US1692012A - Indicating device - Google Patents

Description

Nov. '20, 1928. I 1,692,012

E. C. WELLS .INDICATING DEVICE Filed Dec. 20, 1924 HQT Fatented Nov. 2t), 1928.

' EDWARD c. WELLS. or DAYTON, Orin AS IGNQQE T LAT-fl! inoiv, wonK-s, INCOR- rormrnn, or D'AYTON, 01110, A coRronAT on on NEW roan.

mnrcariive nnyron.

Application f led December 20, 1924, Serial No. 757,194. I

I The present invention relates to a temperature indicating-device, and particularly to devices for indicating abnormal condi tions' in the operation of engines, machincry. and the like. i

vention is to provide 'a de vice adapted to be mounted in a suitable place for indicating abnormaltemperatures, as for example, abnormal temperatures arising during operation of Other objects of the invention will be ap-- parent from the following description when drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 represents an elevation of the present invention applied to the spout of a radiator i r Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

3 is an elevational view, partly in vertical section, of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a central vertical section of a sinipliiied form of theinvention;

Fi 5 is a plan view of a somewhat modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the invention as applied to a bearing. e

As showing a preferred embodiment of the invention it is herein illustrated and described as applied to the well known watei cooled engine of conventional design.

It is'generally understood that 'n such internal combustion engines designed for use in connection. with automobiles and the like, wherein the engine cylinders are cooled by a liquid such as water delivered to it-from a radiator or the like, the temperature of the cooling water in the radiator is normally somewhat below the boiling point of the wa ter, and so long as the engine operates nor really the temperatureof thewater remains normal. However, upon abnormal operation One of the main objects of the present in-' taken in connection with the accompanying or condition of the engine such asabroken fan belt, an insufiicientsupply of water in the radiator, etc, the temperature of the water in the radiator rises abnormally to subv stantially the boiling point, so that, in gen-- eral, the rise in temperature of the water in the radiator to its boiling point may be'taken as a Warning of such an abnormal operation orcondition of the engine.

, The presentinvention takes advantage of this rise in temperature to'applyto, the eX-.

terior of tlie'razdiator a temperature indicating material which changes color-when the temperature Wit-hi1} the radiator rises substantially to the boiling point to thereby give a warning of abnormal engine conditions or operation. V

' Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, 20 indicates generally the filler opening or spout of a radiator the opening of which may be 'closed'by nieans of a cap 21'. As here in shown thespout consists of a lower spout tube'22 secured to the upper or tank portion oft-he rad ator- 23, and anupper spout portionor tube 24 inextension of the lower spout portion or'tube' and having screw threadedor other engagement with the inner surface of the latter; :The upper end of the upper tube. is flanged outwardly or enlarged to receive the radiator cap 21 it being'provided" with suitable screw threads or. other fastening device for that purpose.

Surroundingthe exposed portion of the 7 upper tube, and preferably mounted directly upon the tubeas by painting thereon, is a-ring 25 of temperature indicating material, this material being of the .typcwhich is normally of one color but which cliange'sits color'whenit is heated to a predeterminedor critical temperature. One material which 'has been, found satisfactory for the present purpose is the iodomercurate of copper the color of which isnormally bright'scarlet, but which becomes black when heated to its critical temperature which is about 150 F. On cooling below the temperaturementioned this material regains its'original bright scarlet color. This temperature indicating material'may be applied totheouter'surface ofthe spout by iodomercurate of copper, and this is followed ill) color-changing temperatures either above or below that statedherein. It should also be understood that the method of applying the iodomercurate of copper and the materials employed, is susceptible of wide variation, including for example, the use of a relatively chemically inert varnish or other suitable material as a carrier for the iodomercurate of copper instead of the gum arabic, or the omission of part of the process described depending largely upon the particular materials emaloyed.

Surrounding the temperature indicating material 25 and supported between the shoulder 26 formed by the upper end of the lower tube 22 and the shoulder 27 formed by the enlargement of the upper tube, is an inclosiiig structure for providing a dead air space about that portion of the spout carrying the temperature indicating material 25.

rounding the tube 24 and indicating material 25 and spaced therefrom, the glass tube being held in position by means of supporting rings 29 which with the tube 2a form grooves to receive the glass tube 28. a The dead air space is sealed against the passage of air by means of rubber or other suitable packing rings 30 betweenthe glass tube'28 andthe supporting rings 29. i

, From the foregoing it will be seen that the temperature indicating material is in heat conducting connection through the parts 24,.

