GB2233100A

GB2233100A - Water metering assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2233100A
Application number: GB8913755A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Bate
Original assignee: DANELAW IND Ltd
Current assignee: DANELAW IND Ltd
Priority date: 1989-06-15
Filing date: 1989-06-15
Publication date: 1991-01-02
Also published as: GB8913755D0

Abstract

A fluid control or metering assembly (12) for mounting within a chamber (10) to be buried upright in the ground comprises a fluid control or metering manifold (28, 30) having a portion containing flow control means (32) and a metering portion. The manifold includes a locating structure (18) having means (20, 26) for receiving upper (10b) and lower (10a) sleeve sections of the chamber. A meter (102) or a cover (94) is mounted in the metering portion of the manifold. A non return valve (78) is mounted in the manifold. <IMAGE>

Description

FLUID CONTROL AND METERING ASSEMBLIES AND CHAMBERS This invention relates to a fluid control or metering assembly and to an underground chamber in which such assemblies are accommodated. Access to such a chamber normally is by means of a surface box whose lid is arranged to be flush with the ground surface. The assembly comprises a manifold having a fluid control portion incorporating a fluid control device and a metering portion. The manifold is adapted to locate parts of the chamber to enclose the fluid control or metering assembly.

One aspect of the present invention comprises a fluid control or metering assembly for housing within a chamber to be buried upright in the ground with access through the top, which assembly comprises a fluid control or metering manifold comprising a fluid control portion incorporating a fluid control device and a metering portion having a closure member which, when in place, completes an unmetered portion of said manifold downstream of said fluid control device and which is replaceable by a metering device whose engagement with the manifold ensures that flow is through said metering device, said fluid control and metering portions incorporating plumbing attachment means connecting external inlet and outlet pipes, respectively, to the manifold within said chamber characterised in that said manifold includes a locating structure having locating means for receiving upper and lower sleeve sections of said chamber to house said manifold therein.

According to a feature of this aspect of the invention said locating structure may comprise radially extending web means and an annular flange, said annular flange being adapted to receive and locate a lower peripheral edge of said upper sleeve section and an upper peripheral edge of said lower sleeve section radially outwardly of said fluid control and metering portions of the manifold. In constructions where the locating structure incorporates an annular flange, the annular flange may be of substantially 'ref' section, the upper end edge of the lower sleeve section being locatable between the lower limbs of the section and the lower end edge of the upper sleeve section being locatable adjacent the upper limb of the section.

According to another feature of this aspect of the invention the fluid control portion and said metering portion may be interconnected by outlet and inlet ports of those portions together forming a transfer conduit between said portions.

According to a still further feature of this aspect of the invention said metering portion may include guide means adjacent said closure member to facilitate fitment of said metering device to said manifold.

Another aspect of the invention provides a fluid control or metering chamber incorporating an assembly according to any of the four immediately preceding paragraphs said chamber being characterised by a sleeve type enclosure having a top closure member and a base member on which said sleeve enclosure is received, said base member having an upstanding plinth formed with arcuate support surfaces to locate arcuate portions of external inlet and outlet pipes extending within said chamber and connected to said manifold.

According to a feature of this aspect of the invention said sleeve enclosure may comprise an upper sleeve portion and a lower sleeve portion said upper sleeve portion including a plurality of coaxial rings selectively removable to alter the height of said chamber.

According to another feature of this aspect of the invention said plinth may include channels through which said inlet and outlet pipes extend and which retain the inlet and outlet pipes against said plinth.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a vertical section through a water chamber incorporating a fluid control or metering assembly according to the invention; Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken through the line 22 in Figure 1 of the drawings; Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the line 3-3 in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a partial cross-section through the base unit; and Figure 5 is a section along the line 5-5 in Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, an underground chamber (10) for accommodating a fluid control and metering manifold (12) is adapted to be buried upright in the ground and comprises a lower cylindrical sleeve (10a) and a separate but similar upper cylindrical sleeve (lOb).

The lower sleeve is seated on a base unit (14) which has an upper rim (16) on which the lower most peripheral edge of the lower sleeve (10a) is located. The base (14) is placed on the ground at the bottom of the bore hole in which the whole chamber is installed.

The upper sleeve (lOb) comprises at its uppermost end a series of co-axial rings which in this case-includes four separate rings (not shown) which sit one on top of the other, the uppermost ring (not shown) of which supports a surface box having an access lid (not shown) through which access to the chamber and hence the control and metering assembly (12) is gained, as is well known in the art. The rings may selectively be removed to adjust the overall height of the chamber and therefore to ensure that the surface box is located with its lid flush with the ground surface.

