# US 11,027,224 B2 · Device for collecting air accumulated in pipe > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,027,224 B2 - Document ID: US11027224B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/075,137 - Filed: 2016-02-24 - Published: 2018-12-27 - Granted: 2021-06-08 - Earliest claimed: 2016-02-02 - Assignees: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Seung Chan Lee; Duk Joo Yoon; Sang Jun Ha - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11027224B2 ## CPC - B01D 19/0063: {Regulation, control including valves and floats (for construction and details of valves F16K)} - B01D 19/00: Degasification of liquids - F16K 15/144: {the closure elements being fixed along all or a part of their periphery} - F16K 24/04: for venting only (F16K24/02 takes precedence) - F17D 1/00: Pipe-line systems (conveying articles or materials through a pipe- line by means of a fluid carrier B65G51/00, B65G53/00; liquids B67D; special devices for transferring liquids from bulk storage containers into vehicles or boats or vice versa, e.g. loading or unloading vehicles or portable containers B67D7/00; conveying material which has been excavated by a dredger or soil shifter through a pipe-line E02F7/10; sewer pipe-line systems E03F3/00; thermal insulation of pipe-lines F16L59/00; central heating systems F24D) - F17D 1/08: for liquids or viscous products (water-main or service pipe systems E03B7/04; domestic hot-water supply systems F24D17/00) - F17D 3/00: Arrangements for supervising or controlling working operations - Y10T 137/8342: Liquid level responsive indicator, recorder or alarm - Y10T 137/88054: Direct response normally closed valve limits direction of flow - B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28) - F16K: VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING {(devices for emptying and evacuating the excess liquid in valves or conduits F16L55/07)} - F17D: PIPE-LINE SYSTEMS; PIPE-LINES (pumps or compressors F04; fluid dynamics F15D; valves or the like F16K; pipes, laying pipes, supports, joints, branches, repairing, work on the entire line, accessories F16L; steam traps or the like F16T; fluid-pressure electric cables H01B9/06) - Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION ## Abstract A device for collecting air into an air collecting pipe through a hole having a certain size includes a diaphragm check valve having elasticity. The diaphragm check valve is opened due to a change in the pressure in the vicinity of an air layer during generation of air when gas accumulation occurs in a safety related system pipe of a power plant or in a general pipe. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A device for collecting air in a pipe, the device being installed at one side of the pipe, the device comprising: a collecting pipe provided at the one side of the pipe to collect air in the pipe; a diaphragm check valve provided at an end of the collecting pipe and configured to operate as a pressure balance is broken by an air layer existing in the pipe, the diaphragm check valve including at least one hole near an edge of the diaphragm check valve, wherein the diaphragm check valve is provided between an inner wall of the pipe and an outer wall of the pipe by penetrating the inner wall and the outer wall of the pipe; and a collected air storing unit configured to store the air coming through the diaphragm check valve and the collecting pipe; wherein the collecting pipe has a first section with a first diameter and a second section with a second diameter, the first section being nearest the side of the pipe and the first diameter being smaller than the second diameter, and wherein the diaphragm check valve includes a plurality of holes positioned between a projection of the first diameter onto the diaphragm and a projection of the second diameter onto the diaphragm. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein an elastic force of the diaphragm check valve is driven when a pressure difference is generated as air comes in due to a pressure fluctuation generated owing to the air layer existing in the pipe, and as the diaphragm check valve is opened by the elastic force, the air in the pipe comes into the collecting air storing unit via the check valve. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the collected air storing unit has a scale indicating an amount of the collected air marked thereon. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1, wherein the diaphragm check valve has a diaphragm in which small holes for collecting air are formed, and wherein the diaphragm is provided on a front surface of the diaphragm check valve. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein an area of a diaphragm of the diaphragm check valve is larger than an area of the hole by 55% or more. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one hole near the edge of the diaphragm check valve is bigger than any individual hole of the plurality of holes positioned in the diaphragm between the projection of the first diameter and the projection of the second diameter. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The device of claim 1 wherein a combined area of the at least one hole near the edge of the diaphragm check valve and the plurality of holes positioned at the first diameter is 45 percent of an area of the diaphragm check valve.