JP2003269696A - Container valve with residual quantity indicating part - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the overall height of a container valve while providing the container valve with a residual quantity indicating part. <P>SOLUTION: The residual quantity indicating part 6 is formed on a side face of the body part 2a of a housing 2. The body part 2a is biased relative to the axis of a leg thread part 2b toward a side different from the side on which the residual quantity indicating part 6 is provided. A shut-off valve chamber 29 is disposed in a position away from the residual quantity indicating part 6 on plan view. A valve chamber inlet 31 opens in the bottom face of the shut-off valve chamber 29 and in a position away from an inlet port 23 on plan view. The valve chamber inlet 31 and the inlet port 23 open to the lower face of the leg thread part 2b are in communication with each other via an inlet passage 25. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container valve with a remaining amount display unit, and more particularly to a container valve having a remaining amount display unit and having a reduced overall height.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a gas cylinder filled with high-pressure gas such as medical oxygen gas or helium gas for balloons, the gas pressure is applied to the leg screw portion of the container valve attached thereto, so the diameter of this leg screw portion is A small diameter is desirable.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-33875 disclosed by the inventor of the present invention has been disclosed in which the above-mentioned container valve is provided with a remaining amount display section for displaying the remaining amount of stored gas in a cylinder. There is a container valve. That is, the above container valve has a leg screw portion below the main body portion of the housing, and the inlet port is opened between the inlet hole opened on the lower surface of the leg screw portion and the outlet hole opened on the side surface of the main body portion. A passage, a shutoff valve and an outlet passage are provided. In the closing valve chamber of the above-described closing valve, a valve chamber inlet is opened at approximately the center of the bottom surface, and a closing valve seat is formed around this valve chamber inlet. The valve chamber inlet and the inlet hole are communicated with each other by the inlet passage provided in the vertical direction.

Further, a remaining amount display portion is formed on one side surface of the main body portion, a vertical hole is provided below the remaining amount display portion, and the lower end of the vertical hole is the lower surface of the leg screw portion. Therefore, it is opened at a position different from the above-mentioned inlet hole. A holder is screwed into the vertical hole, and a pressure receiving actuating rod is inserted into an insertion hole formed in the holder. Then, the pressure receiving operating rod is elastically pressed downward by a balance spring, the rod upper portion of the pressure receiving operating rod is inserted into the remaining amount display portion, and the residual pressure detecting portion is provided on the rod upper portion.

[0005]

Since the inlet passage is formed vertically, the inlet hole and the valve chamber inlet of the shutoff valve chamber are formed at substantially the same position in plan view. . On the other hand, since the leg screw portion has a small diameter, the inlet hole and the lower end opening of the vertical hole are formed close to each other. As a result, the remaining amount display portion formed above the vertical hole and the above-described shut-off valve chamber having the valve chamber inlet opening at the substantially center of the bottom surface are formed at positions overlapping each other in plan view. Therefore, the above-mentioned shut-off valve has to be arranged above the remaining amount display portion, and there is a problem that the overall height of the container valve becomes high. For this reason, since the protruding size from the gas cylinder becomes large,
Should the container valve collide with another object, there is a fear that a heavy load will be applied to the mounting portion of the gas cylinder such as the leg screw portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a technical object of the present invention to solve the above problems and provide a container valve having a remaining amount display portion and having a reduced overall height.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention will be described with reference to, for example, FIGS. 1 to 6 showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is configured as follows. That is, the housing (2)
Is equipped with a leg screw part (2b) below the main body part (2a), and an inlet hole (23) is opened in the lower surface of the leg screw part (2b),
Open the outlet hole (24) on the outer surface of (2a) and
In (2), the inlet passage (25), the shut-off valve chamber (29) of the shut-off valve (28) and the outlet passage (30) are provided between the inlet hole (23) and the outlet hole (24). The central axis center of the leg screw portion (2b) extending in the vertical direction is provided with the remaining amount indicator portion (6) formed on one side surface of the main body portion (2a).
(L), the main body (2a) above the remaining amount display section
It is deviated to a side different from the one side provided with (6), and the above-mentioned shut-off valve chamber (29) is arranged at a position away from the above-mentioned remaining amount display section (6) in a plan view. On the bottom surface of the shutoff valve chamber (29), the valve chamber inlet (31) is located at a position outside the inlet hole (23) in plan view.
Is opened, and the inlet hole (23) communicates with the valve chamber inlet (31) through the inlet passage (25).

