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US 12,442,451 B2Granted
Gate valve
AssigneeSRI Energy, Inc.
InventorAlagarsamy Sundararajan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An embodiment includes a gate valve comprising: a valve body including a cavity coupled to a channel having proximal and distal portions; a gate to seal and unseal the channel; proximal and distal seats adjacent the gate; wherein (a) the proximal seat traverses towards the gate and stops at a first position when the gate is closing and the proximal channel portion is more highly pressurized than the cavity, and (b) the distal seat slides away from the gate and stops at a second position when the gate is closing and the cavity is more heavily pressurized than the distal channel portion. Other embodiments are described herein.
Claims20
A gate valve comprising:
- a valve body including a cavity and a channel, the channel (a) having proximal and distal channel portions, and (b) extending between proximal and distal valve body portions;
- a bonnet directly contacting the valve body;
- a gate coupled to the channel;
- a monolithic proximal seat between the proximal valve body portion and the gate and a monolithic distal seat between the distal valve body portion and the gate, the proximal seat including an annular first groove on an outer surface of the proximal seat and an annular second groove on an inner surface of the proximal seat;
- at least one seal between the valve body and the proximal seat, the at least one seal including:
- (a) a first ring contacting a first spring and a second ring contacting a second spring, (b) a third ring included in the first groove and between the gate and the first spring, and (c) first and second seal casings each directly contacting the valve body and the proximal seat;
- and
- a proximal spring between the valve body and the proximal seat and a distal spring between the valve body and the distal seat;
- a fourth ring including at least one aperture, the fourth ring being at least partially included in the second groove;
- wherein (a) the proximal seat is resiliently biased, by the proximal spring, towards the gate to directly contact the gate, (b) the first spring is not included in the first groove;
- and (c) the first ring is not included in the first groove;
- wherein (a) the first spring and the first seal casing collectively resist fluid flowing distally, and (b) the second spring and the second seal casing collectively resist fluid flowing proximally;
- wherein:
- (a) the channel includes a long axis that extends through the proximal and distal channel portions;
- and (b) an additional axis, which is parallel to the long axis, intersects the first and second rings and the proximal valve body portion;
- wherein no portion of the proximal seat is both:
- (a) between the proximal valve body portion and the first ring, and (b) and intersected by the additional axis;
- wherein:
- (a) a portion of the proximal seat is between the second ring and the gate, and (b) the additional axis intersects the portion of the proximal seat that is between the second ring and the gate;
- wherein the valve body:
- (a) directly contacts the proximal seat along an interface between the valve body and the proximal seat, (b) is slidingly engaged with the proximal seat along the interface;
- (c) includes a third annular groove that at least partially including the fourth ring, and (d) is a monolithic single-piece body that surrounds the channel and the cavity;
- wherein the fourth ring, the valve body, and the proximal seat collectively resist debris flow from the channel to the proximal spring and limit compression of the proximal spring between the proximal seat and the valve body as the proximal seat slides proximally.
20 more elements
A gate valve comprising:
- a valve body including a cavity, a first groove, and a channel, the channel (a) having proximal and distal channel portions, and (b) extending between proximal and distal valve body portions;
- a bonnet directly contacting the valve body;
- a gate coupled to the channel;
- a monolithic proximal seat having a second groove, the monolithic proximal seat being located between the proximal valve body portion and the gate;
- a monolithic distal seat located between the distal valve body portion and the gate;
- at least one seal between the valve body and the proximal seat, the at least one seal including:
- (a) a first ring contacting a first spring and a second ring contacting a second spring, and (b) first and second seal casings each directly contacting the valve body and the proximal seat;
- a third ring on an outer surface of the proximal seat and between the first and second springs;
- a proximal spring between the valve body and the proximal seat and a distal spring between the valve body and the distal seat;
- a fourth ring including at least one aperture, the fourth ring being at least partially included in each of the first and second grooves;
- wherein:
- (a) the channel includes a long axis that extends through the proximal and distal channel portions;
- and (b) an additional axis, which is parallel to the long axis, intersects the first and second rings and the proximal valve body portion;
- wherein no portion of the proximal seat is both:
- (a) between the proximal valve body portion and the first ring, and (b) and intersected by the additional axis;
- wherein:
- (a) a portion of the proximal seat is between the second ring and the gate, and (b) the additional axis intersects the portion of the proximal seat that is between the second ring and the gate;
- wherein the valve body:
- (a) directly contacts the proximal seat along an interface between the valve body and the proximal seat, (b) is slidingly engaged with the proximal seat along the interface;
- and (c) is a monolithic single-piece body that surrounds the channel and the cavity;
- wherein the fourth ring, the valve body, and the proximal seat collectively resist debris flow from the channel to the proximal spring and limit compression of the proximal spring between the proximal seat and the valve body as the proximal seat slides proximally.
18 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.