JPH056460Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] [Field of industrial application] This invention is designed to reduce the pressure caused when the remaining amount of gas in one of the systems becomes low when there are two gas supply systems. This invention relates to an automatic switching device for a gas supply system in which valve operation is automatically performed in response to a drop in the gas supply system to allow the other system to take over continuous supply.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional technique for this type of apparatus, there are apparatuses as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. This device is disclosed in Ito Koki Co., Ltd.'s general catalog (1972 edition, No. 3), and connects two gas containers to intermediate pressure regulators 1 and 2, respectively, and connects these outlets to the intermediate pressure section. 3, and a low pressure regulator 4 is combined at the end.

The method of using this device is to first set the set pressure of the intermediate pressure regulator to be high on one side and lower on the other side. Now, suppose that the intermediate pressure regulator 1 is set higher than the intermediate pressure regulator 2, the regulating valve 5 of the intermediate pressure regulator 1
is opened, and the regulating valve 6 of the intermediate pressure regulator 2 is opened, and the regulating valve 6 of the intermediate pressure regulator 2 is opened.
It gets blocked by the pressure from the side. Therefore, gas supply in this case is performed only from the intermediate pressure regulator 1 side having a high set pressure (see FIG. 4). As the gas supply continues, the gas in the container on the intermediate pressure regulator 1 side decreases, and as a result, the gas pressure decreases and the pressure in the intermediate pressure section 3 becomes unable to maintain the set pressure of the intermediate pressure section 3. come. When this pressure is about to drop below the set pressure of the intermediate pressure regulator 2, the regulating valve 6 of the intermediate pressure regulator 2, which had been in a closed state until then, begins to open and gas is discharged from the container on the intermediate pressure regulator 2 side. Supply begins (5th
(see figure).

In this way, the gas supply is switched to the intermediate pressure regulator 2 side, but if gas continues to be used even after switching, the gas on the intermediate pressure regulator 2 side will eventually become empty. Therefore, when the gas on the intermediate pressure regulator 1 side is used up, the set pressure of each intermediate pressure regulator is switched to the opposite state, that is, intermediate pressure regulator 1 is set low and intermediate pressure regulator 2 is set high. At the same time, replace the empty container with a full one. Therefore, after this operation, gas is supplied only from the intermediate pressure regulator 2 side (see FIG. 6).

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In the above-mentioned conventional device, when switching between the two gas supply systems, it is necessary to manually change the set pressure of each medium pressure regulator back and forth between higher and lower levels each time, which is time-consuming and has the disadvantage that malfunctions may occur if the changeover is not performed accurately.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic switching device for a gas supply system that can switch a supply system automatically and smoothly using gas pressure without requiring any human intervention, without the risk of causing malfunctions. It is.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has two gas supply systems, each of which is provided with a valve for opening and closing the gas supply system.
An automatic switching device for a gas supply system, which is equipped with a pair of cylinder devices that are activated by the gas pressure of each gas supply system to open and close the cylinders, the cylinder device being equipped with a casing and a cylinder that slides inside the casing. an inner piston having a rod coaxially inserted into the cylindrical piston and extending toward one end of the casing; and a spring biasing the cylindrical piston toward the one end. and an adjustment screw for adjusting the biasing force of the spring, and the casing is provided with a gas supply port for sliding the cylindrical piston in the direction of the other end opposite to the direction of the one end, The cylindrical piston is provided with a first gas supply port for sliding the internal piston toward the other end, and a second gas supply port for sliding the internal piston toward the one end. The first gas supply port of one of the cylinder devices and the second gas supply port of the other cylinder device are communicated with each other, and the second gas supply port of one cylinder device and the second gas supply port of the other cylinder device are communicated with each other. The valve is in communication with a first gas supply port, and the valve is opened when at least one of the cylindrical piston and the internal piston is slid toward the one end by the gas pressure. It is said that

[Effect]

The valves that open and close the two gas supply systems are
Before being supplied, both are opened by springs, and when gas is supplied from one supply system, the gas is sent to the gas supply port of the cylindrical piston of the other cylinder device, and the cylindrical piston is opened by the other cylinder device. The internal piston slides toward one end and closes the other valve, and the gas that passes through one valve is fed from the second gas supply port of one cylinder device, and the internal piston slides toward one end to open the valve. While maintaining the valve in the closed state, gas is fed from the first gas supply port of the other cylinder device, and the internal piston further slides in the direction of closing the other valve. In this way, after gas is supplied from only one side, when the pressure decreases, the cylindrical piston of the other cylinder device slides toward one end due to the biasing force of the spring, and the other valve is opened. As a result, a completely opposite effect to the above effect occurs, and the supply is switched to only from the other supply system.

〔Example〕

1 and 2 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numerals 7 and 8 indicate cylinder devices having the same structure, respectively.
Valves 9 and 10 having the same structure are respectively disposed near the tips of the cylinder devices 7 and 8, and stems 11 and 10, which open and close the valves 9 and 10, are arranged at the tips of the cylinder devices 7 and 8 and the valves 9 and 10, respectively. 1
2 are slidably fitted into each other.

