Valve with locking slide

#The present invention relates to valves and particularly to a valve handle which can selectively lock the valve in open or closed positions with a locking slide.

#Valves, and particularly ball valves, typically have stops for controlling the handle between fully open and fully closed positions while still allowing intermediate positions, if desired. In most applications, the valve is left in one of a fully open or fully closed position. In most installations, it is undesirable to inadvertently change the selected fully open or fully closed position. Prevention of inadvertent movement of the valve can be accomplished in a number of ways, including, for example, valve handle locks, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,135; 5,785,074; and D 358,455, in which locking rings or tabs are positioned to engage a valve handle and include apertures which permit a lock, such as a padlock, to be inserted between the locking member and the handle to prevent tampering with the valve when in a selected position. Allowed US Patent Publication No. 2015/0101684 entitled VALVE HANDLE LOCK, filed on Oct. 3, 2014, discloses yet another valve lock which provides the additional feature of allowing the valve to be held in a fixed position without locking or to prevent inadvertent motion of the valve. It also allows a padlock to be inserted to prevent tampering with the valve.

#Some valves employed in connection with pipe systems carrying hot or cold fluids are insulated and, to accommodate the insulation, cylindrical extensions between the valve handle and the valve body are employed. An example of such a valve is a ball valve which has been sold for many years by NIBCO Inc. of Elkhart, Ind., under the trademark NIB-SEAL®. Due to the unique construction of such valves, they pose a significantly more difficult challenge in order to provide locking mechanisms without interfering with the insulated valve body and pipes to which the valves are connected.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in phantom form, of a first embodiment of a valve embodying the present invention, shown with the valve open and in an unlocked position;

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the locking components of the valve shown in FIG. 1;

#FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the valve shown in FIG. 1, shown in the locked position with the valve open;

#Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a valve installation for a hot or cold fluid system which includes a valve assembly 10 which, in the embodiment shown, is a ball-type valve having a valve body 12. The ball valve can be of generally conventional construction, including a ball 54 (FIGS. 12-14) with a valve seat 50 and a passageway 51. The ball rotates within the body of the valve 12 between open and closed positions to allow or stop the flow of fluid through the valve. Extending upwardly from the valve body is a valve stem 14 which is keyed to an aperture 21 (FIG. 5) in a valve base plate 20 and secured thereto by a lock nut 15. Valve body 12 includes a pair of orthogonally aligned tabs 16 and 18 which align with the locking mechanism of the present invention to selectively lock the valve in an open position, as seen in FIG. 1, or rotated 90° to align with tab 18 to selectively lock the valve in a closed position. The valve assembly includes a handle 11 with a cylindrical extension 13 which engages the base plate to rotate the ball 54. Extension 13 also positions the handle 11 in spaced relationship to the valve body 12.

#In environments where the valve assembly 10 is employed with hot or cold fluids, such as in an HVAC system, the cylindrical extension 13 extends between valve handle 11 and base plate 20 to which the extension is fixedly secured by interlocking tabs on member 13 and slots 22 on plate 20 and fastening screws 29. A floating cylindrical sleeve 17 typically surrounds the valve handle extension 13 to provide an interface between fixed insulation 25 surrounding the valve and the movable valve handle 11 and extension 13. This allows the valve handle to move without disturbing the surrounding insulation 25. An cap 27 fills the cylindrical extension 13 of the valve handle and has suitable apertures allowing for freedom of movement of the locking assembly described below. The body of the ball valve can include any type of interconnection with fluid conduits (not shown) including, for example, threaded socket 19 at each end of the valve, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

#The handle 11 of the valve assembly 10 can be locked in open or closed positions by the unique locking system now described in detail in connection with FIGS. 2-6. The locking assembly 30 includes a locking slide plate 32 which, as seen in FIG. 6, includes a pair of spaced-apart tines 34 and 36 which extend through slots 24 and 26, respectively, in the base plate 20 and over one of the locking tabs 16 or 18 of the valve body 12, as seen, for example, in FIG. 3, when the valve is in a locked open position and the locking slide plate 32 is lowered. Locking slide plate 32 is biased to an unlocked position, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, by a spring 35 which extends over a post 23 extending upwardly from the base plate 20 to position the lower end of spring 35 with respect to the base plate. The upper end of spring 35 surrounds and is captively held by a tab 33 centered in the slot 37 between tines 34 and 36. The locking slide plate 32 includes a pair of shoulders 38 with an upwardly extending leg 39 including an aperture 31 for receiving a lock when it is desired to lock the valve in an open or closed position. The shoulders 38 captively hold locking slide plate 32 in the valve body by engaging the underside of top plate 40 adjacent slot 44 (FIG. 4). The spring 35, as seen in FIG. 2, urges the locking slide plate 32 toward an unlocked position with leg 39 extending through a top valve plate 40. Plate 40 is secured to the top surface of valve handle 11, as illustrated in FIG. 1 by means of a plurality of fasteners 41 at the corners of the outwardly extending mounting tabs 43 of valve plate 40. The valve plate 40 defines a locking member associated with the valve handle. The valve handle may, however, integrally include the structure of valve plate 40 to achieve the locking valve assembly of this invention.