Patent Application
20150240977
1. Field
This application relates to a flow valve having a flange for joining an adjacent coupling valve or pipe section to form a continuous fluid conduit and specifically to a flow valve having a replaceable flange which is used for connecting one fluid conduit to another to form a continuous flow path where the flange has components which prevent interchangeability.
2. Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,175 a flow valve with a replaceable flange is disclosed. The replaceable flange, also called a nose ring, provides a bearing surface at the end of the flow valve for joining an adjacent coupling valve or pipe section to form a continuous fluid coupling. The replaceable flange can be removed and repositioned to distribute wear or replaced when the flange is worn. The replaceable flange disclosed does not include components which prevent interchangeability or features which permit easy removal or repositioning without tools.
In Canadian Patent No. 2800795 a quick disconnect coupling with protrusions and recesses shaped and arranged to allow mating of the male and female halves of the coupling is disclosed. The coupling can only be assembled when the protrusions on one half matches the recesses on the other half of the coupling. The system of couplings disclosed relies on a separate camlock adapter coupling to transition from a standard API valve to a configured end on the coupling with protrusions or recesses. This coupling is called a tag adapter since it is used to tag the API valve with a fuel specific coupling after the fuel is loaded into the tanker. This system of couplings does not disclose how to pre-tag the API valve for a particular fuel so that only that fuel can be loaded and subsequently unloaded from the API valve.
Flow valves with fixed or replaceable flanges are used in many applications and industries such as loading tankers at fuel terminals and unloading fuel from tankers into underground storage tanks at gas stations. A typical tanker will carry a combination of diesel fuel, various grades of gasoline and ethanol based fuels. Each flow valve, also called an API valve in the fuel delivery industry, is fixed to the tanker and communicates with its associated storage compartment on the tanker. The API valve is used to bottom load fuel at the terminal with a mating bottom loading coupler. When unloading fuel a camlock style drop adapter is attached to the flow valve which permits connecting the required camlock hose assemblies and drop elbows to the service station storage tank top seal adapter. The flow valves, bottom loading couplers and drop adapters are the same size and design regardless of the fuel being loaded or unloaded and this can result in cross contamination or accidental mixing of fuels in both the tanker or more commonly in the storage tank at the gas station. For instance it is all too easy to load a tanker compartment with diesel and accidently unload this compartment into the regular gasoline storage tank at the gas station since all the coupling connections are identical regardless of the type of fuel. Even with procedures, color coding and labeling systems in place these fuel mixes or crossovers, as the industry refers to them, are all too common and costly to rectify. Diesel and gasoline mixes that end up in customer vehicles can result in expensive engine repairs and a serious loss of reputation in the marketplace for the oil company. Mixes can also result in motorist and boaters becoming stranded with engine failure which can be a serious safety issue and a potential liability concern for oil companies.
Standard API valves with or without replaceable flanges are not designed to prevent crossovers. Thus an API valve that uses replaceable flanges uniquely configured for each type of fuel to be loaded, carried and unloaded not only eliminates the potential for crossovers but also provides an important tagging function to clearly identify the fuel to be loaded into a particular tanker compartment, the fuel that is being carried in a particular tanker compartment and the fuel to be subsequently be unloaded from the particular tanker compartment at the service station. Prior to loading a tanker compartment a fuel specific replaceable flange or tagging ring for say diesel is installed on the appropriate API valve body. The tagging flange has a unique configuration of recesses or protrusions that are specific to the fuel to be loaded. With say a diesel tagging flange in place on the API valve only the API bottom loading coupler configured with matching protrusions or recesses for diesel will fit with the diesel tagging flange installed on the API valve. This creates a physical barrier that prevents an API bottom load coupler configured for any other type of fuel from mating with this API valve. Other tanker compartments are similarly tagged and loaded with the appropriate fuel. It is common for a tanker to carry three or more different fuels in a single load so it is critical to clearly identify the type of fuel carried in each compartment of the tanker. After loading all the compartments the tagging rings are left in place on the API valves and the API valves are capped for transport with standard camlock dust caps.
At the service station the driver will remove the camlock dust caps and install fuel specific drop adapters uniquely configured for each fuel with protrusions or recesses that will only match the corresponding tagged API valves. In Canadian Patent No. 2800795 a camlock style coupling with fuel specific tagging features is disclosed that can be used on the remaining camlock, hose assemblies, drop elbows and underground tank top seal fittings to provide a complete physical crossover prevention and tagging system for loading tankers at the terminal to unloading tankers at the service station.
Therefore an API valve with a fuel specific replaceable flange provides the missing feature that will prevent fuel crossovers by physically and visually tagging the API valve with the specific fuel to be loaded and unloaded. This and other advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.
