Vilter Manufacturing LLC

Erich J Kocher

Paul G Szymaszek

John K Kopp

John G Nikolaus

An evaporative condenser cools and condenses fluid, such as refrigerants in a refrigeration system, by circulating the fluid through a condensing coil, continuously and completely spraying the condensing coil from above with cooling water, and simultaneously blowing air from below the condensing coil upwardly and counter to the cooling water. Heat is transferred from the fluid to the cooling water, and heat is transferred by evaporation from the cooling water to the air and is discharged to the atmosphere. A fogging nozzle sprays a fine water mist into the air blowing into and through the condenser, which will increase the rate of evaporation and therefore increase the rate of heat transfer, thus increasing the cooling efficiency of the condenser.

Evaporative condenser with fogging nozzle

In a check valve or stop/check valve comprising a housing having an inlet port, an outlet port and a valve seat between the two ports, a valve disc moves axially within a valve housing between open and closed positions, so that fluid flow applies pressure against the valve disc to automatically open the valve, but when the fluid stops or reverses, the valve automatically closes to prevent backwash. Under conditions of pulsating, low-volume fluid flow, a ridge on the valve seat and a deflector ring on the valve disc deflects the flow of fluid, thereby using the velocity of fluid to increase pressure against the valve disc so as to smoothly and gently move the valve disc, reduce vibration of the valve disc and prevent it from striking the valve seat.

Means to reduce vibration in check valves and stop/check valves caused

A liquid level control in a refrigeration system operates a solenoid valve to maintain the level of liquid refrigerant in a vessel within a range defined by predetermined lower and upper liquid levels, sounds an alarm if the upper level is exceeded and stops a pump if the lower level is violated. The control comprises a float assembly and a switching assembly. The float assembly comprises a float chamber connected to the vessel, a float ball therein, a vertically extending float rod connected to the float ball and movable along a vertical path, and a pair of spaced apart stop members on the float rod disposed within the switching assembly. The switching assembly comprises a switch actuator permanent magnet, having magnet poles at opposite ends, slidably mounted on the float rod between the stop members and movable thereby along the said path. The switch assembly also comprises three switch units which are mounted so as to be vertically spaced apart from each other and adjacent the vertical path of travel of the switch actuator magnet on the float rod. The first switch unit controls a relay for operating a solenoid valve which controls liquid flow into the vessel. The second switch unit controls a relay for operating a pump which controls liquid flow out of the vessel. The third switch unit controls a relay for operating an alarm to warn of high liquid level. Each switch unit comprises a snap-acting micro-switch actuatable between two conditions (open/close), a movable lever arm for actuating the micro-switch and movable toward and away from the vertical path of travel of the actuator magnet, and a permanent switch magnet mounted on the lever arm with one magnetic pole adjacent the path. The said one magnetic pole of the switch magnet is repelled or attracted by a pole of the actuator magnet moving therepast in response to movement of the float ball and float rod to effect snap-acting operation of the switch and operation of the appropriate relay and associated electrical device.

Liquid level control for refrigeration system

A large manually operated leak-proof corrosion-proof low-cost shut-off or stop valve for handling high pressure refrigerant liquid and/or gases is disclosed. The valve comprises a valve body formed of two sheet metal hemispheres electron-welded to the periphery of a circular metal valve plate which has an aperture therethrough. Hollow cylindrical metal tubes entend into circular holes formed in the hemispheres and are electron-welded to the hemispheres along the edge of the circular holes. One tube on each hemisphere serves for fluid flow. Another internally and externally threaded tube on one hemisphere serves as valve sleeve through which a manually rotatable and axially shiftable externally threaded valve spindle extends. The inner end of the valve spindle is secured to a valve disc which cooperates with the aperture in the valve plate. In the method, components to be welded together are assembled and rotated with respect to a stationary electron welding beam. The weld is formed solely of melted and resolidified materials from the components being joined. The electron welding beam is applied to the interior of each hemisphere to attach the metal tubes thereto. The electron welding beam is applied to the exterior of each hemisphere to secure it to the metal valve plate. This ensures that a weld extends entirely through the mating surfaces being joined.

