Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1147710
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BAC~GROUND OF THE INVEN~ION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cock (this term
here being synonymous with valve),eæp~a~y for industrial use,
this cock having a structure of a nature enabling itB manufacture
under particularly economical conditions. The invention also
relates to the methods of manufacturing the cock concerned.
The cocks to which the invention relates compri~e
a body clamped between flanges and traversed by a pas~age in
which is mounted an obturator member connected in rotation
to a control shaft.
2. DescriPtion of the Prior Art
Cocks of this type are known in which the body has
onthe sectionof eachannular end, Q groove in which is housed
a ~eal ensuring the fluid-tightness of this body with the adja-
cent flanges.
To permit the machining of thi~ groove $n the thick-
ness of the body, it is the pr~ctice to use for these cocks,
bodie~ produced from thick molded or forged blank~, according
to a well established usage for a great many types of cock~.
The construction indicated above thus leads to a
heavy cock whose cost price is high on account of its weight
and of the ~anufacturing processe~ involved.
It is an object of the invention to overcome these
drawbacks by providing a light and economical cock.
It is another object of the invention toprovide rapid
and non-laborious methods for the industrial manufacture of such
a cock.
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:114-~710
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided in a cock
comprising a tubular body having annular ends, two flanges each
having a central opening and an annular groove surrounding the
central opening, a fluidtight seal at the bottom of each groove,
means releasably securing said body and flanges in assembled
relationship with said ends of said body disposed in said grooves,
an obturator ball having a passage therethrough disposed in said
body, a control shaft for rotating the ball, the control shaft
being sealingly and rotatably mounted in a bore in said body,
and two annular seats, each annular seat being located at one
respective annular end of said body and bearing against the
obturator ball; the improvement comprising means located around
the central opening of each flange, and independent of said
releasable securing means for supporting said seats by the
respective flanges.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,
each seat is borne by an annular diaphragm whose outer edge is
fixed to the respective flange. This diaphragm ensures an
elastic support of the seat against the ball.
According to another aspect of the invention, the
manufacturing method for the above cock is characterized in that
there are fitted against one another a diaphragm and a tubular
coupling end-piece in the central opening of each flange, and in
that by electron bombardment a cylindrical weld bead is formed
on the periphery of this opening to fix the end-piece and the
diaphragm to the flange simultaneously.
Thus, the assembly of the parts before welding is easy,
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119L7710
and the welding, produced in the mass and without oxidation by
electron bombardment, is particularly strong, all the more since
there is prior fitting of the parts.
According to another aspect of the invention, the
manufacturing method of a ball-cock in which each seat is
mounted in an annular recess formed around the central opening
of each flange is characterized in that a tubular coupling end-
piece is ensleeved in each of the flanges, in that this end-piece
is welded to the flange by electron bombardment, and in that
around the central opening of the flange there is machined for
the seat an annular recess separated from the passage reserved
for the flow by the annular end of the end-piece.
11~7710
This method leads to machining the ~nnular gap into
or in the immediate proximity of the weld of the end-piece,
which is made possible by the use of welding by electron
bombardment which bonds the welded parts intimately together.
Thus, the seat i8 very close to the periphery of the opening
of the flange without however creating a protuberance which
impedes the flow in the open position of the cock.
Other features and advantages of the present inven-
tion will emerge also from the description which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings, showing purely by way
of non-limiting example~, preferred embodiment~ of the invention;
Figure 1 i8 a view, in section along the flow axis,
of an embodiment of a cock according to the invention ;
Figure 2 is a front view, in partial section along
the line II-II of the embodiment of Figure 1 ;
Figure 3 is a partial view of the embodiment of
Figure 1 on an enlarged scale ;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the tubular
section of the body ;
E`i~ures 5 to 7 and 10 are partial views,in ~ection
along the flow axis of the cock, of different embodiment~ of
the cock aecording to the invention ; and
Figures 8 and 9 sre partisl ~ectional views illustra-
ting the manufacturing method of the cock of Figure 10.
114771
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DESCXIPTION OF PREFERRED E~BODI~ENTS
The invention will be de~cribed more particularly,
but without limitation, in its application to a ball-cock.
