from line I I84, through wire I323, cam contacts CR6, contacts Rla, relay R1 and line I I85. The relay then acts to make effective the line space clutch in the automatic platen spacing unit to advance the record sheet one line space.

A switch TS may be closed in series with relay R1. Then, a circuit is directed therethrough as an incident to each card feed operation. The circuit follows a path through line H84, switch TS, lower card lever relay contacts R312, wire i324, cam contacts CF4, wires I325 and l32l, relay R1, and line H85. During heading card control, switch bar contacts 398 are closed in shunt with the card lever contacts, so that a sheet spacing operation accompanies the recording of each line of heading information.

Whenever the line space control relay is energized, it operates associated contacts R1b (Fig. 20a) arranged in series with the line space control magnet LSM. The circuit for the magnet includes line H84, cam contacts CR1, wire I 330, relay contacts R1b, wire l33i, magnet LSM and line H85.

Ejection controls (Fig. 20b) in the form of contacts 269$ (found identified as contacts 259 in Patent 2,189,025) are normally open but connected in series with the eject magnet EM and the cam contacts CRH through wires I321, I328 and I329. This control of ejection is called into operation whenever the end of a sheet or the end of a form is reached, the position of which is predetermined by settable controls in the automatic carriage unit as fully described in the patent mentioned.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine controlled by groups of records with each group comprising one or more heading records and a plurality of item records, said heading records bearing a special indicium and indicia representations of a plurality of fields of alphabetic and numerical information, said heading records being placed in the front of related groups to precede each other and related item records, a record hopper, means for issuing the records successively out Of the hopper, a plurality of re'cord sensing stations each with indicia sensing devices, said stations being spaced along the path of said records to be encountered firstly, secondly, etc., means for initially sensing said special indicium on the appearance of a heading record, a printing mechanism, switching means for selectively connecting one after another of said sensing devices to said printing mechanism, means under control of said sensing devices for operating said printing mechanism, means for feeding each record successively through one after another of said sensing stations, 5. main driving mechanism, said feeding means including clutching devices between a portion of said feeding means and driving mechanism for selectively feeding the records past the first sensing station, clutch control means for controlling said clutching devices to normally efiect feeding, and means under control of said special indicium sensing means for operating said print switching devices to print under control of sensing devices at suecessive stations and also operating said clutch control means for controlling said clutching devices to disable feeding of a following heading or item record while printing multiple lin s under control of the fields of indicia of a preceding heading record, whereby said printing mechanism is operated a plurality of times under control of each heading record.

2. In a machine controlled by groups of records with ea h group comprising an address record and a plurality of item records, said address record bearing a special indicium and indicia representations of a plurality of fields of name, street. city and state information, said address records being placed in the front of related groups to precede related item records, a record hopper, means for issuing the records successively out of the hopper, a plurality of record sensing stations each with indicia sensing devices, said stations being spaced along the path of said records to be encountered firstly, secondly, etc., means for initially sensing. said special indicium on the appearance of an address record, a printing mechanism, switching means for selectively connecting one after another of said sensing devices to said printing mechanism, means under control of said sensing devices for operating said printing mechanism, means for feeding each record successively through one after another of said sensing stations, a main driving mechanism, said feeding means including clutching devices between a portion of said feeding means and driving mechanism for selectively feeding the records past the first sensing station, clutch control means for controlling said clutching devices to normally eifect feeding, and means under control of said special indicium sensing means for operating said print switching devices to print under control of sensing devices at successive stations and also operating said clutch control means for controlling said clutching devices to disable feeding of a following item record while printing multiple lines under control of the fields of indicia of a preceding address record, whereby said printing mechanism is operated a plurality of times under control of each address record.

3. In a machine controlled by groups of records with each group comprising a plurality of address records and a plurality of item records, said address records bearing a special indicium and indicia representations of a plurality of fields of alphabetic and numerical information, said ad-- dress records being placed in the front of related groups to precede each other and related item records, a record hopper, means for issuing the Jan. 1, 1952 J. D. coca-1m 2,580,731

CONTROL VALVE FOR AUTOMOBILE LIFTS Filed March 8, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 1, 1952 J. D. COCHIN 2,580,731

CONTROL VALVE FOR AUTOMOBILE LIFTS Filed March 8, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet .3

I f 40 6'9 Z6, 81 57 r 2a 40 :Z g3 62 6% I e/ /NVENTOR Y JOHN D. COGHl/V 4274 A TTOE/VEY.

Patented Jan. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL VALVE FOR AUTOMOBILE LIFTS JohnDQCoch'in,SaniFi-ancisco, Calif. 7

Application March 8, 1947, Serial No. 733,329,

I 3 Claims. (01. 211-21) This invention relates to an improved dual 4 control valve and especially to a dual control valve of a type particularly suited to be used in conjunction with hydraulic automobile lifts adapted for installation in service stations and garages.

