Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a conduit connector
structure or coupling means whereby two fluid conduits may be
securely coupled together in a manner -to avoid leaXage. In this
invention the sealing ring employed -to effect seal integrity has
oppositely tapered outer peripheral sides which have plural,
mutually spaced sealing lands, this Eor ~he purpose of
; preserving the seal function even though a portion of the seat
engaged by one of the lands might be damaged to otherwise deter
seal effectiveness. Structural provision in the ring for
self-adjustment and also ease and reliability of fabrication.
In the past many types of couplings have been employed to
secure together a fluid conduit. These conventionally employ
gaskets, rubber or other elastometric sealing rings, rubber
O-rings and so forth. While seal rings are certainly not
unknown in this art, see following U.S. Patent Number 3,325,176
issued to Latham and Number 4,214,763 issued to Latham, this is
believed to be the first time where multiple sealings lands are
chosen at the oppositely tapered peripheral surfaces of the
ring, this in combination with a straight-sided relieved area at
a central outer portion of the ring, so as to (a) increase
sealing land pressures for a given clamping torque, ~b) permit
self-ad]ustment of the ring as may be needed, and (c) provide
ease and reliability o ring ~abrication. The prior art above
mentioned is relevant as regards the concept of using seal r1ngs
having conical cross sections. ~either of the patents however
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teach -the advantage of employing multiple seaIings lands so ~s
to preserve overall sealing integrity despite the fac-t that the
seats co-operable with such sealing lands may be scored or
de~ormed, at least as to one or two o the lands. Indeed, in
past installations serious dificulty has been encountered in
connection with the use of desirably hardened metal ~ealing
rings, made of stainless steel for example, and co-operation
with seats of softer metal or portions thereof might be deformed
or scored. In the prior art this has been a difficulty chancing
leakage just by virtue of the deformation of the seats of the
structure. Perhaps even scratches will provide slight inwardly
directed protuberances which are difficult to deal with so far
as the sealing is concerned.
According to the present invention inter-conduit coupling
is effected through the employment of a pair of flange members
which are urged together by camming clamps, the latter being
secured together and tightened down by bolts, threaded studs and
the like. Each of the flange members include an inner,
essentlally conical or~ tapered surface, serving as respectlve
seats for the sealing ring employed. The sealing ring itself
has opposite, annular, downwardly sloping sides, separated by a
central, annular, normal sided recess. These sides incoxporate
mutually spaced peripheral sealing lands which are intsnded to
serve as seallng surfaces relatlve to the seats provided the~ ;
flangs members. Typically, for a three inch ~I.D.) ring, the
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raised sealing lands will be raised approximately twelve-
thousandths of an inch above adjacent recesses and approximately
the sa~e amount relative to the sides orming the medial ox
central apex. Typical dimensions, width~wise relative to the
sealing lands, will be about sixty thousandths Oe an inc~, with
eighty-five thousandths clearance existing between the land~ on
respective sides of such sealing ring. The attachment bolts
accommodating the camming clamps are torqued sufficien-tly to
have desired seal pressure exist as between the individual seal
lands and those co-operating portions o~ t'ne seats of the
respective flange members. Pressures of ~S to 30 thousand psi
at the seal surfaces are generally satisfactory. It is to be
noted that at these pressures the material for the sealing ring
will be chosen and the recesses dimensioned so that these will
not "close out" during the torquing of the clamping bolts. By
the employment oE multiple sealing lands the same can act
indapendently to provide seals thereat, even though lands or,
more probably, seal surfaces for other lands are scarred and
might otherwise fail when taken separately as to the sealing
function. It is to be noted that seals are maintained not in
end-to-end compression but rather in radial compression. The
annular, medial ring recess has perpendicular sides for
machining pruposes and ease of fabrication; the recess itself is
sufficiently wide to prevent interference between the ring at
its central location and the surrounding structurel and also
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thereby to allow the ring to shift its position along its axis
so as to self-adjust in the event of irregular expansions o
- surrounding structure, during high -temperature operations, or
should ring-receiving cavities of the surrounding structure be
slightly dissimilar.
Accordingly, a principal object o~ the presenk inven~ion
is to provide a new and improved conduit connec-~or ~tructure.
A further object is to provide a new and improved ~luid
coupling.
A further object is to provide a fluid coupling suitable
for handling corrosive or other fluids under all pressure~ or
vacuum conditions.
