GB2254637A - Sluice - Google Patents

Abstract

In the draining of, e.g., fields it is known to employ low cost sluice gates to control such draining. However, low cost sluice gates are often of poor quality and do not seal successfully. The invention provides a sluice (10) in which a slideable plate (12) is resiliently biassed by a deformable guide member (16) against the open end of a duct (11) fitted with a peripheral seal (13). The resilient biassing ensures good sealing of the sluice, even when upstream pressure is low. When upstream pressure increases, the head of fluid acting on the plate (12) forces it into a more tightly sealing relationship with the seal (13). The advantage of the arrangement is that the sluice is of low cost yet provides good sealing ability. <IMAGE>

Description

A SLUICE This invention relates to a sluice, in particular although not exclusively an agricultural sluice for use, e.g, for the controlled draining of silage.

It is known to provide a sluice consisting of a gate slideable across an open end of a duct selectively to open and close the duct and thereby control the flow of fluid in the duct.

Such sluices have been known for many years, and have applications not merely in agriculture, but also in many other aspects of fluid flow.

Known sluices are generally manufactured as low cost galvanised items, and as a result suffer the disadvantage that their sealing is poor when a closed configuration is selected because little effort has been made to obtain good sealing.

An alternative sluice has therefore been proposed employing cast parts, the mating surfaces of which are machined to provide a good seal.

However, such sluices are expensive to manufacture.

According to the invention, there is provided a sluice comprising a first, open-ended duct and a gate movable over the open end selectively to close and open the duct, resilient sealing means being provided between the gate and the open end, the sealing means being disposed and the gate being biassed to seal the periphery of the open end in a liquid-proof manner when the duct is closed.

An advantage of this arrangement is that the ability of the sluice to seal is considerably enhanced, yet the sluice can still be manufactured as a low cost item.

Preferably, the sluice includes guide means to guide the gate over the open end, the guide means being arranged and disposed resiliently to bias the gate to seal the periphery of the open end when the duct is closed.

By combining the means for resiliently biassing the gate and the guide means, the sluice of the invention is advantageously robust and simple.

It is further preferable that, in use of the sluice, the gate is biassed or further biassed by pressure of fluid acting on a face thereof disposed distally of the duct to seal the periphery of the open end when the duct is closed.

This feature makes use of any head of fluid acting against the gate to provide or enhance the sealing of the sluice. It will be appreciated that there is therefore preferably some play in the mounting of the gate to allow the resilient biasing means and/or the head of fluid to cause the gate to move towards the open end of the duct into sealing relationship with the open end of the duct.

Conveniently, the gate is movable vertically over the open end and the guide means comprises a vertically extending post horizontally spaced from the open end and having a resilient face directed towards the open end, the gate being movable in the region between the post and the open end and the resilient face of the post co-operating with the gate to bias it to seal the open end when the duct is closed.

This arrangement of the guide means as a vertically extending post provides an advantageously simple arrangement by which the gate is resiliently biassed.

Conveniently, the resilient sealing means includes a layer of resiliently deformable, liquid-proof material secured on an edge of the open end facing the gate.

Using this arrangement, it is possible for the gate to be slideable over the open end of the duct, thereby allowing a simple construction for the sluice.

The sealing means may preferably include a length of generally U-section, resiliently deformable, liquid-proof material, the sides of which are secured to either side of the peripheral wall of the open end of the duct, and the base of which lies along an edge of the open end facing the gate. Preferably, the first duct islenclosed duct, wherein the layer of resiliently deformable material is endless or substantially endless in use of the sluice.

Using this arrangement for the sealing means facilitates maintenance of the sluice, because the seal can be readily replaced when it wears without necessitating removal of the duct. By "enclosed duct" is meant a duct the cross-section of which is an enclosed shape e.g. a square or a circle.

When known sluices are used in agricultural applications there is a risk that solid matter carried in e.g. silage flowing through a sluice will foul the gate of the sluice by preventing it from closing properly, leading to poor sealing and possible jamming of the sluice.

