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US 6,237,621 B1Granted
Valve for inflatable objects
OwnerRobert B. Chaffeeinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self sealing valve includes a diaphragm (602) positioned within a valve housing (606) by a movable hanger arm (610) which suspends the diaphragm from a mounting point (612) in the center of an air inlet (614). The hanger arm (610) is a rotating diaphragm hanger that has one end secured adjacent to an inner wall (618) of the air inlet (614) by a pair of pins (634). There is a contoured section (648) between the hinge pins (634) of the inner wall which interfaces with a contoured end (650) to provide for at least four distinct interaction possibilities. A first retains the hanger arm (610) in a valve closed position. A second causes the valve to exhibit a biased closed condition. A third locks the valve open and a fourth facilitates assembly.
Claims55
A self-sealing valve, comprising:
- a valve housing having a fluid inlet defined by an inner wall, the valve housing also having a valve seat facing an interior of the valve housing and the valve housing being configured to require fluid being transferred between the interior and an exterior of the valve housing to pass through the fluid inlet;
- a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet to provide a self-seal, including:
- a hanger arm attached at a first end of the hanger arm to the inner wall of the valve housing via a hinge assembly disposed between the first end of the hanger arm and the inner wall, the hanger arm having a second end that may be moved about a hinge point of the hinge assembly in a first direction from a closed position towards the interior of the valve housing to an open position and that may be moved about the hinge point in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, from the open position towards the exterior of the valve housing to the closed position;
- and
- a flexible diaphragm having an area larger than an area of the fluid inlet, having a first surface facing the interior of the valve housing and having a second surface facing the exterior of the valve housing, the flexible diaphragm being mounted to the hanger arm at a mount to allow movement of a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm about the mount in the first direction towards the interior of the valve housing away from the valve seat to the open position and to allow movement of the part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm about the mount in the second direction towards the exterior of the valve housing so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm engages against the valve seat in the closed position to provide the self-seal.
2 more elements
A self-sealing valve, comprising:
- a valve housing having a fluid inlet defined by an inner wall, the valve housing having a valve seat facing an interior of the valve housing and the valve housing being configured to require fluid being transferred between the interior and an exterior of the valve housing to pass through the fluid inlet;
- a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet to provide a self-seal, including:
- a support member, that suspends a flexible diaphragm in a floating position within the valve housing to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a first direction away from the valve seat to a first open position, to allow movement of the at least the part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm is allowed to engage against the valve seat in a closed position, and to allow the flexible diaphragm to pass through the fluid inlet to a second open position;
- the flexible diaphragm having an area larger than an area of the fluid inlet, having a first surface facing the interior of the valve housing and having a second surface facing the exterior of the valve housing, the second surface including the periphery of the flexible diaphragm that engages against the valve seat to provide the self-seal;
- means for mounting the flexible diaphragm to the support member and for allowing manual movement of the at least the part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in the first direction when the self-sealing valve is in a sealed condition, so as to purge the self-sealing valve.
2 more elements
A self-sealing valve kit for use with a self-sealing valve including a valve housing having a fluid inlet and a valve seat, and a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet to provide a self-seal, the self-sealing valve kit comprising:
- a hanger arm including at least one projecting tab at a first end of the hanger arm having a seating hole disposed therein that is configured to mate with a hinge pin of an inner wall of the valve housing;
- and
- a flexible diaphragm that can be mounted to the hanger arm at a mount so as to allow movement of a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm about the mount in a first direction away from the valve seat to an open position and so as to allow movement of the part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm about the mount in a second direction, opposite the first direction, towards the valve seat so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm engages against the valve seat in the closed position to provide the self-seal.
A method of installing a hanger arm and flexible diaphragm within a self-sealing valve housing, comprising the steps of:
- providing the hanger arm having at least one projecting tab at a first end of the hanger arm including a seating hole disposed therein that is configured to mate with a hinge pin and having the flexible diaphragm mounted to the hanger arm so as to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm without any movement of the hanger arm;
- placing the hanger arm and flexible diaphragm into a fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve housing so as to engage the seating hole against the hinge pin mounted on a first surface of a bracket secured to an inner wall of a fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve housing;
- and
- pivoting the hanger arm with the flexible diaphragm in a downward direction into and through the fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve housing to a closed position.
1 more element
A valve, comprising:
- a valve housing having a fluid inlet defined by an inner wall, the valve housing also having a valve seat facing an interior of the valve housing and the valve housing being configured to require fluid being transferred between the interior and an exterior of the valve housing to pass through the fluid inlet;
- and
- a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet, including:
- a flexible diaphragm having an area larger than the area of the fluid inlet, having a first surface facing the interior of the valve housing and having a second surface facing the exterior of the valve housing, the flexible diaphragm being mounted to a hanger arm at a mount to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm about the mount in a first direction towards the interior of the valve housing away from the valve seat to an open position and to allow movement of at least the part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm about the mount in a second direction towards the exterior of the valve housing so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm engages against the valve seat in a closed position;
- wherein the hanger arm is hingedly connected to the valve housing.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.