Back to results
US 9,752,692 B2Granted
Check valve with accelerated closure
AssigneeMueller International, LLC
InventorsAshraf Abouelleil, Julian Ramirez, Purushottam Savalia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A check valve including a valve body and a flapper assembly, the valve body defining an inlet, an outlet, an interior cavity, and a port in the interior cavity; the flapper assembly movable between an open position, providing fluid communication between the inlet and outlet, and a closed position, isolating the inlet from the outlet, the flapper assembly including a resilient body and a spring assembly, the spring assembly configured to bias the flap portion of the resilient body towards the closed position, the spring assembly including a spring and a backing plate mounted on opposite surfaces of the resilient body and configured to increase the stiffness of the intermediate portion of the resilient body.
Claims20
A check valve, comprising:
- a valve body defining an inlet, an outlet and an interior cavity, the valve body further defining a port in the interior cavity that has a circumferential downstream port shoulder surface;
- and
- a flapper assembly that is movable between an open position, providing fluid communication between the inlet and outlet, and a closed position, isolating the inlet from the outlet, the flapper assembly comprising:
- a resilient body extending from a proximal hinge portion to an intermediate portion and to a distal flap portion, wherein the hinge portion is configured to be fixedly mounted in the valve body, wherein the intermediate portion and the flap portion have an upstream surface and a downstream surface, the downstream surface of the resilient body defining a first step at a transition from the intermediate portion to the flap portion;
- and wherein portions of an upstream surface of the flap portion are configured to seal the downstream port shoulder surface of the valve body when the flap portion is in the closed position;
- and
- a spring assembly that is configured to bias the flap portion of the resilient body towards the closed position, the spring assembly comprising:
- a spring comprising a proximal mounting end that is mounted to a portion of the downstream surface of the intermediate portion of the resilient body, a distal end that is configured to slideably engage portions of the downstream surface of the flap portion, and a middle portion that extends from the proximal mounting end to the distal end;
- and
- a backing plate that is mounted to a portion of the upstream surface of the intermediate portion of the resilient body in opposition to the proximal mounting end, wherein the proximate mounting end and the backing plate are configured to increase the stiffness of the intermediate portion of the resilient body relative to the proximal hinge portion and the distal flap portion of the resilient body.
7 more elements
A check valve, comprising:
- a valve body defining an inlet and an outlet, the valve body further defining a port between the inlet and outlet that has a circumferential downstream port shoulder surface and a recess positioned proximate a portion of the port shoulder surface;
- and
- a flapper assembly that is movable between an open position, providing fluid communication between the inlet and outlet, and a closed position, isolating the inlet from the outlet, the flapper assembly comprising:
- a resilient body extending from a proximal hinge portion to an intermediate portion and to a distal flap portion, wherein the hinge portion is configured to be fixedly mounted in the recess of the valve body, wherein the intermediate portion and the flap portion have an upstream surface and a downstream surface;
- and wherein upstream portions of the flap portion are configured to seal the downstream port shoulder surface of the valve body when the flap portion is in the closed position;
- and
- a spring assembly that is configured to bias the flap portion of the resilient body towards the closed position, the spring assembly comprising;
- a spring comprising a proximal mounting end that is mounted to a portion of the downstream surface of the intermediate portion of the resilient body, a distal end having a curved cross sectional shape is which a bottom portion of the curved cross-sectional shape is configured to slideably engage portions of the downstream surface of the flap portion, and a middle portion that extends from the proximal mounting end to the distal end, wherein the spring defines a spring step at a transition from the proximal mounting end to the middle portion, and wherein only the bottom portion of the distal end of the spring and a portion of the middle portion of the spring adjacent to the spring step are in contact with the downstream surface of the flap portion of the resilient body;
- and
- a backing plate that is mounted to a portion of the upstream surface of the intermediate portion of the resilient body in opposition to the proximal mounting end, wherein the proximate mounting end and the backing plate are configured to increase the stiffness of the intermediate portion of the resilient body relative to the proximal hinge portion and the distal flap portion of the resilient body.
7 more elements
A flapper assembly for a check valve, the check valve having an inlet, an outlet and an interior cavity, the valve body further defining a port in the interior cavity that has a circumferential downstream port shoulder surface, the flapper assembly comprising:
- a resilient body extending from a proximal hinge portion to an intermediate portion and to a distal flap portion, wherein the hinge portion is configured to be fixedly mounted in the interior cavity of the valve body, wherein the intermediate portion and the flap portion have an upstream surface and a downstream surface;
- and wherein upstream portions of the flap portion are configured to seal the downstream port shoulder surface of the valve body when the flap portion is in a closed position, isolating the inlet from the outlet;
- and
- a spring assembly that is configured to bias the flap portion of the resilient body towards the closed position, the spring assembly comprising;
- a spring comprising a proximal mounting end that is mounted to a portion of the downstream surface of the intermediate portion of the resilient body, a distal end having a curved cross sectional shape in which a bottom portion of the curved cross-sectional shape is configured to slideably engage portions of the downstream surface of the flap portion, and a middle portion that extends from the proximal mounting end to the distal end, wherein the spring defines a spring step at a transition from the proximal mounting end to the middle portion, and wherein only the bottom portion of the distal end of the spring and a portion of the middle portion of the spring adjacent to the spring step are in contact with the downstream surface of the flap portion of the resilient body;
- and
- a backing plate that is mounted to a portion of the upstream surface of the intermediate portion of the resilient body in opposition to the proximal mounting end, wherein the proximate mounting end and the backing plate are configured to increase the stiffness of the intermediate portion of the resilient body relative to the proximal hinge portion and the distal flap portion of the resilient body.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.