Patent Application
20070075287
1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to a regulator and, more specifically, to a regulator having a swivel connector at the inlet and/or the outlet coupling.
2. Background Information
A gas service regulator is typically disposed between a combustible gas supply or source and a use device. Thus, gas service regulators may be commonly disposed between the supply system and a home. Such gas service regulators include a housing defining one or more chambers, a pressure regulating device having a valve, and at least two fluid couplings; an inlet and an outlet. The inlet and outlet couplings are structured to be coupled to, respectively, a gas supply conduit and an exhaust conduit. The inlet and the outlet needed to tightly engage the supply and exhaust conduits to prevent a combustible gas leak. In operation, high pressure gas from the supply conduit acted upon the pressure regulating device causing the valve to open. A quantity of gas entered one of the housing chambers until the pressure inside the housing increased to a point where the valve closed again. The pressure in the housing was typically lower than the pressure in the supply conduit. As the gas in the chamber was used, the pressure decreased so that the high pressure gas in the supply conduit forced the valve open again. This cycle was constantly repeated.
In the prior art, the inlet and an outlet were rigidly connected to, or formed as a part of, the housing. The inlet and an outlet each included an opening which was threaded. In one configuration, the inlet and outlet openings were generally aligned with each other, and, in another configuration, the inlet and outlet openings were perpendicular to each other. The gas supply conduit and exhaust conduit were, typically, round pipes having externally threaded ends. These externally threaded ends were structured to engage the housing openings. Thus, for example, when a regulator with perpendicular openings was installed, the regulator was initially coupled to one conduit. For the sake of this example, the regulator inlet will be said to be coupled to the supply conduit first. To couple the regulator to the supply conduit, the user would rotate the regulator while the inlet opening threads engaged the supply conduit threads. Unfortunately, when the regulator inlet was tightly coupled to the supply conduit, the outlet was not always in a position to engage the exhaust conduit. Thus, the user was left with two equally unacceptable choices: either over tighten the regulator or loosen the regulator until the outlet and the exhaust conduit were aligned.
There is, therefore, a need for a regulator having at least one swivel connector which would allow a user to reposition the regulator while maintaining a sealed coupling.
There is a further need for a regulator having at least one swivel connector that may be used with previously installed infrastructure.
These needs, and others, are satisfied by present invention which provides a regulator having at least one swivel connector. The swivel connector is a simple design having a sealed fitting rotatably disposed in an opening on the regulator. The fitting is, generally, an elongated tube. The fitting includes a threaded end structured to engage either a supply or exhaust conduit. A sealing member is disposed on the outer side of the fitting and engages the housing thereby creating the seal. A retaining element secures the fitting to the housing and generally prevents axial movement while allowing the fitting to rotate within the housing. Thus, in operation, a user may couple the regulator to, for example, the supply conduit. If, after the inlet fitting is brought into tight engagement with the supply conduit, the regulator outlet is not aligned with the exhaust conduit, the user simply rotates the regulator so that the outlet and the exhaust conduit align. The fitting may also include a gasket that substantially reduces the infiltration of contamination from outside the regulator.
A full understanding of the invention can be gained from the following description of the preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
As used herein the phrase “sealing member” is an element structured to substantially prevent the flow of fluid between two or more other elements. A sealing member includes, but is not limited to, an O-ring, quad-ring, cup seal, or a pressure assisted seal.
As used herein, a “retaining element” is an element structured to substantially prevent the disassociation of two or more other elements. A includes, but is not limited to, pins (roll, cotter, etc.), whole or partial rings, clips, set screws, set screws with collar and threaded collars or nuts.
As shown on
At least one of the at least two fluid couplings 20 has a swivel connector 40. The swivel connector 40 is structured to be sealingly coupled to the housing 12 while further being rotatable within the housing 12. Thus, the regulator 10 may be coupled to a supply or exhaust conduit 1, 2 and still be rotated relative to that conduit 1, 2. The swivel connector 40 is structured to be disposed in either, or both, the inlet passage 26 or the outlet passage 28. The swivel connector 40 includes a housing component 42, which is incorporated into the housing 12 as described below, and a fitting 44. The fitting 44 includes a body 46, a compressible sealing member 48 and a retaining element 50. The fitting 44 may also include a gasket 52. The fitting body 46 is an elongated, generally circular body with a passage 60 therethrough. Thus, as shown on
The fitting body 46 further includes a retaining element groove 72 and a sealing member groove 74. Both the retaining element groove 72 and the sealing member groove 74 are, preferably, disposed on the first portion 66 with the sealing member groove 74 disposed between the retaining element groove 72 and the flange 70. The sealing member groove 74 is sized with a depth less than the thickness of the sealing member 48 so that, prior to compression of the sealing member 48, as described below, the sealing member 48 extends partially above the sealing member groove 74. Similarly, the retaining element groove 72 is sized with a depth less than the thickness of the retaining element 50 so that, when installed, the retaining element 50 extends partially above the retaining element groove 72.
The second portion 68 of the fitting body 46 includes threads 88 on the inner surface 62 that are structured to engage the threaded end 3 to a supply conduit 1 or an exhaust conduit 2. The outer surface 64 of the second portion 68, preferably, has a gripping surface 80. The gripping surface 80 may be textured or may have a plurality of flat surfaces 82 structured to be engaged by a tool (not shown).
Preferably, each housing passage 26, 28 includes an internal collar 90 (
In this configuration, the swivel connector 40 is assembled as follows. The sealing member 48 is disposed on the fitting body 46 partially within the sealing member groove 74. The fitting body 46 is then inserted into one of the housing passages 26, 28 with the first portion 66 extending through the associated narrow passage 98, 100. Once the first portion 66, and more specifically, the retaining element groove 72, is disposed beyond a collar 90, 92, the retaining element 50 is installed so that the retaining element 50 extends, partially, into the retaining element groove 72 while the retaining element 50 outer diameter extends beyond the collar 90, 92 inner diameter. Thus, the retaining element 50 thereby prevents removal of the fitting body 46 from the housing passages 26, 28 while allowing the fitting body 46 to rotate in the housing passages 26, 28. Further, because the fitting body 46 first portion 66 will only just fit within the narrow passage 98, 100 and because the sealing member groove 74 is sized with a depth less than the thickness of the sealing member 48 so that the sealing member 48 extends partially above the sealing member groove 74, the sealing member 48 is compressed and sealingly engages the collar inner surface 94, 96.
Accordingly, a user may first couple the regulator 10 to, for example, a supply conduit 1 by coupling the swivel connector 40 at the inlet 22 to the supply conduit 1. That is, the user may thread the fitting body second portion threads 88 to the threaded end 3 of a supply conduit 1. The user may use a tool on the flat surfaces 82 to ensure a tight fit. Once the regulator 10 is tightly coupled to the supply conduit 1, the user may still rotate the regulator 10 relative to the supply conduit 1 so that the outlet 24 aligns with the exhaust conduit 3. The rotation of the regulator 10 is accomplished while the fitting 44 remains sealingly coupled to the housing 12.
The fitting 44, and more preferably the fitting 44 disposed in the inlet 22, may also be adapted to cooperate with the pressure control mechanism 14. That is, as shown in
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of invention which is to be given the full breadth of the claims appended and any and all equivalents thereof.
