FR2657677A1 - CONTAINER FOR LIQUID GAS, INCORPORATED OR NOT IN AN APPLIANCE. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention concerns a container intended to contain a liquid gas. A container according to the invention comprises a body 2, a plug 4 made from absorbent material disposed in the said body, a valve 5 for drawing off gas only in the gaseous phase, a supply tube 6 disposed in the opening 4a of the plug 4, a chimney 7 forming an internal facing of the opening 4a, and a textile sheet (8) surrounding and enveloping the chimney 7. The invention is applied in particular to disposable cartridges of liquified petroleum gas such as butane.

Description

CONTAINER FOR LIQUID GAS, INCORPORATED OR NOT

IN AN APPLIANCE

  The present invention relates to containers for containing

or store a liquid gas.

  By liquid gas is meant any body having in its storage conditions (especially pressure, temperature) two phases, namely liquid and gaseous, normally separated by an interface It may be a liquefied gas, it is that is to say a body for which the liquid phase is in equilibrium with its vapor phase, the gas pressure inside the container then being equal to the vapor pressure of said body; the liquefied gases are liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), for example butane, by reference to which the present invention will be explained. It may also be a dissolved gas, that is to say a body whose gaseous phase is in equilibrium with a phase dissolved in a suitable solvent, this

  last constituting the liquid phase which has been mentioned previously.

  By body, it is necessary to understand in a general way, as well a pure body as a mixture of pure bodies; so the so-called commercial butane appears to be

  a mixture of butane and other hydrocarbons, for example butene.

  With regard to the storage conditions, the liquid gas contained in the container may or may not be under pressure, the internal pressure within the container being lower, greater than or equal to the ambient or external pressure, for example atmospheric pressure. liquid gas may or may not be lower than or equal to room temperature; the

  containers according to the invention may be cryogenic storage, that is to say

  ie intended to store liquefied gases at very low temperatures, by

example of liquid nitrogen.

  The containers envisaged by the present invention may take different forms, in particular according to their use: 1) they can be fixed or mobile, portable or not, of small or large volume;

  2) With regard to portable containers, they may be refilled

  expendable, and therefore reusable, or disposable, and therefore disposable; (3) In the case of disposable containers, the invention relates both to

  perforable containers, which practice refers to as "car-

  keys, that containers with a sampling device

  gas phase, for example a faucet, a valve or a valve;

  4) in the case of disposable containers with a valve, the invention

  especially aerosol generators, for which the liquid gas serves as propellant of another divided body, solid or liquid, contained or not in the same container) finally, the containers contemplated by the invention can be or not integrated or incorporated in the apparatus of use, consuming in one way or another the liquid gas in gaseous form; thus, for a burner apparatus supplied with the gaseous phase of a liquefied petroleum gas, a container according to the invention may be a tank integrated in the apparatus, refillable with commercial butane for example, taken from

from a cartridge.

  The present invention is more particularly concerned with the reci-

  pients as defined above, capable of delivering in the gas phase,

  and only in this form, the liquid gas they contain.

  According to EP-A-0 202 172, there is described a container of the aforementioned type comprising: a metal body, for example spun aluminum, extending in at least one dimension called height, and having a single-piece fund; this body is closed by an upper wall, consisting of a closure element or cup attached to the above-mentioned body a buffer of discrete absorbent material, contained by the body, having an axial or central recess, elongated according to the height, said

  recess having an open top end adjacent to the upper wall

  upper and lower end closed, on the bottom side of the body a gas phase gas sampling device or valve, through the closure element or upper wall, comprising an inlet for the gas phase, and an outlet with a valve towards the outside of the cartridge a feeding tube disposed in the recess of the absorbent material pad, extending along the height, having a free end located in said recess, between the sampling device and the bottom of the body, and communicating at its other end with the inlet of the sampling device, and sealingly in relation to the interior of said recess a one-piece chimney, obtained for example by molding a

  plastic material disposed in the recess of the absorbent material pad

  bante, forming a gas-permeable internal facing, and having a plurality of transverse passages or perforations, distributed at a time according to

  the height and the perimeter of the chimney.

  Throughout this description and the claims, by

  material or absorbent material, it is necessary to understand a material having an apparent volume exceeding in a large proportion its real volume, and thus having a large developed surface, both internal and external, for retaining by superficial tension the liquid phase of the liquid gas. The material thus has a large proportion of voids. It is a discrete material, in the sense of a material having unitary elements or particles, such as fibers or grains, collected without physical integrity between said elements; it is for example a porous material, fibrous, or having any other form, consistency, or texture, since it meets the above general definition, and whatever the nature of the material used, natural, mineral, organic, synthetic, etc. As absorbent material, may be suitable in practice fibrous plant materials, such as carded cotton, cotton waste, cellulose fibers, and among the latter, different kinds of paper pulp, called by the practitioners in this industry, mechanical pulp, unbleached softwood kraft pulp, bleached kraft pulp, softwood sulphite pulp, bleached kraft pulp

  softwood, bleached pulp, so-called fluff quality.