The object of my invention is to improve generally the structure and function of devices of the character disclosed in my United States-Letters Patent No. 1,764,004, dated June 17, 1930, and reissued as No. 19,239, for Valve for Lifting Devices, by providing a novel arrangement of spiral springs which may allow an increased flow of fluids under pressure through the several valves than was heretofore possible, while at the same time providing means whereby the operating handle is more rapidly returned to its normal inoperative position when manually released. 7

. .Another object of my invention is to provide novel means whereby the vertical alignment of pressure may be utilized to enable minor shifts in elevating the lift after the said lift has reached substantially the height desired. Utilization in this manner of compressed air retainedin the tank, which ordinarily serves no purpose, is desirable in that it conserves the power output requirementof the compressor and minimizes the necessity for continuously subjecting the storage tank to sudden high pressures which will occur whenever air from the compressor is introduce into the tank. g

A further object is to increase the actuating speed of the heretofore sometimes sluggish operation of the several valves contained in the'valve;

mechanism, as well as to provide a-necessarily .tighter seating around the air valves than required for the oil valves, by employing valve springs of varying tensions.

- Other objects of this invention will become ap-.,

parent upon examination of the followingspecification and reference to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in eachof the several viewsvalve from the direction of the Referring to the drawings:

Fig. '1 shows a liquid storage tank and the controlvalve with fluid connections leading to a hydraulic lift illustrated in a vertical sectional view.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the control valve.

Fig. '3 is a side elevational view of the control indicating arrow IIIin Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken on line 4-4 of Fig.2. a 1 I Fig.- 5 is asectional view, taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2. r V

Fig. 6 is a sectional view, taken on line 66 of Fig. .2. 1 H

Fig.7 is asectional view,-taken on' linel 'i ofFig.3.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of a modification v of the valve control arms adapted to actuate an air and oil valve.

One type of conventional ployed in raising and lowering motor vehicles and the like to facilitate repair or service thereof comprises means whereby gaseous matter, usually air,

is introduced under pressure-into a storage-tank containing a heavy liquid, usually oil, thereby forcing the liquid through conduits into a vertically disposed cylinder containing a vertically movable ram. The liquid under pressure is pre- .30 from the compressor, in order that the oil under vented from escaping from the cylinder by means of packing inserted between the ram and the cylinder. The ram, which mounts a load rack, is caused to be elevated by the liquid under pres- To lower the ram, means are provided whereby the compressed air is released from the liquid tank. The weight of the-ram, acting'downwardly upon the oil in thecylinder, is sufficient to force the oil out of the cylinder, back through the conduits, and into the liquid storage tank.

Fig. 1 illustrates a cylindrical casing 2, in which is movably mounted a vertically disposed ram 3, carrying an attached rack 4. Suitable packing 5 is inserted between-the ram 3 and easing 2 to prevent leakage of liquid under pressure which is carried from the valve assembly, generally indicated at 6,through conduit 7, and introduced into casing 2, through port 8. A liquid conduit 9, adapted to carry oil, leads from storage tank II to the valve'mechanism. A relief valve [2 is connected to air conduit l3, which is in flow communication with tank H and valve assembly 6. Valve assembly 6 is also. connected to a conduit I0 adapted to carry compressed air from anair compressor (not shown) to the valve mechanism. The valve mechanism 6 comprisesa case hydraulic lift em-" 3 ing I5, having threaded apertures I6, I1, I8 and I9 for connection to conduits 1, 9, I3 and Ill, respectively. Another aperture 29 is provided in the casing to receive a vent conduit (not shown) leading to atmosphere.

The casing I5 is divided into two principal sections and D by a partition 25. Section C may be termed the oil section and section D may be termed the air section. A partition 26in section D extends horizontally and vertically from the end of the casing I adjacent to the aperture I8 to the bottom of the said casing I5 to form an air chamber 21. A partition 28 in section D en'- tends horizontally and vertically from the end of the said casing I5 opposite to aperture I8 to the top of the said casing I5 to form an air chamber 29. A connecting chamber 3| enables fluid communication between air chamber 21 and air chamber 29, through air valves, generally indicated at 51 and 59. The said connecting chamber 3I is in direct fluid communication with the aperture I8. Air chamber 21 is also in direct fluid communication with aperture I9. Air cha'm-' ber 29 is in direct fluid communication with vent aperture 26.

Oil section C is provided with a horizontally disposed partition 33 to form an oil connecting chamber 34. The oil ,section C is also provided with a vertical sub-partition 35 to form lower oil chambers 36 and 31. The connecting chamber 34 is not in fluid communication with either of the apertures I6 and I1 except through the medium of oil valves, generally indicated at 61 and 69. Oil chamber 31 is in direct fluid communication with aperture I6, while on chamber 36 is in direct fluid communication with aperture I1.