A further object is to provide, in a fluid coupling, a
metal sealing ring means having an outer surface recessed to
control stress distribution and elastic deformation when the
ring is brought into radial compression.
A further object is to provide, in conduit coupling
structures, a sealing ring having oppositely tapered sides each
provided with multiple sealing lands and also with a straight-
sided central-recess or relief area.
A further object is to provide a new and useful type of
fluid seal ring wherein the sealing function not be effective as
to certain portions of the ring and its seat, other portions of
the ring will be effective to retain the seal desired.
A further object is to provide in a fluid coupling
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structure, a sealing ring and associated flange member
- structure, the sealing ring engaging inner tapered sur~aces o~
such flange members, and with such sealing ring having multiple
or sealing lands and a straight-sided annular recess area for
ensuring seal integrity, even through certain portions o~ the
~: seats of the flange members might be scored or othe~wise
deformed.
The features of the present inven-tion together with
: further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood by
reference to the draiwngs, in whicho
FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, partially
broken away and sectioned, of the conduit connector structure
and ring of ;the present invention in a preferred embodiment
thereo~, showing the flange member faces approaching each other.
~ lS FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detail of the structure of Figure
: 1 taken along the section line 2-2 in Figure 1 illustrating the
sealing ring herein in loaded condition to provide the seals
desired.
:~ FIGURE 3 is a detail similar to Figure 2 but drawn in
reduced scale, illustrating structural conditions prior to
radial compression loading of the sealing ring. ::
In the drawings the conduit connector structure 10 is
shown to include an ùpper clamp segment 11 and a lower clamp
segment 12. Each of these segments have respective bosses 13-16
which are integral relative to ~he respective segmants and which
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are provided with apertures 17 receiving bolts 18k the same
being four in number. The bolts may comprise threaded shanks 19
having opposite end nuts 20, or may simply be headed bolts
having respective end ~uts.
Of -further importance in the construction oE -the conduit
connec-tor structure 10 is the provis.ion o a pair oE fla~ge
members 21 and 22, the same having mutually Eacing annular,
mutually facing end surfaces or faces 23 and 24, flange portions
25 and 26 and flange bodies 27 and 28, the latter being inteyral
with the respective flange portions 25 and 26.
Annular inclined or tapered surfaces 29 and 30 of flange
por-tions 25 and 26 are essentially disposed at the same angle as
the inner inclined surfaces 31 and 32 of each of the clamp
segments 11 and 12. Importantly, annular recesses 33 and 34 are
essentially defined by base sur-faces 33A, 34A and 33B and 34B;
recesses 33, 34 are contiguous with surfaces 23 and 24
respectively, 11 and co-operatively receive ~etal sealing ring
: 35, the latter having central axis 35C.
A typical longitudinal section of the upper portion of the
sealing ring is shown in Flgure 2 wherein it is seen that the
combined, conical, extrapolated surfaces 36 and 37 of ~he ring's
sealing lands are parallel to and congruent with annular,
tapered, sealing seat surfaces 33B and 34B having extrapolation
inter-section of the respeciive flange members 21 and 22.
Raised annular sealing lands 38A, 38B and 38C and 39A, 3~B and
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39C thus have the outer surfaces 36 and 37 congruent with
respective seat surfaces 33B and 34B of flange members 21 and 22
respectively and are also respectively mutually spaced apart by
interland recesses 40. Any medial annular apex as exist in
prior sealing ring designs is now eliminated in preerence ~or
the existence of a central groove 42 having essentially 90
degree annular sides or shoulders.
Of prime importance is the inclusion of central groove 42
having base 43 and opposite shoulders or sides 44 and 45 that
are essentially at right angles to horizontal groove base 43 for
ease of machining and related purposes. Importantly, this
central groove reduces combined land width so as to increase
seal pressures at the land surfaces for a given torquing of nuts
; 20, and likewise frees the central part of the ring from
interference with the proximate interior surface portions of
flange surfaces 33B and 34B, thereby enabling the ring to
self-adjust through axial longitudinal movement. ~he latter
provision is or may be necessary in the event of differences in
;~ machining, or differences in materials and temperature
elevations where, as a consequence, the interior surfaces 33B
and ~4B and the corresponding sealing land surfaces become
non-symmetrical.
Continuing as to operation, broadly, the upper and lower
clamp segments ll and 12 are brought together vertically by the
tightening of nuts 20 relative to bolts 18~ Owing to the
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tapered character o~ the sur~aces 29-32, (see Fi~ure 4) the
flange members will be progressively brought together such that
sur~aces 23 and 24 in Figure 4 gradually approach each o~her.
