Patent Application
20200141521
The inventions relate to fluid system components utilizing threaded end screw type end adapters.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a fluid control assembly includes a body having a female threaded end port, and an end adapter including a male threaded end screw threadably assembled with the female threaded end port, an end connector, and an internal passage extending from the end connector to the end screw. One of the body and the end adapter includes at least one outer peripheral recess, and the other of the body and the end adapter includes a peripheral flange. A portion of the peripheral flange in circumferential alignment with the at least one recess is deformed into interlocking engagement with the at least one recess to rotationally secure the end adapter with respect to the body.
In another exemplary embodiment, a method of making a mechanically locked threaded connection is contemplated. In an exemplary method, a body and an end adapter are provided, with the body including a female threaded end port and the end adapter including a male threaded end screw and an end connector. One of the body and the end adapter includes at least one outer peripheral recess, and the other of the body and the end adapter includes a peripheral flange. The male threaded end screw is threadably assembled with the female threaded end port, and a portion of the peripheral flange is deformed into interlocking engagement with the at least one outer peripheral recess to rotationally secure the end adapter with respect to the body
These and other inventive concepts and embodiments are fully described hereinbelow and will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments in view of the accompanying drawings.
While exemplary embodiments described herein are directed to a shutoff ball valve with threaded end screw type end adapters, the inventive features described may be used in a variety of fluid devices, including, for example, other types of valves (e.g., needle valves, gate valve, bellows valves, diaphragm valves, check valves), fittings, filters, regulators, and sample cylinders.
While various inventive aspects, concepts and features of the inventions may be described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects, concepts and features may be used in many alternative embodiments, either individually or in various combinations and sub-combinations thereof. Unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations and sub-combinations are intended to be within the scope of the present inventions. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects, concepts and features of the inventions—such as alternative materials, structures, configurations, methods, circuits, devices and components, software, hardware, control logic, alternatives as to form, fit and function, and so on—may be described herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presently known or later developed. Those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects, concepts or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present inventions even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Additionally, even though some features, concepts or aspects of the inventions may be described herein as being a preferred arrangement or method, such description is not intended to suggest that such feature is required or necessary unless expressly so stated. Still further, exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present disclosure, however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Still further, exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present disclosure, however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Parameters identified as “approximate” or “about” a specified value are intended to include both the specified value and values within 10% of the specified value, unless expressly stated otherwise. Further, it is to be understood that the drawings accompanying the present application may, but need not, be to scale, and therefore may be understood as teaching various ratios and proportions evident in the drawings. Moreover, while various aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of an invention, such identification is not intended to be exclusive, but rather there may be inventive aspects, concepts and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific invention, the inventions instead being set forth in the appended claims. Descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are not limited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases, nor is the order that the steps are presented to be construed as required or necessary unless expressly so stated.
Fluid devices, such as shutoff valves, are commonly provided with at least two end connections for installing the fluid device into a fluid system. While the end connections may be integrally formed with the body of the fluid device, separate end adapters assembled with the fluid device body allow for adaptability of the fluid device for use in different sized fluid systems or with different types of connections (e.g., threaded connections, weld end connections, gasketed connections, tube fitting connections). In one such arrangement, a fluid device body includes female threaded ports sized to be assembled with male threaded portions (or “end screws”) of end screw type end adapters. Such an arrangement may eliminate the need for separate fasteners or welding operations, facilitating quick and adaptable device assembly.
In some embodiments, subsequent loosening or disassembly of an installed end screw type end adapter may not be desirable, particularly where the fluid device is installed in a fluid system involving high pressure, high temperature, or corrosive/toxic fluid conditions. In embodiments in which a fluid device end adapter includes a threaded end connection, efforts to unthread the end connection from the fluid system may inadvertently loosen the end screw from the fluid device body. Other conditions may also result in inadvertent or undesirable loosening, including for example, system vibrations or fluid device tampering.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a threaded end adapter may be mechanically locked with a fluid device body by crimping, peening, or otherwise deforming a portion of one of the end adapter and the body into a recessed portion of the other of the end adapter and the body after full threaded assembly of the end adapter with the body, such that rotation of the end adapter with respect to the body is prevented (e.g., in the loosening and/or tightening directions). As one example, one of the end adapter and the body may include a deformable peripheral wall or flange, and the other of the end adapter and the body may include at least one recess disposed on a portion of its outer periphery. When the end adapter is tightened with the body to a desired condition (e.g., desired torque, number of turns, and/or rotational orientation), a portion of the wall/flange that is circumferentially aligned with the at least one recess may be crimped, peened, or otherwise deformed into mating or interlocking engagement with the aligned recess, thereby securing the end adapter in the desired condition.
The body 120 includes two axially extending recesses or notches 125 on an outer periphery of the end port 122, and the end adapter 130 includes a radially extending peripheral flange 135 that approaches or abuts the end port outer periphery when the end adapter 130 is assembled with the body 120 (
The fluid control assemblies described herein may be provided in a variety of materials, including, for example, metals, such as, for example, one or more of stainless steel, carbon steel, and brass.
The inventive aspects and concepts have been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments. Modification and alterations will occur to others upon a reading and understanding of this specification. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
This application claims priority to and all benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/755,715, filed on Nov. 5, 2018 and entitled MECHANICALLY LOCKING END SCREW ARRANGEMENTS, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62755715 | Nov 2018 | US |
