Manifold of a valve conducting gas or a liquid and shuttle valve

#This U.S. national phase application claims priority from EP patent application Serial No. 12 005 610.6-1252, filed Aug. 2, 2012, the entire content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

#The invention relates to a manifold of a valve conducting gas or liquid, wherein the manifold has a passage having an inlet and at least one outlet, wherein the passage changes direction from the manifold outlet to the manifold inlet over a length of the passage. The invention also relates to a shuttle valve.

#Manifolds, in particular for shuttle valves, have long been known from the prior art. Shuttle valves are valves which have an inlet flange and two outlet flanges, wherein the passage to either the one or the other outlet is opened by a slider. A respective safety valve is arranged on the outlet flanges. The shuttle valves are made up of an inlet manifold and two outlet manifolds, on whose outlet flanges a respective safety valve is located. With the outlet manifold, the shuttle valve is seated on the pipe which conducts the medium. Safety valves are configured such that in the event of excess pressure they provide that the medium can be blown off to reduce the pressure, but that the medium in the majority of all cases is returned into the system again in order, particularly with toxic gases, to prevent such gases entering into the environment.

#The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

#FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a shuttle valve having two outlet manifolds and one inlet manifold;

#FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the outlet manifold, with one inlet and one outlet being provided;

#FIG. 1 shows the shuttle valve 10, with the shuttle valve 10 being composed of two outlet manifolds 1 which are in communication with one another through an inlet manifold 100. The shape of the shuttle valve is approximately Y-shaped in the view. The shuttle valves 10 furthermore has a slider 12 having a cut-off member 12a, whereby either outlet manifold 1 can be alternately brought into communication with the inlet manifold 100 in a medium-conducting manner. A respective safety valve, which is not shown, is located on the outlet 3 of each outlet manifold 1.

#The outlet manifold 1 is also shown in FIG. 2. The outlet manifold 1 has an inlet 2 and the outlet 3, each having a corresponding flange. Between the inlet and the outlet, the manifold has the passage which is designated by 5 and which has an inner wall 7. In the region of the inlet 2, the passage has a substantially round or oval cross-section; the passage has the same cross-section in the region of the outlet 3. The passage 5 is divided into three sectors for the explanation of the invention, with the first sector being located at an angle of around 40 degrees to the outlet; the second sector being located at an angle of 55 degrees and the third sector being located at an angle of 75 degrees to the outlet. FIGS. 2a to 2c show the respective cross-sectional contour of the corresponding sectors. The contour of the passage 5 in the first sector 1 can thus be recognized at a spacing of 40 degrees from the outlet 3 in FIG. 2a. The contour has the flattened portion 11 in the region of the inner wall 7 of the passage, with a first arcuate section 14 having a radius R1 disposed opposite the flattened portion 11. The first arcuate section is as semicircular and has a respective further second arcuate section 15 in the transition to the flat section 11 at both sides of the flattened portion 11. The second arcuate sections 15 each have a radius R1.1 which is substantially smaller than the radius R1 of the first semicircular section 14.

#Referring to FIG. 2b, the contour of the leadthrough passage in the second sector 2, at a spacing of 55 degrees from the outlet 3, is shown. A first arcuate section 24 above a flattened portion 21, with the flattened portion being substantially longer than the flattened portion 11 in the first sector 1. The first arcuate section 24, which is of a semicircular design, also merges at both sides through two arcuate second sections 25 into the flattened portion 21, with the radius R2 of the first arcuate section 24 being larger than the radius R1, but with the radius R2.1 being smaller than the radius R1.1 in FIG. 2a. The reason for this is that the second arcuate sections 25 which are formed at both sides of the flattened portion 21 extend more steeply in order to maintain the free cross-sectional area with the enlarged flattened portion 21. The same applies accordingly to the third sector 3 as is shown in FIG. 2c. The first arcuate section 34 above the flattened portion 31 has a smaller radius R3 than in FIG. 2b. The second arcuate section 35 has a radius R3.1 at both sides of the flattened portion 31 in the transition to the first arcuate section 34 which is in turn larger than that in FIG. 2b, but also larger than that in FIG. 2a. This is due to the fact that the cross-sectional contour in the region of the sector 3, which is located at a spacing of approximately 75 degrees from the outlet 2, again approaches the arcuate form or an oval due to the reduction in size of the flattened portion 31.