These la-tter surfaces are not intended to contact one another
until after the requisite seal pressures have been produced as
between the surEaces 36 and 37 of -the peripheral sealing ri~g
lands 38A-38C and 39A-39C and their seals agains~ seal ~urfaces
33B and 34B. Accordingly, the sealing ring is maintained in
radial compression and -the sealing pressure should be at least
25 to 30,000 psi at the seal surfaces. The torquing of the
clamp segment bolts however is continued until the compression
loading between faces 23 and 24 of flange members 21 and 22 is
approximately two-thirds of the overall loading supplied by the
clamps. Thus, even though interface per unit loading is only
perhaps one-eighth the per unit loading at the seal surfaces,
the total axiaI loading supplied at faces 23 and 24 will be
suf~icient to deter the effects of thermal cycling and
anticipated extreme bending moments at the coupling junction.
For high integrity sealing the employment of a high-strength
stainless or low alloy steel is contemplated for the seal ring,
such as a 286 stainless or 4140 low alloy steel, both having a
high Young's modulus. A softer low strength carbon steel could
be employed for the seal ring, but the same would have a greater
tendency to distort and may not be suitable for corrosive
li~uids and gases, extremely high pressures and so ~orth~
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It should be noted at this juncture that should ei-ther the
seats 33B or 34B or even a sealing land of the sealing ring
itself become misshapen, scored or de-formed, this will not deter
the sealing effec-t as to the remaining sealing lan~s and such
seats. l~e flange members will be ~ormed such -that the axial
recess depths ~rom a longitudinal standpoint, will exceed in
their combined dimensions -the overall width of the ring.
Surfaces 33A and 34A should not be designed to pressure-contact
the opposite sides ofthe sealing ring, which if that were to
happen would deleteriously influence the seals intended for the
peripheral sealing lands.
The absence of ring material at groove 42 prevents inter-
ference with apex X and surfaces 41A and 41B, thereby
facilitating proper ring closure and subsequent sel-f-adjustmen-t
as may be requ;red during, -for example, elevated temperature
operating conditions and differences as in co-efficients of
; thermal expansion of dissimilar metals employed during
fabrication.
Accordingly, Figure 3 illustrates the condition when the
clamps are being initially tightened after the ring is
preliminary installed.
It is noted that importantly, all of the parts will be
made of metal. NG rubber gaskets, rubber seal rings, O-rings
and so forth are generally intended in this particular high-
pressure design. End chamfers as at 46 and 47 accommodate butt
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weld connection to align conduit 48 and 49 (see Fiyure 1). 1~le
welds are shown at 50 and 51.
There are many types of weld conEigurations, recessed,
closings and attachment means, that can be emloyed in lieu o~
the butt weld approach here given. What is important is that
the coupling between the two conduits 48 and 49 take the form as
that shown in Figure 1.
In fabrication then the individual flange members 21 and
2~ are preliminarily secured to the intended conduit. The
-flange members are then brought into alignment in a manner shown
in the drawings and the clamp segments are installed over the
flange portions in the manner seen in Figure 1.
As to certain additional structural details, portions 27A
and 28A of each of the flange members are thickened with respect
lS to the conduits 48 and 49 as indicated, to provide additionai
strength proximate the flange and sealing areas.
It is to be noted that should a portion of the seat
structure of the flange members become scored or damaged, so as
to prevent a complete sealing action to take efect between such
flange member and one of the sealing lands of the ring, the
remaining lands will still be present to effect the sealing
function. An equivalent advantage obtains where it is one of
the lands that might have a marred surface; the remaining lands
will effect the seal. The recesses between the sealing lands o~
the seallng ring are provlded, additionally, in such sealing
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ring to distribute the s-tress pattern and also to enable the
ring to remain within the elastic limit of the seal ring
material.
Accordingly, very high pressure seals are provided by the
camming action of the clamp elemenks against surfaces 29 and 30
which urge -the flange members 21 and 22 toward each other, ~hia
resulting in the annular compression o the ring whereby to
:~ stress the sealing ring 35 and 35B within its elastic limit.
: While particular embodiments of the present invention have
been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in
the art that changes and modifica-tions may be made without
departing ~rom this invention in its broader aspects and
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therefore the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such
changes and modiications as fall within the true spirit and
scope o this invention.
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