GB2404964A - Adaptor for mounting a replacement valve - Google Patents

Abstract

An adaptor for mounting a replacement air valve on an existing air valve in situ in a fluid pipeline comprises a facing plate <B>1</B> mountable on a cover flange of the existing valve provided with receiving means <B>4</B> to receive mounting bolts of the existing cover flange. The facing plate further comprises valve mounting means to enable a gate valve to be mounted thereupon and with a central plunger bolt <B>7</B> passing through a plunger bolt aperture <B>12</B>. The bolt <B>7</B> comprising a shank portion <B>11</B> moveable within the aperture to lock down and open an existing valve. A method of renovating a valve using the above adaptor is also provided wherein a gate valve and second air valve can is attached to the adaptor.

Description

VALVE ADAPTOR, SYSTEM AND METHOD The invention relates to an adaptor,

system and method for facilitating air valve renovation in fluid supply pipeline systems, for example water mains supply systems. The invention is in particular an adaptor, system and method for facilitating the mounting of a replacement air valve in situ on an existing valve in a live, pressurized fluid pipeline system. The invention relates especially to simple valves, such as rising ball type valves, and to the renovation of valve systems in cases where the ball or valve is no longer 1() functioning properly.

In larger pressurized pipeline systems for the transmission of liquid under pressure, such as water mains supply pipelines, there is a general and acknowledged problem with air becoming entrained within the system. The resultant entrained air can cause high pressure points and pipe failure.

Conversely, when such pipe systems are emptied, air inclusion at the higher points is required to prevent a vacuum from forming within the pipe and the potential collapse of the pipe occurring. Accordingly, most practical systems are fitted at the high points along the length with air valves designed to allow collected entrained air to be removed from the pipeline by venting and to admit air on draining the pipeline.

This relatively simple function can be provided by a relatively simple valve system, for example consisting of a simple ball valve (a valve housing containing a rising ball within a cavity which is translated under system pressure into a closed position where the ball serves to close a fluid passage through the valve housing, but can be caused to fall into an open position to allow entrained air to be bled from, and air admitted to the pipeline system.

Such valves will over time degrade functionally, whether through mechanical degradation, blockage or other cause, and a requirement will eventually arise for the renovation of the valve assembly by replacement of the defective valve unit with a new and functional air valve.

If an excessive number of non-functional valves remain within the system there is a risk of pipe failure as excessive amounts of air remain entrained within the pipeline system, of pipeline collapse during draining operations,, and also of supply contamination where old and defectively functional valves allow, for example, dirty water ingress from the surrounding water table.

In modern water pipeline systems, air valves tend to be fitted in combination with isolation valves to allow the air valve to be isolated from the pressurized mains supply. This permits replacement of individual air valves in situ without supply interruption. However, many older systems have fitted air valves into direct fluid connection with the main supply without any secondary means of isolation. Such an air valve, once defective, cannot simply be replaced in situ whilst the pipeline remains live and at mains pressure. Instead, the whole section of main needs to be fluidly isolated to permit rcplacemcnt. This is an inconvenient procedure and in particular can entail: re-routiong supplies through valve operations; the need to warn and haise with customers in relation to any shutdown; land owner notification and compensation; inconvenience to customers and/or a need to co-ordinate down time with customers and consequently at a time not necessarily convenient to the pipeline provider.

In water mains systems the existing valve assembly is typically contained within a chamber allowing external access for operation. Frequently these chambers have substantial depth, perhaps I or 2 metros, and thus provide plenty of clearance for the fitment of a new air valve over the top of the existing valve in situ. If the existing valve could then be bypassed, by being left in a permanently open position, and the new valve used as the functional valve, a perfectly adequate renovation of the valve site could be effected without requiring total removal of the defective valve. However, such an alternative suffers from the same drawbacks as full valve replacement. It is not possible to work on the existing valve in situ whilst the main remains charged at full mains pressure, so there have hitherto been no advantages in considering rcuovation of a valve assembly by such a bypass procedure as having advantages over renovation of the assembly by direct replacement of ] O the defective valve.

It is an object of the present invention to provide for the renovation of air valve assemblies in fluid pipeline systems in a manner which mitigates some or all of the disadvantages. ]5

It is a particular object of the invention to provide for the renovation of air valve systems to address problems with defective valves which are not separately isolatable from the pipeline system in situ and without the necessity to take the pipeline in the vicinity of the valve assembly of Fine. 2()

it is a particular object of the invention to provide full valve renovation which enables the fitment of a new air valve and the bypassing of an existing defective air valve in situ and without the need to take the pipeline system in the vicinity of the valve assembly omine.

