ES2941522T3 - Gas bottle that includes a safety valve - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention refers to a safety valve (10) for a gas bottle (1); the valve (10) is made entirely of an elastically deformable material, has a longitudinal axis (A) and comprises a fixed part (11) and a movable part (12) both of which together are a single component; the fixed part (11) comprises an annular flange (13) fixable to the inside of the bottle (1) around a perforable part (4) thereof; The movable part (12) cantilevered from the rim (13) and comprises a sealing portion (14) arranged in a radially innermost position with respect to the rim (13) and elastically loaded between a normal sealing condition, in where it is elastically loaded in a first axial direction (R) against a wall (3) of the bottle (1) around the perforable part (4), and an opening condition, obtained by an external push in a second direction (T ) along said axis (A), opposite to said first direction (R); The mobile part (12) also comprises a plurality of petals (15) angularly equidistant from each other around the axis (A), delimiting respective through windows (16) from each other and connecting the rim (13) to the sealing portion (14). . (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Gas bottle that includes a safety valve

Cross reference to related requests

This patent application claims priority over Italian patent application No. 102018000009658 filed on October 22, 2018.

technical field

The present invention refers to a gas bottle, in particular of the portable type and designed to be used to supply gas to an external user device, such as barbecues, stoves, lamps and similar devices, which includes a safety valve to limit flows. gas outlet after the disconnection of the bottle itself, when it is not yet empty, from the external user device.

Background art

Gas cylinders of the type indicated above are known, essentially comprising:

- a sealed container, filled with gas under pressure, for example, butane gas or a mixture of butane and propane gas, and provided, on its upper wall, with a part that can be pierced to allow the supply of gas to the external user device ; and

- a leak limiter or safety valve placed inside the container to limit at least the outflow of gas in the case where the punctureable part has been punctured and the bottle itself is not connected to the external user device.

In particular, the valve is normally fixed inside the container of the bottle by means of a support structure fitted between the upper wall of the container itself and its side wall, on which it rests on a specific internal annular projection. This solution is somewhat complex and, above all, expensive in relation to the total cost of marketing bottles of this type.

Therefore, the need is strongly felt to find alternative valve attachment systems, which are simpler and less expensive than those currently available.

WO 2015/092447 discloses a safety valve for a gas bottle fixed, by means of an adhesive substance or by means of a support frame, around the pierceable part of the upper wall of the container of the gas bottle.

In particular, the valve is made entirely of an elastically flexible material and comprises a fixed part, connected in one piece, in use, to the upper wall of the container with the exception of a plurality of gas passages, and a movable part of cap type, which is normally concave towards the pierceable part of the container and is pushed down, in use, by a part of the external user device after piercing the pierceable part of the gas bottle to widen the opening passages gas.

In the case of separation of the external user device from the bottle, the mobile part, pushed by the gas pressure, tends to bend upwards changing its concavity to convexity and closing the hole made in the perforable part of the bottle. However, it has been found that the gas pressure within the bottle container is generally not sufficient to cause the movable part to obstruct the hole of the pierceable part, since the required movement of the movable part is considerable.

Documents GR1008914B and EP1406041A2 disclose gas cylinders as defined in the preamble of claim 1.

Disclosure of the invention

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to manufacture a gas bottle, which satisfies the aforementioned requirements and at the same time overcomes the drawbacks of the above-specified prior art solutions, in particular allowing, in use, an effective closure and reliable after detachment from the external user device.

The above-mentioned object is achieved by the present invention, as far as a gas bottle is concerned, as defined in claim 1.

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of the present invention, a preferred embodiment thereof is described below, purely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

- figure 1 illustrates, in a perspective view in partial cross section, a gas bottle provided with a safety valve manufactured according to the guidelines of the present invention;

figures 2 and 3 are perspective views, on an enlarged scale and from opposite sides, of the safety valve of figure 1; and

figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate, on an enlarged scale, a detail of the bottle of figure 1, in three different operating configurations.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

With reference to figure 1, the reference number 1 indicates as a whole a gas bottle comprising a sealed container 2 filled with pressurized gas, preferably butane gas or a mixture of butane and propane gas, and provided, on its wall 3, specifically on its upper wall, of a part that can be pierced 4 (also visible in figures 4, 5 and 6) to allow the supply of gas to an external user device 5 (known and schematically illustrated in figure 5). eg barbecues, stoves or lamps.

As can be seen in figure 1, the container 2 preferably has a configuration to a greater or lesser extent cylindrical having an axis A. More precisely, the container 2 is delimited, as well as by the upper wall 3, which has a profile circular, by a bottom wall 6, substantially in the shape of a disc, and by a side wall 7 to a greater or lesser extent cylindrical.

