Valve with Self-Expanding Seals
OwnerGregory J. Parrainventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A valve device includes a valve body having a cavity, a stopper member in the cavity, and a fluid passage in fluidic communication with the cavity when the valve device is in an open state. A stem is coupled to the stopper member for driving the stopper member to open or close the valve. The stem extends through a stem aperture in the valve body. A first self-expanding seal around the stem is used to seal off an annular gap around the stem. A second self-expanding seal and a third self-expanding seal are disposed around the fluid passage substantially concentrically to prevent leakage. A method for assembling and sealing the valve device, and a valve system are also provided.
Claims21
A valve device, comprising:
- a valve body having a cavity;
- a stopper member disposed in the cavity;
- a fluid passage in fluidic communication with the cavity when the valve device is in an open state;
- a stem coupled to the stopper member for driving the stopper member to open or close the valve;
- a stem aperture in the valve body for the stem to extend therethrough;
- a first self-expanding seal (SES) around the stem;
- and
- a second SES and a third SES around the fluid passage,
- wherein the second SES is bounded by the third SES.
A method for assembling and sealing a valve device, comprising:
- providing a valve body having a cavity and a stem aperture;
- disposing a stopper member in the cavity;
- providing a fluid passage in fluidic communication with the cavity when the valve device in an open state;
- disposing a stem through the stem aperture and coupling the stem to the stopper member at a proximal end while leaving a distal end of the stopper member floating;
- providing a plurality of self-expanding seals (SES);
- disposing a first SES around the stem;
- and
- disposing a second SES and a third SES around the fluid passage.
A valve system, comprising:
- a valve body having a cavity;
- a stopper member disposed in the cavity;
- a fluid passage in fluidic communicating with the cavity when the valve device is in an open state;
- a stem coupled to a proximal end of the stopper member for driving the stopper member to open or close the valve system, wherein a distal end of the stopper member is floating;
- a stem aperture in the valve body for the stem to extend therethrough;
- a first self-expanding seal (SES) around the stem configured to expand in a radial direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the first SES;
- and
- a second SES and a third substantially concentric around the fluid passage,
- wherein the second SES and the third SES are configured to expand in their respective directions orthogonal to each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.