T hiss, according to a first aspect of the invention in its broadest aspect there is provided an adaptor to facilitate mounting of a replacement air valve on an existing air valve in a fluid pipeline system, which adaptor comprises a facing plate adapted to be mountable on a cover flange plate of the said existing valve, in that it is provided with receiving means to receive mounting bolts of the said existing cover plate flange and thus be engagable thereon, the facing plate additionally being provided with valve mounting means to enable a gate valve to be mounted thereupon, and with a central plunger bolt passing through a plunger bolt aperture generally in the centre of the facing plate, the central bolt comprising a shank portion moveable within the aperture, in particular generally perpendicularly to the facing plate, and optionally a plunger plate at a lower end thereof generally parallel to and laterally translatable relative to a lower surface of the said facing plate.

The adaptor provides a means to fit a replacement air valve in situ on an existing air valve without necessitating shutdown of the pipeline system. It enables this because the facing plate can be engaged in situ upon the existing air valve, being sealingly mounted against the existing cover flange plate of ]5 the existing valve without necessitating removal of the existing flange plate and hence without requiring system shutdown. The facing plate is provided with mounting means to allow for the mounting of a gate valve of any suitable conventional design. The mounting means and gate valve assembly will together act to similarly provide for the further mounting of the replacement air valve (so as to provide, in fluid series from mains, the existing defective valve, a gate valve, and a replacement air valve). Again all of the steps can be taken without interfering with the integrity of the defective valve assembly, and accordingly without requiring shutdown of the main system.

Once the assembly is in place, the gate valve can serve to isolate the system where necessary, and the plunger bolt can be operated to depress the ball in the first air valve to put the first air valve into a permanently open state, and thus effectively bypass the first air valve. The second air valve now serves as the functional air valve, and the valve assembly has been effectively renovated and rendered functional once more without the need for a system shutdown. Moreover, the new air valve is serially fluidly connected down stream of a gate valve, and therefore can readily itself be isolated in the future should a need for subsequent repair arise.

Accordingly, by use of an adaptor and in accordance with the present invention an existing air valve in situ which is not in itself fluidly isolatable from the mains, and hence has hitherto been impossible to replace without mains shutdown, can be renovated in situ without the need for such mains shutdown, and further the new assembly thereby produced is fluidly isolatable from the mains system should further repair work be necessary in future.

On occasion, references are made herein to the fitment of the facing plate and/or the gate valve and/or the second air valve on or over the existing valve.

it should be understood that these words are used for convenience only and to reflect the typical structure of existing valve assemblies in water mains. In practice in such systems the adaptor and new valves will be fitted generally above the existing valve, but it will be appreciated that the precise orientation need not be critical provided a serial fluid connection is established from the mains pipeline through the eventually bypassed existing air valve and via the gate valve to the new functional air valve.

It is of critical importance to the present invention that the adaptor can be sealingly engaged via a lower face of the facing plate to an upper face of the cover flange plate of the existing valve without compromising the fluid integrity of the existing valve. This is achieved in that the facing plate incorporates receiving means to receive the mounting bolts of the existing valve which are configured so as to enable it to be engaged thereupon without necessitating the removal of the bolts in such manner as to compromise the i said integrity.

In a preferred embodiment, it has been surprisingly found that this objective can be achieved in a particularly convenient and admirably effective manner.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the flange cover plates of csisting air valves of typical design are held in place by means of a plurality of bolts. The valve is so designed that it has been found that removal of a single bolt does not compromise the integrity of the assembly. This would in 1() principle permit replacement of the existing bolts with alternative temporary fixing bolts, provided such replacement is effected one-by-one.

This is the system used in the preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein a plurality of such temporary fixing means are made available (such as to be sufficient to replace all of the existing bolts) and wherein the receiving means comprise recesses so configured that the facing plate can be removably placed in situ over said temporary fixing means, but can be fixabley engaged in position once in situ by the existing bolts. Conveniently, each such receiving means comprises a recessed portion through the thickness of the facing plate 2() provided with a flanged portion extending laterally partly into the said recess at the facing surface of the facing plate. The recess is configuecd such that the body of the recess is sufficiently large to accommodate the head of an existing bolt but that the flange portion reduces the recess in extent so as to provide a surface for such a bolt to engage upon and fix the facing plate in position.