  By "free end" of the feed tube, it is meant that part of the latter comprising one or more orifices for withdrawing the liquid gas in gaseous form. This free end is disposed at a distance from the wall of the chimney, for example in the center of the latter, to avoid any contact of the withdrawal orifice (or its border) directly

with the absorbent material.

  By sealing between the inlet (in the direction of flow of the withdrawn gas) from the sampling device, and the end of the feed tube opposite the withdrawal orifice, it means a seal with respect to the liquid phase. gas, possibly present inside the container of

  free way, for example in the recess of the absorbent material buffer.

  bante, that is to say outside the absorbent material.

  The central problem of these containers lies in the relative freedom of the particles such as fibers of the absorbent material, which are likely to be driven first by the liquid phase and then by the

  gas phase circulating in the container during the sampling of the gas.

  These particles are first likely to aggregate to form "wads" mobile and free in the container; these flaps can be fixed between the edge of the supply tube withdrawal orifice, and the absorbent material, and thus constitute true wicks carrying the liquid phase to the feed tube, which goes against the sampling required only in the gas phase These particles can then clog or plug different small section orifices on the passage of the gas phase, such as the valve of the sampling valve, but also different organs of the user device consuming the phase

  gaseous, like injectors for example.

  To obviate this circulation of the particles of the absorbent material, according to the patent EP-C-0202172, it has been proposed and used a two-stage solution, so to speak: first, the previously defined chimney made in one piece in plastic material, comprising a multitude of

  transversal perforations, of relatively small unitary section,

  both to stop the particles or fibers of the absorbent material, the sampling device comprises a filter, for example compressed polyamide fibers, arranged between its inlet for

  the gas phase, connected to the supply tube, and the valve valve.

  Such a chimney, necessarily made of plastic material for an industrial series production, proves to be of a delicate realization. Indeed, it requires for its molding the use of a core and thus of a molding pin C ' is therefore a relatively complex piece, and

a significant cost.

  The filter integrated in the sampling valve not only increases its cost, but above all sets the method of filling with liquid gas, for containers of the disposable cartridge type. Indeed, by the pressure drop that it opposes to the liquid phase, the filter prevents filling by the valve It is therefore necessary to fill these containers, by opening the body, before crimping the closure element or cup incorporating the valve Such filling mode is more complex to implement, particularly in terms of safety, when the liquid gas is a gas of

liquefied petroleum.

  The present invention aims to remedy such inconveniences.

  More precisely, the subject of the invention is means integrated in a container as defined above, allowing effective trapping of particles or fibers of suspended material, while simplifying the process.

  construction and thus the realization of said container.

  Mainly, according to the invention, on the one hand, the trans-

  the flues of the chimney consist of transverse windows

  the passage section is of the same order of magnitude, or greater than the transverse internal cross-section of the chimney, and on the other hand a textile sheet circumscribing and enveloping the chimney,

  being supported by the latter.

  The textile web is preferably a nonwoven structure,

  artificial or synthetic fibers, for example polypro-

pylene or polyethylene.

  The average diameter of the interstices of the textile web is chosen between a higher value, beyond which the particles of the material

  absorbent pad may pass absorbent pad into the

  and a lower value, below which the web has impermeability relative to the gaseous phase of the gas.

  be easily determined by routine tests.

  The solution according to the invention provides the following decisive advantages: it makes it possible to simplify and lighten the construction of the chimney The textile layer makes it possible to filter and retain, in a particularly efficient manner, the particles of absorbent material, to the point of being able to suppress the filter normally provided in the device or sampling valve

  the realization of the whole chimney-tablecloth textile is particu-

  easy to implement; it is sufficient to wind one or more times the second on the first the internal developed surface of the textile web increases the intrinsic evaporation surface of the absorbent material, which increases the

  evaporation capacity and therefore the flow rate of the containers according to the invention.

  All in all, it leads not only to a container of simpler design and construction, but especially to a container that can be filled directly by the sampling device or valve. Such a filling makes it possible in particular to drive out of the valve any particles of the material.

  absorbent, after closing the cartridge.

  According to one embodiment of the invention, in a manner known per se, the chimney comprises a flange at its upper end Newly, this flange is disposed in contact with the sampling device, or the upper wall of the body, in thus insulating the inside of the chimney with respect to the particles of the absorbent material, at the level of

of the collar.

  With the same concern, namely isolation of the chimney with respect to the particles of the absorbent material, the end of the chimney opposite the sampling device is closed by the textile ply, by

  for example a fold of said textile web.