Valve body comprising sheet metal hemispheres and method for making same

A method is disclosed for operating a large motor-driven refrigeration gas compressor which has independently movable suction and discharge slide valves to prevent undesirable, possibly damaging hydraulic pressure build-up caused by sealing oil remaining in the gas compression chambers during compressor start-up. While the compressor is started and brought up to full speed, the suction slide valve is disposed in fully unloaded position to fully open the gas suction port and the discharge slide valve is disposed in position to fully open the gas discharge port to enable excess oil in the gas compression chambers to exit freely through the compressor gas discharge port before oil pressure build-up can occur. When the compressor is at full speed, the suction slide valve is positioned to maintain a desired gas suction pressure and the discharge slide valve is positioned to equalize gas pressure between the gas compression chambers and the compressor gas discharge port. On shut-down of the compressor both slide valves are returned to their start-up positions.

Method for operating dual slide valve rotary gas compressor

A reciprocating type gas compressor comprises a hollow frame or housing having spaced apart end walls, a motor-driven crankshaft disposed within the housing and rotatably mounted on bearing assemblies on the end walls and connecting rods connected to crank pins on the crankshaft for driving pistons located within the housing. The crankshaft comprises a drive shaft at one end and a pump shaft the other end, both extending along a common axis of rotation. The crankshaft also comprises a pair of axially spaced apart counterweights located between the two shafts and a crank arm or link located between the counterweights. A crank pin extends from each counterweight to the link along a pin axis which is parallel to and spaced apart from the common axis of rotation. Each bearing assembly has a hollow cylindrical inner race which is friction-fitted on a shaft at an end of the crankshaft and abutts the side of one counterweight. To enable removal of each friction-fitted bearing assembly from its shaft without damage thereto, a pair of threaded bores extend through portions of each counterweight and the bore axes are parallel to but located on opposite sides of the common axis of rotation and each bore is aligned with the inner end surface of the inner race of the associated bearing assembly. Each threaded bore accommodates a long jack screw which is temporarily rotatably inserted thereinto so as to engage the inner race and force the bearing assembly off of its shaft for servicing or replacement.

Means for removing bearing from crankshaft

A rotary screw gas compressor for a refrigeration system comprises a motor-driven single main rotor having helical grooves and mounted for rotation in a rotor bore in the compressor housing and a pair of star-shaped gate rotors rotatably mounted in the housing and engageable with the helical grooves to define a plurality of compression chambers. A suction slide valve member is slidably positionable (between full load and unload positions) to control where low pressure uncompressed refrigerant gas from a suction port is admitted to the compression chambers to thereby function as a suction bypass to control compressor capacity. A discharge slide valve member is slidably positionable (between minimum and adjusted volume ratio positions) to control where high pressure compressed refrigerant gas is expelled from the compression chambers to a discharge port to thereby control the volume ratio and thereby the input power to the compressor. Both slide valve members are disposed in side-by-side sliding relationship in a common recess in the compressor housing which extends alongside and communicates with the rotor bore and each has a face which is complementary to and confronts the main rotor surface in sliding sealed relationship. The slide valve members are independently movable by separate piston-cylinder type hydraulic actuators. A control system responsive to compressor capacity and volume ratio operates the actuators to position the slide valve members to cause the compressor to operate at a predetermined capacity and minimum power input. The control system includes sensing devices to detect the position of the slide valve members.