When the above-mentioned inlet hole and the valve chamber inlet are communicated with each other through the inlet passage, they can be constructed as follows, for example.

(1) A gas escape passage extending in the horizontal direction is formed below the shut-off valve chamber in the main body of the housing, one end of this gas escape passage communicates with the upper end of the inlet passage, and the other end It communicates with the safety valve provided on the outer surface of the main body. And
The gas escape passage and the valve chamber inlet are connected by a communication passage extending vertically. In this case, the lower end of the communication passage may be connected to the middle portion of the gas escape passage, or may be connected to the other end side, for example, the valve chamber of the safety valve for communication.

(2) The inlet passage is formed by sloping. In this case, the inlet passage may be simply machined by inclining the entire body at the same angle as shown in FIG. 5, or as shown in FIG. 6, inclined from the inlet hole to an intermediate portion in the vertical direction. It is also possible to incline only a part such that it is formed vertically from the intermediate portion to the valve chamber inlet.

[0011]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view of a container valve, FIG. 2 is a right side view in which a part of the container valve is broken, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional plan view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing (2) of the container valve (1) comprises a main body (2a) and a leg screw portion (2b) below the main body portion (2a), and the leg screw portion (2b) is a gas cylinder. It is screwed and fixed to the neck of (3). The main body (2a) has a connecting nozzle (4) on the right side surface (right side in FIG. 1) and a safety valve on the left side surface (left side in FIG. 1).
(5) are provided respectively, and the front side surface of the main body (2a)
A remaining amount display portion (6) is formed (on the front of FIG. 1). Below the remaining amount display portion (6), a vertical hole (7) is formed vertically through the leg screw portion (2b), and a holder (8) is formed at the lower end of the vertical hole (7). ), And a cylindrical body (9) is attached.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main body (2a) is
The leg screw portion (2b) is provided so as to be offset rearward (to the right in FIG. 2) with respect to the central axis (L) of the leg screw portion (2b) extending in the vertical direction. The remaining amount indicator (6) provided on the front side (left side in FIG. 2) of the main body (2a) is the main body (2a) of the housing (2).
A transparent window hole (10) opened in the transparent window hole (10) and a transparent resin tube (11) mounted in the transparent window hole (10) are provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front surface of the main body portion (2a) and the upper surface of the leg screw portion (2b) are connected to each other on both sides of the remaining amount display portion (6). Reinforcing beams (12) are provided. In addition, in this embodiment, the upper surface of the reinforcing beam (12) is formed in an inclined shape that becomes lower as it goes away from the main body portion (2a), but the shape of the reinforcing beam (12) of the present invention is It is not limited to the form. Further, this reinforcing beam may be provided only on one side of the remaining amount display portion.

Sealing materials (13, 13) that also serve as cushioning materials are mounted on the upper and lower sides of the transparent cylinder (11), and are pressed and fixed from below by the holder (8). This holder (8)
The outer circumference of is screwed in an airtight manner to the vertical hole (7) by an O-ring (14). An insertion hole (15) is formed through the holder (8) in the vertical direction, and the rod middle portion (16a) of the pressure receiving actuating rod (16) is inserted into the insertion hole (15). ), And is vertically and airtightly slidably inserted. The tubular body (9) is screwed to the lower part of the holding tool (8).
A balance spring (18) composed of a tension coil spring is inserted into (9). The lower end of the balance spring (18) has a cylindrical body (9).
Is supported by a support pin (19) at the lower end of the spring, while the upper end of the spring is connected to the rod lower portion (16b) of the pressure receiving operating rod (16).
As a result, the pressure receiving rod (16) is
It is oppressed downward at (18).

A residual pressure detector (20) is provided on the rod upper portion (16c) of the pressure receiving actuating rod (16). This residual pressure detector (20)
Corresponding to the vertical sliding of the pressure receiving rod (16), the transparent tube (1
It is moved up and down in 1) and its height is visible through the transparent window hole (10).

