Sealed charging port and method of charging for a heat pipe roller
AssigneeAmerican Roller Company
InventorBruce E. Hyllberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A roller (10) incorporating a heat pipe cavity (12) has a port (25) through which a medium (29) is flowed and a vacuum is drawn. The port (25) is sealed by a plug (20) which is lodged in a hole (14) by advance of a screw (16) against the plug (20) to form a metal-to-metal seal that will withstand pressures in the heat pipe cavity (12). A body of grease (21) is one of several ways disclosed for centering the plug (20) in the hole (14). The screw (20) can be advanced with a conventional Allen wrench or a special tool (35) having a driver head (22) on a shaft (23) that extends through a casing (24) for conveying medium or drawing a vacuum. The screw (16) has vents (28) to allow a vacuum to be drawn as the port (25) is sealed. A method of sealing is also disclosed.
Claims19
Apparatus for sealing a port in a heat pipe for a roller, the apparatus comprising:
- a wall portion of the heat pipe, said wall portion being made of metal and having an entry hole communicating with a cavity in the heat pipe for holding the medium, said entry hole having a rim with a uniform, substantially sharp edge;
- wherein the wall portion also has a threaded hole aligned with and communicating with the entry hole, said threaded hole having a substantially flat bottom;
- a metal plug for engaging the rim and closing the entry hole;
- and
- a screw for insertion into the threaded hole, said screw being in substantially rigid driving relationship with said plug and being rotatable for advance to urge the plug into engagement with the edge of the rim, the plug having a surface that deforms around the rim to form a gas-tight, single use, metal-to-metal seal, to seal the entry hole.
A method of sealing a port of a heat pipe for a roller, the method comprising:
- placing a plug against one end of a screw such that the plug is held centered along a longitudinal axis of the screw;
- placing the plug and screw in a threaded hole leading to an entry hole into a heat pipe cavity;
- advancing the screw until the plug bottoms in the threaded hole and enters the entry hole, while drawing a vacuum through the screw;
- and
- advancing the screw an additional amount to lodge the plug in the hole and to seal the hole and the heat pipe cavity from the outside environment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.