Ball valve

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6302373
  • Patent Number
    6,302,373
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, November 16, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 16, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Shaver; Kevin
    • Bastianelli; John
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
A ball valve has a main body provided with a rib plate, a receiving cell chamber, a first threaded tubular portion in communication with the receiving chamber, an extension channel, and a second threaded tubular portion in communication with the extension chamber. The main body is further provided with a threaded mouth via which a washer, a rotary shaft member, and a spherical body are removably disposed in the receiving chamber. The threaded mouth is sealed off with a cover.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




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




2. Description of Related Art




As shown in

FIG. 1

, a prior art ball valve


40


is provided in the interior of a tubular body


41


thereof with a threaded portion


42


, a rotary shaft member


1


, a spherical body


2


, a washer


3


, and an annular locking member


43


. The prior art ball valve


40


is limited in design because it can only be joined with the pipeline in a limited direction, and because it cannot be easily maintained or repaired.




As shown in

FIG. 2

, another prior art ball valve


50


has a tubular body


51


which is provided in the interior with a threaded port


52


, a rotary shaft member


1


, a spherical body


2


, a washer


3


, and a threaded tubular member


53


. This prior art ball valve


50


cannot be easily maintained or repaired.




As shown in

FIG. 3

, a prior art French-type ball valve


60


has a main tubular body


61


which is provided in the interior thereof with a rotary shaft member


1


, a spherical body


2


, a washer


3


, and a secondary tubular body


62


. The prior art ball valve


60


cannot be easily maintained or replaced.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, a prior art ball valve


70


has a main valve body


71


, which is joined with the pipeline by means of two secondary valve tubes


72


. The prior art


70


is relatively complicated in construction and is therefore not cost-effective.




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 valves described above.




The features, functions, and advantages of the present invention will be 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 longitudinal sectional view of a first prior art ball valve.





FIG. 2

shows a sectional view of a second prior art ball valve.





FIG. 3

shows a sectional view of a third prior art ball valve.





FIG. 4

shows a sectional view of a fourth prior art ball valve.





FIG. 5

shows a perspective view of the present invention.





FIG. 6

shows an exploded view of the present invention.





FIG. 7

shows a sectional view of the present invention.





FIG. 8

shows a schematic view of the present invention as defined in claim


3


.





FIG. 9

shows a schematic view of the present invention as defined in claim


4


.





FIG. 10

shows a schematic view of the present invention as defined in claim


5


.





FIG. 11

shows a schematic view of the present invention as defined in claim


6


.





FIG. 12

shows a schematic view of the present invention as defined in claim


7


.





FIG. 13

shows a schematic view of the present invention as defined in claim


8


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 5

,


6


, and


7


, a ball valve


10


of the present invention has a main body


11


which is provided in a receiving chamber


12


thereof with a spherical body


14


held between two washers


13


. The spherical body


14


is provided with a cross through hole


15


and a retaining slot


16


in which a protruded edge


19


of the bottom of a rotary shaft member


18


is retained. The rotary shaft member


18


is put through an axial hole


17


and is provided at the outer end thereof with a handle


20


fastened thereto for actuating the spherical body


14


. The feature of the present invention is that the main body


11


has a rib plate


21


, a first threaded tubular portion


23


, and a second threaded tubular portion


24


which is connected to an extension channel


22


of the rib plate


21


. The rib plate


21


is provided with a valve opening


25


in communication with the extension channel


22


and the receiving chamber


12


. The receiving chamber


12


of the main body


11


is provided with a threaded mouth


26


via which the washer


13


, the rotary shaft member


18


, and the spherical body


14


are disposed in the receiving chamber


12


. The threaded mouth


26


is sealed off with a cover


27


. The ball valve of the present invention can be easily maintained or replaced by removing the washer


13


, the rotary shaft member


18


, and the spherical body


14


from the receiving chamber


12


via the threaded mouth


26


.




The main body


11


of the present invention is provided with a threaded bolt hole


33


and a fastening bolt


34


which is engaged with the threaded bolt hole


33


. The fluid residue in the ball valve


10


of the present invention can be easily drained via the threaded bolt hole


33


to facilitate the maintenance work on the ball valve


10


.