It is therefore convenient that the leading edge of the gate includes a blade, whereby scissile matter trapped between the leading edge and the open end or the layer of resiliently deformable material as the gate moves to close the duct is severed.

This arrangement advantageously solves the longstanding problem of solid matter in silage obstructing the operation of a sluice, and leading to poor sealing.

The sluice may advantageously include a housing enclosing the parts of the sluice and adapted to receive in fluid conveying manner at least a further duct for supply of the fluid to the sluice within the housing, the housing having an outlet for fluid which passes through the sluice when the first duct is open.

The provision of a housing means that the sluice of the invention can be manufactured as a discrete item and can therefore readily be transported to a site and installed.

The outlet is preferably adapted to receive in fluid conveying manner a third duct for conveying away fluid which has passed through the sluice.

This feature allows the sluice to be incorporated in an existing or planned duct system.

Preferably, the first duct is secured at one end to a wall of the housing at least partly encircling the outlet, and the third duct is receivable in the housing to nest within the first duct, thereby to convey fluid away from the sluice when the first duct is open.

This advantageously ensures that all fluid which passes through the sluice automatically enters the third duct, which then conveys the fluid to a suitable destination.

Preferably, the housing includes a removable cover permitting access to the sluice from outside the housing. This feature facilitates maintenance of the sluice and inspection of the fluid passing through the sluice, which is particularly advantageous when the sluice is used with enclosed ducts.

Conveniently, the sluice and/or the housing may be secured to a rigid base. This feature provides a stable and rigid mounting for the sluice, and makes it easier to install the sluice, for example in soft or marshy ground. A suitable material for the rigid base is concrete, although other materials are also suitable.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a sluice assembly comprising a pair of sluices each in accordance with the invention as described herein above.

Preferably, the two sluices are secured one relative to the other to operate in series.

These arrangements allow the manufacture of a sluice assembly which conforms, e.g., to British Standards.

There now follows a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, by way of example, with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a partly sectioned, side elevational view of a sluice assembly in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is an enlargement of the portion of Figure 2 marked by a circle.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a sluice 10 suitable for use in a ducting system for agricultural silage.

The sluice comprises a first, open-ended duct 11, which may be of any convenient cross-section, and may be an open duct or an enclosed duct (subject to any regulations governing the installation of the ducting system).

A gate 12 is slideable vertically across the open end of first duct 11. Gate 12 is a rigid, plate-like member which is sufficiently large to cover the whole of the end of first duct 11. Gate 12 is slideable between a first position in which the majority of it is raised above the open end of duct 14, in which case duct 14 is open to the flow of fluid therethrough, and a second position in which gate 12 covers the open end of duct Ii thereby closing the duct 11 to the flow of fluid.

Gate 12 is therefore selectively vertically slideable between an open and a closed position.

The end face 14 of the wall of first duct 11 has secured thereto a resilient sealing member 13. In the embodiments shown, sealing member 13 is a U-section member of flexible, resilient and liquid-proof material.

The side walls of the U-section are respectively disposed to either side of the wall of duct 11, and the base of the U-section is thereby secured in contact with the end face 14 so that the end face 14 has a layer of resilient, liquid-proof material secured thereto along its entire length.

Because the sealing member 13 is resiliently deformable, it can readily be installed on the end face 14 of first duct 11, and friction between the side walls of the U-section of the sealing member 13 and the wall of duct 11 serves to retain the sealing member 13 firmly in place during use of the sluice.

A pair of vertically extending guide posts 16 are disposed horizontally spaced from the open end of first duct 11 and on opposite sides thereof to define a region between the guide posts 16 and the sealing member 13 in which the gate 12 slides vertically. At least the faces of the guide posts 16 directed towards the gate 1 include a layer of resiliently deformable material, so that the region between the pair of guide posts 16 and the sealing member 13 is, when the guide posts and sealing member are in an unstressed condition, slightly narrower than the width of the gate 12 in the axial direction of the duct 11.

