GB2552988A

GB2552988A - Cylinder exclusive and safety connection

Info

Publication number: GB2552988A
Application number: GB1614114.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bickford Holbeche Thomas; Lehnert Benjamin; Michel Dominik; Timm Felix
Original assignee: Linde GmbH
Current assignee: Linde GmbH
Priority date: 2016-08-18
Filing date: 2016-08-18
Publication date: 2018-02-21
Also published as: GB201614114D0

Abstract

A connecting device comprises a piercing housing 7 for receiving a neck of a gas cylinder 1, which has a top surface comprising a gas outlet. The piercing housing comprises an opening, side walls and a bottom wall 6, which is vertical to the axis of the gas cylinder. A piercing element 4 is arranged in the piercing housing for piercing the gas outlet of the gas cylinder. A container surrounding the gas cylinder for holding it in position is characterized in that the cross-section of the piercing housing has a non-round shape and the cross-section of the neck of the gas cylinder is shaped accordingly to be able to insert into the piercing housing.

Description

Description cylinder exclusive and saftv connection

The present invention relates to a connecting device comprising, - a piercing housing for receiving the neck of a gas cylinder with a top surface comprising a gas outlet - the piercing housing comprising an opening, side walls and a bottom wall which is vertical to the axis of the gas cylinder - a piercing element arranged in the piercing housing for piercing the gas outlet of the gas cylinder - a container surrounding the gas cylinder for holding it in postition

This connecting device is well known to fix the gas cylinder in the said piercing housing having a piercing element therein. It is commonly combined with further assemblies in use like tube, valve etc. Gases are frequently supplied in gas cylinders where the gas is held within a cavity defined by the cylinder walls being enclosed at one end by a pierceable diaphragm. The gas is able to be delivered from the gas cylinder by attaching a piercing element to the cylinder which causes its diaphragm to be pierced and the gas to be released from the cylinder. The gas cylinder for storing gases is necessarily high pressured and has relatively low volume, and thus any loss of the gas in the process of connecting the gas cylinder to the piercing housing or delivery mechanism or after such connection, is undesirable. Therefore, effective sealing is necessary to be provided to avoid the undesirable escape of the compressed gas from the gas cylinder.

Compressed gas cylinders can contain different types of gas such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, helium, nitrogen and other gases. Many different volumes of the gas cylinder have been produced over the years. The gas cylinders have typically two different forms. One form has no threads on the neck and is sometimes referred to as a plain neck or non-threaded. The gas cylinder having no threads on the neck is used in a dispenser utilizing a gas cylinder-retaining container to thread onto the dispenser, which contains a pierce element and other sealing and fluid controlling means such as described in U.S. Pat. No.5544670.The second form has threads on the neck of the gas cylinder. For this form a retaining container attached to the dispenser is not necessary and the compressed gas cylinder need only to be threaded onto the piercing housing to safely and controllable release the compressed gas from the cylinder.

As disclosed in US6843388 the Patent teaches some methods of how a non-threaded neck compressed gas cylinder can be dispensed with a rigid seal retaining element as well as teaches an additional method of dispensing a threaded neck compressed gas cylinder. For the non-threaded neck compressed gas cylinder a sealing assembly situates substantially around the piercing element for forming a seal between the top surface of the gas cylinder and the piercing element. In using, the gas cylinder will be inserted into piercing element of the dispenser by threading the gas cylinder-retaining container onto the dispenser, so the gas cylinder will be fixed in the position and sealed by the sealing assembly.

The problem of the patent can be, during the gas cylinder-retaining container is being threaded onto the dispenser, the neck of the gas cylinder is rotating simultaneously, which inhibits the sealing effect of the neck of the gas cylinder. In this process, the sealing assembly, which situates around the piercing element, could be damaged or undesirable deformed by the friction force resulting from the intensive rotary movement of the neck of the gas cylinder, which causes an ineffective sealing.

It is therefore desirable for the sealing assembly to avoid being excessive rubbed by the friction force resulting from the rotary movement of neck of the gas cylinder, which has a non-threaded form.

