Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02881896 2014-12-29
ELECTRIC GAS SHUTOFF VALVE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Fields of the invention
The present invention relates to an electric gas shutoff valve,
especially to an electric gas shutoff valve that shuts off gas precisely when
gas leaks out under various conditions including earthquake, pipeline
breakage, extinguished gas flame, etc.
Descriptions of Related Art
Secondary disaster such as natural gas leak, gas explosion, and fire,
usually accompanies earthquake. There are various devices for gas shutoff
available now. Referring to Published US Patent Application
2014/0216569, earthquake gas line breakers are revealed. Both can cut off
gas supply effectively when earthquake happens. However, besides
earthquake, other conditions may also result in gas leak. For example,
broken gas pipelines due to aging or extinguished gas flame caused by
soup spilt can lead to gas leak, and further cause other disasters such as
carbon monoxide poisoning, gas explosion, fire.... Yet the gas line
breaker revealed in the Published US Patent Application 2014/0216569, is
unable to shut off gas supply in time under these conditions.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore one aspect of the present invention to provide an electric
gas shutoff valve that cuts off gas supply under gas leak caused by
earthquake, gas pipeline breakage or extinguished gas flame on a gas
appliance.
In order to achieve the above, an electric gas shutoff valve of the
present invention includes a breaker body with an inlet channel and an
exhaust channel. A gas breaker panel is pivotally connected to a chamber
of the breaker body. A channel block is formed on one end of the gas
breaker panel while a connection portion on the other end of the gas
breaker panel is hooked with a hook portion of a vertical hook pivotally
connected to the chamber of the breaker body. A gas detection unit is
arranged outside the breaker body and coupled to a control unit. The
control unit is coupled to a drive unit. Thereby the gas detection unit
detects abnormal gas flow or concentration during gas leakage caused by
gas pipeline breakage or extinguished gas flame. Then the control unit
activates the drive unit and the vertical hook is further driven by the drive
unit to be released from the gas breaker panel. Thus the channel block on
the gas breaker panel is moved to obstruct the exhaust channel. Besides
earthquake, the present invention can also shut off the gas supply in case
of gas leaks occurred under other conditions.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by
referring to the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment according to the present
invention;
Fig. 2 is another perspective view of an embodiment according to the
present invention;
Fig. 3 is a front view of a cross section of an embodiment according to the
present invention;
Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing circuit of an embodiment according to
the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a front view of a cross section of an embodiment showing a
returning button being pressed for gas supply according to the present
invention;
Fig. 6 is a top view of an embodiment in which weights are attracted and
moved by a drive unit that is an electromagnet according to the present
invention;
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Fig. 7 is a cross section of an embodiment in which weights are attracted
and moved by a drive unit that is an electromagnet according to the
present invention;
Fig. 8 is a cross section of an embodiment in which weights are pushed
and moved by a drive unit (an electromagnet) through a push rod of a
block button according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Refer from Fig. 1 to Fig. 4, an electric gas shutoff valve of the present
invention includes a breaker body 1, a gas breaker panel 2, a vertical hook
3, a return button 4, a block button 5, a gas detection unit 6, a control unit
7, a drive unit 8, a communication unit 9 and a power supply unit.
The breaker body 1 is formed by an upper body 11 and a lower body
12 corresponding and connected to each other. An inlet channel 13 and an
exhaust channel 14 are formed on both the upper body 11 and the lower
body 12. A magnetic portion 16 is disposed on the lower body 12, beside
the exhaust channel 14. A chamber 15 is formed in the assembly of the
upper body 11 with the lower body 12. The chamber 15 is communicating
with the inlet channel 13 and the exhaust channel 14. A rotating shaft 17 is
arranged in the chamber 15.
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The gas breaker panel 2 is mounted in the chamber 15 of the breaker
body 1. The gas breaker panel 2 consists of a pivot portion 21, an
assembly rod 22, a channel block 23, a soft pad 24, an elastic member 25,
a magnetic portion 26 and a connection portion 27. The pivot portion 21 is
5 arranged at a middle part of the gas breaker panel 2 and used for being
pivotally connected to a pivot part 121 in the chamber 15 of the lower
body 12 by a shaft 211. The assembly rod 22 is disposed on a bottom
surface at one end of the gas breaker panel 2 and a bottom end of the
assembly rod 22 is a ball head 221. A socket 231 corresponding and
connected to the ball head 221 is formed on a top end of the channel block
23. The elastic member 25 is fitted over the assembly rod 22 and two ends
, of the elastic member 25 are respectively against the gas breaker panel 2
and the channel block 23. A rod 232 is connected to the bottom surface of
the channel block 23 and the soft pad 24 is fitted over the rod 232. A
stopping portion 233 is formed on the bottom end of the rod 232 for
stopping and positioning the soft pad 24. The soft pad 24 is used to
obstruct the opening of the exhaust channel 14. The magnetic portion 26 is
arranged at one side of the gas breaker panel 2 and corresponding to the
magnetic portion 16 beside the exhaust channel 14 of the breaker body 1
while the connection portion 27 is a flat plate formed on the other end of
the gas breaker panel 2. The connection portion 27 is composed a
projecting connection piece 271 with a small area, an opening 272 formed
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on each side of the projecting connection piece 271 and a projecting
portion 273.
