Inverted bucket steam trap

An inverted bucket steam trap, comprising:

• a casing having a cylindrical side wall and closed top and bottom walls defining a water-tight chamber;
• means defining a sidewardly extending inlet fitting and a sidewardly extending outlet fitting mounted on said cylindrical side wall adjacent the upper end thereof, said outlet fitting having a valve seat thereon inside said chamber;
• a valve member movably disposed in said chamber and adapted to be moved into and out of sealing engagement with said valve seat;
• operating lever means disposed in said chamber and responsive to vertically applied force to effect movement of said valve member toward and away from said valve seat;
• a vertically movable inverted bucket disposed in said chamber and having a vertical side wall which is open at its bottom and has a wall at its top and a connection from the top wall of the bucket to said operating lever means whereby vertical movement of said inverted bucket in said chamber will effect movement of said operating lever means thereby to open or close said valve member, said inverted bucket having an elongated outwardly opening recess in the side wall thereof and extending from the top to the bottom thereof;
• and
• an inlet tube disposed within said chamber and connected at its upper end to said inlet fitting for receiving steam and condensate therefrom, the lower end of said inlet tube extending upwardly into said inverted bucket, said inlet tube being substantially J-shaped and having an upright upper portion received in and extending along said recess and a reversely curved lower portion underlying the lower edge of said bucket and thence extending upwardly into said bucket.

An inverted bucket steam trap, comprising:

• a casing having a cylindrical side wall and closed top and bottom walls defining a water-tight chamber;
• means defining a sidewardly extending inlet fitting and a sidewardly extending outlet fitting mounted on said cylindrical side wall adjacent the upper end thereof, said fittings extending from diametrically opposite sides of said casing side wall in substantially the same horizontal plane, said fittings having internally threaded recesses located outside said casing and having passages extending from the inner ends of said recesses into the interior of said casing, said inlet fitting having a downwardly extending opening communicating with the inner end of its passage and inside said chamber, said outlet fitting having a downwardly opening valve seat thereon inside said chamber and communicating with its passage;
• a valve member movably disposed in said chamber and adapted to be moved into and out of sealing engagement with said valve seat;
• operating lever means disposed in said chamber and responsive to vertically applied force to effect movement of said valve member toward and away from said valve seat;
• a vertically movable inverted bucket disposed in said chamber and having a vertical side wall which is open at its bottom and has a wall at its top and a connection from the top wall of the bucket to said operating lever means whereby vertical movement of said inverted bucket in said chamber will effect movement of said operating lever means thereby to open or close said valve member;
• and
• an inlet tube disposed within said chamber and having its upper end extending into said downwardly extending opening of said inlet fitting for receiving steam and condensate therefrom, the lower end of said inlet tube extending upwardly into said inverted bucket.