Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~.~35~793
BALL VALVE
Back round of the Invention
g
This inyention relates to a valve and m~re
particularly to a combination valve and manifold
assembly for a co~pressed air storage tank or the
like.
Generally, it i~ desirable that a compressed
air storage tank have as few openings as possible
therein. However, it is often necessary to provide
ports or a pressure gauge and for a safety relief
valve as well as a main air outlet. Heretofore,
manifold assemblies were known which provided a ma~n
air outlet, a shutoff valve for the outlet, and other
outlet ports for connection of a pressure gauge, a
pressure relief valve, or the like. In one of these
prior art manifold assemblies, such as shown in U.S.
patent 3,231,236, a slide valve is used to block the
flow from the main outlet. This ~lide valve is, however,
subject to wear and leakage and it severely restricts
flow through the main outlet.
In the manifold assembly of the present
invention, a ball valve is used as the flow shutoff
valve. The advantages of ball valves ti.e., low pressure
drop and high flow through the valve, and the fast opening
aAd closing action of the valve) are well known. However,
known ball valves, when subjected to fluid pressure often
bind in their valve seats. It is also necessary that the
ball valve membe~ be sealingly mated with its valve seat.
r4~
1056793
In some ball valves, unequal pressure forces exerted on
opposite sides of the ball valve member caused it to bind
on its valve seat and to unevenly contact its seat thus
resulting in leakage, and made the valve difficult to oper-
ate. In some instances, these unbalanced pressure forces
caused damage to the valve. Also, the seals and the con-
struction of many ball valve designs are complicated.
Summary of the Invention
Among the characteristics of the preferred embod-
iment of this invention may be noted the provision of a
ball valve which has a minimal number of parts and seals;
the provision of such a valve which does not stick or bind
in its valve body when subjected to relatively high operat-
ing pressures; the provision of such a valve in which its
seals are not subject to damage upon turning of the valve;
the provision of such a valve which has a relatively low
pressure drop therethrough and which enables high flow rates
therethrough; the provision of such a valve which may be
molded of synthetic resin material and which is not sub-
ject to corrosion; the provision of such a valve which may
be readily adjusted to infinitely vary the flow rate
therethrough and which may be readily and reliably opened
and closed; the provision of such a valve which is of light
weight, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install, and
reliable in operation. Other object and features of this
invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out
hereinafter.
Briefly, a valve of this invention comprises a
valve body having a main flow passage therethrough and a
bore of generally circular cross-section in the valve body
extending generally perpendicularly through the passage, one
n
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1~5~i793
end of the passage constituting an inlet and the other
end of the passage constituting an outlet. A unitary
ball valve member is received in the bore, this ball
valve member being rotatable about the longitudinal
axis of the bore between a closed position in which it
blocks flow through the flow passage and an open posi-
tion in which it permits flow through the flow passage.
The ball member comprises a generally spherical ball
portion having an aperture therethrough constituting a
portion of the flow passage when the ball valve member
is in its open position, and a pair of circular sealing
heads, one on each side of the ball portion. Each of the
sealing heads carries a seal which -slidably, sealingly
engages the walls of the bore so as to seal the ball
valve member relative to the valve body and to permit
rotation and axial movement of the ball valve member
within the bore between its opened and closed positions.
The sealing heads are of substantially the same diam-
eter so that pressure forces acting on the ball valve
member which tend to move the latter axially within
the bore are balanced. Means external to the valve
body is provided at each end of the ball valve member
for retaining the ball valve member in the bore and
for permitting limited axial movement of the ball valve
member in the bore by engagement with the valve body. The
valve further includes seal means insertable into the
ios67s3
flow passage from one en~ thereof, the seal means
comprising a seal body having a longitudinal bore
therethrough constituting a portion of the flow passage,
and an end seal carried on the inner end of the seal
body engageable with the ball portion. The retaining
means permits limited axial movement of the ball valve
member in the bore to a po~ition in which the end seal
is sealingly seated on the spherical ball portion for
preventing leakage around the ball portion to the outlet
when the ball valve member is in its closed position.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a manifold assembly
of this invention;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal C~Qss-seCtiOn taken
on line 2--2 of Fig.-l of the manifol~ assembly showing
..
