CA1036799A - Fastener - Google Patents

Abstract

FASTENER

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The plates of an oil and gas separator are held in parallel relationship to each other by interlocking fastener-spacer units.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to maintainlng plate-like structures in spaced relation to each other by units which interlock to capture plates between ad~acent units. ~ore speclfically, the invention relates to a fastener which interlocks with similar fasteners to for~ a continuous support structure for plate-like sections captured between ad~acent fasten-cr units.

2. Description of the Prior Art:
The support of parallel plates inslde oll and Ras separators has been a problem from the beglnning of the practlce of the lnventlon dlsclosed in U.S. Patent Dixon 2,349,944 issued May 30, 1944. The parallel plates have been put together as a unit outslde their vessel and installed as a unit. The plates have also been mounted ln place, one at a time, inside their vessel.
Generally, it is desirable to install the plate unit after stress relleving the vessel. Otherwise, excessive heat will damage the relatively thin plates. However, subsequent installation is not always possible.
In all events, the plates must be individually supported while fixed parallel to each other to function as separating fitructures inside their separàtors. Varlous forms of rods, spacers and hangers have been used over the years. A partlcular problem developed when the plate unit was put together from plates wlth areas larger than nece6sary for the flnal installatlon wlthin the separator shell. The plate unit had to be sawed to conform to the lnternal space of the vessel in which it was mounted.
When it was necessary to saw through a rod support, if each plate was not attached to the rod, the assembly would start coming apart and extra labor wa~ required to attach the remaining rod to the plates. What is needed is a modular rod which can be parted at any point along its length and not become detached from the plates captured along its length.
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This may sound like a broad, indefini~e problem, but it is actually quite definite. Visualize a solid rod extended through aligned holes, each hole being in a plate. Sleeves are threaded over the rod and the two faces of each sleeve are too large to slide through the aligned holes of the plates. Therefore, the opposite faces of each sleeve abut the surface of the plates about each hole~ With a fastener on the outside of each plate on the outside of the unit of plates, the plates are spaced and fixed along the length of the rod.
Now if this ~od, and its spacers, is cut ln the shaping of the plate unit, the sleeves are free to move along the rod and the plates start falling apart at this point. The retaining, support, spacing structure requires stability and the present invention provides this stability.
There are other ways of holding the plates ln a unit and spacing them from each other. U.S. Patent to Stockton, et al 3,626,673 issued 15 December 14, 1971 describes plates held in modules by bands about the ends of each plate unit. There are other ways. However, the present invention seeks relief from construction of the inflexible plate unit configuration as represented by the disclosure of 3,626,673.
SU~nlARY OF THE INVE~TION
A principal ob~ect of the invention is to provide 8 male-female form for a rod segment which will interlock with similar segments to capture plate-like structures.
Another ob~ect is to form a support rod for mounting a series of spaced plate-like structures which rod can be cut at any point intermediate its length and retain the plate-like structures in a stable relation to each other.
The present invention is embodied in what can best be described as a section of rod. The section is generally cylindrical with a flat face sur-face for each end. When these sections are aligned, their faces toward each other, they capture flat portions of structures to be held in fixed relation to each other. Each rod section has a protuberance, or neck, extending axially from one of its two end faces. An axlal hole is formed in the second end face. The neck and hole are sized so the neck of one rod section will fit ln the hole of a second section. With the neck extending through a hole in the flat portion of a structure to be held, the remainin8 flat face surfaces of the two rod sections bear against the flat surface about the hole in holdlng the structure in position. Finally, the material of the rod section forming the wall of the hole is upset, or pressed inwardly, into the space formed by reducing thc diameter of the neck for a length intermediste the length of the neck. This locks the two rod sections to-gether, the plate captured, or mountet, between them.
Formet as a rod of the interlocking sections described above, the assembly can be cut at any point along its length without disturbing the stability of the remaining sections. The plates, held by mounting on the rod, can be sawed into desired configuratlons for mounting uni~ vessels.
If the shaping requires sawing through one of these rods of interlocking sections, there will be no 1088 of unity; the remaining rod will continue to support the plates as before.
Other ob~ects, advantages and features of this invention will be-come apparent to one skllled in the art upon consideration of the written specification, appended claims, and attached drawings, whereln;
Figure 1 is a sectioned elevation of an oil and gas separator with a plate section embodying the invention mounted within the shell;
Figure 2 is a section of Figure 1 along lines 2-2;
Figure 3 18 a sectlon of Flgure 2 along lines 3-3; and Figure 4 is an enlarged, partially sectioned, view of part of the structure of Figuro 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Figure 1, there is disclosed the essential structure of an oil and gas separator ln which a plate unit, embotying the present ~ ()36799 ention,is mounted. The shell 1 of the separator i5 an elongated cylinder shown in sectioned elevation.
Fluids flow into the horizontal shell through inlet 2. ~rhe fluids are a mixture of liquids and gases. The separation takes place within the shell 1 and the gases leave through outlet 3 while the liguids leave through outlet 4.
The li~uids are generally held to some desired level to prevent drawing off gas along with the liguids. As is conventional, float 5 is shown mounted so as to actuate a mechanism 6 which can then con-trol the draw~of of liquids through a valve not shown in this drawing.
Between the inlet 2 and the outlet 3, within the shell 1 of the separator, is plate unit 70 As a mixture of liguids and gases passes through unit 7, the plates of unit 7 function to remove the liquids entrained in the gases and flow the liguids down the unit 7 to the bottom of shell 1 where the liquids collect as body 8. The liquids are then drawn off through outlet 4 and the gases are drawn off through outlet 3.
Parallel plate units were first developed with the reduction to practice of the invention of the U~S. Patent 2,349,944 issued to Dixon May 30J 1g44. Many installation variations have been worked out over the years for many sires and shapes of vessels.
~ somewhat specific solution to arranging the units in modular form was reduced to practice and described in UOS. Patent 3,626,673, i~sued to Stockton, et al December 14, 1971. This arrangement proved to be quite limited in practice.
It was next hoped that the modular construction would be more acceptable to industry in the form conceived and discloæed in U.S.
Patent 3,795,091 issued to David M. Rennie March 5, 19740 And this may yet be exploited successfully on a commercial basis.

