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US 4,702,275 AGranted
Post assembly for a buried valve
AssigneeAMSTED Industries Incorporated
InventorsJohn V. Ballun, Lorand H. Gain, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A post assembly for a remotely placed valve and valve actuator includes a post with a hinged cover cap and multiple windows evenly spaced below the cap and a target axially movable past said windows on an operating stem fully contained within the post and with the operating nut on said stem below the cover cap and substantially within the target.
Claims19
An improved post assembly for a buried valve wherein the valve is located at one end of an access pipe, said post assembly comprising:
- a post having a barrel portion to concentrically fit upon an opposite end of said pipe and a mast portion extending axially beyond said barrel portion, said mast portion having an angled cross section with multiple sides;
- a cover cap hinged to an end of said mast portion beyond said barrel portion;
- a plurality of windows in said mast portion near said cover cap and substantially equally distant therefrom, at least one window being in each of said multiple sides whereby a line of sight may extend through two windows from nearly any angle away from said post;
- a target cup axially movable within said mast portion, said target cup having a cross section conforming substantially and being congruent to the interior cross section of said mast to thereby prevent relative rotational movement between said mast and said target;
- an operating stem extending axially within said mast and into said target cup, said operating stem having an operator nut at one end located within said target cup below said cover cap and having threads along its surface, and means on said target cup to engage said threads whereby said target cup will move axially past said windows as said operating stem is turned;
- an extension tube axially connectable to said operating stem, said extension tube being of a length to extend from said stem through said access pipe to an actuator nut on said valve;
- and means for detachably connecting said extension tube to said actuator nut.
4 more elements
An improved post assembly for buried valve and valve operators wherein the valve and valve actuator are located at one end of an access pipe, said post assembly comprising:
- a post having a cylindrical barrel portion to concentrically fit upon an open end of said access pipe opposite said valve and having an angled cross section mast portion having a plurality of sides extending axially beyond said barrel portion, said barrel and mast portions being joined by a first shoulder which seats against said open end of said access pipe;
- a multi-sided enclosure at an end of said mast portion beyond said barrel portion said enclosure having a cross section corresponding to the shape of said mast and being joined to said mast portion by a second shoulder, said enclosure being open at an end spaced from said second shoulder;
- windows in each side of said enclosure, said windows being of oval shape and equally spaced from the open end of said enclosure;
- a cover cap hinged to said enclosure so as to be movable onto and from said open end, said cover cap having a wrench mounting bracket on the outer surface thereof;
- a transparent window sleeve fitted closely within said enclosure and congruent thereto, said window sleeve being seated on said second shoulder and the inner surfaces of said sleeve being slightly outside of the planes of the inner surfaces of said mast portion;
- a target cup axially movable within said mast portion and said transparent window sleeve and being substantially congruent thereto whereby said target cup will not rotate relative to said mast portion;
- an operating stem extending axially within said mast and into said target cup, said operating stem being a shaft of angled multi-sided cross section having an operator nut formed on an end within said target cup to be detachably engagable by a wrench and said operating stem having discontinuous threads cut into the corners thereof with flat lands on the surfaces between said threads, and a threaded port in said target cup to engage said threads whereby said target cup will move axially as said operating stem is turned;
- an extension tube of hollow multi-sided cross section to receive said operating stem and engage the flat lands thereon at one end of said tube and extending axially from said operating stem through said access pipe to an actuator nut on said valve actuator;
- and a collar fastened to an end of said extension tube opposite said operating stem, said collar having a cavity adapted to engage all sides of said actuator nut.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.