The vertical hook 3 having a locking slot 31, a thimble 32, a hook
portion 33 and a plurality of weights 34 is mounted in the chamber 15 of
the breaker body 1. The locking slot 31 is corresponding to and used for
mounting the rotating shaft 17 in the chamber 15 of the breaker body 1
while the thimble32 is projecting from the bottom edge of the locking slot
31 and a round slot 171 is arranged at the bottom side of the rotating shaft
17. The diameter of the round slot 171 is larger than that of the thimble32.
A cut edge 172 is formed around the round slot 171 of the rotating shaft 17
so that the thimble32 of the vertical hook 3 is sliding into the rotating
shaft
17 smoothly through the cut edge 172. A circular groove 173
corresponding to the round slot 171 is set around the surface of the
rotating shaft 17 so that the vertical hook 3 locked with the rotating shaft
17 is stopped within the circular groove 173 of the rotating shaft 17. The
hook portion 33 formed on a top end of the vertical hook 3 is
corresponding to and hooked with the projecting connection piece 271 of
the connection portion 27 of the gas breaker panel 2. A round edge 331 is
set on the end part of the hook portion 33 so that the hook portion 33 is in
contact with the projecting connection piece 271 of the connection portion
27 at one point. The plurality of weights 34 is connected in series and
arranged at the bottom end of the vertical hook 3.
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The return button 4 is disposed on a top end of the upper body 11 of
the breaker body 1 and is including a push rod 41 and a button portion 42.
A fastening hole 111 is set on the top end of the upper body 11 of the
breaker body 1 and communicating with the chamber 15 of the breaker
body 1. The push rod 41 is inserted into the chamber o f the breaker body 1
to be against and in contact with the projecting portion 273 of the
connection portion 27 of the gas breaker panel 2. The button portion 42 is
connected to an end part of the push rod 41 outside the breaker body 1 and
an elastic member is fitted over the push rod 41. Two ends of the elastic
member are leaning against the breaker body 1 and the button portion 42
respectively.
The block button 5 is disposed on one side of the lower body 12 of the
breaker body 1 and having a push rod 51, a button portion 52 and an
elastic member 53. A locking hole 122 is set on one side of the lower body
12 and communicating with the chamber 15 of the breaker body 1. The
push rod 51 of the block button 5 is passed through the locking hole 122
and into the chamber 15 of the breaker body 1 to be against and in contact
with the weights 34 on the bottom end of the vertical hook 3 while the
button portion 52 is connected to an end part of the push rod 51 outside the
breaker body 1 and the elastic member 53 is fitted over the push rod 51.
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Two ends of the elastic member 53 are leaning against the breaker body 1
and the button portion 52 respectively.
The gas detection unit 6 is disposed outside the breaker body 1 and
used for detecting flow or concentration of gas such as natural gas, carbon
monoxide, methane, propylene, etc.
The control unit 7 is a single chip of a microprocessor arranged
outside the breaker body 1 and coupled to the gas detection unit 6. A
driver is built in the control unit 7 and is loaded with a safety range of the
flow or concentration of the gas including natural gas, carbon monoxide,
methane, propylene, etc. Once the gas detection unit 6 detects that the
flow or the concentration of the gas is over the safety range, it drives the
drive unit 8 to work.
The drive unit 8 is an electromagnet, coupled to the control unit 7 and
arranged at a side surface of the breaker body 1. An insulating cover 81 is
covered over the drive unit 8 for preventing the drive unit 8 from being
interfered by external electronic signals and acted improperly. Moreover,
the drive unit 8 is corresponding to the weights 34 on the bottom end of
the vertical hook 3 so that the weights 34 are magnetically attracted by the
drive unit 8.
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The communication unit 9 is disposed on the breaker body 1, coupled
to the control unit 7 and connected to a remote control device. The remote
control device can be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet
computer, a notebook computer or a desktop computer. The remote
control device is also loaded with an application program (APP) that
drives the control unit 7 to turn on the drive unit 8.
The power supply unit can be a battery or a power cord connected to
supply mains. The power supply unit is arranged at the breaker body 1 and
coupled to the gas detection unit 6, the control unit 7, the drive unit 8, and
the communication unit 9.
Thereby the electric gas shutoff valve of the present invention is
arranged between household gas pipeline and gas pipelines of the gas
company. The inlet channel 13 of the breaker body 1 is connected to the
gas pipelines of the gas company while the exhaust channel 14 of the
breaker body 1 is connected to the household gas pipelines. Then the gas
detection unit 6 is disposed on the pipelines used for gas transportation
such as natural gas. When earthquake occurs, details of how each
component works is described in the following. Refer to Fig. 5, while the
user intends to have gas supply again after the gas supply being shut off,
he/she needs to press the button portion 42 of the return button 4. The end
part of the push rod 41 of the return button 4 is moved to press the
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projecting portion 273 projecting from the connection portion 27 of the
gas breaker panel 2. Thus the connection portion 27 is hooked with the
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hook portion 33 of the vertical hook 3 to make the channel block 23 on the
gas breaker panel 2 become away from the exhaust channel 14. Therefore
5 the inlet channel 13 and the exhaust channel 14 of the breaker body 1 are
communicating with the gas pipelines and the gas is supplied again.