  The present invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 represents an axial sectional view of a container according to the invention, of the disposable cartridge type with sampling valve; FIG. 2 represents a sectional view according to the plane II-II, of the median or intermediate portion of the chimney incorporating the free end of the feed tube, on an enlarged scale FIG. 3 represents a sectional view along the plane III-III of FIG. chimney belonging to the container according to Figure 1, always

on an enlarged scale.

  The gas cartridge illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a body 2 extending in a so-called height dimension, having

  a generally cylindrical shape, provided with a wall or upper cup

  3, and having a concave bottom 2 has a buffer 4 of absorbent material, contained in the body 2, having a recess 4a elongated according to the height, this recess having an upper end 4b open, adjacent to the cup 3, and another bottom end 4c, closed, on the side of the bottom 2a of the body 2 a device or gas sampling valve in the gas phase, of the aerosol valve type, through the upper cup 3, this valve comprising a nozzle of 5a inlet and an outlet 5b towards the outside of the cartridge, and a body 15 in which slides a valve 13 in connection with a seal 16 a feed tube 6 consisting of a simple flexible conduit in plastic material, disposed in the recess 4a, extending along the height, having a free end 6a, located in said recess between the sampling valve 5 and the bottom 2a of the body, and communicating by its other end 6 b with the mouthpiece 5a of the inlet of the valve 5 the end 6b is fixed on the end 5a sealingly relative to the liquid phase of the liquid gas contained by the container 1 according to the invention a chimney 7 monobloc, obtained by molding a plastic material, disposed in the recess 4a of the buffer 4, forming a gas-permeable internal facing, and comprising for this purpose a plurality of windows or transverse passages 7c, distributed regularly at a time according to the height and according to the perimeter of the chimney 7; as shown in Figure 1, the passage section of each window 7 c is of the same order of magnitude, or greater than the transverse internal section of the chimney a textile web 8 circumscribing and wrapping, in one or more turns, the chimney 7 this sheet being supported by the latter, a cap 17 of tamper, closing the outlet 5b of the valve 5

  and provided with a tear-off guarantee strip.

  The body 2 is made in one piece, by spinning or extruding an aluminum ingot It has an upper opening 2b bordered by a peripheral bead 2 c The upper wall cup 3 is crimped on the bead 2 c, a seal 14 being arranged between these two elements so as to ensure a perfect seal The center of the cup 3 comprises a hollow boss 3b, open downwards, which holds the body 15 of the valve 5, by centripetal recess below the head of the body 15 The tamper-proof cap 17 has an outer skirt 17a having a lower annular projection engaging elastically under the bead

2 c of the body 2.

  As already said, the valve 5 is of the aerosol type, and comprises in addition to the body 15 ending in the inlet end 5a, the valve 13 resiliently biased against the seal 16, and movable in the internal bore of the body

15.

  The chimney 7 is made in a simplified manner but in a monobloc manner, made of plastic, and has a plurality of uprights 7a in a first direction, namely the height, distributed along the perimeter or circumference of this same chimney, and a plurality of

  crosspieces or ribs 7b, in a second direction, namely the circumference

  mentioned above, distributed according to the height of the chimney.

  7 This chimney 7 comprises an upper flange 7 f disposed in contact with the upper cup 3, isolating at this level the inside of the chimney 7 with respect to the flanges 7 and 7. particles of the absorbent material At the opposite end 7 e, namely at the lower end of the chimney 7 on the side of the bottom 2 a, the opening 7 g at this level is closed by the textile ply 8, in the form The chimney has also on its outer periphery a plurality of lugs 7 e hooking of the textile web, distributed at a time according to the invention.

  height and circumference of said chimney.

  As shown in Figure 2, integrally with the chimney 7, an intermediate sleeve 9 is disposed in the center of the chimney 7, the free end 6 of the feed tube being inserted and

  kept inside the sleeve 9 In general, this arrangement

  sition makes it possible to keep the end 6 at a distance from the wall of the

  chimney 7, and starting from the absorbent material of the buffer 4.

  More specifically, the free end 6a is in sealing contact along its outer periphery, with the inner face of the sleeve 9, and the latter extends downwardly beyond the end 6a, to be closed by a transverse bottom 9 perforated The intermediate sleeve 9 and / or the radial bridges 11 for attachment to the chimney, have side lights 12 ensuring the passage of gas, not only on both sides

  radial bridges but also on both sides of the sleeve 9.

  By virtue of this particular arrangement of the lumens 12, combined with the perforated bottom 9a, a filtration draw-off or "strainer" is formed, adjacent to the free end 6a of the feed tube. particles likely to pass between the flange 7 f and the cup 3, a first time through the portion of the lights 12 located at the radial bridges 11, and a

  second time through the rack previously identified.