a ball-type shutoff valve, the latter being shown in its
closed posîtion blocking flow through the manifold
assembly;
Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section of the
manifold assembly taken on line 3--3 of Fig. l; and
Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the manifold
assembly shown in Fig. 1 with a portion of the manifold
assembly shown in cross-section to illustrate details
of an over~ressure safety relief valve.
Corresponding reference characters indicate
corresponding parts throughout the several views of the
drawings.
10567~3
Description of a Preferred Embodiment
Referring now to the drawings, a valve of
this invention, generally indicated at 1, is shown to
comprise a valve body 3 (also referred to as a manifold
body) having a longitudinal bore 5 therethrough, portions
of which constitute a main flow passage through the valve
body, and a lateral bore 7 (see Fig. 2) of generally cir-
cular cross-section extending generally perpendicularly
through bore 5. One end of bore 5 (i.e., the left end
as shown in Fig. 2) constitutes an inlet end and the
other end thereof constitutes an outlet end. The inlet
end of bore 5 is threaded, as indicated at 8, for being in-
stalled on a male nipple (not shown) of an air compressor
tank or the like (also not shown) whereby compressed air
or other fluid enters the inlet end of the bore (as
shown by the arrows in Fig. 2). As generally indicated
at 9~ a unitary ball valve member is received within
bore 7 for rotation between a closed position (as shown
in Fig. 2) in which it blocks flow through bore 5 and an
open po`sition (not shown) in which it permits flow through
the bore. Thus, this ball valve constitutes a shutoff
valve. Ball valve member 9 comprises a generally spheri-
cal ball portion 11 having an aperture 13 therethrough.
This aperture is in alignment with bore 5 when the ball
valve member is in its open position and thus constitutes
a portion of the main flow passage through which air and
other fluid may flow through valve 1 with minimal
B 5
1056~93
restriction by the ball valve. The ball valve member
further includes a pair of circular heads 15a, 15b,
one on each side of ball portion 11. Each of these
heads carries an O-rlng seal 17 in a circumferential
groove 18 with the O-ring slidably, sealingly engaging
the wall of bore 7 so as to seal the ball valve member
relative to the valve body and to permit rotation of
the ball valve member about the longitudinal axis of
bore 7 between its opened and closed positions. Sealing
heads 15a, l5b are of substantially the same diameter
(i.e., the diameter of bore 7) so that the pressure
forces within valve body 3 acting on the ball valve mem-
ber which tend to move the latter axially within bore 7
are balanced. This feature permits the ball valve member
to readily be rotated when subjected to pressure without
sticking or binding in bore 7 and it insures that the
ball portion will remain seated on its seals.
As is indicated at 19, a fixed flange is
provided at one end of valve member 9 on the outside of
head 15a and a stem 23 of part-circular cross-section
extends from ball portion 11 opposite flange 19. A re-
tainer disk 21 having a part-circular opening 22 therein
is keyed on stem 23 and is remova-bly secured in place on
. the stem by a snap ring 25. Thus, flange 19 and disk 21
retain the ball valve member within bore 7, but the clear-
ances between flange 19 and body 3 and between disk 21 and -
the body permit limited axial movement of the ball valve
member within the bore for purposes as will appear.
~OS6793
A seal member, as generally indicated at 26,
is insertable (i.e., threadable) into bore 5 from one
end thereof (e.g., the right or outlet end of bore 5
as shown in Fig. 2). Seal member or body 26 has an
axial bore 27 therethrough constituting a portion of the
main flow passage, and it has an 0-ring seal 29 carried
in annular groove 30 on its inner end surrounding bore 27.
