Self sealing hydraulic coupler
AssigneeVetco Gray Inc.
InventorKarl A. Parfrey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hydraulic coupler for providing fluid communication between adjacent members that includes a two way check valve formed from a double headed poppet set in a hollow cylinder with corrugated bellows like walls. Contoured bores are provided in the cylinder ends and the poppet heads are profiled to match the contour of the bores. When the heads are seated in the bores they form a sealing surface to block fluid from flowing through the coupler. Compressively preloading the cylinder before assembly provides a sealing force between the heads and the bores. Axially compressing the cylinder with respect to the poppet unseats the heads from the bores to form a flow path through the coupler.
Claims7
A hydraulic coupler for communicating fluid between a first and a second member the coupler comprising:
- an axially compliant tubular;
- a first base connected to a first end of the tubular having a side in pressure communication with a region ambient to the second member;
- a bore extending through the first base;
- a second base connected to a second end of the tubular having a side for pressure communication with a passage formed in the second member;
- a bore extending through the second base;
- an elongated shaft coaxially disposed within the tubular;
- a first head on an end of the shaft that seats against the first base and defines a pressure seal between the bore in the first base and the region ambient to the second member,
- a second head on an end of the shaft opposite the first head that seats against the second base and defines a pressure seal between the bore in the second base and the passage formed in the second member;
- a male stab mounted on the first member having a surface that engages with the first base and circumscribes the first head, so that contacting the first base with male stab compresses the tubular and moves the first base relative to the first head, thereby breaching the pressure seal between the first head and bore in the first base;
- and
- a cavity on the surface of the male stab having a face that is set back, so that as the male stab compresses the tubular, the cavity face engages the first head to push the shaft and the second head thereby breaching the pressure seal between the second head and the second base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.