GB2400162A

GB2400162A - Radiator isolating valve

Info

Publication number: GB2400162A
Application number: GB0407720A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Frederick Rees
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-04-03
Filing date: 2004-04-05
Publication date: 2004-10-06
Anticipated expiration: 2024-04-05
Also published as: GB0407720D0; GB0307705D0; GB2400162B

Abstract

A radiator tail 4 incorporates an internal flow passageway, where the bore size 10 of the passageway increases after passing a valve seat 22 located in the passageway. A valve element 8 is positioned within the flow passageway, associated with seat 22, where the valve element comprises a disc shape, the valve element being rotatable via a pin 9 which is rotatably located in the walls of the tail 4. The pin 9 is offset from the flow axis of the flow passage way, whereby the valve element can be moved from a closed position, where the disc-like valve is sealed against the seat 22, to an open position, where the disc-like valve is rotated so that it lies substantially lengthwise along the wider section of the passageway.

Description

- - it: . - - - "Radiator Isolating Valve" For a householder to decorate

behind central heating radiators it is desirable that the radiator should be removed. This is a difficult, time-consuming operation, which could well result in damage to carpets due to the need to drain the radiator prior to its removal. A simple way to solve this problem is to fit an auxiliary valve into the valve tail. This tail is the link between the normal on-off valve and the radiator. It is screwed into the radiator and attaches to the valve by a nut and joint. Thus, if fitted, this valve and the radiator valve can be closed, followed by opening of the nut joint inbetween, and the radiator can then be removed, with its water sealed within.

Difficulties arise when attempts are made to fit a valve, because a British Standard radiator valve is required to pass a given volume of water and the auxiliary valve will restrict this flow. This problem has been overcome in the case of the most common British Standards tail, which is long enough and can be widened sufficiently to accommodate a valve, but there is another tail in common use which is much shorter and of fixed width, where the fitting of any normal valve reduces the maximum bore to 10 mm when British Standard requires 12 mm or the equivalent. The difficulties are multiplied by the need to maintain the length of the tail so that it is interchangeable with all the existing tail already installed. The outer circumference is fixed by the need for the jointing nut to slide up the length of the tail to the joint shoulder, and the clear space inbetween the back of this nut and the start of the thread limits the location of the valve stem. The size is so restrictive that there is not even room for a spanner and the tail is turned into the radiator by a 1.27 mm internal Allen key.

1 ' I À ce ce À According to the invention there is provided a radiator tail incorporating an internal flow passageway, a first bore of the passageway leading to a sealing region and then enlarging into a central region formed with a bore greater than said first bore, the valve incorporating a disc-like isolating valve plug rotatable with a pin which is rotatably located into the walls of the tail, with the pin axis off set from the flow axis of the flow passageway such that the valve plug can be moved, by rotation of the pin, from a closing position wherein the disc-like plug is sealed against the sealing region of the bore, and an open position wherein the disc lies essentially lengthwise along the enlarged central region of the bore.

Because of the offset mounting of the pin the disc-like valve plug can be rotated from the location where it seals against the sealing region into the enlarged central region of the bore. The valve plug, now running lengthwise with the bore, provides for a significantly increased flow through the enlarged central region of the bore than would be the case if the valve plug was to be rotated about the flow axis of the passageway within the more restricted bore portion in the sealing region. This means that an adequate flow can be achieved through the radiator tail when the valve is moved to the open condition, even for a tail which is of a relatively short length.

In the preferred arrangement the disc-like plug incorporates an O-ring seal for sealing against the sealing region of the passageway. Ideally the pin is offset from the plane of the O-ring in the direction towards the central region of the bore when the plug is in the closing position.

Preferably the pin is a friction fit within a borehole passing through the valve plug. Ideally the length of the pin passing through the valve plug is of l air: À.e aee. .. cee.

square cross-section to match a square cross-section of the borehole passing through the valve plug.

It is particularly advantageous to provide projecting towers which extend from the outer walls of the tail and provide bearing passageways for the ends of the pin. These towers provide an adequate mounting for the pin carrying the valve plug without encroaching significantly into the flow passageway. In this arrangement one tower can be a blind ended passageway and the other is open to allow the assembly of the pin through the tail walls and the valve plug. The pin ideally has a head which is retained within the open tower by crimping or punching of the edge of the passageway in the tower over the pin head. Where two towers are provided it is preferred that a nut for securing the tail to a radiator main valve is formed with notches to pass over the two towers The pin ideally has an externally accessible head provided with a slot to enable the pin to be fumed by a screwdriver.

