EP0680453B1 - Safety device for a valve insert in a beverage barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

The locking member (15) is of double-angle-section, with a rib (22) protruding outwards, an inclined portion (23), and an inner protrusion (24). The rib fits in a trapezium-section recess in the plate. A cone face (9) joins the top and bottom standpipe sections, and is at a distance from the locking-member protrusion greater than the normal opening stroke of the standpipe. The housing can comprise a tube (7) and a ring (2) engaging together via a bayonet coupling (4).

Description

The invention relates to a safety device for a valve insert in an outlet opening of a pressurized beverage keg, in particular a beer keg, with a housing, a riser pipe, a base plate, an external compression spring, which is supported on the one hand on the base plate and on the other hand on a sealing body, and with at least one locking element which is pivotally clamped between the external compression spring and the base plate in such a way that it evades the barrel outlet opening in the axially directed operation and engages behind its inner edge in the operating position.

Various types of safety devices of the aforementioned type are known in practice. They serve to seal a pressurized beverage keg, in particular a beer keg, after filling and during transport at the outlet opening and to be connected to a dispensing head when the beverage is subsequently filled. During the factory preparation of the beverage kegs, the safety devices are inserted into the respective outlet opening of the beverage keg. The part of the beverage keg simply referred to here as the barrel outlet opening generally has a pipe socket which at least partially projects into the beverage keg and is provided with an internal thread towards the outer upper end, so that the safety device, which is provided with a corresponding external thread , can be screwed tight after use. The beverage keg is then subjected to further treatment processes, in particular pressure measurement for leaks, cleaning, etc. until finally the beverage keg at another location, namely at a separate inlet opening with which drinks are filled and then closed.

In practice, numerous accidents have occurred, mostly due to improper handling of the valve insert in the barrel outlet opening. If you have unscrewed the previously common valve inserts when the beverage keg is full or at least partially full, the internal pressure in the beverage keg has caused the entire device to fly upwards at high speed and pose a great danger to the operator.

In order to prevent this danger, generally applicable regulations have been issued to provide the valve inserts with safety devices which are to prevent the valve insert from flying out if operated improperly. The consequence of these regulations was that the most varied, mostly very complicated constructions became known. For example, a safety device is known in practice which has a bayonet plate in use, on which a fixed hook is provided which, in the operating position, engages under the lower or inner edge of a pipe socket at the barrel outlet opening. However, this construction has the disadvantage that the entire safety device with its individual parts must be used in the disassembled state because the dimensions of the bayonet plate are larger than the diameter of the barrel outlet opening or the said pipe socket because of the fixed hook. The bayonet plate must therefore first be brought into an inclined position through the outlet opening on the inside of the pipe socket and then pivoted into the correct position, after which the actual assembly of the safety device must take place with the bayonet catch, etc. In the standard treatment of beverage barrels in the beverage industry, manipulations are considered the large number of barrels produced is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming.

A similar safety device specified at the beginning is known from GB-OS 21 88 040. Here too, the actual locking element is integrally formed on the bayonet plate in the form of a radially projecting hook. For this reason, only a partial assembly of the safety device can be carried out, namely a partial assembly of the central tube with a sealing ring, compression spring and initially a loose bayonet plate. Because of the radial projection of the locking element, the insertion through the outlet opening of the barrel can only take place in the inclined position of the bayonet plate and the central tube. Then the final assembly of the safety device takes place by placing a separate head part with a cylindrical pipe socket, at the inner end of which L-shaped slots are provided, into which radial projections of the bayonet plate must be used. Only then can the safety device be finally screwed into the outlet opening of the drum. Here, too, the assembly processes are quite cumbersome and time-consuming, especially since the compression spring has to be compressed during assembly on the barrel in order to snap the bayonet plate into place.

Another similarly constructed safety device is known from WO 91/026 94-A1. In this construction, the locking element consists of a relatively long, axially extending tongue, at the upper end of which a ring is formed, which in turn is held by the upper end of the compression spring. The lower end of the tongue is bent outwards and has a radially outward web. Because of this shape of the locking element, the assembly must also first in an inclined position of the central tube and the surrounding Parts take place before the housing can be straightened, inserted axially and finally screwed down.

Finally, from DE-OS 38 44 428 a break-proof anchoring for dispensing pipes on beer containers is known. Here, on an upper closure piece, three axially parallel rods distributed over the circumference are provided, at the lower end of which are articulated by means of joints or the like. Angled arms leading obliquely upwards and outwards, which engage through windows in the tube wall of the head piece. The free ends of these arms are directed towards the inner surface of the neck of the vessel, so that loosening of the head piece from the barrel is prevented by turning.

