GB2222228A

GB2222228A - Valves

Info

Publication number: GB2222228A
Application number: GB8817467A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael R Oliver
Original assignee: OLIVER ENGINEERING Ltd
Current assignee: OLIVER ENGINEERING Ltd
Priority date: 1988-07-22
Filing date: 1988-07-22
Publication date: 1990-02-28
Also published as: GB8817467D0

Abstract

A valve comprises at least one detachable component 2, 3 requiring to be fixedly secured in position following assembly. Said component is held by a locking pin 13, 14 inserted after assembly into a bore formed partly by said component and partly by an adjacent portion of the valve. The bore is only partly formed prior to assembly as a starter section in the component 2, 3, being fully drilled after assembly. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO VALVES This invention relates to valves and particularly but not exclusively to ball valves.

A known design of ball valve has a tubular body in which a spherical valve element or ball is seated on spaced annular seats with part-spherical seating surfaces on which the ball is rotatable between an open position of the valve in which a diametral bore of the ball is in line with a flow passage through the valve body, and a closed position of the valve in which the bore is positioned at right angles to the flow passage. Pipe connectors with spigot ends fit into respective ends of the valve body in retaining abutment with the adjacent valve seats.

The pipe connectors may be in threaded engagement with the valve body and be fixed thereto after assembly by welding. This is disadvantageous because the welding operation involves heat transference to the valve body, torque applied to the pipe connectors will shear the weld, and the appearance of the welded joint is unsatisfactory. It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the aforesaid disadvantages by providing a valve with alternative means for fixedly securing the pipe connectors in the assembled position.

According to the present invention there is provided a valve comprising at least one detachable component, as for example a pipe connector, requiring to be fixedly secured in position following assembly, characterised in that said component is held by a locking pin inserted after assembly into a bore formed partly by said component and partly by an adjacent portion of the valve.

Preferably, said bore is only partly formed prior to assembly being present only as a starter section in said component, the remainder of the bore including the section thereof in the adjacent portion of the valve being drilled only after assembly. This has the advantage that registration problems between the parts of the bore on the component and the adjacent part of the valve are avoided.

The invention will now be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of one embodiment of ball valve according to the invention, and Fig. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow A of Fig. 1 also showing a section on line II-II of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the exemplary valve has a through flow passage 1 defined by pipe connectors 2, 3 of hexagonal outer shape screwed into opposite ends of a square section valve body 4 containing a spherical valve element or ball 5 with a diametral passage 6 forming part of the flow passage 1 in the illustrated open position of the valve. The ball 5 is flanked by annu]ar seats 7, 8 having part-spherical contact surfaces engaging the ball 5.

The seats 7, 8 are trapped in position by the adjacent ends of the pipe connectors 2, 3. The ball 5 has a socket 9 engaged by a spigot 10 of a stem 11 engaged by a handle 12. The handle 12 can be turned to rotate the stem 11 and spigot 10 thereby rotating the ball 5 through 900 and position its bore 6 at right angles to the remainder of the passageway 1 so closing the valve. As indicated the usual seals are provided between the valve body and the pipe connectors 2,3 on the one hand and the stem 11 on the other hand.

The invention is primarily concerned with the locking of the pipe connectors 2, 3 with respect to the body 4 once the valve has been assembled into the condition shown in Fig. 1. This is accomplished by means of locking pins 13, 14 engaging in bores 15, 16. As shown in Fig. 2 the full bore 15 is formed partly by the valve element 4 and partly by the spigot end of the pipe connector 2. However, the bores are not completely formed until after assembly. Thus, in the case of the bore 15, a starter section is formed only in the valve body 4 from the outside face thereof up to the level indicated by reference numeral 17.Following assembly of the valve, when the pipe connector 2 has been fully tightened into its final position, the bore 15 is completed by a drilling operation in which the drill bit is inserted into the starter section and that part of the bore in the pipe connector spigot portion is formed while the bore is being extended to its final length in the valve body 4.

The pin 13, which is dimensioned to be an interference fit in the blind end section of the bore 15, is then inserted into the illustrated position in which it securely interlocks the spigot end of the pipe connector 2 with the valve body 4. The pin 13 may be knurled to improve the interference fit. It will be noted that a removal torque acting on the pipe connector 2 tends only to drive the pin 13 further into the bore 15. The oppositely directed orientation of the bore 16 at the opposite end of the valve body 4 produces the same effect in relation to the locking pin 14. In other respects the interlocking of the pipe connector 3 with the valve body 1 proceeds in the way already described for the pipe connector 2.

The locking pins 13, 14 eliminate accidental complete or partial removal of the pipe connectors 2, 3 from the valve body 4.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not confined to bore valves of the kind described heroin or indeed to ball valves. Thus, for example, this locking system may be used for securely interconnecting any valve body to a component that requires to be securely attached thereto following assembly.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A valve comprising at least one detachable component requiring to be fixedly secured in position following assembly, characterised in that said component is held by a locking pin inserted after assembly into a bore formed partly by said component and partly by an adjacent portion of the valve.

2. A valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detachable component is a pipe connector.

3. A valve as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the bore is only partly formed prior to assembly being present only as a starter section in said component, the remainder of the bore including the section thereof in the adjacent portion of the valve being drilled only after assembly.

4. A valve as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the locking pin is knurled to enhance interference fitting thereof in the bore.

5. A valve, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.