This problem can be solved by a connecting device according to claim 1.

The present invention provides a connecting device comprising a piercing housing, a piercing element and a container formed to retain the gas cylinder. The gas cylinder is used for holding compressed gases within a cavity defined by cylinder walls. The gas cylinder comprises a gas outlet at its top surface. The gas outlet is preferably equipped with a pierceable diaphragm. The gas cylinder is so formed that a neck is provided which includes a side surface and a top surface where the gas outlet is obtained. Preferably, there is no thread means provided between the neck and the piercing housing which could cause excessive rub of the seal assemblies.

The piercing housing is provided with an opening, side walls and a bottom wall, which is vertical to the axis of the gas cylinder, when they are in a connected position. The piercing housing defines a hollow recess which is sized for allowing the neck of a gas cylinder to be inserted into the housing through the opening and advance against a piercing element, which situates within the piercing housing, to open the gas outlet of the cylinder. The cross-section of the piercing housing has a non-round shape and the neck of the gas cylinder is also shaped to be suitable to inserte into the piercing housing, thus a rotary movement of the gas cylinder in the piercing housing is not possible due to the geometry limitation. After the neck of the gas cylinder has been inserted into the non-round piercing housing, it would not rotate together with the container, which is being threaded onto the piercing housing.

The piercing element can be connected with the bottom wall of the piercing housing in a variety of ways such as being a section fixed on the bottom wall, which protrudes into the housing, or being an actuation section, which can move vertically to the bottom wall for piercing the outlet of the gas cylinder. The piercing element is formed as a shaft with a piercing tip in which a channel is provided for leading the gas from the gas cylinder to further consumers after the piercing of the outlet of the gas cylinder. The piercing element referred hereinwith is not only direckted to the shaft having the piercing tip, but could also include a basis portion which is formed with the shaft in one piece and arranged vertical to the shaft.

The container for retaining the gas cylinder has a screwing opening and a chamber inside of the container. The chamber is cylinder-shaped and adapted to retain the gas cylinder. The screwing opening of the container correspondes a screwing portion, which may be provided on the exterior side wall of the piercing housing for locking the container with the piercing housing together, so that the gas cylinder retained in the container can be fixed in the inner space, which is defined by the piercing housing and the container. The container may have any size as long as needed for retaining the gas cylinder. Especially, the container is sized portable as the gas cylinder, which can be held easily by hands.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a gas cylinder is provided which has a preferred small size and designed to be easily portable and disposable e.g. having an overall length of about 6.5 cm to 7.5 cm and a diameter of about 1.5 cm to 2 cm. The aspects of the invention may be also used with larger or smaller and/or differently shaped gas cylinder. The gas cylinder herein refers generically to a container which is arranged for storing and releasing gas under pressure. The gas cylinder has a neck which includes a top surface, an outlet and a side surface extending downwardly from the top surface. The outlet of the gas cylinder is preferably enclosed by a breakable surface which can be opened by a piercing element such as a sharpened or blunt lance. The neck of the gas cylinder has a diameter of about 0.8 cm and a length of about 1.5 cm to 2 cm. Other sizes are also possible.

The pressurized gas in the gas cylinder may be oxygen, carbon dioxide, air, inert gas or mixtures thereof. Such a gas cylinder could be connected with a delivering system which supplies the pressurized gas to a user as like supplying inert gas into a bottle containing liquid for better storage, supplying carbon dioxide into beverage for carbonization or, preferably, introducing oxygen into wine.

The pressure within such gas cylinders range from around 50 bars to 250 bar. The pressure of the most commercial gas cylinder having the aforementioned size and shape ranges from around 100 to 200 bar.

Preferable, at least one first seal assembly is arranged between the piercing element and the top surface of the gas cylinder to create a seal. The seal created by the first seal assembly avoids the leak between the top surface of the gas cylinder and the surface which it meets when the gas cylinder is inserted. This surface could be the basis portion of the piercing element or the bottom wall of the piercing housing as long as it contacts the top surface of the gas cylinder during the piercing process. The first seal assembly is therefore desired for resisting the loss of the gas after the gas cylinder is opened. It prevents gas escaping radially outwards from the gap between the top surface and the contact surface from piercing housing side.