As is seen in~'igures 1 to 4, the cock comprise~
a body 1 clamped between two substantially square flanges
2 by mean~ of four tie-bolt~ 3 mounted at the four corners
of the flanges 2.
The latter each have a central opening 4~of
axi~ XX2 for the pa~sage of the fluid whose flow has to be control-
led.
The body 1 i8 traver~ed by a cylindrical pas~age5, of axis XX (Figure 1), of diameter substantially greater
than that of the openings 4. In thi~ passage 5 is mounted
a ball 6 connected in rotation to a control shaft 7 of axis
YY transverse to the axis XX. 'rhe end 8 of the shaft 7 directed
towArds the ball 6 is flattened and engaged in a slot 9 of the
ball 6 to ensure this connection in rotation.
The ball 6 is traversed by a cylindrical duct
11 coaxial with XX in the open position of the oock, and at
right e~ngle~ to the axes XX and YY in the closed position.
According to the invention, the body 1 comprise~
a tubular section 12 whose two annular end~ 13 are each fitted
in an annular groove 14, of rectangular section, formed on the
surface of the flange~ 2 turned towards the ball 6, around the
central opening 4.
An annular fluid-tight seAl 15, for ex~mple of
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polytetrafluorethyleneor other polyfluorinated resin, i5 confined
between the end 13 of the tubular ~ection 12, the bottom and
the two lateral ~urfaces of the groove 14.
The thickness of the wall of the section 12 i~
about 10 to 15 % of the radius of the passage 5 in the example
~hown, but could be different, e~p~i~4y according to the rated
flow pressure.
Thi~ thickness may obviously be increa~ed
well beyond the above values if there is no fear of increasing
the weight and the cost price of the cock.
A packing-box 16, through which the shaft 7 passes
is fixed to the section 12 by means of an annular weld bead
17 which encircles a bore 18 formed in the section 12 for the
passage of the shaft 6. The box of the packing-box 16 carries
two stops 19 which limit the travel, bet~een two extreme posi-
tions, of a control handle 21 connected in rotation to the
shaft 7 opposite the ball 6.
According to a particular feature of the invention,
the tubular section 12 i8 sawn to the desired length ~rom an
extruded tube. According to a modification (Figure 4), it
is produced from a rectangular sheet metal part, initially
flat, then rolled into a cylinder whose two edges thus
brought opposite one another are bonded by a weld fillet 12a.
The ball 6 i8 supported between two annul~r seats
22 each mounted at one end of the passage 5, 80 as to encircle
the ends of the duct 11 in the open position of the cock.
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Each of the seats 22, for example, of polytetra-
fluorethylene or other polyfluorinated resin, i~ borne by
the adjacent flange 2 through an annular diaphragm 23 against
which it is glued, or ~imply clamped by the ball 6. The outer
edge 24 of the diaphragm 23 is fixed to the surface of the
flange 2 turned toward the other flange 2,by a weld bead 25
(Figure 3).
Each diaphragm 23 ha~ a substantially Z-shaped
profile which includes beyond the outer, substantially radial
edge24, a substantially cylindrical w~b 26 directed oppositely to
~he ball 6 and followed by an inner edge 27 directed almost
radially towards the axis XX. The profile thus adopted confers
a certain elasticity on the web 26 enabling it to work in
flexion relative to the edge 24.
Each seat 22 has a profile complementary to that
of the web 26 and the edge 27 enabling it to be fitted into
the latter, and, on the outer side, a spherical support ~urface
32 for the ball 6 (Figure 3).
Each flange 2 bears a tubular end-piece 33 dire¢ted
oppo~ite the ball 6 to enable the connection Or the cock to
the piping (not shown). The end-piece~ 33 are fixed by annular
weld bead3 34 again~t the ~urface of the flanges 2 opposite
that which already bears the bead 25.
The cock described above i~ particularly light on
account of it~ thin-walled body, and particularly economical
11'1771~
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to produce, if the simplicity of the section 12 i8 compared
with the bodies of known cocks.
This embodiment necessitate~ however two weld beads
25and 34 for each flange 2.