, - 5 -10367~9 On the other handl the technology and theory of liquid-gas separation has recently been reshuffled~ The structure described in UOS. Patent 3~813,855 issued to Ernest c. Hill, et al June 4, 1974 represents this new approach and has been successfully reduced to practice. Although the Dixon theory is seriously questioned by Hi Hill also uses parallel plates and the problems of holding these plates in parallel remain. The present invention soLves some of the problems o constructing units of paxallel plates.
To grasp the problem moxe fully, Figure 2 i8 established as a qection along lines 2-2 of Figure lo Unit 7 can be seen as conformed to the circular shape of the internal wall of shell 1. There are problems of providing access to the interior of shell 1 for unit 7 as a single structure or in sections. This problem is separate from that problem solved by this invention.
The present invention meets the problem of sawing, or cutting, unit 7 in the circular fonm to fit it to the interior walls of shell 1. The problem arises when this cutting requires parting one or more of rods 10 along their lengthO How do you cut through a rod 10 and not have the rod and plate assembl~ come apart? The present invention provides the answer.
The rods 10 are made up of multiple links, each of whose bodies have a length extending the distance between two of the parallel plates of unit 70 These rods of multiple links can be cut at any point along their length and the remaining portion of the rod will remain intact, holding each remaining plate between links adjacent each plate with dependability. Each link interlocks with its adjacent neighbor/ capturing a plate between them. The assembly will not "unravel." The shaping of unit 7 can be carried out with complete confidence as it is fitted into place within shell 1.
Behind the generalizations of Figures 1 and 2 is the more 11' ; ~ - 6 -specific disclosure of Figure 3. In Figure 3 a portion of unit 7 is shown as shaped to conform to the interior of shell 1. In this plan view, two of the rods 10 are shown in section, extending through the parallel plates of section 7. . . . O . . O . . . . .