The first seal assembly is designed preferable as a High Pressure Seal (HP Seal) on the top surface of the gas cylinder. The first seal assembly is used to form a proper seal which can be subjected under high pressure between the contact surface and the top surface of the gas cylinder. The contact surface should be understood as a surface of the piercing housing side which contacts with the top surface of the gas cylinder when the neck of the gas cylinder is inserted into the piercing housing and the outlet of the gas cylinder gets pierced. The pierced hole represents an opening, which must be sealed to guarantee that pressures are kept inside and thereby avoid leaking, which might cause accidents, gas losses, among other negative factors. Indeed, the first seal assembly is used to create a seal for the area which surrounds the pierced hole. Other seal assemblies can be also possible as like a face seal formed by a soft polymer face to outlet of the gas cylinder.

It is preferred to provide at least one second seal assembly to form an axial seal between the interior side walls of the piercing housing or the piercing element and the side wall of the neck of the gas cylinder. For instance an O-ring performed as the second seal assembly sits in a groove on the neck of the cylinder, especially in a groove of a collar which is engaged with the neck of the gas cylinder. This second seal assembly helps when the outlet of the gas cylinder is pierced and the gas begins to release into the channel of the piercing element and the gas cylinder is not yet sealed by the first seal assembly. Therefore, the second seal assembly is advantageously arranged downstream of the first seal assembly in the fluid communication. During this period, which is after the piercing and before the first seal assembly becoming effective, the second seal assembly is necessary for preventing the gas releasing via the gap between the piercing housing or the piercing member and the gas cylinder and resisting the loss of the gas thereby. In addition, the second seal assembly provides a double protection of the seal of the gas if the first seal assembly is not effective enough.

The second seal assembly is designed preferable as an O-ring sitting in a groove on the neck of the cylinder or in a groove of a collar which is engaged with the neck of the cylinder so that a new sealing may be provided each time a new cylinder is installed so that any chance of wear due to repeated use can be reduced. The second seal assembly could also sit in a groove within the piercing housing or in a groove of the piercing element as long as it can prevent the gas escaping from the axial gap between neck of the gas cylinder and the piercing housing or piercing element. The O-ring seal assembly is necessary during the axial movement between the piercing housing and the gas cylinder. The sealing is performed by deformation of the O-ring by engagement with the piercing housing. Other seal assemblies are also possible.

In one embodiment of the invention the cross-section of the piercing housing is at least partially elliptical, preferably is an ellipse. Other shapes are also possible as rectangle or irregular shape. An elliptical cross-section of the piercing housing according to the invention has a preferred major axis of 1.5 cm and a minor axis of 1.0 cm. Under this circumstance, the neck of the gas cylinder has also to be formed as a corresponding shape to be able to insert into the piercing housing, preferable has a same shape as the piercing housing. After the neck of the gas cylinder is inserted into the piercing housing, it would not rotate by any external force in the piercing housing due to the geometry limitation, so that the seal assemblies, which are between the piercing element or piercing housing and the gas cylinder such as the first and the second seal assemblies, would not be damaged or undesirable compressed by the friction force resulting from the rotation.

In another embodiment of the invention, a collar-shaped element is provided on the neck of the gas cylinder. The collar-shaped element is used to make the neck of the gas cylinder suitable to insert into the piercing housing. This collar-shaped element shoud be deemed also as the neck of the gas cylinder. By installing the collar-shaped element, the neck of the gas cylinder has not to be formed according to the piercing housing but can remain the form as usual so that an additional produce complex can be avoided. The collar-shaped element is formed as an annular side wall engaged with the neck of the cylinder with a variety of connecting means such as threaded, unthreaded, gluing, shrinking fitting and so on. The annular side wall has preferably a round interior wall engaging with the neck of the cylinder and a non-round exterior wall which corresponds to the cross-section of the piercing housing. Corresponding means that it has the same shape and size as the cross-section of the piercing housing so that the effection of the seal assembly can be optimized and a misuse of a gas cylinder can be avoided. Such collar could also be provided with sealing assembly as an O-ring sitting in a groove thereof. The collar is engaged with the gas cylinder in a permanent way. The gas cylinder engaged with the collar may be single used for replacement.

