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US 9,435,442 B2Granted
Tubular diaphragm
AssigneeAcornVac, Inc.
InventorsCarlos J. Galeazzi, Neil Cletus Levers, Thomas Kent Zinn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments include tubular diaphragm valves with a preformed mechanical closure point and optionally concave or convex convolution areas located near the flanges. These mechanical closure points and convolution areas give the embodiments an extended operational life, as compared to that of conventional cylindrical diaphragms.
Claims10
A tubular diaphragm comprising:
- a tube manufactured of resilient elastomer,
- an inlet flange and an outlet flange at the ends of the tube,
- the tube having an upper and a lower side, each side having an inner surface,
- the tube closed when the inner surface of the upper side is in contact with the inner surface of the lower side,
- a preformed mechanical closure point in which the inner surfaces of the upper and lower sides are separated by a gap of not greater than ⅓ of the diameter of the tube when the tube is not closed,
- the mechanical closure point located at the middle of the length of the tubular diaphragm and dividing it into an inlet and an outlet portion,
- preformed convolution areas on the upper and lower sides of the inlet and outlet portions,
- the convolution areas located adjacent to a flange and extending in length from the flange to about 25% of the length of a side,
- when viewed from the side of the tubular diaphragm, the inlet portion upper convolution area extends from the inlet flange at a right angle and curves downward to the upper inlet side which extends in a straight line to the mechanical closure point, the inlet portion lower convolution area extends from the inlet flange at a right angle and curves upward to the lower inlet side which extends in a straight line to the mechanical closure point,
- when viewed from the side of the tubular diaphragm, the outlet portion upper convolution area extends from the outlet flange in a concave curve to the upper outlet side which extends in a concave curve to the mechanical closure point, the outlet portion lower convolution area extends from the outlet flange upward in a concave curve to the lower outlet side which extends in a concave curve to the mechanical closure point, and
- when viewed from the top of the tubular diaphragm, the mechanical closure point defines a first width, the inlet flange defines a second width, and the outlet flange defines a third width, the first width being greater than the second width and the third width.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.