The upper wall 3 is slightly convex outwards and has a central circular impression, convex towards the inside of the container 2 and defining the pierceable part 4.

The bottle 1 also comprises a safety valve 10 (visible in all the attached figures), manufactured according to the guidelines of the present invention and placed inside the container 2 to limit at least the outflow of gas in the case in which the pierceable part 4 has been pierced and the bottle 1 itself is not connected to the user device 5.

The valve 10 is fixed, solely by means of an adhesive substance (not visible in the attached figures), to the wall 3 of the container 2 around the pierceable part 4.

It should be noted that in the present description and in the claims, the term "around" is used to indicate both the peripheral edge of the pierceable part 4 and the annular area immediately surrounding the pierceable part 4 itself.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the adhesive substance is applied around the pierceable part 4 and interposed between the valve 10 and the wall 3. Preferably, the adhesive substance is applied to several points spaced apart from each other.

The used adhesive substance is preferably an acrylic glue which, following various experiments carried out by the Applicant, has proven to be suitable for creating a particularly durable connection in the dry environment defined by butane gas or by the mixture of butane and propane gas.

The valve 10 is made entirely of an elastically deformable material, such as rubber, and is fixed to the container 2 with its central axis coaxial with respect to the axis A (figures 1, 4, 5 and 6).

The following description of the valve 10 will be made, for reasons of simplicity and clarity, with reference to the mounting position of the valve 10 itself inside the container 2, but this should not be considered as limiting.

With reference to the attached figures, the valve 10 comprises a fixed part 11 and a mobile part 12, both together forming a single component.

The fixed part 11 comprises an annular rim 13 with an axis A fixed in use to the interior of the container 2 around the pierceable part 4. In the illustrated example, the rim 13 extends substantially along a plane orthogonal to to the A axis.

The movable part 12 of the valve 10 cantilevered from the rim 13 and is elastically movable with respect to it along the axis A.

Advantageously, the movable part 12 comprises a sealing part 14, which is arranged in a position radially innermost with respect to the rim 13 with reference to the axis A and is elastically loaded in a first direction R along the axis A itself so as to work together, in use, against the wall 3 of the container 2 around the part that can pierce 4 to define a normal sealing state (figures 1, 4 and 6), in which at least the outflow of gas towards the pierceable part 4 itself is limited; the sealing part 14 is also mobile, in use, by the action of an external thrust, exerted in this case by the user device 5, in a second direction T along the axis A, opposite with respect to the direction R, to define an open state (figure 5), in which the sealing part 14 itself is axially spaced from the wall 3.

The movable part 12 further comprises a plurality of petal-shaped elements 15 equally angularly spaced from one another around the axis A, delimiting respective through-windows 16 from one another and connecting the rim 13 to the sealing part 14.

In particular, the sealing part 14 comprises a solid central region 18, in the illustrated embodiment consisting of a flat disk orthogonal to the axis A, and a tubular element 19 cantilevering from the periphery of the central region 18 to along the axis A and configured to cooperate in contact, at its free end portion 20, with the wall 3 of the container 2.

It should be noted that, in the present description and in the claims, the terms "annular" and "tubular" are intended to be in their broadest sense, that is, to designate endless elements or parts, not necessarily circular, but also oval. , polygonal, etc.

As can be seen in particular in FIGS. 4 to 6, each petal-shaped element 15 and the part of the rim 13 on which this petal-shaped element 15 rests have, as a whole, a substantially petal-shaped configuration. S in a cross section taken along a plane passing through the axis (A).

In practice, each petal-shaped element 15 extends starting from an area of the sealing part 14, which is spaced from the free end part 20 along the axis A.

In detail, each petal-shaped element 15 connects a peripheral edge 21 of the central region 18 with a radially innermost peripheral edge 22 of the rim 13.

Each petal-shaped element 15 further comprises an end section 23, cantilevering from the opposite side of the central region 18 with respect to the tubular element 19 and having a curvilinear configuration, and a substantially rectilinear main section 24, which has an oblique inclination with respect to axis A.

In use, the bottle 1 must be pierced at the pierceable part 4 in order to supply gas to the user device 5; this device has a tubular end nozzle 8 that penetrates inside the container 2 after perforation and has a pushing action along the axis A in the direction T on the central region 18 of the valve 10. In this way, the moving part 12 translates along the axis A towards the inside of the container 2 in the direction T causing the separation of the free end part 20 of the tubular element 19 with respect to the wall 3; at the same time, the petal-shaped elements 15 tend to open with respect to each other by widening the windows 16. The gas inside the container 2 can then flow towards the tubular nozzle 8 of the user device 5 by first passing through the windows 16 and then towards the space between the free end part 20 of the tubular element 19 and the wall 3.