When gas pipelines are broken or a gas flame on a gas appliance is out
due to soup spilt while cooking food, a gas leak occurs. Refer to Fig. 6 and
10 Fig. 7, the data of the gas flow or concentration detected by the gas
detection unit 6 is transmitted to the control unit 7 to be compared to the
safety range set in the driver by the control unit 7. Once the data detected
is over the safety range, the control unit 7 turns on the drive unit 8 to
work.
At the moment, the drive unit 8 gives a magnetic force to attract the
weights 34 on the bottom end of the vertical hook 3. Thus the weights 34
are moved toward the drive unit 8 on the side surface of the breaker body
1. At the same time, the vertical hook 3 is moved around the rotating shaft
17 and the hook portion 33 on top end of the vertical hook 3 is moved in
the direction opposite to the weights 34 to be released from the projecting
connection piece 271 of the connection portion 27 of the gas breaker panel
2. The channel block 23 on the other end of the gas breaker panel 2 is
further released to obstruct the exhaust channel 14. Thereby the present
invention can shut off the gas supply effectively while gas pipelines are
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broken or gas flame on the gas appliance is out, besides earthquake. The
gas leak and secondary disasters such as gas poisoning, gas explosion,
fire, etc can be further avoided.
While the user has went out and found that the flame on the gas
appliance at home was not off, he/she can send a drive signal to the
communication unit 9 by using the application program already
downloaded in the remote control device such as mobile phone, the PDA,
the tablet computer, the notebook computer or the desktop computer. The
drive single is transmitted to the communication unit 9 through internet or
wireless (such as Wi-Fi). Then the communication unit 9 delivers the
drive signal to the control unit 7 so that the control unit 7 drives to the
drive unit 8 to act and attract the weights 34 on the bottom end of the
vertical hook 3. Thus the hook portion 33 of the vertical hook 3 is moved
and released from the projecting connection piece 271 of the connection
portion 27 of the gas breaker panel 2. Therefore the channel block 23 on
the gas breaker panel 2 is further moved to obstruct the exhaust channel 14
to stop the gas supply. The fire caused by the gas flame can be avoided.
Furthermore, when the user intends to go out for a period of time due to
work or travel, he/she can use the remote control device such as the
mobile phone to send a drive signal. Through the communication unit 9,
the control unit 7 and the drive unit 8, the channel block 23 on the gas
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breaker panel 2 is moved to obstruct the exhaust channel 14. Thus there is
no risk of gas leak, gas explosion, or fire during the period.
Refer to Fig. 8, another embodiment is disclosed. In this embodiment,
the drive unit 8 is arranged at the block button 5 and located outside the
breaker body 1. The drive unit 8 can be an electromagnetic valve
connected to the block button 5 and used for pushing the push rod 51 of
the block button 5. When a gas leak occurs due to gas pipeline breakage or
extinguished gas flame, and the gas flow or concentration detected by the
gas detection unit 6 is over the safety range set in the control unit, the
control unit 7 drives the drive unit 8 to act. At the moment, the drive unit 8
pushes the button portion 52 of the block button 5 so that the push rod 51
is also moved toward the chamber 15 of the breaker body 1 to lean against
the weights 34 on the bottom end of the vertical hook 3. Thus the weights
34 are pushed to move. At the moment, the vertical hook 3 is moved
around the rotating shaft 17 and the hook portion 33 on top end of the
vertical hook 3 is also moved in the direction opposite to the pushed rod
51 to be released from the projecting connection piece 271 of the
connection portion 27 of the gas breaker panel 2. Next the channel block
23 on the gas breaker panel 2 is fallen to obstruct the exhaust channel 14.
The gas supply is cut off and damages caused by the gas leak are avoided.
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In an embodiment of the present invention, a remote control receiver
is disposed on the breaker body 1 and is coupled to both the control unit 7
and the power supply unit. Moreover, the embodiment further includes a
remote control transmitter corresponding to the remote control receiver
for signal transmission. Thereby users can press an activate button of the
remote control transmitter for sending an activating signal to the remote
control receiver. After receiving the activating signal, the remote control
receiver drives the control unit 7 to work and drive the drive unit 8 to
move. Thus the hook portion 33 of the vertical hook 3 is released from the
connection portion 27 of the gas breaker panel 2 and the channel block 23
on the gas breaker panel 2 is moved to obstruct the exhaust channel 14.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those
skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not
limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and
described herein. The scope of the claims shall not be limited by the
preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but shall be given the
broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