Temporaiy secondary fixings are then provided with differently shaped bolt I heads for example with narrow slotted bolt heads. The existing bolts are replaced with these temporary fixings one-by-one in situ, the facing plate is; positioned on the cover flanged plate of the existing valve, the existing bolts (or replacement bolts of the same or generally similar suitable design) are replaced one-by-one to fix the facing plate securely in position. The gate I valve and second air valve can then be mounted in the manner above described. I he whole process can be carried out without compromising the fluid integrity of the existing valve.

The flanged recesses in the facing plate are specificl]ly adapted for use with particularly sized temporary fixing bolts, and are conveniently supplied together with such suitable temporary fixing bolts. The flanged recesses, and the facing plate overall, are both specifically adapted to fit the existing flange cover plate and existing cover plate bolts of an existing valve. It will be necessary to provide multiple different sizes of adaptor facing plate to accommodate different sizes and types of valve cover plate. However, this is not as impractical as it might appear, since within a given industry a small number of valve designs, sizes and shapes are likely to be relatively standard ] 5 and relatively widespread.

The gate valve mounting means provided for the mounting of a gate valve onto the facing plate once it is in situ may take any suitable form. For example, the facing plate may integrally include projecting mounting means such as bolts. More conveniently in a preferred embodiment separate captured bolts are used, and the facing plate is apertured to allow such bolts to project there tlro'gh, a lower face thereof, being provided with recesses generally on the lower surface to receive bolt heads and to retain the bolts in position projecting above the facing plate when the facing plate itself is bolted in situ on the existing valve. Conveniently suitably size and shape bolts are provided l in conjunction with the facing plate as an adaptor kit. The temporary fixing bolts may be similarly provided. ; The facing plate itself is preferably planar to ensure a good fit, and sufficiently thick to give adequate strength. It is of suitable rigid material, for example, being metallic.

The facing plate is provided with a plunger bolt generally in the centre thereof.

With a facing plate positioned in situ, this plunger bolt will be positioned generally directly above the ball of the existing defective ball valve.

Translation of the shank of the plunger bolt within the plunger bolt aperture in the facing plate allows the ball valve to be depressed for example under action of the plunger plate. Operation of the gate valve shows that the system is suitably isolated. Once the ball is permanently depressed into an open position the gate valve can be opened so that the defective ball valve is cffcctivcly bypassed in favour of the now air valve.

1 S Means are provided to hold the bolt in a depressed position in a most convenient embodiment, the central plunger bolt is screw threaded, with the shank portion threadingly engaging a complimentary threaded portion in the walls of the recess through which it translates. The bolt will thus to some extent self-lock in a depressed position. Conveniently the central bolt then further includes a bolt head adapted to be engaged by a suitable bolt driving tool at its upper end, and a plunger plate at its lower end to engage and push down upon the ball in use.

In accordance with the invention in a further aspect, a system for air valve 2s renovation in a fluid supply pipeline system comprises an adaptor as above described supplied with a plurality of temporary secondly fixings and/or a plurality of gate valve fixing bolts and/or a gate valve and/or a secondary air valve as above described.

In accordance with the invention in a further aspect a method for air valve renovation in a fluid supply pipeline system in situ comprises: the fitment of an adaptor as above described in sealing engagement on the cover plate flange of an existing valve in situ, without compromising the fluid integrity of the existing valve; mounting a gate valve onto the said adaptor; providing a secondary air valve for mounting fluidly downstream of the gate valve; mounting the secondary air valve, depressing the plunger bolt to drive down the ball in the existing air valve to the bottom of its chamber, and operating the gate valve, in conjunction in a suitable order such as to provide a valve assembly in which the existing air valve is bypassed and the secondary air valve is activated.

IS In particular, the facing plate is adapted as above described to be engagably retained by the bolts of the existing valve cover flange, but to be removably positionablc upon the valve cover flange when suitable temporary secondary fixhgs and for example temporary secondary bolts as above described are in place.

Accordingly, the method preferably comprises providing a sufficient plurality of such secondary fixings to replace all the existing bolts; replacing the existing bolts one at a time with such temporary fixings; optionally cleaning the face of the flange on the existing air valve so that a 2s good seal can be made; optionally placing suitable joint sealing material on the clean surface; positioning a facing plate as above described in position on the flange plate; removing the temporary fixings one at a time and replacing with conventional bolts to fix the cover plate in position. lo

The said conventional bolts may be the bolts which were removed in the initial step, but in practice it is likely to be preferable if new bolts, albeit generally identical or sufficiently similar in design to perform the purpose of the invention, are otherwise used.

The facing plate is now in position ready for mounting of the gate valve and performance of the other steps of the method of the invention. A preferred order for the performance of those other steps and invention is set out below.