In one particularly preferred embodiment, the posts 16 are rigid and coated with a resiliently deformable material.

Thus, when gate 12 is inserted into the region between the guide posts 16 and the resilient seal 13, gate 12 is urged into contact with sealing member 13 so that a liquid-proof seal exists between the gate and any part of sealing member 13 in contact with the gate.

The arrows C are intended to show that there is a small amount of horizontal play in the positioning of the gate 12, so that it can seal effectively against the sealing member 13 when biassed by the head of fluid and/or the guide posts 16.

Clearly, the extent to which the periphery of the open end of first duct 11 is sealed by such co-operation between the gate and the sealing member is determined by the extent to which the gate 12 is lowered towards the closed configuration of the sluice.

The lower edge of the gate 12 (designated herein the leading edge) is formed as a blade (not shown). This permits the gate to cut solid matter in the fluid passing through the sluice as the gate is lowered towards the closed configuration of the sluice. The cutting action of the gate arises as a result of such solid matter becoming trapped between the leading edge of the gate and the sealing member 13, such that downward movement of the gate severs the solid matter.

The gate maybe arranged to be raised and lowered manually, by means of a hand-powered mechanism (not shown) or by means of e.g. an electric motor (not shown). Numerous other arrangements for the raising and lowering of gate 12 are possible.

The sluice 10 is enclosed within a housing comprising a pair of vertical end walls 17, 18 interconnected by a corresponding pair of intermediate walls 19.

The first duct 11 is sealingly secured at its open end distal from gate 12 to the first wall 17 of the housing. An aperture 22 is formed in end wall 17 such that an outlet duct 23 can be received in the housing end wall 17. The arrangement is such that outlet duct 23 can be inserted into the housing to nest within the first duct 11. The outlet duct 23 extends towards gate 12 to a point just short of the end of first duct 11 as determined by the sealing member 13.

The opposite end wall 18 of the housing includes a further aperture 20 in which is receivable an inlet duct 21.

The arrangement of the inlet duct 21, the sluice 10 and the outlet duct 23 is such that fluid flowing along the inlet duct 21 in the direction of the arrows B can, if the gate 12 is raised so that the sluice 10 is open, pass into the housing via aperture 20, pass into the sluice by virtue of its open condition and thereafter pass into the outlet duct which is nested closely within the first duct 11 so that the fluid flows via outlet duct 23 through aperture 22 to be conveyed away from the sluice 10.

When the gate 12 is lowered to close the sluice 10, the leading edge of the gate severs any scissile material trapped between the gate 12 and the sealing member 13 and the sluice 10 can thereby be fully closed.

The resilient faces of the guide posts 16 serve to bias the gate 12 into sealing contact with the base of the U-section of the sealing member 13 about the periphery of the open end of first duct 11. If any fluid is present in the inlet duct 21 when the sluice 10 is closed, pressure of the fluid acts (as best shown by arrow B of Figure 3) against the face of gate 12 distal from the first duct 11 to urge gate 12 into a tightly sealing engagement with the base of the U-section of sealing member 13. Thus, a strongly liquid-proof seal is created when the sluice 10 is closed and there is fluid in the inlet duct 21.

The ducts 21 and 23 can, depending on the application for which the sluice 10 is intended, be either open (ie, channel) ducts or enclosed ducts.

It will be seen from Figure 2 that the construction of the housing is that the end walls 17, 18 are vertically aligned plate-like members having respective apertures 22, 20 formed therein for receipt of the ducts, and that the intermediate walls 16 forming the side walls of the housing are U-section channel members disposed vertically and secured by securing means (not shown) in a liquid-proof manner along the sides of the U-sections to adjacent portions of the end walls 17, 18 to form a liquidproof housing.