To overcome this drawback, in the embodiment shown
in Figure 5, the outer edge of the diaphragm 41 i~ interposed
between the end-piece 33 and the flange 2, ~o that the weld
bead 34 ~imultaneously ensures the fixing of the end-piece
33 and of the diaphragm 41.
The diaphragm 41 comprises a curved web 42 directed
towards the axis XX' from its aforesaid outer edge, and a
cylindrical rim 43. ~he seat 22 i~ fitted on the collar ring
thus formed by the web 42 and the rim 43.
The manufacture of this cock ie simpler than that
of the cocks shown in Figures 1 to 4. The weld bead 34 is how-
ever rather delicate to produce,ecpeci~Uy as regards the holding
of the parts before welding and there i8 a risk oi it~ being
fragile in use.
In the embodiment ~hown in Figure 6, which tend~
to remedythi~ conetraint,the flange 52 is eimilar to the flange
2, except for its central opening 54 which i~ of enlarged
diameter to enable the end-piece 33 and the diaphragm 23
(similar to that described with reference to Figure~ 1 to 4),
to be fitted therein, the ~uter diameter of the diaphragm bei~B
the sa~e ~ t~lat o~ the end-piece 33.
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The diaphragm 23 and the end-piece 33 fitted again~t
one another in the opening 54, are connected to the flange
52 by a common cylindrical weld bead 55 produced by electron
bombardment along the surface of the opening 54.
Due to the prior fitting of the part~, which facili-
tate~ their po~itioning before welding, and to the welding by
~ectxan banba~dment which i~ produced in the metal mass and without
oxidation, this embodiment and its method of manufacture
ensure a very solid fixing of the diaphragm 23 and of the end-
piece 33 with a single weld bead.
In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, there are used,
on the contrary, ~lange~ 62 whose opening 64 i8 of reduced
diameter with respect to the flange~ 2.
The ~eat 22 is fitted into an annular groove created
between the surface of the opening 64 of the flange 62 and an
applied diaphragm 65 ~ith a Z-shaped profile fixed against
this flange and whose central web 63 project~ towards the
axis XX. The end-pieces 33 are fixed again~t the collar 67
of the flange~ 62 directed oppo~itely to the ball 5 by an annular
weld bead 68. The latter also fixes the outer dge 69 of the
diaphragm 65 and the flange 62.
As seen in F~ gure~ 8 to 10, it is not indi~pen~able
to provide a diaphragm to support the seat.
According to the method of manufacture dsvi~ed for
this construction, it commence~ by ensleeving (Figure 8) the
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end-piece 73, of smaller diameter than the end-piece 33,
up to about the middle of the opening 74, also of reduced dia-
meter, formed in the flange 72, and this end-piece 73 i9 welded
to the flange 72 by a cylindrical weld bead 75 formed by electron
bombardment along the peripheral Rurf~ce of the opening 74.
An annular gap 76 i8 then machined (Figure 9) around the opening
74, 80 that this machining involves at the same time the flask
72~ the end of the end-piece 73, as well as the weld bead 75.
The recess 76 is thus separated from the passage reserved
for the flow by the thinned end of the end-piece 7~.
The seat 22 is then installed in this gap and borne
by three adjacent faces re~pectively against the two cylindrical
faces and the flat bottom of the recess ~6 (Figure 10).
The so-constituted cock includes a ball 6 whose
conduit 11 has the same diameter as the end-pieoes 73, 80 that
the pressure drop in the fully open position i~ particularly
low.
All these embodiments can satisfy various uee~ of the
cock or various conditions of manufacture, or again procure
a more or less elastic support of the seats according to the
nature of the latter, but generally, the invention enables the
production of a particularly li~ht and economical cock by
referring ~G the flanges, necessarily solid, all the mechanical
~ealing functions, which permits the utilization of a parti-
cularly simple body.
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Of course, the invention i9 not limited to examples
described, and numerous modifications may be introduced into
these examples without departing from its scope.
Thus the seats could be borne by a radial collar
of the flanges, without using a diaphragm nor making the end-
piece to participate in the support of these 8eat8.