The area of the cross-section of the piercing housing reduces preferably from the opening to the bottom wall of the piercing housing. It can be also performed with two or more different sizes of annual wall connected each other with one or more middle-walls.

The cross-section of the piercing housing is preferable formed by a side wall defining a round cross-section, a side wall defining an elliptical cross-section and a slanted wall for connecting the both walls. This special shape of the piercing housing has the advantage that the gas cylinder can be inserted easily into the round port of the piercing housing at the beginning and it can be then rotated easily on the slanted wall to reach the correct position to access into the further elliptical port of the piercing housing. This shape of the piercing housing enables a self orientated alignment of the elliptical neck of the gas cylinder to fit into the piercing housing reliable and easily.

Preferably, the pressurized gas in the gas cylinder is delivered into a liquid in which the pressurized gas is needed for different purposes such as oxidation, carbonization, inertization etc. The liquid is preferably a wine and the compressed gas is preferably oxygen.

The pressurized gas may contain more than 21% vol. oxygen when measured at atmospheric pressure. It contains preferably more than 50% oxygen, more preferred more than 80% vol., particular preferred more than 90% vol. more particular preferred more than 99% vol. The pressurized gas could be also technical pure oxygen.

Preferably, the pressurized gas in the gas cylinder is delivered into a bottle of wine through a tube which has a fluid communication with the piercing element and the gas cylinder. Other elements as like valve, damper, filter etc. could also be installed downstream of the piercing element in the fluid communication.

It will be appreciated that any form of pressurized gas source may be used. Indeed, the gas cylinder described above may be single use with the preferred features described above and it can be also replaceable or refillable.

It should be noted that the previously mentioned features and the features to be further described in the following are usable not only in the respectively indicated combination, but also in further combinations or taken alone, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the following non-limiting examples and the accompanying schematic figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of the elliptic connecting device for oxygenating wine

Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the elliptic connecting device which is turned 90 degrees from the position of the device in figure 1

Figure 3 shows a top view of the piercing housing without gas cylinder and container

Figure 4 shows the enlarged view C of the figure 1

Figure 5 shows an enlarged view of the pierced elliptic connecting device

Figure 1 shows a portion of a hand-held device for introducing oxygen into a bottle of wine. The device shown in the figure 1 is formed with four mainly parts: a gas cylinder 1, a piercing housing 7, a piercing element 4 and a container 10 for retaining the gas cylinder 1. The gas cylinder 1 is filled with pressurized oxygen enclosed by a pierceable diaphragm 3, which is performed as an outlet for the gas. The gas cylinder is designed to be easily portable and disposable and has an overall length of about 6.5 cm to 7.5 cm and a diameter of about 1.5 cm to 2 cm. In this embodiment, the gas cylinder has a neck 2 which has a smaller diameter of about 0.5 cm to 1 cm than the main body of the gas cylinder 1. The neck 2 is defined by a side wall and a top surface on which the pierceable diaphragm 3 is arranged. A full filled gas cylinder with this size has a pressure between 100 bar and 200 bar.

The piercing element 4 is formed as a blunt ended or truncated cone which allows the pierce diaphragm 3 to be deformed quite considerably before rupturing it. The diaphragm 3 and/or the piercing element 4 are preferably made of a metallic material, for example steel or stainless steel. This allows a good metal to metal seal to be formed between the piercing element 4 and the gas cylinder 1 under a high pressure. The piercing element 4 is provided with a channel 5 in the cone which allows the pressurized gas to escape from the gas cylinder 1 and via the channel 5 into further controlling or dispensing assemblies e.g. valve, membrane. Such a piercing of the outlet by means of a blunt end avoids particulate being separated from the outlet during piercing.