Clearly, it is necessary to provide some form of liquid-proof base for the housing to prevent fluid from leaking from the bottom of the housing in the embodiment shown. A variety of different arrangements is possible since the principal function of the housing is to enclose the sluice 10 in a liquid-proof manner and provide a secure liquid-proof mounting for the inlet and outlet ducts 21 and 23.

Furthermore, there may be applications of the sluice 10 in which the housing can be dispensed with entirely. For example, in use of the sluice 10 in a low-cost, open channel ducting system it may be expedient merely to provide the first duct 11, the sealing member 13, the gate 12 and the guide posts 16 mounted securely relative to one another by suitable means. Such an arrangement could also be used e.g, to control the level of fluid in a lake or to drain a field prone to flooding.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a sluice assembly comprising a pair of sluices 10 according to the invention.

The pair of sluices 10 are arranged one upstream of the other so that they operate in a series relationship. This arrangement is required by certain United Kingdom regulations concerning agricultural sluice assemblies, and provides a degree of failure safety.

In the arrangement of Figure 1, the pair of sluices and the associated inlet and outlet ducts 21, 23 are securely mounted in a concrete base 26. This arrangement permits the manufacture of the entire sluice assembly in a factory for subsequent transportation to a site or installation, and the use of a concrete base 26 permits ready installation of the sluice assembly, for example in rough or muddy ground.

As shown in Figure 1, each housing includes a removable cap 24.

Cap 24 serves to prevent foreign matter from entering the housing and fouling the sluice 10, and permits the ready maintenance of the sluice 10.

In particular, it is possible by removing cap 24 to gain sufficient access to sealing member 13 which, by virtue of its flexibility, can be removed and replaced without the need for dismantling the sluice or the housing.

In alternative embodiments of the sluice of the invention, the gate 12 need not be slidable but can, for example, include a roller cam mechanism to control its movement. The gate 12 furthermore need not be mountable vertically and can, for example, move horizontally across the open end of duct 11 to open and close the duct.

Thus, it will be seen that the sluice of the invention provides an effective, versatile and comparatively cheap apparatus for use in a variety of fluids ducting systems. The sluice of the invention provides superior performance to the low-precision galvanised sluices (which provide a very poor sealing action), and is considerably cheaper to manufacture than cast and machined sluices which hitherto have provided the only reasonable means of obtaining a good sealing action.

Furthermore, it is believed that the sluice of the invention can readily be manufactured to conform to relevant British Standards and with the requirements of the National Rivers Authority.

Claims (16)

1. A sluice comprising a first, open-ended duct and a gate movable over the open end selectively to close and open the duct, resilient sealing means being provided between the gate and the open end, the sealing means being disposed and the gate being biassed to seal the periphery of the open end in a liquid-proof manner when the duct is closed.

2. A sluice according to Claim 1 including guide means to guide the gate over the open end, the guide means being arranged and disposed resiliently to bias the gate to seal the periphery of the open end when the duct is closed.

3. A sluice according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein, in use of the sluice, the gate is biassed or further biassed by pressure of fluid acting on a face thereof disposed distally of the duct to seal the periphery of the open end when the duct is closed.

4. A sluice according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the gate is movable vertically over the open end and the guide means comprises a vertically extending post horizontally spaced from the open end and having a resiliently deformable face directed towards the open end, the gate being movable in the region between the post and the open end and the resilient face co-operating with the gate to bias it to seal the open end when the duct is closed.

5. A sluice according to any preceding claim, wherein the resilient sealing means includes a layer of resiliently deformable, liquidproof material secured on an edge of the open end facing the gate.

6. A sluice according to Claim 5 wherein the sealing means includes a length of generally U-section, resiliently deformable, liquidproof material, the sides of which are secured to either side of the peripheral walls of the open end of the duct, and the base of which lies along an edge of the open end facing the gate.

7. A sluice according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 in which the first duct is an enclosed duct, wherein the layer of resiliently deformable material is endless or substantially endless in use of the sluice.