  According to the technique described in EP-A-0202172, the containers or cartridges just described are filled with an appropriate volume of the gas in liquid form The latter is contained in the available volume (useful volume of the container 1 less actual volume absorbent material of the buffer 4), and determines in the recess 4a a liquid gas interface flush or located below the free end 6a of the tube

  6, regardless of the position of the container in space.

Claims (12)

Container (1) intended to contain a liquid gas, both in liquid or gaseous form, comprising: a body (2) extending in at least one so-called height dimension, having an upper wall (3) and a bottom (2a) a buffer (4) of discrete absorbent material contained by said body, having a recess (4a) elongated along the height, said recess having an open end (4b) adjacent to the upper wall of the body, and another end (4c) on the bottom side of the body a device (5) for sampling gas in the gas phase, through the upper wall of the body, comprising an inlet (5a) and an outlet (5b) a a feed tube (6) disposed in the recess (4a), extending in height, having a free end (6a) in said recess between the pick-up device and the bottom of the body, and communicating at its end (6b) with the inlet (5a) of said sampling, sealingly from the interior of said recess a chimney (7) disposed in the recess (4a) of the buffer (4), forming a gas-permeable internal facing, having a plurality of passages (7); c) transverse, distributed both according to the height and the perimeter of said chimney characterized in that on the one hand the transverse passages (7 c) of the chimney (7) consist of transverse windows whose section of passage is of the same order of magnitude or greater than the transverse internal section (7d) of said chimney, and secondly a textile web (8) circumscribes and surrounds said chimney, being supported by the latter.   Container according to Claim 1, characterized in that the textile ply (8) is a non-woven structure, in particular made of fibers   artificial or synthetic, for example polypropylene.   Container according to Claim 1, characterized in that the mean diameter of the interstices of the textile ply (8) is chosen between a higher value, beyond which the particles of the absorbent material can pass through the absorbent pad (4). ) in the stack (7), and a lower value, below which said sheet has impermeability relative to the gas phase some gas.   4 container according to claim 1, characterized in that the chimney (7) has on its outer face a plurality of lugs (7 e) for attachment of the textile web, distributed at a time according to the height   and according to the perimeter of said chimney.   Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the chimney (7) is made in lightened form, and comprises a plurality of uprights (7 a) in a first direction, for example the height, distributed along the perimeter of said chimney, and a plurality of   crossbeams (7b) in a second direction, for example a circumference   , distributed according to the height of the chimney, the crisscrossing   studs and crosspieces determining the transverse windows (7c).   Container according to claim 1, the chimney comprising   a collar (7 f) at one end, characterized in that said adhesive   rette is disposed in contact with the sampling device (5), or the upper wall (3) of the body, isolating the inside of the chimney (7) vis-à-vis the particles of the absorbent material, at the level of said collar.   7 container according to claim 1, characterized in that the normally open end (7 g) of the stack (7), opposite the sampling device (5), is closed by the textile web (8), by   for example a fold (8 a) of said textile material.   Container according to claim 1, characterized in that   intermediate sleeve (9) into which the end   free position (6 a) of the feed tube (6) is arranged in the center of the chimney (7).   9 container according to claim 8, characterized in that on the one hand the free end (6 a) of the feed tube (6) is in sealing contact all the outer circumference with the inner face of the sleeve (9) intermediate , and on the other hand said sleeve extends beyond said free end, and is closed by a transverse bottom   (9 a) perforated, to form with the free end (6 a) of the feed tube a draw-off cage (10).   Container according to claim 8, characterized in that the intermediate sleeve (9) and / or its fastening means (11) on the chimney (7) comprise openings (12) ensuring the passage of the gas   in the chimney, on both sides of the fixing means (11).   Container according to claim 1, containing the liquid gas, for example a liquefied petroleum gas, characterized in that the volume of said gas in liquid form contained in the available volume of the container (useful volume of the container less actual volume of the container). buffer absorbing material), corresponds to a liquid-gas interface flush with or located below the free end (6 a) of the feed tube (6), which   whatever the position of the container in space.   Container according to claim 1, of the disposable type, characterized   in that it comprises a closure element (3) forming a wall   upper, attached to the body (2).   Container according to claim 12, of the aerosol generator type, characterized in that a valve (5) is arranged in the closure element (3), whose inlet (5a) communicates in a sealed manner.   with the other end (6b) of the feed tube.   Container according to claim 13, characterized in that the inlet of the valve (5 a) communicates directly with the part of   the latter forming a valve (13).   Apparatus using a liquid gas such as a liquefied petroleum gas, incorporating a refillable reservoir, having the shape of a   container according to claim 1.