Ball valve

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6488261
  • Patent Number
    6,488,261
  • Date Filed
    Monday, March 11, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 3, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Yuen; Henry C.
    • Bastianelli; John
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
A ball valve includes a valve body, a cap, a disk spring, a driven member, and a spherical body. The disk spring and the driven member are disposed in the cap such that the driven member is urged by the disk spring to displace, thereby causing the driven member to push PTFE washers to come in contact with the spherical body.
Description




STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT




Not applicable.




REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX




Not applicable.




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to a valve, and more particularly to a ball valve.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIG. 1

, a prior art ball valve


60


includes a main body


61


and an auxiliary body


62


. The main body


61


is provided in the interior with a rotary shaft


1


, a spherical body


2


, and two washers


3


. The prior art ball valve


60


is defective in design because the auxiliary body


62


and the main body


61


must be separated to facilitate the repairing or maintaining of the ball valve


60


. The separation of the auxiliary body


62


from the main body


61


is a time-consuming chore. In addition, the washers


3


are susceptible to wear and deformation due to the mechanical friction between the washers


3


and the spherical body


2


. The wear or deformation of the washers


3


can result in leakage of the prior art ball valve


60


.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a ball valve which is free of the deficiencies of the prior art ball valve described above.




In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective of the present invention is achieved by a ball valve comprising a main body, a cap, a disk spring, a driven member, and a spherical body. The disk spring and the driven member are disposed in the cap such that the driven member is urged by the disk spring to displace, thereby causing two PTFE washers to come in contact with the spherical body.




The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a sectional view of a prior art ball valve.





FIG. 2

shows an exploded view of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows a sectional view of the present invention.





FIG. 4

shows another sectional view of the present invention.





FIG. 5

shows a sectional view of the present invention with a spherical body having a Y-shaped channel.





FIG. 6

shows a sectional view of the present invention having a spherical body with an L-shaped channel.





FIG. 7

shows a sectional view of the present invention having a Francis spherical body.





FIG. 8

shows a sectional view of the cap of the present invention.





FIG. 9

shows a sectional view of the driven member of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 2-11

, a ball valve


10


of the present invention comprises a valve body


20


, a cap


30


, a disk spring


40


, a driven member


41


, and a spherical body


12


.




The valve body


20


has a hollow interior which is divided by annular rib


21


into an annular seat


22


and a chamber


23


. The valve body


20


is provided at one end with a first threaded pipe


24


extending therefrom such that the threaded pipe


24


is in communication with the annular seat


22


via the chamber


23


. The valve body


20


is provided at other end with a second threaded pipe


25


in communication with the chamber


23


. The valve body


20


is further provided with a shaft tube


26


in communication with the chamber


23


, a rotary shaft


15


pivoted to the shaft tube


26


, and a plurality of lugs


27


.




The cap


30


is joined with the chamber


23


in conjunction with a seal ring


31


and is provided with a receiving portion


33


corresponding in location to the annular seat


22


, and a plurality of lugs


35


corresponding in number and location to the lugs


27


.




The disk spring


40


is disposed in the receiving portion


33


of the cap


30


.




The driven member


41


is disposed in the receiving portion


33


of the cap


30


and is provided with an annular clamp seat


42


.




The spherical body


12


is provided with an L-shaped channel


13


and is disposed between a first PTFE washer


11




a


which is held in the annular clamp seat


42


, and a second PTFE washer


11




b


which is held in the annular seat


22


. The spherical body


12


is provided in the outer surface with a retaining slot


14


for retaining a protrusion


16


of the rotary shaft


15


. The rotary shaft


15


has a lever


17


.




The driven member


41


is urged by the disk spring


40


to displace, thereby causing the first PTFE washer


11




a


to come in contact with the spherical body


12


.




As shown in

FIGS. 5 and 6

, the annular rib


21


of the valve body


20


is constructed in such a manner that the annular seat


22


, the first threaded pipe


24


, the chamber


23


, and the second threaded pipe


25


are in communication with one another. The first PTFE


11




a


is caused by the driven member to come in contact with the spherical body


12


.




As shown in

FIG. 7

, the threaded pipes


24


and


25


are replaced by an annular plate


18


which is provided with a hole


19


.




As shown in

FIG. 8

, the lugs


27


of the valve body and the lugs


35


of the cap


30


are replaced by the threaded portions


36


and


37


cooperative with a drive portion


38


of the cap


30


.




As shown in

FIG. 9

, the driven member


41


is a driven piece


410


, which is disposed between the disk spring


40


and the second PTFE washer


11




a.






In light of the PTFE washers


11




a


and


11




b


being pushed by the driven member


41


or the driven piece


410


which is in turn urged by the disk spring


40


, the PTFE washers


11




a


and


11




b


are always in an intimate contact with the spherical body


12


, thereby preventing the leak of the ball valve


10


. The disk spring


40


and the driven member


41


are independently disposed in the receiving portions


33


of the cap


30


without interfering the fluid flow of the ball valve


10


.



Claims
  • 1. A ball valve comprising:a valve body comprised of an interior which is divided by an annular rib into an annular seat and a chamber, said valve body comprising: at one end, a first threaded pipe extending therefrom such that said threaded pipe is in communication with said chambe via said annular seat and, at another end, a second threaded pipe in communication with said chamber, said valve body further comprising a shaft tube in communication with said chamber, a rotary shaft pivoted to said shaft tube, and a plurality of lugs; a cap joined with said chamber in conjunction with a seal ring and comprised of a receiving portion corresponding in location to said annular seat, and a plurality of lugs corresponding in number and location to said lugs of said valve body; a disk spring disposed in said receiving portion of said cap; a driven member disposed in said receiving portion of said cap and comprised of an annular clamp seat; a spherical body comprised of an L-shaped channel and disposed between a first PTFE washer which is retained in said annular clamp seat, and a second PTFE washer which is retained in said annular seat of said valve body, said spherical body provided in the outer surface with a retaining slot for retaining a protrusion of said rotary shaft whereby said PTFE washers are pushed by said driven member to come in contact with said spherical body at the time when said driven member is urged by said disk spring.
  • 2. The ball valve as defined in claim 1, wherein said driven member is comprised of a driven piece which is disposed between said disk spring and said first PTFE washer.
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application, U.S. Ser. No. 09/789,307, filed on Feb. 21, 2001, entitled “IMPROVEMENT ON A BALL VALVE”.

US Referenced Citations (9)
Number Name Date Kind
2558260 Maky Jun 1951 A
3228652 Antrim Jan 1966 A
3266769 Shand Aug 1966 A
3387815 Richards Jun 1968 A
3838844 Arn Oct 1974 A
4428561 Thompson Jan 1984 A
4718444 Boelte Jan 1988 A
4809949 Rakieski Mar 1989 A
5562116 Henwood Oct 1996 A
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/789307 Feb 2001 US
Child 10/096026 US