Further safety devices are known from GB-A-2 209 740 and US-A-1 003 447.

A safety device specified at the beginning is known from DE-A-41 14 604. Although this results in a structurally simple, assemblable and usable device, it has been found that, above all, the removal from the barrel outlet opening is too cumbersome and time-consuming for practice.

In contrast, the invention has for its object to provide a safety device that can be brought into the operating position on the one hand in the fully assembled state by simply axially pressing into the barrel outlet opening and by subsequent screwing and on the other hand expanded again as a closed unit by using a special tap head can be.

The object is achieved in that the locking element is designed as a double angle piece with an outwardly projecting web, an inclined part and an inner projection that the web in one trapezoidal recess of the base plate is mounted that the riser has a conical extension between the lower riser part with a small diameter and the upper riser part located in the housing with a larger diameter and that the conical extension is provided at a distance from the projection of the locking element which is greater than is the normal opening stroke of the riser pipe.

In this way, there is the essential advantage that with normal operation of the valve insert with the safety device by means of a normal dispensing head, full safety is maintained, even in the event of improper handling, but that the removal can be carried out very quickly and easily using a special dispensing head. Such a special dispensing head, which produces a much greater stroke of the riser pipe than a normal dispensing head, is only available in the manufacturer's plant or in the filling stations, but is not available on the open market.

Advantageous refinements of the invention result from the subclaims.

• Fig. 1 einen mittleren Vertikalschnitt durch eine Sicherheitsvorrichtung,
• Fig. 2 einen Vertikalschnitt durch ein Bajonettrohr,
• Fig. 3 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Verriegelungselementes in vergrößerter Darstellung,
• Fig. 4 einen Vertikalschnitt durch eine Zentrierscheibe in vergrößerter Darstellung,
• Fig. 5 einen Vertikalschnitt durch eine Bodenplatte,
• Fig. 6 eine Draufsicht auf die Bodenplatte gemäß Fig. 5,
• Fig. 7 einen Schnitt gemäß Schnittlinie VII-VII in Fig. 6,
• Fig. 8 eine Seitenansicht zu Fig. 6,
• Fig. 9 einen mittleren Vertikalschnitt durch eine Sicherheitsvorrichtung in einer anderen Ausgestaltung,
• Fig. 10 ein Bajonettrohr entsprechend Fig. 2, welches in der Sicherheitsvorrichtung gemäß Fig. 9 Verwendung findet,
• Fig. 11 einen mittleren Vertikalschnitt durch eine Sicherheitsvorrichtung in einer anderen Ausgestaltung,
• Fig. 12 eine Vorderansicht zu Fig. 11,
• Fig. 13 einen Vertikalschnitt durch eine Bodenplatte in einer anderen Ausgestaltung,
• Fig. 14 eine Draufsicht zu Fig. 13,
• Fig. 15 einen Schnitt gemäß Schnittlinie XV-XV in Fig. 14,
• Fig. 16 einen mittleren Vertikalschnitt zu Fig. 14,
• Fig. 17 eine Seitenansicht auf das Bajonettrohr entsprechend Fig. 2,
• Fig. 18 eine Ansicht auf die Unterseite des Bajonettrohres gemäß Fig. 17,
• Fig. 19 eine Draufsicht zu Fig. 17,
• Fig. 20 einen mittleren Vertikalschnitt zu Fig. 17 und
• Fig. 21 eine Abwicklung des Bajonettrohres gemäß Fig. 17.

In the drawing, exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the diagram, namely:

• 1 is a middle vertical section through a safety device,
• 2 shows a vertical section through a bayonet tube,
• 3 is a perspective view of a locking element in an enlarged view,
• 4 shows a vertical section through a centering disk in an enlarged view,
• 5 shows a vertical section through a base plate,
• 6 shows a plan view of the base plate according to FIG. 5,
• 7 shows a section along section line VII-VII in FIG. 6,
• 8 is a side view of FIG. 6,
• 9 is a middle vertical section through a safety device in another embodiment,
• 10 shows a bayonet tube corresponding to FIG. 2, which is used in the safety device according to FIG. 9,
• 11 is a middle vertical section through a safety device in another embodiment,
• 12 is a front view of FIG. 11,
• 13 shows a vertical section through a base plate in another embodiment,
• 14 is a plan view of FIG. 13,
• 15 shows a section along section line XV-XV in FIG. 14,
• 16 is a middle vertical section of FIG. 14,
• 17 is a side view of the bayonet tube corresponding to FIG. 2,
• 18 is a view of the underside of the bayonet tube according to FIG. 17,
• 19 is a plan view of FIG. 17,
• Fig. 20 is a middle vertical section to Fig. 17 and
• 21 shows a development of the bayonet tube according to FIG. 17.