According to the invention there is provided a flow valve for mating with a female coupling comprising:
a generally annular flange member having components for mounting said annular flange member;
a generally cylindrical flow valve body having opposed ends, one of the opposed ends of said flow valve body defining a leading end having cooperating components to facilitate mounting said annular flange member;
a flow valve member comprising said annular flange member mounted to said flow valve body member.
a female coupling defining an opening into which a leading end of said flow valve member can be inserted so that the flow valve is moved longitudinally of an axis of the female coupling member into the opening to a locking position;
the flow valve member and female coupling member defining a duct passing therethrough for communication of a fluid therebetween;
a locking arrangement for locking the flow valve member in the female coupling member at the locking position;
wherein the locking arrangement includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced locking members within a respective inside opening of the female coupling member for movement radially inwardly of the axis of the female coupling member into locking engagement with a portion of said annular flange member;
cooperating components provided on an inside surface of said female coupling member and on an outside surface of said annular flange member;
said cooperating components comprising at least one protrusion provided on either an inside surface of the female coupling member or on an outside surface of the annular flange member;
said cooperating components comprising at least one recess provided on either an inside surface of the female coupling member or on an outside surface of the annular flange member;
said cooperating components defined by said at least one recess and said at least one protrusion being cooperatively shaped and arranged to allow insertion of the flow valve member into the female coupling member to the locking position when said at least one recess and said at least one protrusion match;
Preferably there is provided a plurality of protrusions and a plurality of recesses at a predetermined spacing therebetween and wherein insertion of the flow valve member into the female coupling member to the locking position is allowed only when said predetermined spacing matches. However a single protrusion and associated recess can be used where they are set at a predetermined angle around the coupling and/or have a predetermined dimension and height.
Preferably there are provided elements identifying the location of the protrusions and recesses when the flow valve and the female coupling member are connected and when they are separated so as to ensure alignment when relative movement is undertaken. That is the user can see the location of the elements to ensure that they are aligned as the user tries to insert the components or to separate.
That is for example the rotational and axial alignment for assembly and disassembly of the female coupling member can be made evident by way of the protrusions and recesses themselves and/or by the inclusion of additional alignment marks on the female coupling member and/or on the flow valve member.
The annular flange member is shaped for engagement with the locking arrangement of the female coupling member and the protrusions and recesses are located to prevent movement of the flow valve to the locking arrangement unless aligned. This allows that the female coupling member and the flow valve member can be rotated relative to each other after assembly. That is the recess and the protrusion do not cooperate with the locking arrangement to hold the components connected but act as a restriction to allow the locking arrangement to engage only when the recess and protrusion match.
Preferably the protrusions are located on the female coupling member and align with the space behind the annular flange member when the flow valve is moved to the locking position.
In particular the present invention is particularly designed for use with both;
a camlock drop adapter of the type in which the locking arrangement includes a plurality of hand operated cam members each having a lever within a respective side opening of the female coupling member and a cam portion passing through one of said side openings and engaging a portion of the flow valve annular flange member and each being pivotally connected to the female coupling member for outward movement of the levers away from the female coupling member to disengage the cam portions from the said portion of the flow valve annular flange member;
a bottom loading coupler of the type in which the locking arrangement includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced locking latches on the inside end of the body which are actuated simultaneously by a separate hand lever for movement of the locking latches to engage or disengage the flow valve annular flange member.
Preferably the matched protrusions and recesses are shaped and located so that they are not interchangeable with a coupling configured with a different configuration of protrusions and recesses.
Preferably the recess is formed by machining, casting, molding or other methods in the annular flange member of the coupling.
Preferably the protrusion is formed by a cast feature, a machined fastener, pressed in pin, molded or cast insert or by any other means or processes in the female coupling member.
Preferably the system allows for backwards compatibility with industry standard couplings. This can be achieved by the fact that one of the female coupling member and the flow valve annular flange member which carries the recesses can be used in an industry standard female coupling having no protrusions.
Preferably the flow valve with annular flange member and the female coupling member both have a circular cross-section. This allows rotation as mentioned above.
However the female coupling member and the flow valve member can have a common unique cross sectional shape different from circular. For example the cross-sectional shape can be square with rounded corners.
Preferably the cooperating component on the outside surface of the annular flange member is located at the leading end of the flow valve.
Preferably the annular flange member provides a visual and physical tagging function to identify the fuel to be loaded, carried and unloaded.
Preferably the annular flange member can be repositioned or reversed to distribute wear.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of delivering a plurality of different fluids comprising:
providing for each fluid a respective delivery duct;
providing in each delivery duct a flow valve as defined above;
and arranging said at least one protrusion and said at least one recess of a first one delivery duct to have a different configuration from that of a second one of the delivery ducts to prevent interchangeability of the first and second delivery ducts.
Embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The body portion 59 is cast and/or machined without a flange. In place of the flange a bayonet groove 53 is milled or cast directly into the housing 59. The bayonet groove 53 includes a partial annular opening 53A communicating with the front face of the valve body 59A and is sized to accept axial movement of the positioning block 62 located on the inner annular surface 64 of the replaceable flange 60.
The bayonet groove 53 includes an additional annular groove portion 53B that communicates with annular groove opening 53A and is sized to allow rotation of the replaceable flange 60 when positioning block 62 is aligned with annular groove 53B.
