GB2284269A

GB2284269A - A gauge for a gas cylinder

Info

Publication number: GB2284269A
Application number: GB9419117A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Douglas J Slack
Original assignee: SLENDLE Pty Ltd
Current assignee: SLENDLE Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1993-11-24
Filing date: 1994-09-22
Publication date: 1995-05-31
Anticipated expiration: 2014-09-22
Also published as: GB2284269B; GB9419117D0; AU648491B3

Abstract

A gauge for indicating the quantity of liquefied compressed gas in 8 pressure cylinder of the type having a generally dome shaped upper portion and a dome shaped lower portion having a skirt (14) depending from the lower portion for ground support, includes a leaf spring comprising an arm (10) extending from a base (11). The arm (10) includes protuberances (13) to locate a portion of the skirt (14) of the gas cylinder at a predetermined position along the arm (10). The gauge includes a display comprises a stationary portion (20) with vertically-spaced indicia, and a pointer (22) which moves in response to movement of the arm (10) to indicate the weight of the gas cylinder and thus the quantity-of liquid therein. A beam adaptor (Figs 4 and 5) may be provided, attachable to the arm (10) and having a sliding cursor to preset the device for use with a cylinder of a certain size and/or weight. <IMAGE>

Description

A GAUGE FOR A GAS CYLINDER The present invention relates to a gauge for determining the quantity of liquified compressed gas remaining in a pressure cylinder.

Gas stored within a gas cylinder is an often used source of fuels for out of doors activities, such as cooking for barbecues, or cooking or providing light when camping. Such gas cylinders are constructed to withstand the pressures of storing the liquefied gas, and are generally of steel, typically in a cylindrical shape with domes upper and lower ends. In order that such containers are stable when placed on the ground the lower ends have a skirt depending downwardly.

There is a difficulty with such containers in judging the quantity of liquefied gas remaining because the container is not transparent to allow for visual inspect of the level of liquefied gas.

The weight of the container is substantial in comparison to the weight of the gas container therein, so that no easy assessment can be made on the basis of simply lifting the cylinder, and assessing manually on the basis of weight whether it is sufficiently full or not.

In addition, generally the uses of such gas fuel are not regular, so that there is no set time after which it can reasonably be presumed that the gas needs to be refilled.

It is accordingly desirable to provide a simple and effective means for providing an estimate of the quantity of liquefied gas within a gas cylinder.

It is found that by providing a leaf spring arrangement with means to locate a part of the cylinder on the spring the weight of the liquefied gas can be used to generate an indication of the quantity of gas remaining.

Such a device is described in Australian Petty Patent No.

648491. In that document there is described a gauge for indicating the quantity of liquid in a gas cylinder of the type having a generally dome shaped upper portion, and a dome shaped lower portion having a skirt depending from the lower portion for ground support, the gauge comprising a leaf spring formed from a single resilient strip of metal, including an arm extending upwardly from a base for supporting said arm at an acute angle with respect to the base, and a ground supporting surface, the arm including locating means to locate a portion of the skirt of the gas cylinder at a predetermined position along said arm out of contact with other parts of said gauge and with an opposite portion of said skirt resting on the ground, a display including a stationary portion bearing indicia spaced apart vertically, and an indicator so as to move vertically relative to said stationary portion in response to a change in position of said upper arm to thereby indicate the quantity of liquid within the gas cylinder.

This allows for a simple means for indicating the quantity of liquid gas within a gas cylinder.

According to the present invention there is provided a gauge for indicating the quantity of liquid in a gas cylinder of the type having a dome shaped upper portion and a dome shaped lower portion having a skirt depending from the lower portion for ground support, said gauge comprising a leaf spring, said leaf spring including a base providing a ground supporting surface, and an arm extending upwardly from the base at an acute angle with respect thereto, the arm including locating means to locate a portion of the skirt of the gas cylinder and a predetermined position along said arm out of contact with other parts of said gauge and with an opposite portion of said skirt resting on the ground, a display including a stationary portion bearing indicia, and a pointer adapted to move relative thereto in response to a change in the angle of the arm relative to the base, thereby to indicate the quantity of liquid within the gas cylinder.

Preferably the arm is formed of a web of metal and connected to the base, also formed of a web of metal. The locating means are formed integrally with the arm and comprise a protrusion above the web of metal of the arm.

Preferably the leaf spring is formed from a single resilient strip of metal, folded so as to form the arm, the base and an upstanding front plate forming the stationary portion of the display, the pointer comprising a separate lighter resilient strip, attached to said base and formed to extend through a vertically longitudinal aperture extending through the front plate, and the arm bears against said lighter resilient strip with deflection of the arm, said arm including means to bear only against a portion of said lighter resilient strip between the vertically longitudinal aperture and the position of attachment of the strip to the base.

This provides for a relatively simple construction and the pointer, although constituting a spring, does not contribute significantly to the spring action against which the cylinder bears.