As shown in FIG. 3, an inlet hole (23) is formed on the lower surface of the leg screw portion (2b) at a position different from the lower end opening of the vertical hole (7). , The above connecting nozzle
An exit hole (24) is opened on the end face of (4). Then, in the housing (2), the inlet hole (23) and the outlet hole (2
An inlet passageway (25), a gas escape passageway (26), a communication passageway (27), a shutoff valve chamber (29) for a shutoff valve (28), and an exit passageway (30) are provided in this order between and 4).

The inlet passage (25) has the leg screw portion (2b).
Is provided in the up-down direction substantially parallel to the central axis (L) of the. Further, the gas escape passage (26) is connected to the shutoff valve chamber (2
It is installed horizontally below 9), and one end of the above-mentioned entrance passage (2
It is connected to the upper end of 5) and the other end is connected to the safety valve (5) provided on the outer surface of the main body (2a).

As shown in FIG. 4, the above-mentioned shut-off valve chamber (29)
Is formed in the main body portion (2a) at a position outside the remaining amount display portion (6) in plan view. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the shutoff valve chamber (29) is provided in the main body portion (2a) of the housing (2) side by side with the remaining amount display portion (6).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shut-off valve chamber described above is used.
The valve chamber inlet (31) is opened at the substantially center of the bottom surface of (29), and the opening position is a position deviated from the inlet hole (23) in plan view. The valve chamber inlet (31) and the intermediate portion of the gas escape passage (26) are communicated with each other by the communication passage (27).

Around the valve chamber inlet (31), a closing valve seat (3
2) is formed. Further, a closing member (33) is inserted in the closing valve chamber (29), and an operation handle (34) for opening and closing the closing member (33) with respect to the closing valve seat (32) in the vertical direction. ) Is provided on top of the housing (2).

When the stored gas is taken out from the gas cylinder (3), the shut-off valve (28) is operated by the operation handle (34).
Open the valve. As a result, the stored gas in the gas cylinder (3) has an inlet hole (23), an inlet passage (25), a gas escape passage (26), and a communication passage.
(27), passing through the shutoff valve chamber (29) and the outlet passage (30) in this order, and taken out from the outlet hole (24).

When the amount of stored gas in the gas cylinder (3) is large, the pressure-receiving actuating rod (16) moves in the balance spring (18).
Against the elastic pressure of, it is pressed upward by the stored gas pressure,
The residual pressure detecting section (20) is located at an upper position in the transparent cylinder (11). Then, when the gas pressure in the gas cylinder (3) decreases with the consumption of the stored gas, the pressure receiving actuating rod (16) is pressed downward by the balance spring (18) against the stored gas pressure. The residual pressure detecting unit (20) gradually descends in the transparent cylinder (11), thereby displaying that the stored gas is consumed.

When the consumption of the stored gas progresses and the inside of the gas cylinder (3) becomes empty and the residual pressure detecting section (20) reaches a predetermined lower limit position, a gas filling device ( (Not shown)
Is connected, and the shut-off valve (28) is opened to fill the gas cylinder (3) with the filling gas. Due to this filling, the residual pressure detecting section (20) rises in the transparent cylinder (11), and when the predetermined upper limit position is reached, the filling of gas is terminated.

In the first embodiment described above, since the inlet passage (25) is formed substantially parallel to the central axis (L) of the leg screw portion (2b), there is an advantage that it can be easily processed. However, in the present invention, as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, for example, the inlet passage (25) is provided so as to be inclined with respect to the central axis (L) of the leg screw portion (2b), and the inlet hole (23 ) And the valve chamber inlet (31) may be connected by this inclined inlet passage (25). In this case, unlike the first embodiment described above, the gas escape passage of the safety valve can be provided at an arbitrary position. The inclined inlet passage (25) is provided with the inlet hole (23) and the valve chamber inlet (3) provided at different positions in plan view.
It is sufficient that at least a part thereof is inclined so that it can communicate with 1). For example, as in the modified example shown in FIG. 6, it is inclined from the inlet hole (23) to the intermediate portion in the vertical direction, and It may be formed in a vertical direction from the portion to the upper valve chamber inlet (31).

In the above embodiment, the remaining amount display section for displaying the residual pressure in the gas cylinder has been described, but the remaining amount display section of the present invention displays the liquid level position in the gas cylinder for storing the liquefied gas. It may be one. Needless to say, the stored gas of the gas cylinder to which the container valve of the present invention is applied is not limited to a specific gas type.