In the case where the container 2, already perforated, but still at least partially filled with gas, is separated from the user device 5, the valve 10 makes it possible to at least limit the outflow of gas from the bottle 1.

In fact, in this case, the mobile part 12, no longer held in the open state by the tubular nozzle 8, returns towards the wall 3 along the direction R due to the effect of its elasticity and under the thrust of the residual pressure of the gas inside the container 2, greater with respect to atmospheric pressure.

From an examination of the characteristics of the valve 10 and the bottle 1, manufactured according to the present invention, the advantages that can be obtained therewith are evident.

In particular, the fixing of the valve 10 to the upper wall 3 of the container 2 of the bottle 1 can take place by simply applying traces of adhesive substance on the rim 13, without the need for additional devices to be inserted inside the rim itself. container 2. In addition, since the gas sealing function is implemented by the tubular element 19, arranged in a radially innermost position with respect to the rim 13 with respect to the axis A, it is not necessary to apply an endless ring of adhesive substance on the rim itself 13.

Finally, due to the structure of the valve 10, the passage from the open state to the normal sealed state requires a small movement of the mobile part 12, and in particular of the tubular element 19, along the axis A; since this small movement can only be guaranteed by the intrinsic elasticity of the material that forms the mobile part 12, the presence of a residual pressure inside the container 2, greater than atmospheric pressure, has the only effect to further increase the effectiveness of the seal.

Therefore, in the case of separation of the bottle 1 from the user device 5 when it is still full, the valve 10 is capable of effectively and reliably controlling the outflow of residual gas from the container 2.

It is clear that modifications and variants can be made to the valve 10 and the bottle 1 described and illustrated herein without departing from the scope defined by the claims.

Claims (9)

1. Gas cylinder (1) comprising: - a sealed container (2), filled with said gas and provided, on its upper wall (3), with a part that can be pierced (4) to allow the supply of gas to an external user device (5); and - a safety valve (10) placed inside said container (2) to limit at least the outflow of gas towards said punctureable part (4) when said container (2) is not connected to said user device ( 5); said valve (10) being made entirely of an elastically deformable material, having a longitudinal axis (A) and comprising a fixed part (11) and a movable part (12), both together forming a single component; said fixed part (11) comprising an annular rim (13) fixed to the interior of said container (2); said movable part (12) extending cantilevered from said rim (13) and being elastically movable with respect thereto along said axis (A); said mobile part (12) comprising: - a sealing part (14) arranged in a radially innermost position with respect to said rim (13), elastically loaded in a first direction (R) along said axis (A) to work together, in use , against said upper wall (3) of said container (2) around said pierceable part (4) to define a normal sealing state, in which at least the outflow of gas towards the pierceable part itself (4) is limited, and is mobile, in use, after the action of an external push exerted by said user device (5), in a second direction (T) along said axis (A), opposite to said first direction (R), to define an open state, wherein said sealing portion (14) is axially spaced from said top wall (3) of said container (2); and - a plurality of petal-shaped elements (15) equally angularly spaced from each other around said axis (A), delimiting through windows (16) respective to each other and connecting said rim (13) to said sealing part (14 ); characterized in that said rim (13) of said valve (10) is attached to said upper wall (3) of said container (2) around said pierceable part (4) at the peripheral edge of said pierceable part (4 ) or in the annular area immediately surrounding the pierceable part itself (4). Bottle according to claim 1, wherein said sealing portion (14) comprises a solid central region (18) and a tubular element (19) cantilevering from said central region (18) along said axis (A) and configured to co-operate, at its free end portion (20), with said upper wall (3) of said container (2). Bottle according to claim 2, in which each of said petal-shaped elements (15) and the rim part (13) on which said petal-shaped element (15) rests, have, in a cross section taken along a plane passing through said axis (A), a substantially S-shaped configuration. Bottle according to claim 2 or 3, wherein each of said petal-shaped elements (15) extends from an area of said sealing part (14), which is spaced from said free end part (20 ) along said axis (A). Bottle according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein each of said petal-shaped elements (15) connects a peripheral edge (21) of said central region (18) to said rim (13). Bottle according to claim 5, wherein each of said petal-shaped elements (15) protrudes from a radially innermost peripheral edge (22) of said rim (13). Bottle according to claim 6, wherein each of said petal-shaped elements (15) comprises an end section (23) cantilevering from the opposite side of said central region (18) with respect to said tubular element (19). Bottle according to claim 7, wherein said end section (23) of each of said petal-shaped elements (15) has a curvilinear configuration, preferably U-shaped in its use position, and converges in a main section (24) of the petal-shaped element (15) itself, which has an oblique inclination with respect to said axis (A). Bottle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said rim (13) is fixed to said upper wall (3) of said container (2) solely by means of an adhesive substance, in particular applied at several points spaced apart .