The cylinder devices 7 and 8 include a casing 13,
14 forms the outer shell thereof, and these casings 13, 14 have cylindrical pistons 15, 1
6 is built in so as to be slidable on the stem 11, 12 side and in the opposite direction, and these cylindrical pistons 1
5, 16 house internal pistons 19, 20 having rods 17, 18 extending toward the stems 11, 12. The rods 17 and 18 extend to one end side of the casings 13 and 14, respectively.
In FIG. 1, the rod 17 extends to the right side of the casing 13, and the rod 18 extends to the left side of the casing 14.

These cylindrical pistons 15, 16 and internal pistons 19, 20 are slid by springs 21, 22 or gas pressure, which will be described later, so that the stem 11,
The valves 9 and 10 are opened and closed via the valve 12.

Cylinder head portions 23 of cylinder devices 7, 8,
Inside 24, a cylindrical piston is inserted into the stems 11 and 12.
the springs 21, 22 and a pressing plate 25 for pressing the springs 21, 22 so as to urge the springs 21, 22 in the direction;
26 are provided. Adjustment screws 27 and 28 are rotatably inserted into the cylinder head portions 23 and 24 to adjust the urging force of the springs 21 and 22 against the cylindrical pistons 15 and 16.

In the above cylinder device, the casing 13,
14 has gas supply ports 29, 30 for sliding the cylindrical pistons 15, 16 toward the other ends of the casings 13, 14, that is, toward the springs 21, 22 (hereinafter, this direction is simply referred to as the spring 21, 22 direction). A first gas supply port 3 is provided in the casings 13, 14 and the cylindrical pistons 15, 16 for sliding the internal pistons 19, 20 in the direction of the springs 21, 22.
1 and 32, and one end direction of the casings 13 and 14, that is, the direction of the valves 9 and 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as the valves 9 and 10).
10 directions) are provided.

The piping state for the above device is that the A system supplied from the A container first connects to the pipe 35 that reaches the outlet via the valve 10 at point a, and the cylinder device 7.
It branches into a pipe 36 connected to the gas supply port 29 of. In addition, the first gas supply port 3 of the cylinder device 7
1 and the second gas supply port 34 of the cylinder device 8 are provided.
7 intersects the pipe 35 at point b.

On the other hand, the B system supplied from the B container is first c
At the point, pipe 38 reaches the outlet via valve 9
Then, it branches into a pipe 39 connected to the gas supply port 30 of the cylinder device 8. In addition, the cylinder device 7
A pipe 40 is provided so that the second gas supply port 33 of the cylinder device 8 communicates with the first supply port 32 of the cylinder device 8, and this pipe 40 intersects the pipe 38 at point d. Immediately before the outlets of the pipes 35 and 38, check valves 41 and 42 are provided, respectively, to prevent backflow to the other supply system. Note that the symbols 43 and 44 are
These are supply opening/closing valves that open and close the supply of A container and B container, respectively.

To use the automatic switching device configured as described above, first, both the supply on-off valves 43 and 44 are closed to stop the supply of gas from the A container and the B container. Then, move the adjustment screws 27 and 28 so that the cylindrical pistons 15 and 16 move in the direction of the valves 9 and 10, and adjust the stems 11 and 1.
2, valves 9 and 10 are opened. The setting of the adjustment screw at this time becomes the set pressure when the supply system is switched.

Next, the supply on/off valve 43 is opened and gas is supplied from the A container. The supplied gas branches into a pipe 35 and a pipe 36 at point a. The gas branched into the pipe 36 is supplied to the casing 1 from the gas supply port 29.
3, and the cylindrical piston 15 slides toward the spring 21 side due to the gas pressure, so the valve 9
becomes "closed". On the other hand, the gas branched into the pipe 35 branches into three directions at point b after passing through the valve 10. One reaches the first gas supply port 31 of the cylinder device 7, and its gas pressure causes the internal piston 19 to slide toward the spring 21, keeping the valve 9 in the "closed" state. The second gas supply port 34 of the device 8 is reached, and the internal piston 20 slides toward the valve 10 due to the gas pressure, causing the valve 10 to be further opened, and yet another gas passes through the check valve 41. The water is supplied from the outlet to the user side and also tries to flow back to the B line through the pipe 38, but the check valve 42 prevents this flow.

Next, after confirming that gas from container A is being supplied from the outlet, the supply on/off valve 44 is opened to send gas from container B to the above device. The fed gas branches into pipes 38 and 39 at point c. The gas branched into the pipe 39 is connected to the gas supply port 3
0 into the casing 14, and the cylindrical piston 16 slides toward the spring 22 due to the gas pressure. This is the direction in which the valve 10 is closed, but
As mentioned above, the internal piston 20 opens the valve 10 due to the gas supply from the A container, so the valve 10 remains in the "open" state.

On the other hand, as for the gas branched into the pipe 38, as described above, the valve 9 is closed due to the gas supply from the A container, and the flow of the gas is stopped here. As described above, valve 10 is "open" and valve 9 is "closed".
Therefore, gas is supplied only from container A (first
(see figure).