[0026]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following operational effects.

(1) Since the above-mentioned shut-off valve chamber is formed at a position deviating from the above-mentioned remaining amount display portion in plan view, this shut-off valve chamber and the remaining amount display portion can be arranged side by side in the horizontal direction, The overall height of the container valve can be kept low. As a result,
Even if an impact is applied to the container valve due to a collision with another object, it is possible to reduce the load on the mounting portion between the container valve and the gas cylinder such as the leg screw portion.

(2) A gas escape passage extending in the horizontal direction is formed below the shut-off valve chamber in the main body, and the gas escape passage has one end communicating with the upper end of the inlet passage and the other end. Is communicated with a safety valve provided on the outer surface of the main body, and the gas escape passage and the valve chamber inlet are communicated with each other through a vertically extending communication passage, the inlet passage is in the vertical direction, that is, the leg screw portion. Since it can be formed substantially parallel to the central axis of the, it can be easily processed at low cost.

(3) When at least a part of the above-mentioned inlet passage is formed to be inclined, it can be applied even when the gas escape passage is not formed below the shutoff valve chamber in the housing.

(4) The main body is deviated to the side different from the one side on which the remaining amount indicator is provided, with respect to the central axis extending in the vertical direction of the leg screw. If a reinforcing beam that connects the outer surface of the main body section and the upper surface of the leg screw section to each other is provided on one or both sides of the remaining amount display section, in the unlikely event that a shock is applied to the container valve, However, since the housing is reinforced by this reinforcing beam, the possibility of breakage of the leg screw portion can be reduced. Further, this reinforcing beam does not hinder the visual observation of the remaining amount display portion from the front, and can also protect the side surface of the remaining amount display portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a container valve showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the container valve according to the first embodiment with a part thereof cut away.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front view of the container valve according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical plan view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view, corresponding to FIG. 3, of a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Container valve, 2 ... Housing, 2a ... Main body, 2b ...
Leg screw part, 5 ... Safety valve, 6 ... Remaining amount display part, 7 ... Vertical hole, 12 ... Reinforcing beam, 23 ... Inlet hole, 24 ... Outlet hole, 25
… Inlet passage, 26… gas escape passage, 27… communicating passage, 28… close valve, 29… close valve chamber, 30… exit passage, 31… valve inlet, L… center axis of leg screw (2b).

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. The housing (2) is provided with a leg screw part (2b) below the main body part (2a), and an inlet hole (23) is opened in the lower surface of the leg screw part (2b) to provide the above-mentioned structure. An outlet hole (24) is opened on the outer surface of the main body (2a), and an inlet passage (25) is formed in the housing (2) between the inlet hole (23) and the outlet hole (24). Closed valve chamber (29) of closed valve (28)
And an outlet passage (30), a remaining amount indicator (6) is formed on one side surface of the main body (2a), and the central axis (L) of the leg screw (2b) extending in the up-down direction. ), The main body portion (2a) is deviated to a side different from the one side on which the remaining amount display portion (6) is provided, and the stop valve chamber (29) is viewed in a plan view. Remaining amount display section (6)
The valve chamber inlet (31) is opened at a position outside the inlet hole (23) in plan view on the bottom surface of the closing valve chamber (29), (23) to the above valve chamber inlet (31)
A container valve with a residual amount indicator, characterized by being communicated via (25). 2. The shut-off valve chamber (2) in the main body (2a).
A gas escape passage (26) extending in the horizontal direction is formed below 9). One end of the gas escape passage (26) communicates with the upper end of the inlet passage (25), and the other end of the gas escape passage (26) connects to the outer surface of the main body. 2. The residue according to claim 1, wherein the gas relief passage (26) and the valve chamber inlet (31) are communicated with a safety valve (5) provided in Container valve with quantity display. 3. The container valve with a fuel amount indicator according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the inlet passage (25) is formed to be inclined. 4. A reinforcing beam (12) for connecting the outer surface of the main body portion (2a) and the upper surface of the leg screw portion (2b) to each other on one or both sides of the remaining amount display portion (6). The container valve with a residual amount display section according to claim 1, wherein the container valve is provided.