Spherical valve

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6199824
  • Patent Number
    6,199,824
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, September 27, 2000
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 13, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Shaver; Kevin
    • Bonderer; D A
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
A spherical valve is formed of a main body, a cover, and a spherical body. The main body is of a hollow construction and is provided in the interior with a partition dividing the interior into an inner receiving cell and an outer receiving cell. The main body is provided at both ends with a threaded tubular portion in communication with the inner and the outer receiving cells. The cover is provided in the inner side with an annular body having an annular clamp seat. The spherical body is located between the main body and the cover and is provided in the interior with an L-shaped channel to be oriented in accordance with the opening and the closing of the spherical valve.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to a valve, and more particularly to a spherical valve.




2. Description of Related Art




As shown in

FIG. 1

, a prior art spherical valve


40


has a tubular body


41


which is provided in the interior with a threaded portion


42


, a rotary shaft


1


, a ball


2


, a washer


3


, and an annular lock member


43


. The spherical valve


40


is defective in design because it is fastened to a pipe in a specific direction, and because it cannot be easily detached from the pipe for maintenance work. As shown in

FIG. 2

, another prior art ball valve


50


has a tubular body


51


which is provided in the interior thereof with a threaded port


52


, a rotary shaft


1


, a ball


2


, and a washer


3


. A threaded tubular member


53


is fastened to the threaded port


52


. As compared with the prior art spherical valve


40


, the prior art ball valve


50


can be fastened to a pipe with a relative ease. However, the ball valve


50


cannot be easily maintained or replaced. As shown in

FIG. 3

, a flanged ball valve


60


of the prior art is formed of a primary tubular member


61


and a secondary tubular member


62


, which make the repairing and the replacing of the flanged ball valve


60


rather complicated and time-consuming. As shown in

FIG. 4

, a three-piece ball valve


70


of the prior art has a main body


71


, which is fastened to a pipe by two auxiliary valve tubes


72


and is unfastened the pipe between the two auxiliary valve tubes


72


, thereby making the assembly work cumbersome. In addition, the ball valve


70


is complicated in construction and is expensive.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a spherical valve free of the deficiencies of the prior art ball valves described above.




The features and the advantages of the present invention will be readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows a sectional view of an integrally-made spherical valve of the prior art.





FIG. 2

shows a sectional view of a two-piece ball valve of the prior art.





FIG. 3

shows a sectional view of a flanged ball valve of the prior art.





FIG. 4

shows a sectional view of a three-piece ball valve of the prior art.





FIG. 5

shows an exploded view of a spherical valve of the present invention.





FIG. 6

shows a sectionally-exploded view of the spherical valve of the present invention.





FIG. 7

shows a sectional view of the spherical valve of the present invention.





FIG. 8

shows a sectional plan view of the spherical valve of the present invention.





FIG. 9

shows a schematic view of the spherical valve of the present invention in the closed state.





FIG. 10

shows a sectional plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 11

shows a sectional plan view of a second embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 12

shows a sectional plan view of a third embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 13

shows a sectional plan view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 5-8

, a spherical valve


10


of the present invention comprises a main body


20


, a cover


30


, and a spherical body


12


.




The main body


20


is of a hollow construction and is provided in the interior with a partition


21


which divides the interior into an inner annular seat


22


and an outer receiving cell


23


. The main body


20


is provided at one end with a threaded tube


24


in communication with the inner annular seat


22


via the outer receiving cell


23


. The main body


20


is further provided at another end with a threaded tubular portion


25


in communication with the outer receiving cell


23


. The main body


20


is further provided in one side thereof with a shaft tube


26


which is in communication with the outer receiving cell


23


for pivoting a rotary shaft member


15


. The main body


20


is provided along the brim of the outer receiving cell


23


with a plurality of lugs


27


, with each having a threaded through hole.




