EP2008693A1

EP2008693A1 - Piercer for a compressed gas vessel

Info

Publication number: EP2008693A1
Application number: EP07111219A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Erhard Rothgangl
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-06-27
Filing date: 2007-06-27
Publication date: 2008-12-31

Abstract

The piercer is designed primarily for a pneumatic system driving a roof smoke flap, to be opened in case of a fire.

The piercer has a body (1) with a socket (2) connecting a pressure vessel, which is connected by a side channel (3) with the gas outlet socket (4). The tubular striker (5), with a longitudinal slot is fixed to the piston (6) sliding concentrically with vessel connection socket (11) and is pressed by a return spring (7). The piston (6) has close to its end protruding out of the body (1) a neck ("d"), while the releasing lever (8) has a cut-out (10) in the form of circular hole of a diameter (D1) slightly greater than the diameter (D) of the piston (6), connected with a notch ("p") the width of which is slightly greater than the neck diameter ("d"). The symmetry axis of the cut-out (10) is perpendicular to the axle (9) bearing the releasing lever (8).

Description

Subject of the invention is a piercer for a compressed gas vessel, used in systems operated by compressed gas. The piercer is designed particularly for an actuator driving a smoke roof flap, which is initiated by a smoke sensor.
A known solution of a piercer, presented in the description of the utility model PL-Y1-61502 , has a body in which there is a socket for the vessel connected through a side channel with the gas outlet socket. In the vessel socket there is a concentrically located striker tube with a longitudinal slot fixed to a piston, which is sliding in the piercer body and is pressed by a return spring. Piercing the diaphragm covering the hole of the vessel is caused by a releasing lever which is moving in the body and slides the piston towards the vessel set in the seat. Upon piercing the diaphragm, the releasing lever is stopped by an additional locking lever. Such a solution, which requires freeing the release lever when loading the piercer again, requires replacement of the compressed gas vessel at the same time, when loading the piercer.
Known are also piercer units of complex construction, in which the striker is moved by e.g. the energy of a micro charge started by an electric pulse, or - like that presented in WO 98/50112 - by releasing the locked striker spring, upon deformation of a thermo-ampoule.
The piercer according the present invention has, like the solution described above, a body with a vessel socket connected through a side channel with the gas outlet socket. The tubular striker with a longitudinal slot is fixed to the piston sliding concentrically in the vessel socket and is pressed by the return spring. The releasing lever moving in the body presses the piston towards the vessel.
The essence of the solution consists in that the striker piston has a neck close to the end protruding out of the body, while the releasing lever has a cut-out consisting of a hole of a diameter slightly greater than the piston diameter and a notch connected with it, of a width slightly greater than the neck diameter. The axis of symmetry is perpendicular to the axle on which the releasing lever is moving.
In such a solution, at the end of the phase of piercing the vessel diaphragm, the neck enters into to the hole of the cut-out, and at the bottom position of the releasing lever, when the piston is in the plane of the cut-out hole, the releasing lever pressure is freed, and the lever is pushed up by the force of the return spring. The releasing lever is then blocked in its lower position by the striker piston. When re-charging the piercer with a new gas vessel, the freeing of the releasing lever requires that the piston is moved down by hand and the neck inserted into the grove of the cut-out.
The piercer can be made in a version designed solely to supply the system with compressed gas - and then the side channel on the back wall of the body is being stopped by a plugging piece, e.g. a threaded or glued pin, or a pressed ball.
The piercer can also be made in a version enabling operation in conjunction with an external valve, which vents the branch fed through the functionally coupled piercer, and which is closed at the phase of piercing the diaphragm and keeping the pressure, while opening that valve causes venting the branch. The side channel in that version is open through a hole in a sleeve, which is fitted into the back wall of the body. The sleeve has an external neck and a sealing O-ring set on the neck. The O-ring provides tight connection of the side channel with the surface to which the back wall of the body abuts.
Useful is a version of the piercer designed for direct mechanical control by an external valve venting the branch fed by gas from the vessel. In such a version a second control lever with a cross section in the form of a C-beam is moving on the axle set in the body. The flanges (side walls) of the second control lever grasp the flanges of the releasing lever and the second lever is longer than the releasing lever. The releasing lever has a protruding prong at the bottom corner of the flanges, while the web of the control lever is cut at the side of the axle on a depth at which the radius of the front edge of the cut-out in the upper wall is slightly greater than inner radius of the prong. The control lever reaches with its control arm behind the back wall of the body.
The control arm can have a straight flange of the releasing lever or that flange can have its end bent, the end having a forked cut-out into which the perpendicularly bent end of the axle can be inserted. The bent end of the axle protrudes out behind the back of the body.
It is also advantageous to have the surface of the neck tapered at the side of the striker.
The socket of the vessel connection is preferably not machined directly in the body, but in a sleeve set in the body. Such a make enables using a material of higher strength than the body for the zone exposed to wear.