As indicated at 31, the inner end of seal body 26 sur-
rounding bore 27 is tapered to accommodate a portion ~f
spherical ball portion 11 and to protect O-ring seal 29
from damage (i.e., from being cut or pinched) as the
ball valve member is opened and closed to move aperture
13 over the O-ring. Seal body 26 further has a circum-
ferential packing O-ring seal 32 received in a groove
33 on the outer surface of the seal member adjacent its
inner end. Seal member 26 is threaded into bore 5 after
installation of ball valve member 9 in lateral bore 7 so
that seal 29 sealingly engages the spherical surface of ball
portion 11 thereby to prevent leakage around the ball
portion to the outlet end of passage 5 when the ball valve
member is in its closed position. Packing seal 32 seal-
ingly engages the valve body downstream from bore 7 so as to
prevent leakage between seal member 26 and the valve body.
As previously mentioned, ball valve member 9 is permitted
to move axially in bore 7 through a limited distance by re-
taining flange 19 and retaining disk 21. This permits the
valve member to move axially within bore 7 to a position
1056793
in which the ball portion 11 is uniformly sealingly seated
on end 0-ring seal 29. Because the pressure forces on
the ball valve member are balanced, there is little
tendency for the seal to leak. It will be noted that only
one seal engageable with the ball portion 11 is required to
seal the ball valve member relative to the main flow pass-
age. Thus, either end of bore S could constitute an inlet.
As indicated at ~, ball valve member 9 has a
handle for facilitating manual turning of the ball valve
member between its closed and opened positions, Pref-
erably, valve body 3, ball valve member 9, disk 21, and
seal member 26 are molded of suitable synthetic resin
material. The outlet end of bore 5 in valve body 3 is
internally,threaded as indicated at 34, and seal body 26
has external threads 35 thereon threadably engageable with
threads 34. As indicated at 36, bore 27 in seal member
26 is of hexagonal cross-section so as to receive a driv-
ing wrench for threading the seal member into the outlet
end of bore S and valve body 3. After seal body 26 has
been properly positioned in bore 5 with its inner end
seal 29 seated on ball portion 11 of ball valve memher
9, a screw 37 is threaded into the seal body through
valve body 3 thereby to fixedly hold the seal body in
the valve body. Disk 21 has two spaced stops 38a,
38b (see rig. 4) positioned on opposite sides of a portion
of valve body 3 for engaging the above-mentioned portion
of the valve body as the valve member is turned between
~056793
its open and closed pOSitions. Thus, these stops
permit limited rotation (e.g., approximately 90) of
the valve member so as to insure that the valve member
may not be rotated past its opened and closed positions.
Valve body 3 carries indicia, as indicated at I, for
indicating the position of the ball valve member (see
Fig. 1). With valve 1 molded of synthetic resin mate-
rial, corrosion of the valve is substantially eliminated
and sealing tape or other sealant is not required for
insuring leaktight connections of the valve.
Further in accordance with this invention,
valve 1 is shown to be a part of a manifold assembly for
an air compressor storage tank (not shown) or the like.
Valve or manifold body 3 is shown to have two outlet
nipples 39 and 41 in communication with bore 5 within
the valve body intermediate lateral bore 7 and the inlet
end of bore 5. As indicated at 43, these nipples have
external screw threads thereon for connection thereto of
a pressure gauge, a pressure actuated switch for con-
trolling operation of an air compressor, or the like.
Each of these nipples has a respective tubular metal
stiffener 45, 47 (see Fig. 3) pressed into the bore of
each nipple to provide additional strength for the nipples
to enable them to resist bending and shock loadin~.
