Patent Application
20200240560
The present disclosure is directed to vacuum bellows components, such as thrust inhibitors for use with vacuum bellows.
Bellows are a key component in isolating vibrating machinery from fixed equipment, such as in evacuation (i.e., vacuum) applications between vibrating machinery and fixed equipment. A bellows may act like a piston and a spring. As a piston, the bellows converts changes in internal or external pressure into an applied force. As a spring, the bellows reacts elastically to an applied force (e.g., vibration) and exerts a reactive force. In a conventional evacuation application, a bellows is positioned between a vacuum pump and fixed equipment to maintain a vacuum while accommodating differential movement between the fixed equipment and the vacuum pump. Differential air pressure forces acting on the bellows may cause the bellows to compress, deflect, or become unsealed from the vacuum pump and the fixed equipment. Vibration forces shaking the bellows could separate the bellows from either the vacuum pump or the fixed equipment.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a thrust inhibitor device for use with a vacuum bellows includes a pair of thrust blocks each including a body and a shaft, wherein the pair of thrust blocks are configured to engage opposed flanges of the vacuum bellows, and a turnbuckle having a pair of axial holes each connected to one of the shafts. A length between opposing ends of the pair of thrust blocks is adjustable to control a deflection of the vacuum bellows.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a thrust inhibitor device and vacuum bellows assembly includes a vacuum bellows, a pair of thrust blocks each including a body and a shaft, wherein the pair of thrust blocks engage opposed flanges of the vacuum bellows; and a turnbuckle having a pair of axial holes each connected to one of the shafts. A length between opposing ends of the pair of thrust blocks is adjustable to control a deflection of the vacuum bellows.
The drawings are not drawn to scale. Multiple instances of an element may be duplicated where a single instance of the element is illustrated, unless absence of duplication of elements is expressly described or clearly indicated otherwise. Ordinals such as “first,” “second,” and “third” are employed merely to identify similar elements, and different ordinals may be employed across the specification and the claims of the instant disclosure. As used herein, a first element located “on” a second element can be located on the exterior side of a surface of the second element or on the interior side of the second element. As used herein, a first element is located “directly on” a second element if there exist a direct physical contact between a surface of the first element and a surface of the second element. As used herein, an element is “configured” to perform a function if the structural components of the element are inherently capable of performing the function due to the physical and/or electrical characteristics thereof.
The present inventors realized that there is a need to develop an easy to install and adjust an inhibitor to mitigate deflections and vibrations of the bellows evacuation applications.
The flanges 330, 340 on the bellows 300 are illustrated in
In an industrial setting, cantilevered vacuum tubing i.e., the bellows 300, may extend between the vacuum pump 200 and fixed equipment (not shown) that requires a negative pressure (i.e., vacuum) environment. As the vacuum pump 200 begins to operate, the bellows 300 may undergo a large load due to differential air pressure forces acting on the inside surface of the bellows 320 and on the outside surface of the outer perimeter of the bellows 310. These differential forces may cause the bellows 300 to compress or deflect. If such deflections are not limited, the bellows 300 could become unsealed from the vacuum pump 200 and/or the fixed equipment. Additionally, vibration forces from the operation of the vacuum pump 200 may shake the bellows loose from the vacuum pump and the fixed equipment if such forces are not resisted. The thrust inhibitor 400 allows for a variable height to be set for the bellows 300 so that as the vacuum pump 200 begins to create differential forces, the thrust inhibitor 400 prevents compression of the bellows 300 and absorbs some of the differential forces that would otherwise compress, deflect, or unseal the bellows 300.
The thrust inhibitor 400 is an improvement over solid rods that traditionally have been attached or fixed to flange extensions on conventional metal bellows. For example, the variable height of the thrust inhibitor 400 may be easily adjusted by hand or a tool to customize the amount of deflection permitted for the bellows 300. Numerous thrust inhibitors 400 may be added and their heights adjusted to customize the direction of deflection of the bellows 300 i.e., its bend. When finally adjusted, the thrust inhibitor 400 may be easily fixed into position by lock nuts. The thrust inhibitor 400 may be placed directly onto particular industry standard flange sizes that maintain flange grooves for securing the flanges. These features are not available with conventional metal bellows.
The thrust inhibitor 400 may include a pair of thrust blocks 410, 430 having a body 411, 431 and a shaft 412, 432. The pair of thrust blocks 410, 430 may be configured to engage opposed flanges 330, 340 of the bellows 300. A turnbuckle 420 having axial holes 422, 424 may be connected to one of the shafts 412, 432 of the thrust blocks 410, 430.
The overall length of the thrust inhibitor 400 may be adjusted by rotating the turnbuckle 420 clock-wise or counter-clock-wise, thereby controlling a deflection of the bellows 300. To facilitate changing the overall length of the thrust inhibitor 400, one set of the connecting axial holes 422 and shafts 412 in the turnbuckle 420 may have right-hand threads, while the opposing set of connecting axial holes 424 and shafts 432 may have left-hand threads so that as the turnbuckle 420 rotates clock-wise or counter-clock-wise, the overall length increases or decreases.
The thrust inhibitor 400 may also include lock nuts 440, 450 positioned on one of the shafts 412, 432 between the body 411, 431 and the turnbuckle 420. The lock nuts 440, 450 may have internal threads matching the external threads 416, 436, illustrated in
As illustrated in
The turnbuckle 420 may be rotated, manually or by a tool, to adjust the overall length of the thrust inhibitor 400 and until the foot surfaces 418, 438 of the thrust blocks 410, 430 fully engage the flanges 330, 340. Once the overall length of thrust inhibitor 400 is set, the turnbuckle 420 may be locked into position by tightening, manually or by a tool, the lock nuts 440, 450 against the axial ends of the turnbuckle 420. The turnbuckle 420 may have an outer perimeter shape including a triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, circle, or other polygon for tightening by hand or by a tool.
The plurality of thrust inhibitors 400 may be positioned around the periphery of the flanges 330, 340 of the bellows 300 and configured to allow the bellows 300 to bend or deflect in a certain direction. Deflection of the bellows 300 may mitigate vibration and differential air pressure forces that act on the bellows 300. The flanges 330, 340 may be configured in a range of flange sizes and types, but the flanges may particularly be Industrial Organization for Standardization (ISO) flanges ranging from reference numbers NW63 to NW100.
The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the claims. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
