High temperature ball valve
AssigneeACF Industries, Incorporated
InventorsGary W. Kacal, Charles C. Partridge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ball valve includes a metal valve seat (36) carrying a relatively soft insert (40) which seals against a ported ball member (22). A packing ring (72) surrounding the seat is compressed between a spring loaded metal wedge (84) and a metal backup ring (66) to provide a seal between the seat and valve body. If the soft seals are destroyed by fire, the metal seat is pressed against the ball member to provide a metal-to-metal seal. Additional metal-to-metal seals are provided between the seat and valve body by the metal wedge and backup ring.
Claims15
A valve comprising:
- a valve body having a valve chamber and a fluid flow passage;
- a valve member mounted in said valve chamber for movement between an open position and a closed position relative to said flow passage;
- an annular valve seat mounted about said flow passage for sealing against the valve member, said valve seat having a lubricant passage therein adapted to receive lubricant for emergency sealing;
- a fire destructible packing ring extending around said valve seat to provide a seal between the valve seat and body;
- a metal wedge element mounted around said valve seat adjacent said packing ring, said wedge element having a projecting portion thereof normally held away from said lubricant passage by said packing ring but adapted to close off said lubricant passage upon destruction of said packing ring;
- and
- resilient means for urging said wedge element against said packing ring to expand the packing ring against said valve body and valve seat by wedging action, said resilient means acting to force said projecting portion of the wedge element against said valve seat at a location to close off said lubricant passage upon destruction of said packing ring.
In a ball valve having a valve body with a fluid flow passage, a ball member mounted in the valve body for rotation to open and close the flow passage, and an annular valve seat mounted about the flow passage to seal against the ball member and having an intermediate annular shoulder facing rearwardly, the improvement comprising:
- a relatively soft packing ring extending around the valve seat to provide a seal between the valve seat and body;
- a metal wedge element mounted around the valve seat adjacent said packing ring;
- a metal ring member mounted about the valve seat in abutting relation to said intermediate shoulder with said packing ring squeezed between the wedge element and metal ring member, said ring member having inclined legs about its inner and outer diameters for contacting the valve seat and body in sealing relation to assist in preventing leakage therebetween upon destruction of said packing ring;
- and
- means for urging said wedge element against said packing ring in a manner to expand the packing ring by wedging action against the valve seat and body, said urging means forcing said wedge element against said valve seat and body in sealing relation therewith upon destruction of said packing ring, whereby said wedge element assists in preventing leakage between the valve seat and body upon destruction of said packing ring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.