Fire hydrant locking arrangement
AssigneeMagna-Loc Valve Corp.
InventorsJames K. Jerman, Guido Salvato
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fire hydrant locking arrangement which is intended for utilization on a conventional fire hydrant. Moreover, also disclosed is a method of producing a fire hydrant locking arrangement through a heat-meltable locking ring which will inhibit the unauthorized opening of fire hydrants while facilitating the ready servicing of the internal components of the fire hydrant.
Claims17
In a fire hydrant locking arrangement including an inner cylindrical member having a cavity for receiving a conforming configured upstanding post located on a fire hydrant, said post being fastened to said inner cylindrical member so as to be secured against rotational and axial displacement relative thereto, said post being operatively connected to operative structure of said fire hydrant;
- and an outer cylindrical member having an axially extending central bore terminating at an end wall, said bore having a peripheral wall surface for receiving said inner cylindrical member in closely spaced relationship and being rotatable relative thereto;
- at least a portion of said inner cylindrical member being axially movable into said bore so as to selectively couple said inner and outer cylindrical members to enable the operative structure of said firs hydrant to be actuated only by an authorized user the improvement comprising:
- (a) oppositely facing, axially aligned groove means formed in, respectively, the outer circumferential surface of said inner cylindrical member and in the peripheral surface of the bore in said outer cylindrical member;
- (b) and an annularly extending ring being positioned in said groove means facilitating relative rotation between said inner and outer cylindrical members while coupling said members so as to concurrently prevent relative axial displacement therebetween, said ring being constituted from a generally ductile material possessing a substantially lower melting point than the material of each of said cylindrical members whereby application of heat at temperatures in excess of the liquidus melting point of the material of said ring to the region of said locking arrangement containing said ring will cause said ring to melt and flow out of said groove means and through an annular gap present between said cylindrical members so as to enable an easy axial removal of said outer cylindrical member from said inner cylindrical member.
A method of providing a fire hydrant locking arrangement including an inner cylindrical member having a cavity for receiving a conforming configured upstanding post located on a fire hydrant, said post being fastened to said inner cylindrical member so as to be secured against rotational and axial displacement relative thereto, said post being operatively connected to operative structure of said fire hydrant;
- and an outer cylindrical member having an axially extending central bore terminating at an end wall, said bore having a peripheral wall surface for receiving said inner cylindrical member in closely spaced relationship and being rotatable relative thereto;
- at least a portion of said inner cylindrical member being axially movable into said bore so as to selectively couple said inner and outer cylindrical members to enable the operative structure of said fire hydrant to be actuated only by an authorized user comprising:
- (a) providing oppositely facing, axially aligned grooves in, respectively, the outer circumferential surface of said inner cylindrical member and in the peripheral surface of the bore in said outer cylindrical member;
- (b) and introducing an annularly extending ring into said grooves so as to facilitate relative rotation between said inner and outer cylindrical members and with said ring coupling said members so as to concurrently prevent relative axial displacement therebetween, said ring being constituted from a generally ductile material possessing a substantially lower melting point than the material of each of said cylindrical members whereby application of heat at temperature in excess of the liquidus melting point of the material of said ring to the region of said locking arrangement containing said ring causes said ring to melt and flow out of said grooves and through an annular gap present between said cylindrical members so as to enable an easy axial removal of said outer cylindrical member from said inner cylindrical member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.