The invention is not necessarily limited to this preferred order, although it represents a convenient and effective way of bypassing the existing valve and fitting and actuating a new valve without necessitating drastic changes to existing systems or significant secondary equipment.

In accordance with the preferred method, a gate valve of any suitable conventional design is first fixed (and for example bolted) to the facing plate; the gate valve is opened; a flange plate of conventional design suitable for mounting the desired secondary air valve is sealingly engaged downstream of the gate valve; the central plunger bolt is depressed to depress and lock down 2() the ball of the existing valve; the gate valve is closed to equalise water pressure between the closed gate valve and the main; a new air valve is connected to the top of the gate valve.

Conveniently the plunger bolt is threaded, and is therefore depressed by twisting the bolt in a suitable direction determined by the thread. This has the advantage of being self-locking in locking the ball of the existing valve down.

Additionally or alternatively, the plunger bolt may be locked in its depressed position. A preferred embodiment of the method, depression of the plunger bolt is effected by attaching a suitable rotation device to a head thereof and causing the bolt to rotate.

The invention is applicable to any air valve within any liquid distribution mains system which might require renovation and which cannot readily be fluidly isolated in situ. It is particularly applicable to mains water systems.

Air valves m mains water systems are often of the double ball type, comprising a small aperture valve for small bleeds and a large aperture valve for large vents. In those circumstance it would normally be desirable for the new valve to fit above the large aperture valve of the existing double. The small aperture valve may simply be sealed. The new valve may itself comprise a similar double air valve or may have any other desired configuration.

1 S The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to figures] and 2 of the accompanying drawings which illustrate an example adaptor in accordance with the principles of the invention, respectively in plan view and partial cross section.

Rcten ing first to figure I, the adaptor consists of a thick metal facing plate 1 provided with four recesses 3 so as to fit a four-bolt flange cover plate on a suitably sized existing valve assembly. These recesses have flanged lips 5 of such an extent that the flanged lips will fit over special secondary slotted bolts but will serve as engagement surfaces for the primary bolts when these are fixed in place. A central bolt 7 is mounted on a cross bar 8 of the facing plate I within a suitable aperture. Through thickness apertures 4 are drilled to accommodate fixing bolts for the fixing of the gate valve. Both of these features are better illustrated in figure 2.

Figure 2 is a partial cross section through line A-A on figure l, with the flange plate I showing section but the bolt 7 shown entire.

The bolt 7 can be seen in particular detail. It consists of a threaded shank portion I 1, a bolt head 10, and a flat plate 9 lying parallel with and projecting beyond the rear surface of the facing plate 1. The threaded shank It is engaged within a threaded aperture 12 generally in the centre of the facing plate 1. In use, with the facing plate and the remainder ofthe assembly in situ, the shank is rotated by engagement of a suitable device on the bolt head IO, causing the facing plate 9 to be driven downwards and act upon and lock down the ball of the existing valve. A fluid connection is effected through the passages 1 5.

Apertures are provided for fixing bolts to fix the gate valve in place.

] 5 Apertures 14 capture the bolt heads, the shanks of which then project outward through the apertures 4. In use, bolts are placed in position within these recesses before the facing plate I is fixed down, and then project upwards through the apertures to provide fixings for the subsequent mounting of a gate valve. 2()

The procedure to be followed using the above adaptor is essentially as follows.

An air valve to be renewed is identified. In practice this is likely to be a double air valve, and for the rest of this example this will be assumed. The bolt ccntres on the large aperture flange of the existing double air valve are measured and an appropriate adaptor plate is selected, together with a suitable gate valve and secondary air valve.

The existing bolts on the existing flange are removed one at a time and replaced with special slotted bolts having head sizes selected by reference to the dimensions of the aperture 3 and flange 5. Once all the bolts have been so replaced, the facing plate I can be placed into position over the slotted heads of the new temporary bolts with fixing bolts for the gate valve in position in the recesses 14.. These are then again removed one-by-one and replaced with conventional bolts (in practice preferably with new bolts) which engage on the flange surface 5 and fixing the facing plate I into position.

A gate valve of suitable design is fixed upon the fixing bolts projecting upwardly from the plate I and opened. A drilled blanked flange of conventional design is connected to the gate valve making sure that all seals are tight. An under pressure connection machine is inserted through the gate valve to make a connection with the bolt head 10, and that bolt 7 is rotated to cause the bolt plate 9 to be depressed and thereby to depress the ball in the existing air valve into the bottom of its chamber. The under pressure connection machine is then disengaged via the gate valve and the gate valve closed.