The upper and lower chamber sleeves are connected together by means of an annular flange (18) which is of generally 'H' section although one upper limb of the 'H' is omitted to give a '#' section. The uppermost peripheral edge of the lower sleeve locates in an annular slot (20) provided between the pair of spaced lower limbs (22) and (24) of the '' respectively and the lowermost peripheral edge of the upper sleeve sits on an upwardly exposed shoulder (26) adjacent the single upper limb (39) of the annular flange.

The fluid control and metering assembly comprises a pair of manifolds (28) and (30) both of which are moulded substantially from a plastics material and each of which have radially outwardly extending arcuate webs (32) and (34) respectively of similar form, each of which have a radially outermost edge portion which seats on the shoulder (26) of the annular flange in abutment with the wall of the upper sleeve lOb to position the assembly (12) within the chamber.

The manifold (28) incorporates a plug valve (32) which comprises a hollow generally cylindrical casing (34) having an integral downward projection (36) to which the upper end of a fluid inlet pipe (38) is secured. The inlet pipe (38) enters the chamber through the base (14) and has an upwardly curved portion (38a) at its lower end which is supported by a similar curved surface S1 provided by a central plinth (40) of the base. The upper end of the inlet pipe is inserted into a recess (42) within the lower projection (36) of the casing (34) and is secured therein by a screw-threaded nut fitting (44) which engages with a co-operating screw-thread formed externally on the projection (36). An O-ring seal (46) is incorporated in the fitting to seal between the projection and the inserted end of the inlet pipe to ensure a fluid tight seal there between.

Referring now also to Figure 3 of the drawings, a generally cylindrical valve body (48) is rotatably mounted within the casing (34) eccentrically relative to the main vertical axis of the casing (50). The valve body (48) has a downwardly extending projection (50), the lower edge of which seats on an internal shoulder (52) within the internal bore (54) of the casing. A fluid passageway (56) is formed within the valve body which is open at its lowermost end to communicate with the inlet pipe (38) and extends axially upwardly through the lower projection (36) and then turns to extend radially outwardly to terminate in an opening (58) in the cylindrical side wall of the valve body.

When the stop valve is in its open position (as shown in Figure 1) the side wall opening (58) is aligned with a conduit (60) formed in an integral side wall projection (62) of the casing (50) and thus fluid communication is effected between the inlet pipe (38) and the conduit (60) through the fluid passageway (56) of the valve body. As shown in Figure 1 there is a gap between the mouth of the opening (58) and the adjacent mouth of the conduit (60) when the valve is in its open position but the diametrically opposite portion of the valve body wall is sealed against the adjacent cylindrical wall of the casing bore (54).

At its uppermost end the valve body includes a radially outwardly extending flange (64) on which an O-ring seal (66) is seated and which forms a seal between the valve body and an upper closure element (68) which is screwthreaded to the upper portion of the casing to retain the valve body in position within the bore (54). The valve body extends through an opening in the closure element (68) and terminates in an operating key (i7Q) which is accessible through the top of the chamber in order to operate the valve. Of course a number of means for effecting rotation of the valve body may be utilized.

In order to close the valve to cut off fluid communication between the inlet pipe (38) and the conduit (60) the valve body is rotated within the bore (54) by turning the key (70) so that the cylindrical portion of the valve body which is diametrically opposite the opening (58) is brought by virtue of the eccentric mounting of the valve body into sealing engagement with the mouth of the conduit (60) and the opening (58) is brought into sealing engagement with the cylindrical wall portion of the bore (70) diametrically opposite the conduit (60) whereby fluid is prevented from passing into the conduit (60) through the fluid passageway of the valve body. Of course, fluid may partially surround the valve body within the casing but leakage therefrom is prevented by the O-ring seals (40, 66) incorporated in the plug valve assembly.

The integral side wall projection (62) is connected to a similar side wall projection (72) of the manifold (30) by means of a known screw-threaded fitting (74) which sealingly connects together mating ends of the side wall projections (62) and (72) and incorporates a seal (75).

The side wall projection (72) also incorporates a conduit (76) which is coaxial with the conduit (60) when the side wall projections (62) and (72) are connected together and the conduits (60) and (76) thereby together form a fluid transfer passageway between the manifold (28) and the manifold (30).

A non-return valve (78) is provided within manifold (30) and is mounted on an internal central boss (80) defining a central cavity (82) of the manifold (30). Manifold (30) includes an integral hollow projection (84) extending downwardly from central cavity (82) in which the uppermost end of a fluid outlet pipe (86) is received. Outlet pipe (86) is connected to the projection (84) in a manner similar to that of the connection between the inlet pipe (38) and manifold (28). Thus a screw-threaded nut fitment (88) is secured to a mating external screw-threaded portion of the projection (84) and the fitting is made fluid tight by means of a O-ring seal (90) mounted internally between the walls of the projection and the internally fitted end of the outlet pipe.

