1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is related to the field of connectors and access points for underground storage tanks. Specifically, this disclosure is related to the field of manway covers and sump connectors for use in underground storage tanks.
2. Description of Related Art
An underground tank is a storage facility for a certain substance, the majority of the tank being beneath ground level. Underground storage tanks (USTs) can include farm and residential tanks for the storage of fuel or other substances for noncommercial purposes, tanks used for storing heating oil for consumptive use, tanks for the storage of regulated substances and septic tanks. A UST, as that term is defined by Federal law, is any one or combination of tanks (including the underground pipes connected thereto) that is used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances (such as petroleum), the volume of which (including the volume of the underground pipes connected thereto) is ten (10) percent or more beneath the surface of the ground.
Generally, USTs fall into four different types: 1) steel aluminum tanks; 2) composite overwrapped metal tanks (aluminum/steel) which have filament windings like glass fiber/aramid, carbon fiber or a plastic compound around the metal cylinder for corrosion protection; 3) tanks made from a composite material such as, but not limited to, fiberglass/aramid or carbon fiber with a metal liner (such as aluminum or steel); and 4) tanks made from a composite material with a polymer liner (e.g., a thermoplastic liner).
No matter the type or use, most USTs will usually have to have a point of ingress and egress to the surface from which an individual can access the inside of the UST for maintenance or routine services. Since a UST is generally located underground (i.e., generally inaccessible for routine “walk up to it and check” maintenance), a surface level access point for the UST is required. Many USTs utilize manways as this access point. Manways are surface openings to an underground interstitial space (such as a UST) used to house an access point for making connections or performing maintenance on the underground area. A manway is usually covered by a manway cover at the terminating end of the manway at the surface, which is generally at or substantially close to ground level.
In addition to providing a point of ingress and egress, manways are also an access point for making connections to the UST. One common connection to UST manways is a sump, which is attached to the inlet and outlet fittings on the UST. Sumps generally function to catch or retain fluid leakage at the fittings to the UST. Sumps are commonly attached to a UST at manway openings. However, problematically for the art, the dimensions of the manway opening generally do not correspond with the dimensions of the sump. Generally, the diameters of the standard UST manway openings are smaller than the diameters of the gasket and compression ring for standard sumps.
This incongruity between the diameters of the sump and the manway opening of USTs has caused problems in the art for the attachment of sumps to the UST via a manway. Stated differently, without additional securing, the sump cannot be securely fastened to the UST manway in a manner that provides for proper functioning. Traditionally, this attachment issue has commonly been solved by either the use of a manway/sump adapter kit or the retrofitting of the manway with an inverted flange manway pipe fitting. However, both of these solutions are complex, involve multiple parts and are expensive in terms of both labor and parts.
Because of these and other problems in the art, described herein, among other things, is an all-inclusive manway and sump connector designed to allow for the attachment of both manway covers and sumps to the manway of a UST.
There is described herein, among other things, an all-inclusive manway and sump connector for an underground storage tank with a manway, the connector comprising: a manway throat with a posterior end and an anterior end and a length there between, the anterior end of the manway throat being attached to the manway; a manway flange attached to and extending out laterally away from the posterior end of the manway throat, the manway flange having a top surface; an inner bolt pattern sized and shaped to attach to a manway cover and located on the top surface of the manway flange; an outer bolt pattern sized and shaped to attach to a sump and located on the top surface of the manway flange; wherein the inner bolt pattern and the outer bolt pattern allow for simultaneous attachment of both the manway cover and the sump to the underground storage tank.
In one embodiment of the all-inclusive manway and sump connector, the manway throat will be cylindrical in shape.
In another embodiment of the all-inclusive manway and sump connector, the sump will be attached to the outer bolt pattern by attachment openings on a sump gasket or a sump compression ring. In another embodiment of the all-inclusive manway and sump connector, the sump will be attached to the outer bolt pattern by attachment openings on the sump compression ring and the sump gasket.
In another embodiment of the all-inclusive manway and sump connector, wherein the manway cover will be attached to the inner bolt pattern by attachment openings on the manway cover or on a manway cover gasket. In another embodiment, the sump will be attached to the inner bolt pattern by attachment openings on the manway cover and the manway cover gasket.
Also disclosed herein is a method of simultaneously attaching a manway cover and a sump to a manway opening to an underground storage tank, the method comprising: providing an underground storage tank with a manway opening; providing an all-inclusive manway and sump connector connected to the manway opening, the all-inclusive manway and sump connector comprising: a manway throat with a posterior end and an anterior end and a length there between, the anterior end of the manway throat being attached to the manway; a manway flange attached to and extending out laterally away from the posterior end of the manway throat, the manway flange having a top surface; an inner bolt pattern sized and shaped to attach to a manway cover and located on the top surface of the manway flange; an outer bolt pattern sized and shaped to attach to a sump and located on the top surface of the manway flange; attaching the manway cover to the inner bolt pattern on the manway flange; and attaching the sump to the outer bolt pattern on the manway flange.
a, 2b and 2c provide a perspective, top and side view of the disclosed all inclusive manway and sump connector.
The all-inclusive manway and sump connector (103) provided in
The manway flange (105) is generally a lip of a certain width generally flush with and extending out laterally away from the exterior circumference or perimeter of the posterior end (151) of the manway throat (104). Accordingly, the diameter or perimeter of the manway flange (105) is always greater than the diameter or perimeter of the manway throat (104). In certain embodiments, as depicted in
The inner bolt pattern (106) of the all-inclusive manway and sump connector (103) is an inner ring of bolts on the top surface of the lip of the manway flange (105) which generally corresponds to an attachment means on a manway cover (108) and/or a manway cover gasket (109). The term “bolt” as used in this application should be understood to mean any screw, bolt, joint, dowel, peg, pin, rivet, anchor, fastener or other fastening means known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The term “attachment means” as used in this application should be understood to mean any hole, clip, joint, anchor or other attaching or fasting means known to those of ordinary skill in the art that is capable of corresponding to the inner (106) and outer bolt patterns (107). For example, as depicted in
a, 2b and 2c provide a perspective, top and side view of the disclosed all inclusive manway and sump connector (103), allowing for a better understanding of the orientation and structure of the inclusive manway and sump connector (103).
As seen in
b provides a view of the top of the disclosed all inclusive manway and sump connector (103). From this view, the orientation of inner pattern of bolts (106) and the outer pattern of bolts (107) on the flange (105) as they relate to the inner diameter ring of the flange (105) and the outer diameter ring of the flange (105) are shown. Notably, the dimensions of the various diameters and bolt patterns shown in
Further, in another embodiment, the inner pattern of bolts (106) is placed on the flange at a diameter of about 26⅜ inches. In the embodiment depicted in
c provides a side view of the disclosed all inclusive manway and sump connector (103). As seen in the FIGS, in some embodiments it is contemplated that the manway flange (105) will be a certain distance away from the surface or ground level. For example, in the embodiment shown in the FIGS, the manway flange (105) is about 10 inches above the surface. Further,
While the invention has been disclosed in conjunction with a description of certain embodiments, including those that are currently believed to be preferred embodiments, the detailed description is intended to be illustrative and should not be understood to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, embodiments other than those described in detail herein are encompassed by the present invention. Modifications and variations of the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/472,405, filed Apr. 6, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61472405 | Apr 2011 | US |