Water pressure is now equalized between the closed gate valve and the water main and the ball in the existing air valve is locked down in the bottom of its chamber allowing flow into and out of the old air valve and effectively bypassing it. The new air valve can now be connected onto the top of the gate valve completing the renovation process.

Thus, the valve is renovated in situ without a requirement for taking the main system offline, with all the attendant drawbacks that would have. by

Claims (13)

1. An adaptor to facilitate mounting of a replacement air valve on an existing air valve in a fluid pipeline system, which adaptor comprises a facing plate adapted to be mountable on a cover flange plate of the said existing valve, in that it is provided with receiving means to receive mounting bolts of the said existing cover plate flange and thus be engagable thereon, the facing plate additionally being provided with valve mounting means to enable a gate valve to be mounted thereupon, and with a central plunger bolt passing through a plunger bolt aperture generally in the centre of the facing plate, the central bolt comprising a shank portion moveable within the aperture.

2. An adaptor in accordance with claim 1 wherein the central plunger bolt is disposed generally perpendicularly to the facing plate.

3. An adaptor in accordance with claim 1 or 2 wherein the central plunger bolt comprsies a plunger plate at a lower end thereof generally parallel to and laterally translatable relative to a lower surface of the said facing 2() plate.

4. An adaptor in accordance with any preceding claim further conmprising a plurality of temporary fixing means such as to be sufficient to replace all existing bolts in an existing valve assembly and wherein the receiving means comprise recesses so configured that the facing plate can be removably placed in situ over said temporary fixing means, but can be fixedley engaged in position once in situ by the existing bolts. l:

5. An adaptor in accordance with claim 4 wherein each such receiving means comprises a recessed portion through the thickness of the facing plate provided with a flanged portion extending laterally partly into the said recess at the facing surface of the facing plate, the recess being configured such that the body of the recess is sufficiently large to accommodate the head of an existing bolt but that the flange portion reduces the recess in extent so as to provide a surface for such a bolt to engage upon and fix the facing plate in position.

]0

6. An adaptor in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the gate valve mounting means comprise captured bolts projecting from the facing plate once it is in situ, and the facing plate is apertured to allow such bolts to project therethrough, a lower face thereof, being provided with recesses generally on the lower surface to receive bolt heads and to retain the bolts in position projecting above the facing plate when the facing plate itself is bolted in situ on the existing valve.

7. An adaptor in accordance with any preceding claim wherein the central plunger bolt is screw threaded, with the shank portion threadingly engaging a complimentary threaded portion in the walls of the recess through which it translates.

8. A system for air valve renovation in a fluid supply pipeline system comprising an adaptor in accordance with any preceding claim supplied with a plurality of temporary secondly fixings and/or a plurality of gate valve fixing bolts and/or a gate valve and/or a secondary air valve.

9. A renovated air valve in a fluid supply pipeline system comprising an existing air valve, an adaptor in accordance with any preceding claim lb mounted on a cover flange plate of the said existing valve, a gate valve mounted downstream of the said adaptor, and a second air valve mounted downstream of the gate valve.

10. A method for air valve renovation in a fluid supply pipeline system in situ comprises: the fitment of an adaptor in accordance with one of claims 1 to 7 in scaling engagement on the cover plate flange of an existing valve in situ, without compromising the fluid integrity of the existing valve; mounting a gate valve onto the said adaptor; providing a secondary air valve for mounting fluidly downstream of the gate valve; mounting the secondary air valve, depressing the plunger bolt to drive down the ball in the existing air valve to the bottom of its chamber, and operating the gate valve, in conjunction in a suitable order such as to provide a valve assembly in which the existing air valve is bypassed and the secondary air valve is activated.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising a sufficient plurality of secondary fixings to replace all existing bolts in an existing assembly; replacing the existing bolts one at a time with such temporary fixings; optionally cleaning the face of the flange on the existing air valve so that a good seal can be made; optionally placing suitable joint sealing material on the clean surface; positioning a facing plate as above described in position on the flange plate; removing the temporary fixings one at a time and replacing with conventional bolts to fix the cover plate in position.

12. The method of claim 10 or 1 I further comprising the fitment of a gate valve of any suitable conventional design to the facing plate

13. The method of claim 12 comprising the steps of fixing a gate valve of any suitable conventional design to the facing plate; opening the gate valve; sealingly engaging a flange plate of conventional design suitable for mounting a desired secondary air valve is downstream of the gate valve; depressing the central plunger bolt to depress and lock down the ball of the existing valve; closing the gate valve to equalise water lO pressure between the closed gate valve and the main; connecting a new air valve downstream of the gate valve.

l 4. An adaptor or method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.