Furthermore the degree to which the pointer moves vertically magnifies the degree to which the arm moves, thereby allowing for easier visualisation of changes in the quantity of liquid within the cylinder.

Preferably, there is also included a beam adaptor comprising a longitudinal member one end of which comprises a ground supporting surface, the other end including means for location upon the arm of the leaf spring at a predetermined position thereon, said beam adaptor including locating means to locate a portion of the skirt of a gas cylinder at a selected position along the beam adaptor representative of a selected size or weight of cylinder whereby two or more sizes or weights of cylinder may be placed thereon to provide an indication of the quantity of liquid within the cylinder.

Furthermore, a beam adaptor includes one or more graduated scales providing positions thereon at which a cylinder should be located according to its size or weight.

Still further, the beam adaptor preferably includes a sliding cursor adapted to be positioned at one or more selected locations along the beam adaptor, and adapted to support the skirt of a gas cylinder at a selected location.

The beam adaptor is marked with two graduated scales, and the arm of the leaf spring includes a pair of locating apertures for the beam adaptor, each aperture being adapted to receive the beam adaptor and being associated with one of the said graduated scales.

To assist with the understanding of the invention two embodiments are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood from the foregoing, however, that the illustrated embodiments of the invention are merely illustrative and in no way restrict the scope of the invention.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a front view of the gauge; Fig. 2 is a side view of the gauge with the position of a gas cylinder being shown in broken lines; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the gauge; Fig. 4 is a side view of the gauge, including also a beam adaptor removably attached thereto; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the gauge and beam adaptor as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Dimensions of certain of the parts as shown in the drawings may have been modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity of illustration.

A gauge for indicating the quantity of liquid within a gas cylinder comprises a leaf spring consisting of an arm 10, extending at an acute angle from a base 11, and including an upright display panel 12. The upper surface of the arm 10 includes locating protuberances 13 to locate a gas cylinder (indicated at 14 in Fig. 2) at one of two predetermined positions along the arm and out of contact with other parts of the gauge. The display panel 21 includes an upright stationary portion 20 with vertically spaced apart indicia 21 and a pointer 22 positioned so as to move vertically relative to the indicia In response to a change in position of the arm 10.

The gauge is formed substantially from one strip of metal of approximately lmm in thickness folded at positions 30, and 31 to form the arm 10, the base 11 and the front panel 20.

The arm 10 supported by the base 11 acts as a leaf spring and resists being pressed down by weight. The extent to which the arm is urged toward the base plate depends upon the weight exerted upon it and also upon the position at which that weight is applied. Thus where a given weight is applied closer to the free end of the arm, the arm is caused to move to a greater degree than were that weight applied closer to fold 30. Conveniently the protuberances are formed by the strip of metal being deformed upwardly at precise locations to form a pair of lugs at opposite edges of the strip as can be seen in Fig. 3. Where cylinders of two different weights are to be used, provision is therefore made for location on different pairs of protuberances.

The upper surface of the arm 10 can be appropriately marked such as at 44 and 45 to indicate where the appropriate size cylinder should be located, in this case being either 4 or 9 kilograms in weight . As can be seen best in Fig. 2 the skirt 14 of a gas cylinder is located against the lower edge of the appropriate one of the pairs of protuberances 13. If the skirt were to be located above the protuberances, then as the arm 10 is deflected downwardly an arc would be described moving away from the cylinder, thus attempting to drag the cylinder, and thereby significantly reducing the accuracy of the measurement. In practice with the cylinder properly located only a small portion of the skirt of the cylinder actually makes contact with the arm 10, and generally only against the two protuberances, rather than contact being made across the entire width of the arm.

A stop 50 is provided by a flap cut from the base 11 and being folded upright. The stop acts to limit the degree of deflection of the arm 10 to an extent that were an excessively heavy object to be placed on the gauge, fold 30 would not be deformed thereby damaging the gauge.

An arcuate aperture 50 extends through the front face of display panel 20 to allow for the pointer 22 to extend through the front face. The pointer is formed of a light spring steel, of approximately 0.2mm in thickness and is generally horizontal at a first end 52 attached to the base 53 by a rivet. There is an upright section 54 between folds 55 and 56 and a generally flat section 57 inclined upwardly from fold 56. A generally vertical section 58 extends with the flat section 57 and includes a kink 59 which traverses the arcuate aperture and then forms a tip 70 visible from outside of the front face.

A downwardly extending lug 60 is formed in the After a degree of downward movement of the arm 10, the lug 60 contacts the generally flat section 57 of the indicator, which thus flexes so that the tip can be seen to change position relative to the indicia on the front face. Fold 56 remains virtually stationary. It can be seen that because the downwardly extending lug is positioned away from the tip, the downwards movement is magnified in relation to the downwards flexing of the arm 10. This provides a clear indication of the quantity of gas within the gas cylinder.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5 there may be provided for use in conjunction with the gauge a beam adaptor generally indicated at 80 and comprising a longitudinal beam formed substantially from a strip of metal approximately lmm in thickness and having a central longitudinal rim 81, a downwardly extending leg 82 at one end and a further downwardly extending leg 83 at the opposite end with a pair of lugs 84 extending from the bottom of the leg 83 in a direction generally parallel to the beam 80.