22 and 23 ofthe radiator with thecooling water 31, and as a result the temperature of the indicating material 25 will rise or fall with a rise or fall in thetemperature of the water. But since the critical temperature of the indicating'material is about 150 F.

whereas it is not desired to receive a temperature change indication until the water in the radiator reaches substantially its boiling teniperature, it is of the essence of the invention that the indicating material 25 be of such thermal remoteness from the cooling water 31 that it will not reach itsfcriti'cal temperature, and hence give a temperature change indicatiomjuntil the water reaches SLlbStfi-l'l. tially its boiling temperature. This is accomplished in the present invention by securing the band ofindicating material 25 to the radiator spout which spout is so exposed that the I This inclosing structure consists of a glass tube 28 sur heat radiation losses therefrom result in such a temperature difference between the indicating material and the. water that the indicating material reaches its critical or colorchanging-temperature at substantially the same time as the water reaches its boiling point. perature diiferential between the boiling water and the indicating material may be varied widely to meet the. varying requirements of various temperature indicatin materials, radiators andthe like, by suitable changes in the size,proportion or location of the various parts, or the provision of heat insulation about certain of the parts, so .as to establish a proper relation between the tain conditions, and assists in controlling the ill It will be understood that the temamount of heat radiation from the spout. It 1 is apparentalso, in this connection, that the inclosing structure may be of simpler construction than herein illustrated cases may be omitted entirely. 7 Since there is generally more or lesswater vapo in the radiator and since this vapor may e in the spout to heat 'theindicating material and give a premature temperature indication, it may be desirable, in some instances, to provide a deflector or wall 32" which, as shown in Fig. 2, may consist of an imperforate cylindrical tube spaced from the upper spout tube24- and secured thereto by means of the outturned ilanges33.

The present invention is iireferahly pre .vided withindicating symbols tunindieia :34;

such for example as theletters H O T, which and in some ins symbols consist of material of fixed. color.

indicatin' material, the

iso

symbols are in the form of letters which spell a word such as Hot, then the indicator actu}. ally states in plain language the condition of the engine and cosnng water so that' may be readily understood by one who may not, be familiar with the sig i ticance the change in colo of the indicating material itself.

Referring now to Fig. 3, which shows a lower modified form ofv the inventiomthe radiator spout consists of a lower tube 122 and an upper tube 1% which has screw thread d or other en; 'cincnt with the external surface of the tube 122. The upper tube is screw threaded to receive the radiator cap 121. In this form of the invention, like that shown in Fig. 2, the temperature indicating material pplied to the outer portion or tube 124: spout, and'the indicating material'is urrounded by an inclosing structure for proi (ring a dead air space around the'indieating ial The inclosing structure similar in construction to that abovedescribed and consists of a glass tube .28, supporting rings 29 and gaskets 30, the supporting rings being secured directly to the cylindri al wall of the tube 12%. The upper ends 10 tu )85 122 and 124 are provided with inor turned flanges l85and 136 which constitute spacing andsupporting means for the cylindrical vapor deflector or protecting wall 132, having an outturned flange 137 for engagement with the flange 136. This form of the apparatus may also, if desired, be provided with indicating symbols of the type herein described. r a

In the preferred form of the invention the temperature indicating material is preferably securcdto the spout of the radiator where it may be readily seen from the drivers seat, but it should be understood that the indicating material may be applied to any other suitable or convenient part of the engine or motor vehicle which changes its temperature in accordance with the temperature of the water in the cooling system. The apparatus may, in some cases, be sim plilied by the omission of the enclosure for providing a dead air space about the temperature indicating material. Such a simplified construction is illu? rated in Fig. din which 20 des Q nates the filler opening or spout and21. the cap, both ofwhich may be ofusualaml well known construction. Upon the exterior surface ofthe spout is painted or otherwise applied a band 25 of temperature indicating ma- I tc al, which maybe of the triple layer compoi il ion, abovedescribed,-or simply a layer of tlie'temperature indicatmg'materlal secured to the spout in any suitable manner. The band or temp rature indicating materialmaybe V protected by applying over the surface ofthe spent and the band coating of varnish other transpzuent protective material 35. in Fig. 5 is shown still another slightly modified form of construction. In this form of construction the indicating material 25 is applied to a clamping ring 150, of conventional mechanical construction, which may be clamped about the radiator spout, thus providing an indicating device of the character describedabove; The thickness of the clamping ring may be controlled as desired to give the desired temperature drop between the indicating material, which as stated above,