As shown in

FIG. 8

, the main body


11


of the ball valve


10


of the present invention is provided with two plate portions


29


in place of the first threaded tubular portion


23


and the second threaded tubular portion


24


. The plate portion


29


are provided with a bolt hole


28


.




As shown in

FIG. 9

, the cover


27


of the threaded mouth


26


of the present invention is provided with a guide hole


30


in communication with the receiving chamber


12


. The guide hole


30


has an outer end in communication with a pressure meter


32


for measuring the pressure of the inside of the ball valve


10


of the present invention.




As shown in

FIG. 10

, the threaded mouth


26


of the ball valve


10


of the present invention is provided with a branched pipe


32


in place of the cover


27


. The branched pipe


32


is intended to accommodate a three-way ball valve


101


.




As shown in

FIG. 11

, the main body


11


of the ball valve


10


of the present invention is provided with a third threaded tubular


241


in place of the second tubular portion


24


such that a curved valve body


12


is formed. The curved valve body


112


is provided with a threaded mouth


26


via which the washer


13


, the rotary shaft member


18


, and the spherical body


14


are disposed in the receiving chamber


12


. The threaded mouth


26


is sealed off by the cover


27


. As a result, a curved ball valve


102


is formed.




As shown in

FIG. 12

, the cover


27


of the curved ball valve


102


is replaced by the branched pipe


32


so as to accommodate the three-way ball valve


103


.




As shown in

FIG. 13

, the curved valve main body


112


is replaced by a three-way valve tube


114


which is provided with a threaded mouth


26


via which the washer


13


, the rotary shaft member


18


, and the spherical body


14


are disposed in the receiving chamber


12


.




The embodiments of the present invention described above are to be regarded in all respects as being merely illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without deviating from the spirit thereof. The present invention is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the following appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A ball valve comprising:a main body having a receiving chamber interior thereof; a spherical body positioned within said receiving chamber, said spherical body having a cross through hole, said spherical body having a retaining slot formed thereon; a first washer juxtaposed against said spherical body in generally liquid-tight relationship therewith; a second washer interposed between said spherical body and a wall of said main body; a rotary shaft member extending through an axial hole formed in said main body, said rotary shaft member having a protruded edge retained in said retaining slot of said spherical body; a handle means affixed to an end of said rotary shaft member extending outwardly of said main body, said handle means for actuating said spherical body, said main body comprising: a rib plate defining a wall of said receiving chamber adjacent said spherical body; a first threaded tubular portion extending outwardly from said receiving chamber; an extension channel in communication with said receiving chamber through a hole in said wall of said receiving chamber through an interior of said second washer, said extension channel extending around said rib plate; a second threaded tubular portion in communication with said extension channel, said second threaded tubular portion positioned on an opposite side of said receiving chamber from said first threaded tubular member; a threaded mouth communicating with said receiving chamber, said first washer being removably retained in said threaded mouth, said spherical body and said washer and said rotary shaft member being removable through said threaded mouth; and a cover removably fastened to said threaded mouth such that said first washer is interposed between said cover and said spherical body.
  • 2. The ball valve of claim 1, said main body having a threaded bolt hole communicating with said extension channel, the ball valve further comprising:a fastening bolt removably threadedly engaged with said threaded bolt hole.
  • 3. The ball valve of claim 1, said main body having a first plate portion at one end thereof and a second plate portion at another end thereof.
  • 4. The ball valve of claim 1, said cover having a guide hole formed therein, said guide hole in communication with said receiving chamber, the ball valve further comprising:a pressure meter connected to said guide hole and extending outwardly above said cover.
  • 5. The ball valve of claim 1, said cover having a pipe formed therein, said pipe in communication with said receiving chamber.
US Referenced Citations (16)
Number Name Date Kind
1577900 Evans Mar 1926
3333813 Rabe Aug 1967
3985334 Domyan Oct 1976
4319734 Acar Mar 1982
4423749 Schmitt Jan 1984
4708158 Akamatsu Nov 1987
4718444 Boelte Jan 1988
4976403 Bramblet Dec 1990
5036883 McHugh Aug 1991
5152503 Conway Oct 1992
5313976 Beasley May 1994
5551479 Graves Sep 1996
5562116 Henwood Oct 1996
5873389 Cheng Feb 1999
5927685 Gosling Jul 1999
5941266 Henwood Aug 1999