As gas is supplied as described above, the pressure gradually decreases as the remaining amount of gas in container A decreases, and when the pressure reaches the aforementioned set pressure, the cylindrical piston 15 is due to the weakening of the gas pressure pushed toward the spring 21 side.
1, the valve slides in the direction of 9. Therefore, the valve 9 becomes "open" and the gas from the B container, which has been stopped by the valve 9, starts to flow. The gas from the B container that has passed through the valve 9 branches into three directions at point d. One reaches the first gas supply port 32 of the cylinder device 8, and the internal piston 20 slides toward the spring 22 due to the gas pressure, so the valve 10
is in the "closed" state, and the other reaches the second gas supply port 33 of the cylinder device 7, and the internal piston 19 slides toward the valve 9 side due to the gas pressure, causing the valve 9 to further "open". The other one passes through the check valve 42 and is supplied from the outlet to the user side, and also tries to flow back to the A system through the pipe 35, but the check valve 41 prevents the flow. thwarted.

As mentioned above, when gas starts flowing from container B, the gas pressure in container A is already lower than the gas pressure in container B, so the switch from container A to container B must be performed quickly. (See Figure 2).
Then, after the gas supply from the B container is switched, the A container is filled with gas, and after the B container continues to be supplied, when the gas pressure decreases to the switching pressure, the opposite effect to the above occurs, The supply is switched from container B to container A. In this way, by alternately filling the containers with gas after the gas supply has ended,
The supply system can be switched automatically and continuously.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has basically the same configuration as the previous embodiment except for the following points, and the same components as in this embodiment are given the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted.

That is, in this embodiment, in addition to the structure of the previous embodiment, the piston head surfaces of the internal pistons 19 and 20 and the cylindrical pistons 15 and 16 are
Coil springs 45 and 46 are provided between the internal pistons 19 and 20 to bias the internal pistons 19 and 20 in the direction of the valves 9 and 10, respectively. Cylindrical convex portions 19a and 20a are respectively formed to maintain the installed state.

According to this other embodiment, the coil springs 45 and 46 ensure that even if the gas pressure supplied from the second gas supply ports 33 and 34 is insufficient, the internal pistons 19 and 20 are Each valve 9 and 10 is actuated to open.

[Effect of idea]

The automatic gas supply system switching device of this invention does not require any external energy and automatically switches the supply system based only on gas pressure, so it can be used in any location and allows gas to be released into the atmosphere. Therefore, it has the advantage that it can be applied to all kinds of gases, including flammable gases and toxic gases. In addition, when compared with a conventional device that is equipped with an intermediate pressure regulator and switches based on the gas pressure difference,
With this idea, once the pressures of the two supply systems are set, there is no need to alternately switch the set pressure each time the supply system is switched, so after setting the pressure, the containers of the supply systems can be replaced alternately. This has the effect of saving time and effort in operation, as all you have to do is follow the instructions.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which gas is supplied from system A, and Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a state in which gas is supplied from system B. 3 to 6 are schematic cross-sectional views of the state in which the gas pressure is changed, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are diagrams illustrating the effect of switching the supply system due to a difference in gas pressure in a conventional automatic switching device equipped with an intermediate pressure regulator. 7, 8... Cylinder device, 9, 10... Valve, 13, 14... Casing, 15, 16
... Cylindrical piston, 17, 18 ... Rod, 1
9, 20... Internal piston, 21, 22... Spring, 27, 28... Adjustment screw, 29, 30... Gas supply port, 31, 32... First gas supply port, 3
3, 34...Second gas supply port.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] It has two gas supply systems A and B, and valves 9 and 10 are provided in the middle of each of these gas supply systems A and B to open and close the gas supply systems A and B, respectively. These valves 9 and 10 are connected to each gas supply system A,
This automatic switching device for a gas supply system is provided with a pair of cylinder devices 7 and 8 that are operated by the gas pressure of B and open and close, respectively, and the cylinder devices 7 and 8 are connected to casings 13 and 14, Cylindrical pistons 15, 16 are slidably provided in the casings 13, 14, and rods 17 are inserted coaxially into the cylindrical pistons 15, 16 and extend toward one end of the casings 13, 14. , 18; springs 21, 22 that bias the cylindrical pistons 15, 16 toward the one end; and adjustment screws 27, 28 that adjust the biasing force of the springs 21, 22. The casings 13 and 14 are provided with gas supply ports 29 and 30 for sliding the cylindrical pistons 15 and 16 toward the other end opposite to the one end direction, and the cylindrical piston 15 , 16 have first gas supply ports 31, 32 for sliding the internal pistons 19, 20 toward the other end, and second gas supply ports 33, 34 for sliding the internal pistons 19, 20 toward the one end. The first gas supply port 31 of one cylinder device 7 of the pair of cylinder devices 7 and 8 communicates with the second gas supply port 34 of the other cylinder device 8, and one cylinder device 7 said second gas supply port 3
3 and the first gas supply port 32 of the other cylinder device 8, and the valves 9, 10 communicate with the cylindrical pistons 15, 1.
6 and at least one of the internal pistons 19 and 20 is operated to open when it is slid toward the one end by the gas pressure.