Formed in the bottom of easing I5, are four apertures, into which are removably screwed hollow caps 4 I, each provided with a hollow, tubular, vertically disposed guide support 42 to receive slidably the bottom ends of the valve stems of the several valves 51, 59, 61 and 69. V

In the oil section C valve seats 39 are formed in the horizontal partition 33 in vertical alignment with the supports '42 while similar valve seats 40 are formed in the horizontal portions of partitions 26 and 28 in section B in vertical alignment with the supports '42 disposed therebelow.

The top of the casing I5 is'for'me'd with a plurality of upwardly projecting, hollow bosses 5| in vertical alignment with the valve seats and supports 42 lying therebelow. The valves 51, 59, 61 and 69 are identical in structure with the exception that the air valves 51 and 59 are-provided, preferably, with stronger spring bias closure means than 011 valves '61 and '69, as will hereinafter appear. Each valve 51,59, 61 and 69 comprises a valve stem 6|, the bottom end of which is disposed slidably in a support 42. A valve head 62 is carried by each valve stem 6| to seat in a respective valve seat 30 or '40, depending upon whether the valve is located in section C or in section D. Arranged circumferentially of each valve stem is a coil spring adapted to bias the valve head into closed position.- The air valve springs are of normally greater tension than the oil valve springs and will be designated by the indicia 64 whilst the preferably smaller oil valve springs will be designated as '64. The springs 64 and 64 abut against the bottom of caps M and the bottom of valve head 62 for the purposes indicated, to bias the valve heads 'to closed position.

Each of the hollow bosses 5I is provided with a tubular insert I2, which is threadably engaged with the said hollow bosses interiorly thereof and is provided with an inner annular flange portion 13 which slidably engages a pin 14, arranged concentrically within the said insert 12 and projecting into the sections C and D and is provided with an annular shoulder terminus 15, adapted to seat againstthe top of the casing I5. Each pin 14 is provided with a bore, as at 16, in vertical alignment with a respective valve stem disposed therebelow. The several valve stems 6I "project upwardly from their respective valve heads in the form of valve stem extensions 8I of reduced diameter, passing through oil chambers 34 andchambers 29 and 3I as a further factor to prevent impeding flow of fluids thererou Tlie extensions 8I are slidably received in the bored portions 16 of bins 14. The pins 14 extend upwardly above bosses 5I and tubular inserts 12 and each pin is provided with a head 82'. A coil spring 83 is provided circumferentially 'of each of the pins 14 within the tubular insert 12 to abut against the flange 13 thereof and the bottom of the head 82 to bias the said pin upwardly,

The top of the casing I5 is provided with a pair of vertically disposed, spaced 'ears '9I, upon which is pivotally mounted a control handle, gen- 'erally indicated at 92, which is provided witha plurality of actuating arms 93, 94-, 9'5 and '96 adapted to overlie the heads 82 of the several 'oil and air actuating pins 14. I prefer to provide means whereby the valve, adapted to open oil communication between the storage tank and ram, may be actuated without simultaneously actuating the valve adapted to supply air under pressure to the storage tank. For this reason I prefer to enlarge the actuating arm 96, overlying the valve 61, adapted to control flow of oil from tank to ram in order that an operator may rock the handle 92 through a limited arc to depress the valve actuating pin 14 overlying the said valve 61 without causing actuating arm 93 to depress valve 51 to open air communication from compressor to tank.

Thus, after the storage tank has once been charged with compressed air, an operator may cause elevation of the ram by rocking the handle through a limited arc to open valve 61 to allow the oil, under pressure, contained in the tank to pass therefrom through the valve mechanism to the ram without simultaneously opening communication from air compressor to the tank. The operator, obviously, may rock the handle further in order to open both the valve 61 and the valve 51, which controls flow of air, under pressure, from source to tank, if it is desired.

I have found that by enabling "an operator to cause elevation of the ram without drawing on the air pressure source it results in increased economy, particularly as it conserves the air source reservoir which in turn results in saving wear on the operating parts of the air pressure generating unit.

Obviously, variations may be practiced to enable an operator to open 611 communication from tank to ram without simultaneously opening communication from air pressure source to tank. For example, in Fig. 8 there is a modification and wherein actuating arm IUI overlying the actuating pin 14, adapted control air source valve 51, is recessed or cut away Whereas valve actuating arm I02 overlying the actuating p'i'n H, adapted to control oil valve .61,is,not cut away or recessed. Hence an operator may rock the handle through a limited arcto open said valve 61 without simultaneously opening valve 5'1, if he so desires.

cation from air compressor (through conduitflll) to the valve mechanism 6, and from the valve mechanism, through valve 51, to the tank ll through conduit 13, simultaneously allowing all to flow from tank ll, through conduit 9 and valve 61 to open valve 69 and pass to ram through conduit 1.