Rotary screw gas compressor having dual slide valves

A refrigeration gas compressor comprises a piston reciprocably movable to effect gas compression, a motor-driven rotatable crank shaft, and a connecting rod between a crank shaft, crank pin and a piston wrist pin. A crank pin receiving hole and a wrist pin receiving hole in the connecting rod are connected by an oil passage. The crank pin has two lubricating oil supply ports at opposite sides of its outer surface through which lubricating oil is pumped. A bearing assembly comprising semi-circular upper and lower bearing sections is disposed around the crank pin. The upper bearing section has wedge-shaped oil well recesses at opposite ends of its inner surface which receive oil from the oil supply ports. The upper bearing section also has two oil feed holes therethrough for supplying oil from the wells to a groove in the crank pin hole side wall adjacent the upper bearing section. A circumferentially extending groove in the inner surface of the lower bearing section receives oil from the oil supply ports and communicates with the oil well recesses. The rotational upward compression stroke of the crank pin causes oil to be drawn toward the narrow end of one wedge-shaped recess to effect high pressure hydrodynamic lubrication in the load bearing zone between the upper bearing section and the crank pin. Oil also flows at pump pressure from the oil well recesses through the other flow paths.

Connecting rod and bearing assembly therefor

A refrigeration system includes a latent heat storage tank having an evaporator coil or tube submerged in water and on which a layer of ice forms in response to circulation therethrough of refrigerant from a motor-driven compressor. Apparatus is provided to measure, indicate and regulate the thickness of the ice layer. The apparatus comprises an ice sensing device which provides an electric signal proportional to ice layer thickness to an electrical control circuit which then operates a meter to indicate thickness and operates a motor controller to stop or start the compressor motor. The ice sensing device comprises a probe which is periodically movable back and forth in a short arc in one cycle to detect ice by a timer-actuated electric motor and a potentiometer which moves in response to probe movement to provide a signal porportional to ice thickness to the abovementioned electrical control circuit. Motor control is effected by limit switches and relays and a resettable peak hold circuit to maintain a peak signal value in each cycle despite further movement of the probe and potentiometer.

Ice-thickness sensing device in refrigeration system

An oil separator assembly for separating and recovering oil droplets from compressed hot refrigerant gas circulating in a refrigeration system comprises a hollow metal tank having a chamber in which a hollow cylindrical fine-mesh filter element is vertically mounted. The filter element has a hollow cylindrical bore open at its upper end and closed at its lower end. A gas/liquid inlet pipe extends into the top of the tank and communicates directly with and extends into the upper end of the filter element bore. The inlet pipe has a passage therethrough defined by a wall. A gas outlet pipe extends into the top of the tank and communicates directly with the chamber to expel gas separated from the oil by the filter element. An oil outlet port extends into the bottom of the tank to allow for drainage of oil separated from the gas by the filter element. A deflector in the form of a flat metal strip twisted into a spiral shape is mounted in the inlet pipe passage in contact with the wall thereof to cause the incoming gas/oil mixture to impinge forcefully against the bore wall whereby oil droplets coalesce into larger drops and to expedite movement of the gas and larger drops through the filter element.

Apparatus for separating liquid droplets from gas

A large manually operated leak-proof corrosion-proof low-cost shut-off or stop valve for handling high pressure refrigerant liquids and/or gases comprises a valve body formed of two sheet metal hemispheres welded to the periphery of a circular metal valve plate having a fluid passage therethrough and hollow cylindrical metal tubes welded to the hemispheres along the edges of circular holes cut in the hemispheres. One tube on each hemisphere serves for fluid flow. Another internally and externally threaded tube on one hemisphere serves as a valve sleeve through which a rotatable and axially shiftable externally threaded valve spindle extends. The inner end of the valve spindle is secured to a valve disc which releasably engages a valve seat around the fluid flow passage in the valve plate. The outer end of the valve spindle is secured to the hub of a hand-wheel which is rotatable to open and close the valve. A hollow internally threaded bonnet is screwed on to the externally threaded outer end of the valve sleeve and entraps sealing materials so as to form a seal between the valve spindle and the valve sleeve and also entraps O-rings between the valve spindle and the bonnet. Unscrewing of the bonnet affords access to the sealing materials and O-ring and, as the bonnet moves axially, it also axially shifts the hand-wheel off of the outer end of the valve spindle.

