Back to results
US 10,564,656 B2Granted
Gas delivery valve and methods of use thereof
AssigneesPraxair Technology, Inc., Sherwood Valve LLC
InventorsDouglas C Heiderman, Ashwini K Sinha, Michael McBearty, John Piscitelli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A novel and improved inventive valve with a regulating function is provided that is capable of filling to higher fill pressures than previously attainable with conventional C-10 “on-off” valves. The valve contains a single flow passageway by which gas dispenses and enters the valve. A fill adapter is specially configured to engage the valve to allow filling at the higher pressures along the single flow passageway. The structure of the valve allows greater utilization of cylinder capacity; simplifies filling and dispensing with the single flow passageway; and allows for regulating gas pressure during delivery without increasing the overall size of the cylinder package.
Claims20
A self-closing valve with a built-in regulator function and a single flow gas path, comprising:
- a valve body (9) disposed within a top portion of a gas cylinder (1101);
- the valve body (9) comprising a plunger (1) having a first end (98) and second end (99), said plunger (1) located in a retainer housing (8), said retainer housing comprising a first portion (6) and a second portion (7), said plunger (1) movable between a first position, a second position and a third position within the retainer housing, said plunger (1) comprising a first passageway (67) extending from the first end (98) of the plunger (1) and a second passageway (68) spaced apart from the first passageway (67) and extending towards the second end (99) of the plunger (1);
- a spring (16) operably connected to-the second end (99) of the plunger (1), said spring (16) extending from the second end (99) of the plunger (1) into a bore (34) of a piston (11), said spring (16) configured to exert a force against the second end (99) of the plunger (1);
- the piston (11) comprising a piston first end and a piston second end, said piston first end operably connected to the second end (99) of the plunger (1), said piston second end comprising a stem (13) and a seat (12) operably attached to the stem (13);
- an expandable diaphragm (15) within the valve body (9) and partially surrounding the piston (11), said expandable diaphragm (15) configured to exert a force against the first end of piston (11), and said expandable diaphragm (15) further configured to regulate a pressure drop from cylinder pressure to a regulated pressure as gas (1102) is dispensed from the cylinder (1101) along the single gas flow path, but not regulate the pressure drop during gas filling along the single gas flow path;
- the single gas flow path configured for gas filling into the cylinder (1101) and gas dispensing from the cylinder (1101);
- said single gas flow path for the gas filling created, at least in part, by said plunger (1) configured in the third position, said third position characterized as said plunger (1) spaced apart from a sealing surface (82) to allow the gas to enter therebetween from the first passageway (67) of the plunger (1) and thereafter into the second passageway (68) of the plunger (1), through the bore (34) and towards the stem (13) of said piston (11), said third position of the plunger (1) further characterized as said seat (12) of the piston (11) spaced apart from a sealing surface (80) to create a first orifice (83) through which the gas from the stem (13) passes into, and further wherein said first end of the piston (11) and the second portion (7) of the retainer housing (8) are spaced apart by a first gap (85)-during the gas filling;
- and
- said single gas flow path for the gas dispensing created, at least in part, by said plunger (1) configured into the second position, said second position characterized as said plunger (1) spaced apart from the sealing surface (82) to allow said gas to exit therethrough and into first passageway (67) of the plunger (1), said second position of the plunger (1) further characterized as said seat (12) of the piston (11) spaced apart from the sealing surface (80) to create a second orifice (84) through which gas from the cylinder passes to undergo the regulated pressure drop from cylinder pressure to a regulated pressure and thereafter said gas at said regulated pressure travels into the stem (13) and bore (34) of said piston (11), and thereafter into said second passageway (68) and said first passageway (67) of the plunger (1), said single gas flow path during dispensing further defined to have said first end of the piston (11) and the second portion (7) of the retainer housing (8) spaced apart by a second gap (86) during the gas dispensing, said second gap (86) greater than the first gap (85).
6 more elements
A self-closing valve with a built-in regulator function and a single flow gas path, comprising
- a valve body (9) disposed within a top portion of a gas cylinder;
- the valve body (9) comprising a plunger (1) having a first end (98) and second end (99), said plunger (1) located in a retainer housing (8), said retainer housing (8) comprising a first portion (6) and a second portion (7) in the valve body (9), said plunger (1) comprising a first passageway (67) extending from the first end (98) and a second passageway (68) spaced apart from the first passageway (67) and extending towards the second end (99) of the plunger (1);
- a spring (16) operably connected to-the second end (99) of the plunger (1), said spring (16) extending from the second end (99) of the plunger (1) into a bore (34) of a piston (11), said spring (16) configured to exert a force against the second end (99) of the plunger (1);
- the piston (11) comprising a piston first end and a piston second end, said piston first end operably connected to the second end (99) of the plunger (1), said piston second end (99) comprising a stem (13) and seat (12) operably attached thereto;
- biasing member (15) within the valve body (9) and partially surrounding the piston (11), said biasing member (15) configured to exert a force against the piston first end;
- said plunger (1) movable between a first position, a second position and a third position within the retainer housing (8);
- the plunger (1) movable into a first position and engaged with the piston (11) in response to disengagement of a fill adapter (600) or pressure regulator from the first end (98) of the plunger (1) to create a third gap (87) between the second portion (7) and the first end of the piston (11), said plunger (1) in contact with a sealed surface (82), and said gas occupying a volume created by said third gap (87) so as to force the seat (12) into contact with sealing surface (80), thereby blocking said single flow gas path at the sealed surfaces (80) and (82);
- the plunger (1) movable into a second position that is spaced apart from the sealing surface (82), said plunger (1) engaged with the piston (11) in response to engagement of a fill adapter (600) onto the first end (98) of the plunger (1) to create a second gap (86) between the second portion (7) of the retainer housing (8) and the first end of the piston (11) such that gas occupies a volume created by said second gap (86), said gas exerting a force that is balanced with the biasing member (15) in a configuration to create a second orifice (84) through which gas from the cylinder passes and can be dispensed along said single flow gas path;
- the plunger (1) movable into a third position that is spaced apart from the sealing surface (82), said plunger (1) engaged with the piston (11) in response to engagement of a pressure regulator onto the first end (98) of the plunger (1) to create a first gap (85) between the second portion (7) of the retainer housing (8) and the first end of the piston (11) such that said gas occupies a volume created by said first gap (85) that is smaller than said second gap (86) and said third gap (87), wherein said spring (16) and biasing member (15) overcomes the force exerted by said gas to cause said second end (99) of plunger (1) to be in close proximity to said first end of said piston (11) that is sufficient to prevent entry of additional gas into said first gap (85), thereby bypassing said regulating function of said biasing member (15) to allow said filling of gas into cylinder.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.