8. A sluice according to any preceding claim wherein the leading edge of the gate includes a blade, whereby scissile matter trapped between the leading edge and the open end or the layer of resiliently deformable material as the gate moves to close the duct is severed.

9. A sluice according to any preceding claim including a housing enclosing the parts of the sluice and adapted to receive in fluid conveying manner at least a further duct for supply of fluid to the sluice within the housing, the housing having an outlet for fluid which passes through the sluice when the first duct is open.

10. A sluice according to Claim 9wherein the outlet is adapted to receive in fluid conveying manner a third duct for conveying away fluid which has passed through the sluice.

11. A sluice according to Claim 10 wherein the first duct is secured at one end to a wall of the housing and at least partly encircling the outlet, and the third duct is receivable in the housing to nest within the first duct, thereby to convey fluid away from the sluice when the first duct is open.

12. A sluice according to any of Claims 9 to 11 wherein the housing includes a removable cover permitting access to the sluice from outside the housing.

13. A sluice according to any preceding claim wherein the sluice and/or the housing is secured to a rigid base.

14. A sluice assembly comprising a pair of sluices each according to any preceding claim and secured one relative to the other in fluid communication to operate in series.

15. A sluice substantially as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

16. Any novel combination or sub-combination disclosed herein.

16. A sluice assembly substantially as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

17. Any novel combination or sub-combination disclosed herein.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS

1. A sluice comprising a first, open-ended duct and a gate movable over the open end selectively to close and open the duct, resilient sealing means being provided between the gate and the open end, the sealing means being disposed and the gate being biassed to seal the periphery of the open end in a liquid-proof manner when the duct is closed, and the leading edge of the gate including a blade, whereby scissile matter trapped between the leading edge and the open end or the resilient sealing means as the gate moves is severed.

2. A sluice according to Claim 1 including guide means to guide the gate over the open end, the guide means being arranged and disposed resiliently to bias the gate to seal the periphery of the open end when the duct is closed.

3. A sluice according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein, in use of the sluice, the gate is biassed or further biassed by pressure of fluid acting on z face thereof disposed distally of the duct to seal the periphery of the open end when the duct is closed.

4. A sluice according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the gate is movable vertically over the open end and the guide means comprises a vertically extending post horizontally spaced from the open end and having a resiliently deformable face directed towards the open end, the gate being movable in the region between the post and the open end and the resilient face co-operating with the gate to bias it to seal the open end when the duct is closed.

5. A sluice according to any preceding claim, wherein the resilient sealing means includes a layer of resiliently deformable, liquidproof material secured on an edge of the open end facing the gate.

6. A sluice according to Claim 5 wherein the sealing means includes a length of generally U-section, resiliently deformable, liquidproof material, the sides of which are secured to either side of the peripheral walls of the open end of the duct, and the base of which lies along an edge of the open end facing the gate.

7. A sluice according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 in which the first duct is an enclosed duct, wherein the layer of resiliently deformable material is endless or substantially endless in use of the sluice.

8. A sluice according to any preceding claim including a housing enclosing the parts of the sluice and adapted to receive in fluid conveying manner at least a further duct for supply of fluid to the sluice within the housing, the housing having an outlet for fluid which passes through the sluice when the first duct is open.

9. A sluice according to Claim 8 wherein the outlet is adapted to receive in fluid conveying manner a third duct for conveying away fluid which has passed through the sluice.

10. A sluice according to Claim 9 wherein the first duct is secured at one end to a wall of the housing and at least partly encircling the outlet, and the third duct is receivable in the housing to nest within the first duct, thereby to convey fluid away from the sluice when the first duct is open.

11. A sluice according to any of Claims 8 to 10 wherein the housing includes a removable cover permitting access to the sluice from outside the housing.

12. A sluice according to any preceding claim wherein the sluice and/or the housing is secured to a rigid base.

13. A sluice assembly comprising a pair of sluices each according to any preceding claim and secured -one relative to the other in fluid communication to operate in series.

14. A sluice substantially as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

15. A sluice assembly substantially as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.