Back to results
US 6,685,380 B2Granted
Threaded closure with chain binder
AssigneeRobbins & Myers Energy Systems L.P.
InventorsBilly W. White, Blake E. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeRobbins & Myers Energy Systems L.P.
InventorsBilly W. White, Blake E. Smith
Estimating the term…
Closure 10 includes a closure hub 12 for receiving a closure cap 30. A vessel end of the hub may be welded to a pressurized vessel or pipeline. A pulling device 20 may include a pivot member 26, a pulling lever 27, a pulling connector 28, and a flexible member 46. A pulling lever is connected by a connector pivot 23 to the pivot member, and the pulling connector is connected at a lever pivot 29 to the pulling lever. In the method of the invention, the pulling lever is pulled toward an anchor to thread or unthread the cap from the hub.
A closure to sealingly enclose a port in a vessel, comprising:
A closure to sealingly enclose a port in a vessel, comprising:
A method of sealingly enclosing a port in a vessel, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Means for stopping flow in pipes or hoses: caps
Detachable closure members; Means for tightening closures: attached by wedging action by means of screw-thread, interrupted screw-thread, bayonet…
With tighteners: lever
With expanding or contracting means: toggle lever
Term ended 31 Dec 2021 (estimated)
The present invention relates to vessel or pipeline closures, which selectively enclose and seal an interior portion of a pressure containing vessel or pipeline. More particularly, the methods and systems of this invention relate to closures of the type used on pipeline pig launching and receiving systems, and closures used as access portals for pressurized vessels. The methods and system of this invention may improve safety, closure life expectancy, and functional operation.
A closure allows convenient and routine access to the interior of a pressure vessel or other volumetric device. A threaded pipeline closure, for example, consists primarily of a hub added to a pipeline inlet and a removable door that seals pressure within the pipeline. A pipeline “pig” is a device which is commonly placed into a pipeline using a threaded closure. Pipelines are commonly cleaned and inspected by launching a pig into the pipeline and recovering it, sometimes along with accumulated debris, at a receiving point. Closures may thus be used to cap an end of both a pig launcher and a pig receiver.
Closures may be included on other volumetric pressure vessels, such as storage tanks. Such vessels may contain fluid at high pressures ranging from full vacuum to above 3700 psig. Closures of this type typically range in nominal pipe size from 2 to over 60 inches, corresponding with the nominal size of the vessel port or entrance to which they attach. Closures are conventionally made of metallic materials, and are often formed in a closed die forging process.
FIG. 1 is a top end view of a closure according to the present invention, with the lever of the leveraged pulling device in a locked position.
FIG. 2 is a side view in partial cross-section of the closure illustrated in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a side view with the closure with the pivot member rotated approximately 90 degrees from the side view of FIG. 2.
FIG. 1 illustrates components that may be included with a closure 10 according to the present invention. The closure may be used for sealing closed an opening or port in a vessel. The term “vessel” as used herein may be defined broadly to encompass closures for pipelines, tanks, containers, or other volumetric enclosures in which a pressure internal to the vessel may be different from a pressure external to the vessel. Such volumetric enclosures may include containment vessels in which a fluid is conducted, contained, and/or processed. A closure may be manufactured substantially from metallic components.
A tightening or loosening force may be applied to the closure cap 30 through a leveraged pulling device 20 including components that interact to apply a pulling force substantially tangential to a periphery of a closure cap 30, thereby causing the cap 30 to rotate relative to the vessel for tightening or loosening the cap 30.
A closure hub 12 as shown in FIG. 2 may be provided to engage the closure cap 30 to secure the cap over the port. A vessel end of the hub 12 may be fixedly and sealingly secured to the vessel, e.g. by welding or threading. The hub includes a through bore 13, and provides a cap end 15 opposite the vessel end, with the cap end including cap engagement threads 16. The hub through bore 13 may have an ID at least as large as an ID of the port to the pressure vessel (see FIG. 2).