Patent Application
20150240967
The present disclosure relates generally to systems and apparatus for protecting containers, such as fuel tanks on mobile equipment, against overfilling and/or over pressurization. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved float for flow control valve systems.
To rapidly fill containers, such as the fuel tanks on mobile equipment, liquids may be pumped under relatively high pressures into the containers. In many pieces of heavy equipment, such as mining equipment, fuel tanks can hold a significant amount of fuel, resulting in a fueling operation that can be time consuming Given the size of fuel tanks on such heavy equipment, high pressures are often used to reduce filling times. In some systems, a supply hose connected to the outlet of a pressure pump may be provided with a flow nozzle releasably connectable to a flow coupling on the container. Fuel may be provided through the supply hose to fill the container.
In order to prevent overfilling, the flow nozzles are commonly provided with shut-off valves to stop the flow of liquid to the container when back pressure indicates that the container is full. However, operators may manually override these shut-off valves, since it is common for the shut-off valves to “trip” before a container is full. With large equipment, such as mining equipment, it has been observed that where operators have manually overridden shut-off valves, pressure can build to the extent that fuel tanks bulge, and even rupture, resulting in safety and environmental incidents, as well as potentially costly loss of use and repair of the equipment.
The described features generally relate to one or more improved systems and/or apparatuses for fluid flow control utilizing a flow control valve and associated float. In some aspects, a float valve apparatus is provided for regulating the level of fluid within a tank. The apparatus may include, in examples, a housing having one or more inlet ports and an outlet port that are each fluidly connected via a channel disposed within the housing. A float disposed within the housing may move relative to the housing between a first position and a second position when a fluid level in the tank reaches a preset level. A shaft connected to the float may have a distal end located in a chamber beneath the float, the chamber also fluidly connected to the channel. As the float moves from the first position to the second position, fluid may enter the chamber from the channel and pressurize the chamber to bias the float further upward. In some examples, the shaft is further configured to increasingly obstruct the flow of fluid in the channel as the float moves from the first position to the second position such that the shaft completely obstructs the flow of fluid in the channel when the float is in the second position. The obstructed flow may increase pressure at the fluid inlet, which may be coupled with a flow control valve to close the flow control valve.
Further scope of the applicability of the described systems and apparatuses will become apparent from the following detailed description, claims, and drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the description will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.
Techniques are described for regulating the level of fluid within a tank using a float valve. The float valve may include a housing having one or more inlet ports and an outlet port that are each fluidly connected via a channel disposed within the housing. A float disposed within the housing may move relative to the housing between a first position and a second position when a fluid level in the tank reaches a preset level. A shaft may extend from the float into a chamber, and as the float moves from the first position to the second position, fluid may enter a chamber and bias the float further upward. In some examples, the shaft is further configured to increasingly obstruct the flow of fluid in the channel as the float moves from the first position to the second position.
Thus, the following description provides examples, and is not limiting of the scope, applicability, or configuration set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the techniques described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to certain examples may be combined in other examples.
Referring first to
With reference now to
A float 225 is disposed within the housing 205 and configured to move relative to the housing between a first position 225-1 (shown in
In some examples, the shaft may include a reduced cross-section portion 250 located within the channel 220 between the outlet port 215 and the inlet port 210 when the float 225 is in the first position 225-1, thereby allowing fluid received at either inlet port 210 to exit the channel 220 via the outlet port 215, as indicated by the arrows in
As noted above, when one of the inlet ports 210 is coupled with a flow control valve, increased pressure at the inlet port when the float 225 moves from the first position 225-1 to the second position 225-2 may act to close a valve in the flow control valve and cut off the flow of fluid to the tank. In such a manner, a fueling system may automatically shut off when the fuel in the tank reaches a predetermined level.
The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Throughout this disclosure the term “example” or “exemplary” indicates an example or instance and does not imply or require any preference for the noted example. Thus, the disclosure is not to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