: - 6a -~0;1*799 It can be plalnly seen, from Flgure 3, that the rods 10 were parted at points which enabled the Unit 7 to abut the interlor wall of shell t.
Also, the sectioning of the rods show them each to be made up of a ser~es of generally cylindrical bodies which lnterlock in series with each other.
One of the fastener-spacer units 11 has a male neck-like protrusion (11) 12 extending axially from the face of one end of the generally cylindrical (12) fastener-spacer unit 11. A female entry 13 extends axially into the body of (13) the unit 11 from the face of the second end of the body and thls entry is sised to receive the male portion 14 of a second body 15 to capture plate- (14) (1S) llke section 16. (16) Figure 4 is simply an enlarged vlew of a rod 10 to disclose the fastener-spacer units to better advantage. Unlt 11 is ~oined wlth unlts 15 and 17 to capture plate-like sectlons 16 and 18 between their faces. (17) (18) The constructlon and assembly wlll be revlewed and enlarged ln detail to be sure of complete understanding of the lnventlon embodled. Begln wlth generally cylindrical body 11. This body can be termed a link if desired.
In Figure 4 it extends horizontally with a vertical face 19 on a fir~t end (19) and a vertical face 20 on the other end. Plates 18 and 16 are held on (20) these faces.
Neck 12 extends axially outward from face 19. Axial bore 13 extends inwardly from face 20. As all units 11, 15 and 17 are made alike, the neck of 15 fits into the bore 13 to capture plate 16, and the neck 12 fits into the bore of 17 to capture plate 18.
Neck 12 is sized, in its maximum diameter, to fit down into the bore of unit 17. ~leanwhile, the neck of unit 15 is rammed up into female entry 13. Obviously thls lnterlocklng of necks into entrles must withstand large forces dlrected to dlsengage the allgned and ad~acent unlts.
Neck 12 is provitet a section 23 of reduced dia~eter betwee~ the (23) outward end 24 of the neck and face 19. The diameter of the outward end (24) 24 can provide a tlght flt ln the entry of unit 17. This could be a press _ fit tight enough to withstand a large force directed to disengage the units 11 and 17.
Additional strength to this union is provided by deforming a portion of the body material of the bore end of the unit into the section of reduced diameter of the neck. Specifically, an external blow at one or more points on the outside of the unit 17 could bring about the desired result. An example is disclosed in Figure 4. A blow has been struck unit 17 at 25. The blow has been with enough force to deform the internal wall (25) of the unit 17 bore toward the reduced diameter of neck 12. This material i8 indicated at 26. ~hl8 matQrial po81tlvely prevents the withdrawal of (26) neck 12 from the bore of unit 17. Plate 18 18 thereby securely captured upon the face t9.
CONCLUSION
Slmple structures, llke that dlscloslng the present lnventlon, lend themselves to a surprisingly large scope of descriptive language. Starting with the unit which forms rods 10, it is first viewed as both a fastener of parallel plates in fixed, spatial relatlonships to each other and rods 10 themselves, and as a spacer of the distance between the plates thereby attached to the rods. These functlons generate the term fa~tener-spacer to describe the unit. At the same tlme the slmple term "llnk" appears sufficlent lf functional language is coupled to it ln description.
Turning to the form of the unit, it appears to be broadly "cylin-drical." The true scope of the invention does not appear to be limited by this term.
Once the unit ls defined as cylindrical, the orientation about its axis gives a sound descrlptive base. The bore in one end becomes axial.
The neck, or protrusion, from the other end is given a logical relationship to the bore of an ad~acent unit. The end faces of the generally cylindrical unit capture plates in parallel. The remainder of the description falls readily within this framework.

The disclosure 18 now seen to include a modular rod, each unit being a module. Parting of this elongated structure at any polnt along its length does not endanger the strength and integrlty of the remaining portion of the rod. The inventlon should be readily comprehended from this description developed as outlined.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this inventlon is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and ob~ects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvlou~ and inherent to the spparatus.
It will be understood that certain features and subcombinatlons are of utllity and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-comblnations. This i8 contemplatet by and 18 within the scope of the in-vention.
As many posslble embodlments may be made of the lnventlon wlthout departing from the scope thereof, lt i8 to be understood that all matter hereln set forth or shown ln the accompanying drawings is to be lnterpreted ln an lllustratlve and not ln a llmltlng sense.

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Claims (2)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method for joining a plurality of plate-like structures parallel to each other, including, forming aligned holes through the plate-like structures, forming each of a series of generally cylindrical metallic bodies, (a) with a diameter larger than the diameter of the aligned holes, (b) with an axial bore extending inwardly from one end of the body, and (c) with a neck extending outwardly from the other end of the body and having, (1) its outward end with a diameter substantially that of the aligned holes through the plate-like structures, and (2) its section between the face of the body from which the neck extends and its outward end reduced in diameter, inserting the neck of each body through the hole in one of the plate-like structures and extending the neck into the axial bore of a second of the bodies in capture of the plate-like structure between the end faces of the two bodies, and upsetting the second body from external of the body on its axial bore end so as to protrude a portion of the second body intotthe section of reduced diameter of the neck to lock in union the adjacent bodies for permanent capture of the plate-like section between them.

2. The method of Claim 1 in which the outward end of the neck is sized to a press-fit within its axial bore.