The piercer according the invention is shown in examples of execution as follows. Fig. 1 shows the perspective view in vertical section of the piercer version with the vessel socket made directly in the body, having the releasing level set in the upper (armed) position; Fig. 2 shows the vertical section of the version with the vessel socket made in an insert in the body, at the phase when the diaphragm is already pierced, with the releasing level set in the lower (locked) position; Fig. 3 shows the top view of the piercer with the releasing lever locked; Fig. 4 shows the striker with the piston; Fig. 5 shows the perspective view of the piercer; Fig. 6 shows the detail of the end of the side channel of a piercer adapted to operation in conjunction with an external valve; Fig. 7 shows another make of the piercer in perspective view, with the additional control lever, which is extended on the other side of the axle into an arm serving to control another external valve, e.g. a venting slide valve; Fig. 8 shows the perspective view of the releasing lever of the make shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 the perspective view of the control lever of the version shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 10 shows the perspective view of another control lever; the Fig. 11, 12, 13 present the consecutive operational phases of the piercer shown in Fig. 7, and Fig. 14 shows the top view of that piercer.
In the central vertical plane of the cubicoid body 1 are there vertical holes starting on its upper and bottom wall, serving as the gas vessel socket 2 and the gas outlet socket 4. These sockets are connected in the inner of the body 1 by a horizontal channel 3. The tubular striker 5 with a longitudinal slot is located concentrically with the vessel socket 2 and is fixed in the piston 6, which is set in the body 1 and sealed by means of the sealing O-ring 13.
The piston 6 is pressed by the return spring 7. Close to its end sticking out of the body 1 it has a neck "d". The releasing lever 8, in the form of a channel bar made of sheet metal, swings on the axle 9 set in the body 1. In the upper wall of the releasing lever 8 there is a cut-out 10, the form of which consists of a hole with the diameter D1 - slightly greater than the diameter D of the piston 6 - and the notch "p", connected with the hole D1.
The symmetry axis of cut-out 10 is perpendicular to the axle 9 on which swings the releasing lever 8. The return spring 7 is placed between the piston 6 and the stop ring 12, to which - in the make shown in Fig. 1 - adheres the sealing O-ring 14 for the gas vessel. In the version shown in Fig. 2 the stop ring 12 is located in the steel bush 11 constituting the vessel socket 2, screwed into the aluminum body 1.
The side channel 3 starting at the back wall of the body 1 is closed in the version showed in Fig. 1 by a pin glued-in. Into the gas outlet socket 4 there is screwed-in the union piece 16 of the piping connecting the compressed gas piping. The operation of piston 6 in conjunction with the notch "p" of the cut-out 10 is considerably easier, when the side surface of the neck "d" is conic at the side of the striker 5, which is clearly demonstrated in Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 shows the detail of the piercer in the version suiting to vent the branch fed by the piercer through an external valve. The side channel 3, at the back wall of the body 1 holds the sleeve 17, having an external neck on which the sealing O-ring 18 is placed.
The drawings Fig. 7 to 14 show the piercer version adapted to mechanical switching over by an external venting valve (not shown in the drawings), which is pneumatically connected with the side channel 3.
On the axle 9 set into the body 1 there swings the second control lever 19, the cross section of which has also the form of a channel bar, and the flanges (side walls) of which enclose the flanges of the releasing lever 8. The length "L2" of the control lever 19 is longer than the length "L1" of the releasing lever 8. The releasing lever 8 has prongs 20 at its bottom web edge, while the web (upper wall) of the control lever 19 is cut-out at the side of the axle 9 that far, that the external radius "r2" on the web is slightly greater than the inner radius "r1" of the prong 20. The control lever 19 is extended by its controlling arm 22 beyond the back wall of the body 1.
In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, 8, and 9, the web of the control lever 19 jest extended behind the back wall of the body 1 and its end bent outwards has a forked cut-out 21. The axle 9 is perpendicularly bent, forming a control arm 22 which is being inserted into the forked cut-out 21 and protrudes behind the back wall of the body 1. The control arm can also be made according to Fig.10, as a straight extension of the web of the control lever 19.
The functioning of the piercer in the version shown in z Fig. 7, having the releasing lever 8 and the control lever 19, is clarified by Fig. 11, 12, and 13, which show the positions of the levers at characteristic points.
The gas vessel is being set in the socket 2, when the piercer 5 is its upper position, with the corresponding position of the levers 8 and 19, marked in Fig. 11 by the letter "a". The neck "d" of the striker 5 is located in the notch "p" of the cut-out 10 in the web (upper wall) of the releasing lever 8.
Pressing the control lever 19 down, causes first moving it into the position "b" in Fig. 12. In that position, the web of the control lever 19 is in contact with the prongs 20 of the releasing lever 8, which up to that time was held in its upper position by the pressure of the return spring 7.
A further pressure on the control lever 19 causes simultaneous moving of both levers 8 and 19, and the edges of the notch "p" press the striker 5 down, which causes its pointed tip to pierce the diaphragm of the gas vessel.
In the bottom position of the control lever 19, marked by the letter "c" in Fig. 13, the striker 5 gets to the bottom position "e", and at then the releasing lever 8 is no more pressed down. The releasing results in consequence of sliding the neck "d" of the piston 6 out of the notch "p" and getting into the circular hole D1 of the cut out 10. The piston 6 raised by the return spring 7 prevents raising the releasing lever 8 by blocking it on the edge of the hole D1.
Lifting the releasing lever 8 is possible only upon having the piston 6 pressed down in direction of the arrow "f", when the neck "d" can be slid into the notch "p". Corresponding with the movement of the control lever 19 occurs the movement of the control arm 22, and the movement of which from "a" to "b" can be used to switch over - before piercing the diaphragm - the external valve connected with the side channel 3 into the position "closed".