1 to 8 illustrate an embodiment of a safety device for use in a barrel outlet opening of a pressurized beverage barrel, in particular a beer barrel. Of the barrel outlet opening known per se, part of a pipe socket 45 with a lower edge 46 is shown in vertical section in FIG. 1 only for better illustration. The insert device 1, which is also called fitting in technical terminology, has a housing which is formed from a cam ring 2 and a bayonet tube 7. The cam ring has an external thread 3 and on the inner circumference near the lower end three evenly distributed cams 4 which form a bayonet catch with the upper end of the bayonet tube. For this purpose, three recesses 16 distributed over the circumference and horizontal tabs 17, each with a locking head 18, are provided on the upper edge of the bayonet tube 7. A sealing body 5 and a sealing plate 6 are located in the area of the cam ring. A riser pipe 8 is located centrally in the housing and extends with the lower end to a certain distance from the bottom of the beverage barrel. At the upper end, the riser pipe has an outwardly flanged edge, which is held between the sealing body 5 and the upper end of an external compression spring 13.

The riser pipe 8 is provided with a conical extension 9, so that the lower riser pipe part has a smaller diameter and the upper riser pipe part 10 located in the housing parts 3 and 7 has a larger diameter. There is one inside the riser Internal compression spring 11, which in this exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1 is supported with the lower end on a circumferential bead 12 in the riser pipe and with the upper end on the underside of the sealing plate 6.

The bayonet tube 7 has at the lower area or after the inner end three radial indentations 21 distributed over the circumference, on the upper edges of which a base plate 14 rests, which is centered simultaneously within the bayonet tube 7. 5 to 8 in particular, the base plate consists of an annular disk 27 and an integrally molded guide collar 28. This guide collar surrounds the lower end of the upper riser tube part 10, which has an enlarged diameter. The annular disk 27 of the base plate is provided with a trapezoidal recess 29 . In addition, the guide collar 28 of the base plate has a passage opening 30 for a locking element 15 in the area of the trapezoidal depression 29.

The locking element 15 is, as the enlarged perspective view according to FIG. 3 shows, designed as a double angle piece with an outwardly projecting web 22, an inclined part 23 and an inner projection 24. The web 22 of the locking element 15 is mounted in the trapezoidal recess 29 of the base plate 14 and at the same time laterally secured and guided. The height of the recess 29 corresponds to the height or thickness of the web 22 of the locking element, so that the last lower binding of the external compression spring 13 lies on the entire circumference tightly on the base plate 14 and the locking element 15, so that the pressure of the external compression spring the locking element 19th holds in the outwardly pivoted operating position or locking position relative to the lower edge 46 of the barrel outlet port 45.

The conical extension 9 on the riser pipe 8 is provided in relation to the closed position of the valve insert at a distance from the upper surface of the projection 24 of the locking element 15 which is greater than the normal opening stroke of the riser pipe 8.

This special construction results in the following mode of operation.

When the safety device is installed in the barrel outlet opening, the locking element 15 is constantly in the locking position by pressure of the external compression spring 13. The valve insert is also sealed at the top. If a conventional dispensing head is now placed and operated to tap the beverage, the sealing body 5 with the sealing plate 6 and the riser pipe 8, 10 are pressed downward against the pressure of the external compression spring 13. However, the stroke produced by the normal dispensing head is smaller than the distance of the conical extension 9 from the projection 24 of the locking element 15, so that the upper inner edge of the projection 24 comes into contact with the inner edge of the conical extension 9 at most. If, instead, a special tap head is placed, this will generate such a large stroke that the conical extension 9 meets the projection 24, so that the inner upper edge of the projection 24 slides along the conical extension 9 while simultaneously pivoting the locking element 15 to the lower region of the upper riser pipe part 10. Thus, the locking element 15 is forced to pivot so far in the counterclockwise direction in the illustration according to FIG. 1 that the outer edge of the locking element 15 is within the barrel outlet opening, so that one now can unscrew the safety device overall in a simple manner.

In the described safety device, it is generally sufficient to provide only a single locking element 15 in the manner described. To increase security, however, several, preferably three locking elements can be arranged on the circumference with uniform distances and in corresponding trapezoidal depressions.

The bayonet tube 7 is equipped on the circumference with a plurality of passage openings 19, 20, which once allow the passage of the compressed gas supplied from the outside when the valve insert is opened and which also serve to facilitate cleaning of the device.

