Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6206056
-
Patent Number
6,206,056
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, January 5, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, March 27, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Douglas; Steven O.
- Huynh; Khoa
Agents
- Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb & Soffen, LLP
-
CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 141 198
- 141 95
- 141 212
- 141 213
- 137 422
- 137 429
- 137 413
- 137 446
- 137 434
- 137 447
- 137 448
- 251 77
- 251 308
- 251 263
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International Classifications
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Abstract
It is of the type comprising a body of vertical axis and arranged at least partially in the tank, an interior partition being mounted in the body and delimiting a passageway for the liquid and a chamber to house a float, a valve mounted above the passageway and the float chamber, the valve being capable of moving between an open position and a closed position, and a valve seat, the said float being moved vertically by the rise of the liquid in the tank and acting on the valve via operating means comprising an operating rod, the lower end of which is secured to the float, the other end of the operating rod comprises a ball moving in a groove formed in part of the valve.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fill limiter for a liquid storage tank.
It is known practice for an underground or overground storage tank intended to contain a liquid to be fitted with a fill limiter, the function of which is to interrupt the filling of the tank when the liquid in the said tank reaches a predetermined level, so as to prevent overflow which would be harmful to the environment of the tank. This is especially sought after when the tank that is to be filled is located at a filling station delivering hydrocarbon fuels of various types.
Limiters with the simplest structure comprise a body, a valve mounted in the said body and able to move between an open position corresponding to the filling of the tank and a closed position corresponding to the interruption of the filling of the said tank; a float, connected to the said valve, accompanies the rise of the liquid in the tank so as to close the valve when the liquid in the tank reaches a predetermined level.
Numerous improvements have been made to limiters according to whether the storage tanks are fitted with manholes or inlet orifices for positioning limiters inside the storage tank.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,289,490 and 1,689,066, limiters comprise a tube body equipped with an internal partition for delimiting two adjacent chambers placed side by side, one of the chambers acting as a passage for the liquid intended to fill the tank and the other housing a float which is connected to a valve capable of moving from an open position corresponding to a low liquid level in the tank, below the float, to a closed position corresponding to a high liquid level in the tank, the liquid still being below the shut-off valve. The re-opening of the valve in this prior art is still performed manually. What is more, and this is a serious disadvantage, there is no possibility of re-opening the valve when the official performing the filling operation does not interrupt filling while the valve is in the closed position.
Other limiters have recently been proposed. Such limiters are described, for example, in French Patent No. 89/16604, European Patent No. 0,312,320 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,711.
Each one of the limiters described in these patents comprises a float which is connected to the valve in such a way that as the liquid in the tank rises it is moved away from the body of the limiter. When the limiter is introduced into the tank inlet orifice, the float is housed at least partially in the body so as to reduce the size of the limiter.
However, such limiters, because the float travel is on the outside of the body, are not able to allow the tank to be completely filled. This is because it is necessary to keep a minimum space between the upper wall of the tank and the maximum raised position of the float.
FR-B-2,675,476 describes a fill limiter comprising a float moving vertically in a chamber formed in the body of the limiter, a valve which can move between a vertical open position and a horizontal closed position, the float being connected to the valve by means of a linkage which collaborates with a pawl for retaining the valve in the vertical open position, a deflector consisting of inclined blades being arranged above and a certain distance away from the valve. There is a return spring for returning the valve to the vertical open position when the force exerted by the column of liquid on the said valve is lower than the return force exerted by the spring.
The main drawback of this limiter lies in the complexity of the valve-operating means mounted between this valve and the float. What is more, it is necessary to precisely determine the distance separating the free end of the rod connected to the float from the pawl which catches on the valve. Now, too short a distance leads to untimely closure of the valve when the fluid has not reached the desired level in the tank; too great a distance leads to late closure of the valve.
Another drawback lies in the fact that it is necessary to design the valve return spring to be relatively weak so as to allow the valve to close for low deliveries of fluid, for example up to 15 m
3
. However, in this case, the re-opening of the valve becomes difficult because of the weakness of the return spring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is a limiter of the type described in FR-B-2,675,476 but which has a far simpler structure and operates far more reliably.
The subject of the present invention is a fill limiter of the type comprising a body of vertical axis and arranged at least partially in the tank, an interior partition being mounted in the said body and delimiting a passageway for the liquid and a chamber to house a float, a valve mounted above the passageway and the float chamber, the said valve being capable of moving between an open position and a closed position, and a valve seat, the said float being moved vertically by the rise of the liquid in the tank and acting on the said valve via operating means comprising an operating rod, the lower end of which is secured to the float, and it is characterized in that the other end of the operating rod comprises a ball moving in a groove formed in part of the valve.
One advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that the vertical float is constantly connected to the valve both in the open and the closed position. The use of a valve of the butterfly type which is known per se makes it possible to reduce the travel of the operating rod connected to the float.
Another advantage is that at every instant and as soon as the float moves upwards, there is a rotational movement of the valve in the stream of liquid until the valve is completely closed, and this is true regardless of the throughput of fluid in the limiter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other advantages and features will become clearer on reading the description of one preferred embodiment of the invention and on studying the appended drawings, which:
FIG. 1
is a view in section of a storage tank fitted with a limiter according to the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a view in section of the limiter according to the invention;
FIG. 3
is a cross sectional view of the upper part of the fill limiter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The fill limiter
1
according to the present invention is intended to be fitted in a storage tank
2
for storing a liquid
3
such as a hydrocarbon, the tank
2
being equipped, for example, with an orifice
4
delimited by the internal section of an inlet tube
5
secured to the upper wall
6
of the tank
2
(FIG.
1
).
The fill limiter
1
comprises a body
10
of vertical axis consisting of two parts, an upper part
7
and a lower part
8
, sealing between the upper and lower parts being obtained by any appropriate means such as a mastic. The lower part
8
has a narrowed end
9
designed possibly to take an extension tube
9
a
, the lower end of which is relatively close to the bottom wall
2
a
of the tank
2
.
Located in the lower part
8
of the body of the limiter
10
is a partition
11
which delimits two chambers
12
and
13
(FIG.
2
). The partition
11
is fitted with a seal in the form of a lip
11
a
which provides sealing between the body
7
and the said partition
11
. The chamber
13
delimits a passageway for the fill fluid. A hollow float
14
, made of an appropriate substance such as polyamide well known to those skilled in the art, is mounted in the chamber
12
which is closed by a stopper
15
. The stopper
15
is fitted with an O-ring
16
and a headless screw
17
passes through it. A bearing washer
18
is mounted on the screw
17
and is held in position by means of two nuts
19
. The washer
18
constitutes a stop for the float
14
and determines the lowermost position of the float
14
and is adjusted heightwise by means of the said screw
17
and locked by a nut
19
a
. The float
14
comprises, at the upper part, an appendage or small rod
20
with an oblong orifice in which a finger
21
is mounted. A screw
22
is arranged in the finger
21
and bears against a flat
23
formed at the lower end of an operating rod
24
which passes through the finger
21
. The screw
22
secures the operating rod
24
to the float
14
via the finger
21
and the appendage
20
. The operating rod
24
has a curved part
24
a
providing continuity between the straight part and a ball
41
which constitutes the opposite end to the end which is secured to the finger
21
.
A valve
25
, of the butterfly valve type, is mounted in the upper part
7
and above the passageway
13
and the chamber
12
of the float.
The valve
25
comprises a deflector
26
which is of one piece with the valve body
27
which is mounted about a pivot axis
28
. Mounted on the valve body
27
is a rod
29
, the ends of which are tapped, one of them to take a stop screw
30
and the other to take a screw
31
for holding a pressure-relief valve
32
. A spring
33
is mounted on the rod
29
and rests via one end against the valve body
27
and via the other end against a nut
34
which is positioned on the said rod
29
so as to give the said spring
33
a predetermined preload. The valve body
27
comprises a drainage chamber
35
in which is mounted a drainage valve
36
urged into an open position by a return spring
37
bearing against the pressure-relief valve
32
. Orifices, not depicted, are formed in the valve body
27
and in the pressure-relief valve
32
.
A cylindrical groove
39
is formed in part of the valve body
27
, the said part consisting, for example, of a connecting tab
40
made of one piece with the body
27
. Inside the groove
39
which is about 15 mm long there moves a ball
41
with a diameter of about 8 mm which constitutes one end of the operating rod
24
, the diameter of which is approximately 4 mm. This rod slides in a passage
42
in the interior wall of the upper part
7
of the body of the limiter
10
. A slot
43
is formed on one side of the valve body
27
and partially houses the operating rod
24
when the valve
25
is in the closed position resting on the inclined seat
38
as shown in FIG.
3
.
The interior wall of the passage
42
is preferably coated with a lubricating substance such as graphite so as to reduce the friction of the rod
24
on the upper body
7
.