The invention may be performed in various ways and a preferred example thereof will now be described, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded view of a conventional radiator valve system; Figures 2A to 2D illustrate in crosssection features of a radiator tail valve of this invention; Figure 3 is an exploded view of parts of the radiator valve of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a partial cross-section through the location for the pin of the valve of Figures 2 and 3; Figures 4A and 4B are perspective views the valve tail body of the device :' :: . : :: 'e.

Of Figure; and Figures 5A and 5B are perspective views of a retaining nut for the radiator tail valve of Figure 3.

As shown in Figure 1, a normal radiator valve assembly (with a short tail) has a main valve 1 on an inlet pipe 2 connected to a radiator 3 by a tail 4. The tail is screw-threadedly secured into the opening 5 of the radiator, and is pressed into a seating 6 of the valve 1 by a nut 7 which is screwed onto the seating 6. The shortness of the tail 4 presents difficulties in incorporating an isolating valve enabling the radiator to be detached from the (closed) main valve 2 without the water in the radiator leaking out.

An improved tail 4 of this invention incorporating an isolating valve, and its manner of operation, is shown in Figures 2A to 2D. The tail 4 is machined to produce a bore compatible with the British Standard requirement at the point of seal, but enabling a valve plug 8 to move in an arc about a pin 9 when rotated (rather than turning on its poles) from the closed position of Figure 2A through to the fully open position of Figure 2D. In this way the plug moves away from the restricted area as it opens into a wider bored area 10 of the valve body so that the increased space around the plug (when fully opened) makes up for the restrictive area of the plug. The proposed valve consists of three parts and 2 "O" ring seals as shown in Figure 3. These parts are the tubular valve body 4 (ie the tail), the valve plug 8, the valve pin 9, the main "O" ring seal 11 and the pin "O" ring seal 12.

The valve is constructed with the main "O" ring 11 sitting in a groove 13 within the disc-shaped plug 8, which is inserted from the threaded end 14 of the ÀeÀ I tail. The pin 9 is inserted through a bore 15 in the valve body into a square bore 16 in the plug 8 and is pressed on into a blind bore hole 17 in the body and is sealed by the smaller ring seal 12. The pin 9 can be turned by a screwdriver slot in the head 18 and is free to turn in the main body bores 15 and 17, but is a fixed press fit into the plug 8. Thus, when the pin rotates through 90 , the disc moves with it. The disc shape of the plug 8 is formed from the central section of a sphere with the front and rear of the disc flattened or hollowed at 19 and 20 for minimum restriction of water flow (in the Figure 2D condition). The longitudinal equator of the sphere carries a groove 21, which houses the main "O" ring seal 1 1 (see also Figure 2).

Since the "O" ring seal 11 is located on the longitudinal equator of the sphere from which the disc-shaped plug 8 is formed, it is impossible for the pin 9 also to be located centrally of the tail diameter and rotate the plug in the normal way. Therefore, the pin 9 is located off centre and at 45 to the central point of the plug. Thus, when the pin is turned, the plug moves through 90 to a position at right angles to the closed position, with the equator running down the centre of the valve bore, but it does not rotate around its own "pole" point. The pole point actually moves in an arc around the pin position.

To provide a firm closed position the valve bore has a step 22 (Figure 2) formed into it. The plug stops fully sealed when it comes into contact with this step. Because the plug is bored "off centre" and rotates in an arc around an off centre point, the shorter side of the plug is able to rotate to the open position without coming into contact with the bore step. In the open position, the front and rear flats 19, 20 allow maximum flow over the plug.

: À r: I À ee #' r e e e e e The pin 9 serves the dual purpose of rotating the plug and locating and holding the plug in its correct location. The actual valve assembly is positioned to take advantage of the extra wide bore when open, but to seal off the fluid when closed, whilst the pin 9 itself sits in the only available space at the rear of the nut 7, but before the start of the thread.

Two potential weaknesses of this valve are: 1. the press fit joint of the pin within the ball. It is possible for this joint to work loose and the whole valve to come apart, or at least lose its alignment with the screwdriver slot in the top of the pin; 2. when the plug 8 is in the open large bore area 10 (Figure 2D) it is possible for the plug and pin to rise until the top of the disc touches the top of the bore.