The gas cylinder 1 is held by a container 10 defined by a cylindrical wall and an opening sized for retaining the gas cylinder 1. The container 10 has a screwing part 11 at the opening which correspond a screwing portion provided on the exterior of the piercing housing for fixing the gas cylinder 1. Other connecting means are also possible.

The piercing housing 7 is defined by side walls 12 and a bottom wall 13 which is sized to allow the neck of the gas cylinder having the collar 9 to inserte into. On the bottom wall side the piercing element 4 extends inwardly to the piercing housing 7. A High Pressure (HP) seal 6 performed as a first seal assembly is formed as an annular sealing ring surrounding the shaft of the piercing element 4 which is arranged for preventing the pressurized gas escaping from the gas cylinder 1 via the pierced outlet to the piercing housing 7 during the piercing. It has not to be limited only to the HP seal, other sealing forms are also possible.

The piercing housing 7 has at least partially elliptical cross-sections defined by the side wall 12. The side wall 12 here consists of three parts 12a, 12b, and 12c. The side wall 12b has a round shape which has a bigger diameter than the other two side walls. The side wall 12c defines an elliptical shape whose major axis is smaller than the diameter of the round side wall 12b. A slanted side wall 12a connects the both side walls 12b and 12c for narrowing and also changing the cross-section. This slated side wall 12a helps the inserted gas cylinder rotating downwardly until it fits in the elliptical cross-section defined by the side wall 12c. A collar 9 is provided which is engaged with neck of the gas cylinder 2 to make the gas cylinder suitable to insert the piercing housing 7. As shown, the collar 9 has an interior side wall defining a cylindrical channel which is used to receive the neck of the gas cylinder 2 and also used to provide an access for the piercing element 4 to the diaphragm 3. The shape of the exterior side wall of the collar 9 is formed according to the shape of the cross-section of the piercing housing 7.

In this embodiment, an O-ring 8 performed as a second seal assembly sitting in a groove of the piercing element 4, so when the gas cylinder 1 is being inserted axially to the piercing housing, the O-ring 9 will create a radia seal, which is between the side wall of the piercing element 4 and the interior side wall of the collar 9, ahead of the HP seal 6. As a result, an escape of gas from an axially gap can be avoided. This escape of gas could happen in a case of that the HP seal 6 is deformed excessive and results the releasing of the pressurized gas. The piercing element 4 can be held by a wished section and can also be formed as desired in one piece.

Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the connecting device which is turned 90° from the position in the figure 1. These two views can be better understood by the figure 3. In figure 3 the view A is the position of figure 1 and the view B is the position of the figure 2. The gas cylinder 1 in figure 2 cannot be inserted into the piercing housing because the major axis of elliptical collar 9 sits 90° relative to the major axis of the elliptic piercing housing 7. In this case, a 90° rotary movement of the gas cylinder is required to fit into the elliptic piercing housing 7, which is achieved by the rotation of the container 10.

Figure 3 shows a top view of the piercing housing 7. The outmost cycle 14 is the exterior wall of the piercing housing 7. The cycle defined by the side wall 12b has a diameter equal to the major axis of the ellipse defined by the side wall 12c. The inside cycle is defined by the HP seal 6 surrounding the piercing element 4. The pierceable diaphragm 3 of the gas cylinder should be pierced at the midpoint of the cycle. The gas cylinder is pushed into this piercing housing 7 with assistance of the rotation, which is caused by the rotating container, until the elliptical collar coincides with the elliptical piercing housing. After fitting of the elliptical collar and the piercing housing, the gas cylinder cannot be rotated anymore due to the elliptical geometry. At this position the sealing between the HP seal 6 and the diaphragm 3 will only be created and enhanced by a force which is vertical to the surface of the HP seal 6 resulting from the forwardly threaded container 10. A transverse force on the HP seal, which usually comes up with the rotation, is thereby avoided.

The figure 4 shows an enlarged view of the range C from the figure 1. The major axis of the elliptical collar 9 is aligned to the major axis of the elliptical piercing housing 7 so the insertion of the gas cylinder can succeed. The collar 9 is formed according to the elliptiacal cross-section of the piercing housing. This preferable shape facilitates the rotation of the gas cylinder to reach the correct position aligning the piercing housing 7.