The angle that the cylindrical groove
39
makes with respect to the vertical axis of the limiter is between 15 and 25° and is preferably equal to 20°. The axis of the rod, not depicted, lies in the cylinder where the valve seat
38
and the valve
25
meet, so as to reduce internal leakages as far as possible.
The dimensions quoted hereinabove relate to a limiter with a diameter of 97 mm, but it goes without saying that the said dimensions will be adapted to suit those of the limiter.
The way in which the limiter according to the present invention works is as follows.
When fluid is let into the limiter, the valve
25
is in the wide-open position, more or less in a vertical position. In this wide-open position, the assembly comprising ball
41
and groove
39
is such that the float experiences no influence which could be exerted by the throughput, even a high throughput, of fluid. The float
14
prevents any rotational movement of the valve
27
as long as it occupies the lowered position resting on the washer
18
. In fact, the ball
41
in the groove
39
constitutes a locking system. When the fluid level in the tank
2
rises and approaches the float
14
, the latter begins to move upwards.
For small movement of the float
14
, the valve
25
rotates about its axis of rotation and is brought against the seat
38
by the fluid, thus occupying the completely closed position. It should be noted that even for relatively low throughputs, for example less than 15 m
3
, the valve
25
is made to close because of the permanent connection between the float
14
and the valve
25
.
When the valve
25
is in the closed position resting against its seat
38
which is inclined by more or less
45
° to the vertical axis of the limiter, and as long as the pressure of the liquid above the seat
38
exceeds 1.5 bar, the pressure-relief valve
32
remains open, liquid discharging into the tank
2
through the orifices in the valve body
27
, the drainage chamber
35
and through the space created between the valve body
27
and the pressure-relief valve
32
. When the fluid pressure is below 1.5 bar, the pressure-relief valve
32
closes, coming to bear on the valve body
27
. By internal leakages formed between the valve body
27
and the seat
38
, the pressure can decrease further. When the fluid pressure approaches 50 mb, the drainage valve
36
opens under the action of the return spring
37
, and this accelerates the drainage of the liquid from above the valve
25
, the said fluid discharging into the passageway
13
, through the said orifices in the valve
27
, the drainage chamber
35
and the orifices of the pressure-relief valve
32
.
When the liquid level in the tank
2
drops, the valve
25
is made to open simply by the weight of the totally emerged float
14
, because of the permanent connection between the float and the valve.
Claims
- 1. Fill limiter for being introduced into an inlet orifice formed in one wall of a liquid storage tank, the limiter comprising:a body having a vertical axis, the body having a lower region for being arranged at least partially in the tank; an interior partition mounted in the body and delimiting a passageway for the liquid and a float chamber; a float floatable in the float chamber; a valve mounted above the passageway and the float chamber, the valve being capable of moving between an opened position permitting liquid to flow past the valve and a closed position; a valve seat positioned and shaped for closing the valve when the valve is in the closed position; the float being movable vertically in the body by the rise of the liquid in the tank and the moving float acting on the valve; operating means comprising an operating rod having a lower end which is secured to the float, the operating rod having another end comprising a ball, a groove formed in the valve for receiving the ball which moves in the groove as the float moves.
- 2. Limiter according to claim 1, further comprising a slot formed in the body of the limiter and the operating rod moving in the slot.
- 3. Limiter according to claim 1, wherein the valve comprises a slot formed on a lateral side, the slot being shaped to partially grip the operating rod when the valve is in the closed position.
- 4. Limiter according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper closing off the lower end of the limiter; a height-adjustable washer secured to the body and forming a bottom stop for the float.
- 5. Limiter according to claim 1, wherein the float has an upstanding appendage, a horizontal finger connected with the appendage, the finger having one end which is secured to the operating rod.
- 6. Limiter according to claim 1, wherein the valve is a butterfly valve and the seat which cooperates with the valve is inclined to the vertical axis of the body of the limiter;a drainage chamber formed in the valve, a drainage valve in the drainage chamber, a return spring arranged in the drainage chamber and acting upon the drainage valve.
- 7. Limiter according to claim 1, wherein the groove is inclined to the vertical axis of the limiter by about 20°.
- 8. Limiter according to claim 1, wherein the operating rod comprises a straight part and a curved part which connects between the straight part and the ball.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
99 00195 |
Nov 1999 |
FR |
|
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0312320 |
Apr 1989 |
EP |
2675476 |
Oct 1992 |
FR |