GB2084295A

GB2084295A - Radiator Valve Device

Info

Publication number: GB2084295A
Application number: GB8029232A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: MCELHATTON JAMES
Current assignee: MCELHATTON JAMES
Priority date: 1980-09-10
Filing date: 1980-09-10
Publication date: 1982-04-07

Abstract

A tubular connector 1 for joining a flow control valve (not shown) to a hot water central heating radiator (not shown) has a ball valve 6 located within the connector to enable the water to be sealed within the radiator to facilitate the removal of individual radiators from a system without the need for prior draining. Tubular member 1 threaded at 2 at one end for insertion into a radiator has the ball 6 located within its bore and sealed by O rings 8,9 and 10 or by O ring 10 and plastics spacing pieces (13, 14, Fig. 4 not shown) retained by washers (15, 16) and a locking nut (17). An internal flange 4 may have a hexagonal bore to act as a socket for inserting the connection into a radiator. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Radiator Valve Device The present invention relates to radiators for central heating systems and in particular to valves for such radiators.

Central heating systems in which water is heated in a boiler and then circulated through a system of pipes to radiators arranged in a building to provide heat sources where required are well known. The water can be circulated by a thermosyphon arrangement or more usually, by means of a pump. Systems using pipes of large bore, for example, of 2.5 cm or greater diameter, smallbore, for example, of around 12 mm diameter or micro-bore, for example, of 6 mm diameter are all well known. In all cases, both an inlet and an outlet pipe are joined to the radiator by means of pipe unions, both the inlet and outlet pipes being provided with flow control valves mounted immediately adjacent to the radiator to regulate the flow of hot water through each radiator and if necessary, to isolate the radiator from the rest of the system.However the present systems have the disadvantage that if it is necessary to remove a radiator from the system, the water has to be drained from the whole system to prevent spillage from the radiator that is to be removed. This is because whilst the inlet and outlet pipes can both be sealed by means of the aforementioned valves, when the unions between the valves and the radiator are disconnected, the water in the radiator is free to leak out and, being water contaminated with rust and other dirty materials this is particularly undesirable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means whereby single radiators can be removed from a circulated hot water heating system without the need to either drain the water from the entire system or to suffer spillage of the contaminated water content of the radiator.

Accordingly the present invention provides a tubular connecting device suitable for joining a flow control valve to a radiator in a hot water heating system, said device comprising a tubular member externally threaded at one end for connection to a radiator and adapted at the other end for connection to a flow control valve and being provided with a shut-off valve within its bore.

The present invention further provides a central heating radiator, provided with pipe connecting means at inlet and outlet positions for connection via control valves to the pipework of a circulating hot-water heating system wherein shut-off valves are provided in both the inlet and outlet positions between said control valves and the radiator to contain the water in the radiator when it is disconnected from the system.

Radiators for such circulating hot-water systems are usually manufactured with inlet and outlet orifices at opposite bottom ends of the radiator, both of which are internally threaded, although other configurations are known. In order to connect the radiator to the system a tubular joining member is inserted in each orifice, which member is externally threaded at one end and provided at the other end with means to enable it to be joined by conventional pipe fixing methods to the control valve. In a preferred aspect of the present invention, this tubular joining member is provided with a simple shut-off valve within its bore to enable the water in the radiator to be shut off and isolated.This shut-off valve can be any of the known types of valve, for example, a gate valve or flap valve, but particularly preferred is the type of valve comprising a rotatable spherical ball member disposed within a tubular member, said spherical ball member having a cylindrical bore aligned along a diameter normal to its axis of rotation, whereby the sphere can be rotated through approximately 900 in the tubular member to align the bore in the spherical member either along the axis of the tubular member to allow flow of water or normal to it to prevent flow of water. This rotation is suitably achieved by means of a slotted spigot extension of the vertical axis of the sphere, arranged to extend through the wall of the tubular member, enabling the spherical member to be rotated with a screwdriver.

The device according to the present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross section through a joining member for connecting a radiator to a flow control valve on the pipe system, which member incorporates a shut-off valve, and Figures 2 and 3 are vertical crosssections of the same member along lines AA and BB of Figure 1 and Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross-section through an alternative construction.

The device comprises a hollow tubular member 1, with an externally threaded portion 2 at one end adapted to fit the internal thread of a radiator orifice and the other end provided with a flange 3 to enable it to be joined by conventional pipe fittings to the pipe system via a flow control valve.

The tubular member 1 has an internal flange 4 with a hexagonal bore 5 to act as a socket for a hexagonal section key to enable the member 1 to be rotated when being fitted to the radiator. The shut-off valve is provided by spherical member 6 having bore 7 to enable water to flow, sealed into tubular member 1 by resilient '0' rings 8 and 9 and locked into place by a tubular sleeve member 10, which is a tight fit inside tubular member 1.

The spherical member 6 is rotatable by means of slot 11 on the spigot 12 to either allow passage of water through bore 7, or on rotation through 900 to cut off the flow of water in order that a radiator to which it is fitted can be readily removed from a central heating system without the need to drain all the water from the system.

In the alternative construction shown in Figure 4, the rotatable spherical valve member 6 is retained by tubular plastics spacing pieces 13, 14, one being mounted on either side of member 6, the whole assembly being retained by washers 15, 1 6 and threaded locking member 17. The use of the plastics spacing pieces 13, 14 provides a watertight construction which is easier to assemble and does not rely on '0' rings to seal the valve. In this construction only the '0' ring 10 to seal the spigot 12 is required. As an alternative to this method of construction, the washer 14 can be replaced by a flange machined internally on the tubular member 1, internal flange 4 is absent and the whole assembly is inserted from the other end and locked in place with threaded locking member 17 inserted through the mouth of member 1

Claims

claims

1. A tubular connecting device suitCabie for joining a flow control valve to a radiator in a hot water heating system comprising a tubular member externally threaded at one end for connection to a radiator and adapted at the other end for connectiosl to a flow control valve, the member being provided with a shut-off valve within its bore.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shut-off valve is a rotatable spherical ball valve disposed within the bore of the device.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the spherical ball valve has an operating spigot extending through the bore of the tubular member.

4. A device as claimed in any one of the prececiing claims wherein the spherical ball valve is sealed into the tubular member with resilient 'O' rings.

5. A device as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3 wherein the spherical ball valve is sealed into the tubular member with tubular plastics spacing pieces.

6. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and substantially as described in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A central heating radiator provided with one or more connecting devices as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.