The cover


30


corresponds in shape to the outer receiving cell


23


and is provided thereunder with a washer


31


. The cover


30


is further provided in the underside thereof with an annular body


32


extending therefrom and having an annular clamp seat


33


. The cover


30


is further provided in the periphery thereof with a plurality of lugs


35


corresponding in location to the lugs


27


of the main body


20


. The lugs


35


are provided with a through hole. The cover


30


is joined with the outer receiving cell


23


by a plurality of fastening bolts


36


which are engaged with the threaded through holes of the lugs


27


via the through holes of the lugs


35


of the cover


30


.




The spherical body


12


is provided in the interior with an L-shaped channel


13


. The spherical body


12


is located between two washers


11


and is provided in the periphery with a retaining slot


14


in which a rib


16


of the rotary shaft member


15


is retained. The rotary shaft member


15


is fastened at the outer end to a rotary handle


17


by which the rotary shaft member


15


is actuated in such a manner that the channel


13


of the spherical body


12


is oriented to facilitate the opening or the closing of the spherical valve


10


of the present invention.




As shown in

FIG. 10

, the main body


20


of the present invention is provided with two plate portions


18


in place of the threaded tubular portions


24


and


25


. The plate portions


18


are provided with a bolt hole


19


. In light of the plate portions


18


, the spherical valve


10


of the present invention can be easily fastened or unfastened to a pipe line.




As shown in

FIG. 11

, the cover


30


is provided with a guide hole


37


for setting up a pressure gauge


38


by which the pressure in the spherical valve


10


is monitored.




As shown in

FIG. 12

, the partition


21


of the main body


20


of the spherical valve


10


is slanted to enable the inner annular seat


22


, the threaded tubular portion


24


, and the outer receiving cell


23


to be in communication with another threaded tubular portion


25


. The spherical valve


10


of the present invention can be thus easily repaired or replaced at a low cost.




As shown in

FIG. 13

, the main body


20


of the spherical valve


10


is provided at both ends with a plate portion


18


which is in turn provided with a bolt hole


19


, thereby enabling the spherical valve


10


to be easily replaced from a pipe line.



Claims
  • 1. A spherical valve comprising:a main body of a hollow construction and having an interior which is divided by a partition into an inner annular seat and an outer receiving cell, said main body provided at one end with a threaded tubular portion in communication with said inner annular seat via said outer receiving cell, said main body further provided at another end thereof with a threaded tubular portion in communication with said outer receiving cell, said main body further provided in one side thereof with a shaft tube in communication with said outer receiving cell for pivoting a rotary shaft member, said outer receiving cell provided in a brim with a plurality of lugs, wherein each lug has a threaded through hole; a cover corresponding in shape to said outer receiving cell and provided thereunder with a washer, said cover provided in an underside thereof with an annular body corresponding in location to said inner annular seat and having an annular clamp seat, said cover provided in the periphery with a plurality of lugs, wherein each lug has a through hole whereby said cover is fastened to said main body by a plurality of fastening bolts which are engaged with said threaded through holes of said lugs of said main body via said through holes of said lugs of said cover; and a spherical body provided in an interior with an L-shaped channel; wherein said spherical body is located between two washers of said annular clamp seat and said inner annular seat, said spherical body being provided in the periphery with a retaining slot in which a rib of said rotary shaft member is retained, said rotary shaft member being provided at an outer end with a rotary handle for actuating said rotary shaft member so as to orient said L-shaped channel to facilitate the opening or the closing of said spherical valve.
  • 2. The spherical valve as defined in claim 1, wherein said main body is provided at both ends thereof with a plate portion in place of said threaded tubular portion whereby said plate portion is provided with a bolt hole to facilitate fastening and unfastening of said spherical valve to a pipe line.
  • 3. The spherical valve as defined in claim 1, wherein said cover is provided with a guide hole for mounting a pressure gauge to monitor pressure in said spherical valve.
  • 4. The spherical valve as defined in claim 1, wherein said partition of said main body is slanted to enable said inner annular seat, said threaded tubular portion, and said outer receiving cell to be in communication with another tubular portion, thereby enabling said spherical valve to be repaired or replaced with ease.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
3118650 Cooper et al. Jan 1964
3345032 Rawstron Oct 1967
3370612 Holl Feb 1968
3949965 Sharples et al. Apr 1976
5036883 McHugh Aug 1991
5531244 Siver Jul 1996