will normally changecolor at approximately 150 R, andthe material Whose temperature is to be indicated, in the i, ,rticular embodiment illustrated that material being the water within the radiator. In such a construction, it may be necessary to provide'heat insulating material 151 in addition to the thickness of the clamping member in order to interpose sufii cientresistance to the transfer of heatto that indicating material,that is, to provide the necessary ten'iperaturedrop between the in whose ten'iperature is being indicated and'the tenrperature indicating material It is not essential that this be done by means varying the character of the material of which i the clamp, or analogous part, is constituted; some metal such as copper for example being betterconductors of heat than other metals, so that by properly controlling the nature of the material upon whichthe indicating means is mounted the proper temperature controls may be secured.

In Fig. 6 is shown still'another slightly modified form ofconstruction in which the indicating device is attached to abearing for 7 an engine to indicate abnormal temperature conditions at such bearing, As illustrated this is done by applying the indicating material 25 to the face of a disk or plate 160, which is in turn bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the bearing 161. Here again the necessary heattransferring resistance should bemcorporated, and this may be done by varying the thickness of th /plate 180, vary-.

ing the material of which it is composed, in terposing suitable heat insulating material, or in any othersimilar way.

Of course indicating characters may be used if desired in the clamping ring form of Fig. 5, or the plate form of Fig. 6.

To facilitate application ofthe temperature indicating material the latter "may be prepared as a transfer by mounting it on a paper or other suitable backing from which it may betransferred to the object the temperature of whichis to be indicated, in the manner of a decalcomania transfer; Onemethod of preparing such a transfer is to coat one face of the paper with a water soluble compound,

apply thereon a coating of insoluble material such as collod1on,then a layer of the lodomercurate of copper or othermdicat-mg material in theshape of the indicating symbol desired,

temperature indicating material is thus enface to the object and then peeling off the backing, thus leaving the collodion-covered indicating material adhering to the object. While one method of preparing the transfer has been described it should be understood that this merely illustrative and that any other suitable method may be employed, in the present instance the indicating symbol is in the form of a band or ribbon, but it will be obvious thatit may take any desired form. While the indicating material is herein described as forming a complete'ring about the spout, it should be understood that in either form of the device, the indicating material may be omitted from certain parts andretained only on that surface which is visible from the drivers seat.

W Vhilethe forms of apparatus herein described constitute preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus, and that changes may be made in either Without departingfrom the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for indicating abnormal temperature? of the cooling liquid of an internal combustion engine, the combination with a radiator for the cooling liquid, said radiator having a filling spout thereon, of a hand of temperature indicating material about said spout, and means for substantially enclosing said band, comprising a band of transparent material surrounding said spout and supporting rings carried by said spout and embracing the edges of said band of transparent material to support said band in position, said rings being constructed to permit exposure of said band of transparent material about the circumference thereof.

2. A temperature indicating device, com prising a tubular member, a layer of tempera ture indicating material about the exterior of said member, a tubular transparent cover ing over saidindicatinp; material, and means secured to said tubular member for support ing said transparent covering in position, said means comprising spaced-apart rings engaging respectively the ends. of said tubular covering.

3. A device of the character" described, comprising a detachable and replaceable integral tubular member having interior 7 threads at one end and exterior threads at the other end and constructed to have one end thereof po sitioned upon a usual automobile radiator spout and the other end receive the usual radiator cap, and a layer of indicating material on the exterior of said tubular member intermediate the ends thereof, said indicating ma terial being adapted to change color when heated to a predetermined temperature.

t. In a device of the character described" and in combination With the spout ofan automobile radiator, a layer of indicating material on the exterior of said spout normally of one color but adapted to change color when heatedto a predetermined temperature, and means on the interior of said spout to prevent direct thermal contact of Water vapor with the Wall of said spout opposite the layer of.

securing y ing spout thereon, of a band of temperature indicating material about said'spout, means surrounding said band comprising'a strip of material through which said band is visible, supporting rings carried by said spout for holding the edges of said strip, and means ,On

the interior of said spout to prevent-direct thermal contact of thermal Water vapor with the Wall of said spout opposite a layer of indicating material. 7

In testimony WhereofI'hereto afiix my sip} nature.

, EDWARD o. WELLs,

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