In figure 5 the gas cylinder is pierced by the piercing element 4, and the HP seal 6 and the second seal assembly 8 create seals to prevent the releasing of the pressurized gas. At this position the gas cylinder cannot be rotated by the external force because of the elliptical geometry limitation, which protects advantageously the HP seal 6 and the second seal assembly 8 from being damaged by the friction force resulting from the rotation movement.

In the connecting process, the gas cylinder 1, which has the specially formed collar 9 engaged on the neck, will be inserted into the piercing housing 7 by threading the container 12, which holds the gas cylinder 1 inside, onto the piercing housing. If the gas cylinder is not at the correct position at which the elliptical collar is not aligned to the likewise elliptical piercing housing 7, the gas cylinder will keep rotating until the correct position is reached. Once the gas cylinder 1 is aligned to the piercing housing 7, the gas cylinder can be inserted into the elliptical portion of the piercing housing 7. Afterwards, only a linear axial movement of the gas cylinder is possible. During the linear axial movement, a seal between the side wall of the piercing element 4 and the interior wall of the collar will be first created by the second seal assembly 8, which prevents the gas releasing during the piercing. Thereafter, the gas cylinder 1 keeps moving downwardly onto the piercing element 4 and gets pierced by the piercing element 4. The HP seal 4 creates then a seal on the outlet of the gas cylinder to prevent the pressurized gas escaping from the outlet radially to the atmosphere. During the sealing process the gas cylinder moves only axially without rotary or lateral movement which avoids the undesirable friction force caused by rotation leading to damage of the seal assemblies, which results to leakage or related accident or loss. Additionally, the elliptical shape of both the piercing housing and the collar can help the user to connect the matching piercing housing and gas cylinder together so that a misuse of the gas cylinder can be avoided.

Claims

claims

1. A connecting device comprises, - a piercing housing for receiving a neck of a gas cylinder, which has a top surface comprising a gas outlet - the piercing housing comprising an opening, side walls and a bottom wall, which is vertical to the axis of the gas cylinder - a piercing element arranged in the piercing housing for piercing the gas outlet of the gas cylinder - a container surrounding the gas cylinder for holding it in position characterized in that the cross-section of the piercing housing has a non-round shape and the cross-section of the neck of the gas cylinder is shaped accordingly to be able to insert into the piercing housing.
2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one first seal assembly is arranged between the top surface of the gas cylinder and the surface which will meet the top surface of the gas cylinder when the gas cylinder is inserted into the piercing housing.
3. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one second seal assembly is arranged to form an axial seal between the piercing housing or piercing element and the neck of the gas cylinder.
4. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the non round shape is at least partially elliptical, preferred an ellipse.
5. The device according to one of the eceding claims, characterized in that a collar shaped element which is shaped according to the shape of the piercing housing, is arranged on the neck of the gas cylinder.
6. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the second seal assembly is formed as an O-ring.
7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the second seal assembly is arranged downstream of the first seal assembly.
8. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gas cylinder is provided and it contains more than 21 vol% oxygen, preferably more than 80 vol% oxygen, more preferably more than 99 vol% oxygen.
9. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a screw assembly is disposed between the container and the piercing housing to lock the container, which retains the gas cylinder, and the piercing housing together.
10. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 2 to 9, characterized in that the first seal assembly is a High Pressure (HP) Seal.
12. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the area of the cross-section of the piercing housing reduces along the direction from the opening to the bottom wall of the piercing housing.
13. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 5 to 12, characterized in that the collar comprises a side wall defining a round cross-section, a side wall defining an elliptical cross-section and a slanted wall for connecting the both walls.
14. The device according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that a gas cylinder having a neck with non-round cross-section which corresponds the piercing housing is provided.
15. The device according to any one of the preceding claims 5 to 14 characterized in that a gas cylinder having a neck which is engaged with a collar-shaped element, which is shaped according to the shape of the piercing housing, is provided.