Annular groove portion 53B includes mounting hole 54 to accept the installation of spring plunger assembly 55 comprised of body 56, spring 57 and ball 58. The spring plunger 55 communicates with one of the lead-in angled ramp portions 62A of the positioning block 62 as the replaceable flange 60 is rotated towards the blind end of the bayonet annular groove 53C. At the end of this rotation the ball 58 of the spring plunger 55 comes to rest between the inner angled ramp portions 62B thereby positively locating the replaceable flange 60 in its installed position.
The positioning blocks 62 located on the replaceable flange 60 have the same angular location and spacing W regardless of the particular angular configuration of the interlock recesses X, Y & Z.
The positioning blocks 62 are shown as an integrally cast and/or machined feature of the tagging ring 60 however the positioning blocks 62 can also be a separate cast, molded, stamped or machined body that is fastened, pinned, bonded, welded or glued to the inner annular surface 64 of the tagging ring 60.
The industry currently relies on labeling procedures and color coding systems to help prevent incorrect connections between the tanker 200 or 201 and the underground storage tank at the service station. The labelling system typically takes the form of metal tags hung on a hook next to the API valve to remind the driver of the type of fuel contained in the tanker compartment communicating with this valve. Even with procedures and systems in place it is not uncommon for mixes or crossovers to occur. A premium gasoline and regular gasoline crossover will result in a costly downgrade of the premium fuel along with the time and expense to pump the downgrade into the regular grade storage tank. A diesel and gasoline mix is far more serious and expensive to rectify since the fuel is no longer useable as either gasoline or diesel and must be pumped out of the storage tank and disposed of. Diesel and gasoline crossovers that end up in vehicles can cause severe damage to fuel systems and engines and lead to expensive repairs along with a loss of reputation in the marketplace for the oil company that can result in further lost revenue. Mixes can also result in motorist and boaters becoming stranded with engine failure which can be a serious safety issue and a potential liability concern for oil companies.
Because the replaceable flanges or tagging rings 60 can be rotated 90 or 180 degrees or reversed the life expectancy of the replaceable flange is greatly extended and since the replaceable flange is replaceable the life of the valve body is also greatly extended. This greatly extends the life of the load/unload flow valves 50 on tanker configuration 200. This tanker configuration is a less expensive setup than the separate loading and unloading valves 51 shown on tanker configuration 201. Therefore in addition to the benefits of crossover protection and the extended life of flow valve assembly 50 there is also the benefit of standardizing on the lower cost tanker configuration 200. Tanker configuration 200 is also a simpler solution for tagging and crossover protection since only one flow valve assembly is used with a single set of tagging rings. The additional tagging adapter camlocks 100 used on trailer configuration 201 are not required.
Although not shown, the unloading valves 90 or unloading valve elbows 91 could also be modified to use the replaceable flange method of fuel tagging.
At the service station the driver will only have pre-configured drop adapters 110, drop elbows 150 and hose assemblies 120,130,140 for each type of fuel to be unloaded. Drop adapters 110, drop elbows 150 and hose assemblies for Regular, Premium, Diesel and other fuels are not interchangeable with each other. As shown in
At the service station the driver will only have pre-configured drop elbows 150 and hose assemblies 120, 130, 140 for each type of fuel to be unloaded. Drop elbows 150 and hose assemblies for Regular, Premium, Diesel and other fuels are not interchangeable with each other. As shown in
The X, Y, Z recess and protrusion configurations and any other required configurations for other fuels would be standardized industry wide. With a standard in place the first step would be to replace gas station tank top seal adapters 160 with top seal adapters configured with recesses particular to the fuel to be stored in that tank. Since the system is backwards compatible with standard camlock fittings there will be no interruption in fuel delivery service if tankers are still operating without configured adapters, hose assemblies and drop elbows. Tankers typically carry multiple sets of hoses and fittings, one set for each fuel delivered. Therefore the quantity of hose and fittings can be the same only now they are configured for a particular fuel. There is also no appreciable change in procedures for loading and unloading fuel except that there is now positive feedback when a connection is attempted between say a Diesel and Premium configured fitting. Since adapters, hose assemblies and drop elbows configured for different fuels are not compatible with each other and will not physically fit together the potential for crossovers is prevented.
The body portion 301 is cast and/or machined without a flange. In place of the flange an annular mounting surface 305 is machined into the flow valve body 301. The annular mounting surface 305 includes openings for spring load latches 303 protruding from surface 305. The latches are sized to accept axial movement of the inner annular surface 313 of the replaceable flange 310 by retracting during axial assembly of replaceable flange 310 onto the flow valve body surface 305. When the inner face 315 of the replaceable flange 310 contacts the annular surface 306 of flow valve body 301 the spring loaded latches 303 are released by spring force and engage slot 312 in the replaceable flange 310 thereby locking the ring in place on the valve body 301.
The valve body 301 can also include a key 302 that communicates with a slot 314 in the replaceable flange 310 to ensure the preferred orientation of the recesses 311 is maintained.
The embodiments described are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Many other methods and configurations of attaching and locking a replaceable flange to the flow valve body are possible within the scope of the invention. Similarly, there are also many other configurations and shapes of the protrusions and recesses that are possible within the scope of the invention.