When it is desired to lower the lift and attached load rack, the handle is rocked in the opposite direction to open the air valve 59 to enable the escape of air contained in the tank ll through opening 20, and an escape conduit (not shown) threadably secured to opening 20, and simultaneously to open the oil valve 69 to enable oil to return to the storage tank from the casing ram, through the valve mechanism and oil valve 61. It is seen that the pressure of oil returning from the ram casing through the conduit 1, particularly when no load is carried by the rack, may be little relative to oil pressure developed while lowering the ram with a load. Consequently, the valve seat 62 of oil valve 61 must be able to open under slight pressure to insure quick and eificient operation.

In the present invention the flow of oil is not impeded in progress through the valve mechanism by springs located in connecting chamber 34. Further, in the present structure the springs 64 adapted to urge oil valve heads 62 to closed position, may be, and preferably are, light in structure so that oil pressure thereupon can open the same to facilitate functioning of the valve mechanism. Again, the spring means to cause return of the pins 14 and heads 82 thereof and in turn handle control 92 to inoperative position are located above the casing 15 and out of the path of flow of oil and air and may, therefore, be of any desired strength and bulk without obstructing the flow of fluid through the valve mechanism.

Again, the arrangement of the valve stems 6| and stem extensions 8| insures proper vertical alignment of the said stems when operating under pressure of flow of fluids or because of external forces of operation, such as manual movement of the handle 92 or the like. The valve stems 6| are disposed to slide vertically within bottom supports 42. The extensions 8| of said stems slide in bores 16 of pins 14, which are arranged in vertical alignment with the said bottom guides 42. Hence distortion from the vertical of valve stems, a previous inherent difficulty in the present type of valve mechanism, is obviated by the present novel structure by slideways disposed top and bottom of the valve heads.

It is further reiterated that a means is provided whereby the oil communication from pressure source to ram may be controlled independently of the corresponding air flow valve from air pressure source to oil tank by a single operating lever, as hereinbefore described. The desirability of providing means to control the flow of oil from tank to ram without admitting air from a pressure source to the tank is important in the instant type of valve mechanism adapted to cqntrol automobile pass irorn compressor to tank at greater, velocity u and greater. volume than the oilpasses iromthe tank to the ram, and, cons equently, pressures may be developedwit-hin the tank in excess' of that necessary to cause elevation of the ram and load. By providing means to open flow of oil from tank to ram without admitting further air under pressure to the tank, v I can usefu ly bleed ofi oil under pressure "fromfthe' tank"to actuate .the ram and concurrently economize the air pressure source.

While the present invention has been described in more or less detail for purposes of clarity of illustration and example, it is to be understood that various changes, modifications, alterations and omissions may be made in the structure herein described within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A valve device for controlling the flow of hydraulic liquid back and forth between a tank and a ram and for controlling the flow of compressed gas into and out of the tank, comprising a casing having partitions forming chambers for gas and chambers for liquid within the casing, some of the partitions being horizontal and having openings therethrough to permit the flow of gas through some of the openings and the flow of hydraulic liquid through others, valve heads at the undersides of the openings, valve stems passing through the openings carrying the valve heads and extending above and below the valve heads, hollow guides within which the lower ends of the valve stems are slidable, springs about the guides to urge the valve heads normally upwardly to closed position, pins extending above the casing and each having a bore forming guides within which the upper ends of the valve stems are slidable, and springs about the pins to urge them upwardly to lessen the pressure required of the first mentioned springs.

2. A valve device for controlling the flow of hydraulic liquid back and forth between a tank and a ram and for controlling the flow of compressed gas into and out of the tank comprising, a casing having partitions forming chambers for gas and chambers for liquid within the casing, some of the partitions being horizontal and having openings therethrough to permit the flow of gas through some of the openings and the flow of hydraulic liquid through others, valves comprising valve heads at the undersides of the openings, valve stems passing through the openings carrying the valve heads and extending above and below the valve heads, hollow guides within which the lower ends of the valve stems are slidable, springs about the guides to urge the valve heads normally upwardly to closed position, pins extending above the casing and each having a bore forming guides within which the upper ends of the valve stems are slidable, springs about the pins to urge them upwardly to lessen the pressure required of the first mentioned springs, a control handle, a plurality of actuating arms projecting outwardly from said control handle each overlying a respective pin, said control handle having a neutral position whereat none of said pins are operated by said actuating arms, said control handle movable from said neutral position to an operative position whereat said actuating arms operate to actuate said respective pins and associated valves which control flow ofcompressed air from its source to the tank and flow of hydraulic liquid from the tank to the ram, the actuating

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