In this embodiment, the arm 10 of the gauge includes two pairs of lateral slots 85 and 86 respectively into which may be located the lugs 84 of the leg 83.

A slider or cursor 87 is slidably mounted upon the beam 80 to be movable longitudinally thereon, and the upper surface of the beam carries a pair of side-by-side graduated scales 88 and 89 which may be read off against one edge of the cursor 87. In a central region of the cursor there is a small depression 89 adjacent an upstanding inclined lug 90 extending from one edge of the central region of the cursor 87.

By locating the beam adaptor 80 in the lower pair of apertures 85 in the arm 10 as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, one of the graduated scales, in this case the scale 89 is readable against the edge of the cursor 87 closest to the arm 10. As illustrated, the cursor is positioned to receive the skirt of a gas cylinder having a weight of 22 kilograms, and the skirt is adapted to rest in the depression 89 up against the base of the upstanding lug 90.

If the beam adaptor is moved such that its lugs locate in the upper pair of slots 86, then the same edge of the cursor 87can be read off against the lower graduated scale 88 which extends from 5.5 to approximately 12 kilograms. The upper scale provides readings from, for example, 12 to 48 kilograms. Thus, the provision of the beam adaptor 80 increases the range of application of the gauge and provides a clear indication of the quantity of gas within a wide variety of sizes and weights of cylinder.

It will be appreciated that since the pair of protuberances 13 and the arm 10 of the gauge are present irrespective of whether the beam adaptor 80 is used, the gauge may be used without the beam adaptor where only two alternative sizes of cylinder are to be accommodated.

It will also be appreciated that the mechanism of the gauge made in accordance with this invention is simple and avoids the complication of many gauges already in use for this purpose. The device is simple and thus inexpensive in manufacture whilst providing an accurate indication of the quantity of gas within a cylinder.

It is envisaged that the device may be located permanently beneath a gas cylinder so long as the cylinder remains in use, or alternatively it may be inserted beneath the cylinder only when a reading of the quantity of gas therein is to be taken.

Claims

1. A gauge for indicating the quantity of liquid in a gas cylinder of the type having a dome shaped upper portion and a dome shaped lower portion having a skirt depending from the lower portion for ground support, said gauge comprising a leaf spring, said leaf spring including a base providing a ground supporting surface, and an arm extending upwardly from the base at an acute angle with respect thereto, the arm including locating means to locate a portion of the skirt of the gas cylinder at a predetermined position along said arm out of contact with other parts of said gauge and with an opposite portion of said skirt resting on the ground, a display including a stationary portion bearing indicia, and a pointer adapted to move relative thereto in response to a change in the angle of the arm relative to the base, thereby to indicate the quantity of liquid within the gas cylinder.

2. A gauge according to Claim 1, wherein a stop extends upwardly from the base and is positioned to limit downward deflection of the arm.

3. A gauge according to Claim 1, wherein the leaf spring is formed from a single resilient strip of metal, folded so as to form the arm, the base and an upstanding front panel forming the stationary portion of the display, the pointer comprising a separate lighter resilient strip attached to the base and formed to extend through a vertically longitudinal aperture extending through the front plate, and the arm bears against said lighter resilient strip with deflection of the arm, said arm including means to bear against only a portion of the lighter resilient strip between the vertically longitudinal aperture and the position of attachment of the strip to the base.

4. A gauge according to Claim 1, also including a beam adaptor comprising a longitudinal member, one end of which provides a ground supporting surface, the other end including means for location upon the arm of the leaf spring at a selected position thereon, said beam adaptor including locating means to locate a portion of the skirt of a gas cylinder at a selected position along the beam adaptor representative of a selected size or weight of cylinder whereby different sizes or weights of cylinder may be placed thereon to provide an indication of the quantity of liquid within the cylinder.

5. A gauge according to Claim 4, wherein the beam adaptor includes one or more graduated scales providing positions thereon at which a cylinder should be located according to Its size or weight.

6. A gauge according to Claim 4 or Claim 5, wherein said beam adaptor includes a sliding cursor movable to one or more selected locations along the beam adaptor, and adapted to support the skirt of a gas cylinder at the selected location.

7. A gauge according to any one of Claims 4 to 6, wherein the beam adaptor is marked with two graduated scales, and the arm of the leaf spring includes a pair of locating apertures for the beam adaptor, each aperture being adapted to receive the beam adaptor and being associated with one of the graduated scales.

8. A gauge according to Claim 6, wherein the cursor includes said locating means to locate a portion of the skirt of a gas cylinder.

9. A gauge according to Claim 8, wherein said locating means includes a depression in a central part of the cursor, adapted to receive the portion of the skirt of a gas cylinder.

10. A gauge for indicating the quantity of liquid in a gas cylinder, substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 or Figs. 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.