Claims

Piercer for a compressed gas vessel, for piercing its closing diaphragm, said piercer with a cubicoid body provided with a socket connected through a side channel with the gas outlet socket; provided further with a tubular striker with a longitudinal slot fixed in a piston sliding in the axis of the vessel socket and pressed by a return spring; and provided further with a releasing lever which is swinging on an axle set in the body, the web (upper wall) of which lever presses the piston towards the vessel, characterized in that the piston (6) of the striker (5) has a neck ("d") close to its end protruding out of the body (1), while the web (upper wall) of the releasing lever has a cut-out (10) in the form of a circular hole (D1) with the diameter slightly greater than the diameter (D) of the piston (6) and a notch ("p"), the width of which is slightly greater than the neck ("d"), with the symmetry axis of the cut-out (10) arranged perpendicularly to the axis (9) of the releasing lever (8).
Piercer according to claim 1 characterized in that the side channel (3) is closed on the back wall of the body (1) by a stopper (15).
Piercer according to claim 1 characterized in that the side channel (3) on the back wall of the body (1) is open through the sleeve (17) set into it, which is provided with an external neck on which the sealing O-ring (18) is placed.
Piercer according to claim 3 characterized in that on the bearing axle (9) set in the body (1) there is a second control lever (19) with the cross section in form of a C-bar, the flanges (side walls) of which reach over the flanges of the releasing lever (8), with a length (L2) greater than the length of the releasing lever (L1), the releasing lever (8) having at the lower end of the flanges prongs (20), and the web (upper wall) of the control lever (19) is cut out on the side of the axle (9) to a depth at which the radius ("r2") of the front edge of the cut-out in the web is slightly greater than the inner radius ("r1") of the prongs (20).
Piercer according to claim 4 characterized in that the flange (side wall) of the control lever (19) is extended by its control arm (22) behind the back wall of the body (1).
Piercer according to claim 4 characterized in that the flange (side wall) of the control lever (19) is extended in direction of the back wall of the body (1) and its end bent outwards has a forked cut-out (21), and one end of the axle (9) is bent perpendicularly forming a control arm (22) which is inserted into the forked cut-out (21) and protrudes beyond the back wall of the body (1).
Piercer according to claim 1 characterized in that the side surface ("d") of neck on the side of the striker (5) is conical.
Piercer according to claim 1 characterized in that the socket (2) of the vessel consists of a bush (11) set into the body (1) of the piercer.