Outlet pipe (86) also extends through the base (14) of the chamber and includes a lower arcuate portion (86a) supported on a co-operating arcuate surface S2 of the central base plinth (56).

At its uppermost end the manifold (30) has an internally screw-threaded opening (92) which may be closed by a mating screw-threaded blanking plate (94) which incorporates a hexagonal nut portion (96) by which its removal or fitment is facilitated.

The opening (92) at the upper end of manifold (30) is flanked by a pair of arcuate upwardly extending guide walls (98) and (100) respectively, between which a water metering device (102) may be fitted to the manifold (30).

Thus, to provide for unmetered flow of fluid through the assembly (12) the blanking plate (94) is fitted to seal the opening (92) so that when the plug valve is opened fluid may pass through the inlet pipe (38) and via the fluid transfer passageway, pass through the non-return valve and thence out of the chamber through the outlet pipe (86).

Alternatively, where it is required to have metered flow the metering device (102) is substituted for the blanking plate (94) in the manifold assembly (30) so that fluid transferred through the plug valve then passes through the meter before being expelled via the non-return valve through the outlet pipe (86).

The guide walls (98) and (106) are advantageous in this form of assembly in that the substitution between the blanking plate and the water metering necessarily needs to be made when the assembly is in situ and therefore the metering device can be more easily located by the guide walls when it is connected to the assembly.

The non-return valve (78) prevents the back flow of fluid through the outlet pipe (86) passing through the assembly into the inlet supply.

Referring more particularly to Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings, the base (14) together with its upstanding central plinth (40) is shown in more detail. The arcuate surfaces S1 and S2 of the plinth conform to and thereby provide a seat for the curved portions (38a) and (86a) of the inlet and outlet pipes (38) and (86), respectively.

In order better to restrict movement of these pipes the base unit includes a curved channel portion (41) for the inlet pipe (38) defined by upper wall portion (43) and the opposite arcuate surface S1 in which the inlet pipe (38) is firmly held. The mouth (45) of the channel is of slightly smaller diameter than that of the inlet pipe (36) so that it is snapped into position and thereby held clamped in the channel portion of the base unit. A similar arrangement is provided by the base unit for the outlet pipe (86).

Claims

1. A fluid control or metering assembly for housing within a chamber to be buried upright in the ground with access through the top, which assembly comprises a fluid control or metering manifold comprising a fluid control portion incorporating a fluid control device and a metering portion having a closure member which, when in place, completes an unmetered portion of said manifold downstream of said fluid control device and which is replaceable by a metering device whose engagement with the manifold ensures that flow is through said metering device, said fluid control and metering portions incorporating plumbing attachment means for connecting external inlet and outlet pipes respectively, to the manifold within said chamber characterised in that said manifold includes a locating structure having locating means for receiving upper and lower sleeve sections of said chamber to house said manifold therein.

2. A fluid control or metering assembly according to claim 1, further characterised in that said locating structure comprises radially extending web means which an annular flange, said annular flange being adapted to receive and locate a lower peripheral edge of said upper sleeve section and an upper peripheral edge of said lower sleeve section radially outwardly of said fluid control and metering portions of the manifold.

3. A fluid control or metering assembly according to claim 2, further characterised in that said.annular flange is of substantially ' '-section, the upper end edge of the lower sleeve section being locatable between the lower limbs of the section and the lower end edge of the upper sleeve section being locatable adjacent the upper limb of the section.

4. A fluid control or metering assembly according to any of the preceding claims, further characterised in that said fluid control portion and said metering portion are interconnected by outlet and inlet ports of those portions, together forming a transfer conduit between said portions.

5. A fluid control or metering assembly according to any of the preceding claims, further characterised in that said metering portion includes guide means adjacent said closure member to facilitate fitment of said metering device to said manifold.

6. A fluid control or metering chamber incorporating an assembly according to any of the preceding claims said chamber being characterised by a sleeve type enclosure having a top closure member and a base member on which said sleeve enclosure is received, said base member having an upstanding plinth formed with arcuate support surfaces to locate arcuate portions of external inlet and outlet pipes extending within said chamber and connected to said manifold.

7. A fluid control or metering chamber according to claim 6, further characterised in that said sleeve enclosure comprises an upper sleeve portion and a lower sleeve portion said upper sleeve portion including a plurality of coaxial rings selectively removable to alter the height of said chamber.

8. A fluid control or metering chamber according to claim 6, further characterised in that said plinth includes channels through which said inlet and outlet pipes extend and which retain the inlet and outlet pipes against said plinth.

9. A fluid control or metering assembly7 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A fluid control or metering chamber substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.