~1)5~;793
As generally indicated at 49 in Figs. 2 and
3, a safety pressure relief valve is provided in the
manifold assembly of this invention for relieving pres-
sure from within longitudinal bore 5 of valve body 3 up-
stream from bore 7. It will be understood that with
valve body 1 installed on an air compressor storage tank
or the like, safety pressure relief valve 49 will auto-
matically relieve pressure from within the tank upon the
pressure exceeding a predetermined pressure level. As
indicated at 51, a boss is formed on valve body 5 hav-
ing a blind chamber 53 therein. This chamber has a base
55 having a port 57 therein in communication with bore 5
upstream (i.e., toward the inlet end of bore 5) from
bore 7. An annular raised seat 59 surrounds this port.
A poppet valve 61 is housed in chamber 53 and is movable
toward and away from the valve seat 59 between a closed
position in which it sealingly engages the valve seat
and an open position in which it is clear of the valve
seat. The poppet member is of generally polygonal (i.e.,
square) cross-section (see Fig. 4) and has rounded cor-
ners 63 which slidably engage the inner walls of the
chamber for guiding the valve 61 within the chamber as
it moves toward and away from the valve seat 59 between
its open and closed positions. The valve also has flat
wall portions or sides 65 spaced from the inner walls of
the chamber thereby to provide channels or passages 66 for
exhausting fluid (e.g., air) from port 57 when the poppet
valve is clear of valve seat 59. As indicated at 67, a
resilient pad of suitable elastomeric material or the
like is carried on the bottom face of the poppet valve mem-
ber and is sealingly engageable with seat 59 thereby to
B lo
~056793
seal the valve member relative to the seat when the
valve member is closed. A plug nut 69 is threaded into
the open end of chamber 53 and a compression coil
spring 71 is interposed between poppet valve member 61
and the plug nut so as to bias the former toward its
closed position in which it is seatea on valve seat 59
to bloc~ flow from port 57. Upon pressure in bore 5
increasing above the predetermined level, a pressure
force is exerted on the poppet valve member sufficient
to overcome the bias of spring 71 and to open the poppet
valve member (i.e., move it clear of valve seat 59)
thereby to permit air to be vented from port 57. Plug
nut 69 has a vent port 73 through which air vented from
57 is exhausted to the atmosphere. It will be understood
that plug nut 69 and boss 51 are so structured that
the plug nut cannot be threaded into chamber 53 so as
to fully compress the coils of the spring 71 to rigidly
hold the poppet valve member in its closed position
against valve seat 59. As indicated at 75, poppet
valve me~ber 61 has lugs at each of its corners 63 ~hich
extend end~ise from the Po2pet valve member toward tne
plug nut. Lugs 75 are of such length as to engage the
inner end face of plug nut 69 as the poppet valve member
is moved from its seat 59 so as to prevent the coils of
spring 71 from being fully compressed and to prevent the
poppet valve member from sealingly engaging the inner end
of the plug nut. This insures that upon the pressure in
~ S~ 3~
.
bore 5 exceeding the above-mentioned predetermined
pressure level, the poppet valve member will open and
air will be vented t~rough port 57 to flow around the
flat sides 65 of the poppet valve member, between lugs
S 75, through the coils of spring 71, and out vent port
73 in plug nut 69.
Plug nut 69 may be adjustably threaded into
and out of chamber 53 thereby to vary the compression
or preload of spring 71. By selectively varying the
preload on the spring, the-pressure level in bore 5
which effects opening of poppet valve member 61 may
be adjusted or calibrated. A stop nut 77 is threaded
on plug nut 6~. With the plug nut in a desired position,
stop nut 77 may be threaded down to engage the outer
end of boss 51 thereby to lock the plug nut in position.
It will be understood that relief valve 49 may be
calibrated at the factory to relieve pressure at a
specified level.
-In view of the above, it will be seen that
the several objects of the invention are achieved and
other advantageous results attained.
As various changes could be made in the
above constructions without departing from the scope
of the invention, it is intended that all matter con-
tained in the above description or sllown in the accom-
panying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative
and not in a limiting sense.