Depending on the design of the safety device, an additional guidance of the riser 8 can be achieved in that a centering disk 25 with a centering ring 26 is inserted at a suitable point, for. B. between the lower end of the outer compression spring 13 and the bottom plate 14.

FIGS. 9 to 16 explained below are intended to illustrate that the measures according to the invention can also be used with differently designed safety devices. 9 shows the use of a sealing ball 31 known per se instead of the sealing plate 6 according to FIG. 1. FIGS. 11 and 12 show an embodiment, the inside pressure spring 32 being inside the riser pipe, namely the upper riser pipe part 10 with a larger diameter is arranged that it is supported on the one hand on the inner surface of the conical extension 9 and on the other hand on the sealing ball 31. With this design, it is advantageous that the internal compression spring 32 between the inner surface of the conical extension 9 and the sealing ball 31 is tapered upwards. In contrast to the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the housing 33 is formed in one piece with a head plate 34. In addition, there is a bayonet catch at the lower end of the housing 33 35 is provided between the housing and the base plate 14. For this purpose, angular recesses 38 are provided on the circumference at the lower edge of the housing 33, so that the base plate 14 forms the said bayonet catch 35 with outwardly projecting projections. Similar to the bayonet tube 7, the housing 36 has through openings 36. Furthermore, the external screw thread 37 is attached to the housing.

13 to 16 illustrate a simplified and lighter design of a base plate 39, which consists of an annular disk 40 with three integrally molded guide webs 41, 42 and 43 directed upward on the inner edge, with at least one point on the circumference of the annular disk 40 again trapezoidal depression 44 corresponding to the depression 29 according to FIGS. 5 to 8 is provided.

Claims (10)

1. A safety device for a valve-inset in the dispensing aperture of a pressurized beverage cask, in particular a beer keg, comprising a housing (3, 7), a rise pipe (8), a base plate (14), an external compression spring (13) resting on one hand against the base plate (14) and on the other hand against a seal (5), further comprising at least one locking element (15) pivotably mounted in such manner between the external compression spring (13) and the base plate (14) that it moves out of the way relative to the cask dispensing aperture (45) during the axially directed insertion procedure and that it engages the inside rim (46) from behind,
      characterized in that
   the locking element (15) is designed as a double-angled piece with an outwardly projecting tang (22), an oblique segment (23) and an inward projection (24), in that the tang (22) rests in a trapezoidal recess (29) of the base plate (14), in that the rise pipe (8) comprises a conical flaring (9) between the lower rise-pipe portion of lesser diameter and the upper rise-pipe portion (10) of larger diameter and present in the housing (3, 7), and in that the conical flaring (9) is away from the projection (24) of the locking element (15) by a distance larger than the normal opening excursion of the rise pipe (8).
2. Safety device defined in claim 1, characterized in that the housing is composed of a pin-fitted ring (2) and a bayonet-fitted pipe (7) which cooperate in the manner of a mutual bayonet lock (4, 16, 17, 18).
3. Safety device defined in claim 2, characterized in that the bayonet-fitted pipe (7) comprises circumferentially distributed, radial recesses (21) supporting the base plate (14) by their upper edges.
4. Safety device defined in claim 3, characterized in that the base plate (14) consists of an annular pane (27) with an integral guide collar (28) and in that the guide collar (28) encloses the lower end of the upper rise-pipe portion (10).
5. Safety device defined in claim 4, characterized in that the guide collar (28) comprises a transmission aperture (30) for the locking element (15) in the vicinity of the trapezoidal recess (29).
6. Safety device defined in one of claims 2 through 5, characterized in that the bayonet-fitted pipe (7) comprises several circumferentially distributed transmission apertures (19, 20).
7. Safety device defined in one of the above claims, characterized in that an internal compression spring (11, 32) is mounted inside the rise pipe (8, 10) and rests on one hand against the inside surface of the conical flaring (9) or against a circumferential constriction (12) and on the other hand against a sealing plate (6) or a sealing ball (31).
8. Safety device defined in claim 7, characterized in that the internal compression spring (32) tapers conically upward between the inside surface of the conical flaring (9) and the sealing ball (31).
9. Safety device defined in claim 1, characterized in that the base plate (39) is composed of an annular pane (40) with the trapezoidal recess (44) and of three integral guide tangs (41, 42, 43) at the inside edge.
10. Safety device defined in one of the above claims, characterized in that a centering disk (25) with an integral centering collar (26) is inserted between the lower end of the external compression spring (13) and the base plate (14, 39).

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