NL2011520C2

NL2011520C2 - Modular housing for housing a refillable tank, and corresponding kit of parts, interconnecting element, assembly, and method.

Info

Publication number: NL2011520C2
Application number: NL2011520A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Jan Jacobus Matthijs Koppert
Original assignee: Advanced Lightweight Engineering B V
Priority date: 2013-09-30
Filing date: 2013-09-30
Publication date: 2015-04-01

Description

Title: Modular housing for housing a refill able tank, and corresponding kit of parts, interconnecting element, assembly, and method

The invention relates to a housing for a refillable vessel, such as a fibre reinforced gas tank. Such fibre reinforced vessels, especially dry wound composite vessels, can offer the advantage of a hght-weight construction. These types of vessels are often advantageously used as pressure vessels, for instance as pressure vessel for gaseous fluids of pressures of for example up to 700 bar. Such vessels may also be used to hold liquid fluids or even solid fluids and fluids at atmospheric pressure. Although such vessels or tanks can have many advantages over conventional refillable vessels such as gas tanks of steel, the light-weight fibre reinforced vessels are often formed such that they cannot be stacked up and/or cannot stand upright while being unsupported. Therefore, refillable fibre reinforced vessels are often housed in a housing providing support and enabling stacking. It has, however, been difficult to make these housings light-weight, and also rigid enough to restrain the refillable fibre reinforced vessel when under internal gas pressure.

The invention aims to alleviate the above-mentioned problem. Especially, the invention aims at providing a housing being relatively lightweight, while being able to restrain a refillable fibre reinforced vessel under internal gas pressure, preferably even when being refilled repeatedly.

Thereto the invention provides in a modular housing for housing a refillable fibre reinforced gas tank, comprising a substantially plastic bottom member forming a tank support for supporting a tank to be housed, a substantially plastic top member for at least partly covering a top portion of said tank to be housed, and multiple substantially plastic interconnecting elements for interconnecting the bottom member and the top member, wherein at least one and preferably each substantially plastic interconnecting element is tightenable between the bottom member and the top member such as to enable pulling the bottom member and the top member towards each other. By making the bottom and top member and the interconnecting elements substantially of plastic, the housing can be relatively light-weight. Further, by enabling that said interconnecting element can be tightened between the bottom member and the top member such as to enable puhing the bottom member and the top member towards each other, the housing can be instahed tightly around a refillable tank, even when the substantiahy plastic interconnecting element is slightly stretched out, such as due to forces exerted on the housing or its interconnecting element by an expanding fibre reinforced gas tank. Alternatively or additionally, the tightenable interconnecting elements may overcome variation in height of tanks, for instance variation between similar tanks due to production deviations or variation between different, tanks, such as tanks having various sizes.

By providing a tightening mechanism arranged for retightening said at least one substantially plastic interconnecting element, the housing can be retightened, for instance when the substantially plastic interconnecting element is slightly stretched out due to creep. By providing retightenable interconnecting elements, it can be enabled to use interconnecting elements being substantially of plastic.

In an advantageous embodiment, the tightening mechanism is arranged such that the interconnecting element and the corresponding top or bottom member can move only in a direction towards each other, while preventing motion in the opposite direction. Hence, the housing can be retightened, while counteracting erroneous enlargement of the length of the interconnecting element. Consequently, it may be counteracted that unskilled workers at a refilling station erroneously loosen the interconnecting elements. Furthermore, it may counteract that users tamper with the interconnecting elements. For example, the tightening mechanism can comprise a ratchet mechanism.

Advantageously, at least one and preferably each interconnecting element can be connectable to and/or connected with the top or bottom member along an edge being substantially longer than an average width of said interconnecting element. As a result, loads or forces to be transferred between the interconnecting element and the respective top or bottom member can be distributed over a relatively large transferring area, thereby counteracting relatively large local loads in the connection between said interconnecting element and the respective member.

Preferably, the interconnecting element is releasably connectable to the respective top or bottom member, such that parts of the modular housing can be replaced relatively easily.

In embodiments, at least one and preferably each interconnecting element can comprise a shoulder portion for at least partly overlying a shoulder portion of the tank to be housed. As a result, tensile forces applied to the interconnecting element can be transferred partly from the shoulder portion of the interconnecting element to the shoulder portion of the tank to be housed, thereby partly relieving the connection between said interconnecting element and the respective one of a top and bottom member.