Sealing means for valve spindle

A multi-cylinder single-stage rotary rolling piston type gas compressor comprises four modular cylinder housings, partitions and end covers bolted together in end-to-end arrangement. Each cylinder housing includes an inner wall which defines a centrally located cylinder chamber and vane slot and an outer wall which defines a suction chamber, a discharge chamber and an oil chamber or reservoir surrounding the cylinder chamber. The four suction chambers are connected together end-to-end to a common gas inlet port. The four discharge chambers are connected together end-to-end to a common gas discharge port. The four oil chambers are connected together end-to-end. An internally lubricated rotor assembly extends axially through the four cylinder chambers and comprises a shaft rotatably supported on the end covers. The shaft has four eccentric crankarms on which four roller pistons are rotatably mounted, one for each cylinder chamber. The two central pistons are angularly displaced 180.degree. from the two end pistons to provide balance. The rotor shaft drives an oil pump connection to the oil reservoir. Each vane slot for a cylinder chamber has at least one reciprocably movable low-mass hollow externally-grooved spring-biased gas-pressurized vane slidably mounted therein and slidably engaged with an associated roller piston. Each cylinder chamber has a gas suction port in the inner wall on one side of the vane slot communicating with the suction chamber. Each cylinder chamber has a plurality of gas discharge ports in the inner wall on the other side of the vane slot and each discharge port accommodates a spring- and gas-pressure biased, normally closed, gas-operated poppet type discharge valve which allow complete gas expulsion to the discharge chamber.

Rotary gas compressor having rolling pistons

A refrigeration system includes a latent heat storage tank having an evaporator coil or tube submerged in water and on which a layer of ice forms in response to circulation therethrough of refrigerant from a motor-driven compressor. Apparatus is provided to measure, indicate and regulate the thickness of the ice layer. The apparatus comprises an ice sensing device which provides an electric signal proportional to ice layer thickness to an electrical control circuit which then operates a meter to indicate thickness and operates a motor controller to stop or start the compressor motor. The ice sensing device comprises a probe which is periodically movable back and forth in a short arc in one cycle to detect ice by a timer-actuated electric motor and a potentiometer which moves in response to probe movement to provide a signal proportional to ice thickness to the above-mentioned electrical control circuit. Motor control is effected by limit switches and relays and a resettable peak hold circuit to maintain a peak signal value in each cycle despite further movement of the probe and potentiometer.

Means to measure, indicate and regulate thickness of ice layer in

A large manually operated leak-proof corrosion-proof low-cost shut-off or stop valve for handling high pressure refrigerant liquids and/or gases comprises a valve body formed of two sheet metal hemispheres welded to the periphery of a circular metal valve plate having a fluid passage therethrough and hollow cylindrical metal tubes welded to the hemispheres along the edges of circular holes cut in the hemispheres. The cylindrical outer end of a valve spindle extends into a cylindrical bore in the hub of a hand-wheel which is rotatable to open and close the valve. The hand-wheel is secured to a valve spindle by a removable flanged roll pin which fits into a pin hole formed by mating or registering recesses formed in the periphery of the outer end of the valve spindle and in the peripheral wall of the bore in the hub of the hand-wheel. Unscrewing of the bonnet affords access to the sealing materials and, as the bonnet moves axially, it also shifts the hand-wheel off of the outer end of the valve spindle. As this occurs, the wheel hub engages the roll pin flange to force the roll pin out of the pin hole.

Means for releasably securing hand-wheel to valve spindle

A refrigeration compressor having a plurality of pistons reciprocated by a crankshaft and in which the crankshaft is made up of two parts that are permanently fixed together by means of a sleeve which is press fit over adjacent ends of the two pieces of the crankshaft. The adjacent ends also have complementary parts which inter-engage with one another so as to hold the throws of the crankshaft parts in proper relationship and timing to one another. A bearing is mounted on the press fit sleeve and a split bearing support then embraces the bearing so as to hold the assembly in precise support in the compressor frame. The split bearing support includes a lower bearing support case to which is bolted an upper semi-circular cap. The support case is also semi-circular and has a radial split cut into it which is bridged by a tapered pin so that upon tightening of the pin the bearing support case is urged apart or expanded to thereby be tightly mounted in the compressor frame.

Growing community of inventors

Milwaukee, WI, United States of America

Erich J Kocher