The first of these problems can be solved by replacing the press fit joint with a squared section of pin fitting into a square broached hole in the ball. Even if the fit is loose the valve will still function and match the indicator slot in the pin head.

The second problem can be solved by putting a small shamfer around the pin head and crimping or punching the edge of the hole at 23 when the pin is fitted, thus ensuring that it cannot rise out of its position (as shown in Figure 4).

However, because of the limitations on the outer size of the standard tail that this valved tail must replace, there is insufficient thickness in the body wall to accommodate the turning pin and a pin seal. To offset this problem, the valve I body is provided with two small towers 24 of extra metal (Figure 5). This extra metal will provide an area into which the pin and its seal and the bottom of the Be: e' : : . : :: cee pin can sit. The nut which sits behind the tail shoulder cannot now slide along the length of the tail 4 because of the two towers. Therefore, the nut 7 will be formed with two notches 25 cut out of the shoulder 26 of the nut (Figure 6). As can be seen from Figure 6B, these notches are cut as much as possible into the thicker regions of the nut 7. The notches match the position of the towers 22, 23 on the tail. The nut can now slide the length of the tail with its notches passing over the tail's towers until it reaches its position up against the tail shoulder. The towers are of a size so that there is sufficient space between them and the shoulder to allow the nut to rotate and tighten onto the radiator valve.

Claims

e: t't:: : : : CLAIMS

1. A radiator tail incorporating an internal flow passageway, a first bore of the passageway leading to a sealing region and then enlarging into a central region formed with a bore greater than said first bore, the valve incorporating a disc-like isolating valve plug rotatable with a pin which is rotatably located into the walls of the tail, with the pin axis off-set from the flow axis of the flow passageway such that the valve plug can be moved, by rotation of the pin, from a closing position wherein the disc-like plug is sealed against the sealing region of the bore, and an open position wherein the disc lies essentially lengthwise along the enlarged central region of the bore.

2. A radiator tail according to claim 1, wherein the disc-like plug incorporates an O-ring seal for sealing against the sealing region of the passageway.

3. A radiator tail according to claim 2, wherein the pin is offset from the plane of the O-ring in the direction towards the central region of the bore when the plug is in the closing position.

4. A radiator tail according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pin is a friction fit within a borehole passing through the valve plug.

5. A radiator tail according to claim 4, wherein the length of the pin passing through the valve plug is of square cross-section to match a square cross section of the borehole passing through the valve plug.

6. A radiator tail according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein projecting towers extend from the outer walls of the tail and provide bearing passageways for the ends of the pin.

7. A radiator tail according to claim 6, wherein one tower has a blindended :e e.

: :: ce.

passageway and the other is open to allow the assembly of the pin through the tail walls and the valve plug.

8. A radiator tail according to claim 7, wherein the pin has a head which is retained within the open tower by crimping or punching of the edge of the passageway in the tower over the pin head.

9. A radiator tail substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

9. A radiator tail according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein a nut for securing the tail to a radiator main valve is formed with notches to pass over the two towers.

10. A radiator tail according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the pin has an externally accessible head provided with a slot to enable the pin to be turned by a screwdriver.

11. A radiator tail substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

12. Any novel combination of features of a radiator tail as described herein and/or as illustrated in Figures 2 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A radiator tail incorporating an internal flow passageway, a first bore of the passageway leading to a sealing region and then enlarging into a central region formed with a bore greater than said first bore, the valve incorporating a disc-like isolating valve plug rotatable with a pin which is rotatably located in projecting towers which extend from the outer walls of the tail and provide bearing passageways for the ends of the pin, with the pin axis off-set from the flow axis of the flow passageway such that the valve plug can be moved, by rotation of the pin, from a closing position wherein the disc-like plug is sealed against the sealing region of the bore, and an open position wherein the disc lies essentially lengthwise along the enlarged central region of the bore, and wherein a nut for securing the tail to a radiator main valve is formed with notches to pass over the two towers.

6. A radiator tail according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein one tower l I has a blind-ended passageway and the other is open to allow the assembly of the pin through the tail walls and the valve plug.

7. A radiator tail according to claim 6, wherein the pin has a head which is retained within the open tower by crimping or punching of the edge of the passageway in the tower over the pin head.

8. A radiator tail according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the pin has an externally accessible head provided with a slot to enable the pin to be turned by a screwdriver.