The invention further relates to a kit of parts for forming a modular housing. In embodiments, the kit of parts can comprise multiple sets of interconnecting elements, wherein the interconnecting elements of a first, set have a different, length than the interconnecting elements of a further set. Alternatively or additionally, a kit may comprise one or more replacement parts, preferably interconnecting elements for replacement of worn interconnecting elements.

Further, the invention relates to an assembly of a vessel, such as a refillable fibre reinforced tank, and a modular housing. The invention also relates to a method for servicing such an assembly, and to an interconnecting element.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described below and in the appended claims.

By way of non-hmiting examples only, embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of an assembly comprising a tank and a housing according to an aspect of the invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic view of the housing of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 shows a detail of a cross section of a tightening mechanism of the housing of Figure 2.

The embodiments disclosed herein are shown as examples only and should by no means be understood as limiting the scope of the claimed invention in any way. In this description, the same or similar elements have the same or similar reference signs.

Figure 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of an assembly 1 comprising a modular housing 2 for housing a vessel 3. Further, the 1 assembly comprises a vessel 3. Here, the vessel 3 is a fibre reinforced tank 3, especially a gas tank. The reinforced tank 3 can be a composite tank. In embodiments, the tank 3 can comprise a substantially gas-tight and/or fluid-tight finer, e.g. a HDPE liner, overwound with a layer of fibre material. In embodiments, the layer of fibre material may be not completely embedded, but may be coated, e.g. by a rubber material such as a polyurethane, in order to protect the fibres. Advantageously, the tank is arranged to be used as a pressure vessel, for instance as a pressure vessel for gaseous fluids of pressures of for example up to 700 bar. Alternatively or additionally, the tank 3 may also be used to hold liquid fluids or even solid fluids and fluids at atmospheric pressure. It is noted that the composite tank can be a dry wound tank, such as for instance known from WO 01 5/7429. The dry wound tank may comprise a number of fibre filaments of which at least a part can move freely with respect to one another, and wherein at least a part and preferably all of the fibre filaments are wound such that when the pressure vessel is under internal pressure the respective fibre filaments are loaded exactly in their longitudinal direction. Alternatively, the tank may be another type tank of tank, preferably a fibre reinforce tank 3, such as a tank 3 having fibres imbedded in a matrix material.

The tank 3 can comprise a mount 4 for mounting appendages to the tank 3. Advantageously, the mount 4 can be rotatably connected to the rest of the tank 3, especially in a way such as for instance described in WO 2012/074373. For example, the mount 4 may comprise a substantially cylindrical neck portion with a radially outwardly extending base flange, wherein the base flange is axially fixedly but rotationally free held between the liner and the layer of fibre material.

It is noted that the tank 3 can be a gas tank and may contain a gas, for instance natural gas, propane gas, and/or butane gas. The assembly 1 and/or the gas contained by its tank can for instance be intended for home use, such as in areas with no or no sufficient gas pipeline network, but may be intended for other use as well, such as for instance for roofing or for use at a camping, in a camper van, and/or in a forklift, truck. For example, the gas may be used for cooking, heating and/or driving domestic appliances such as clothes dryers or gas-powered refrigerators. Preferably, the tank 3 is a refillable tank.

Figure 2 shows a schematic view of the housing 2 of Figure 1. The modular housing 2 comprises a substantially plastic bottom member 5 forming a tank support 5 for supporting a tank 3 to be housed. Here, the bottom member 5 is substantially ring shaped. The bottom member 5 can have a substantially flat base surface 8 for placing the assembly 1 at a floor or for stacking it on top of another assembly 1. Here, the support member 5 is provided with support ribs 9 which can have lower edges for at least partly defining the base surface 8 and/or concave upper edges 10 for at least partly defining a support surface for supporting a convex bottom surface of the tank 3. In embodiments, openings or channels may be formed between the support ribs 9, such that accumulation of condensate dripped from the tank can be counteracted.

The modular housing 2 also comprises a substantially plastic top member 6 for at least partly covering a top portion of said tank 3 to be housed. In embodiments, the top member may be substantially ring shaped, however, it may comprise any other suitable shape. Preferably, the top member 6 comprises a recess or an opening 12 providing for a passage for the mount 4 of the tank 3. Here, the top member 6 comprises a cover portion 13 for at least partly covering the top portion of said tank 3. Further, the top member 6 can comprise one or multiple protruding portions 14, protruding in an upward direction away from the cover portion 13. The at least one protruding portion 14 can for instance be formed as a wall or wall part at least partly surrounding the mount 4 and/or may be arranged for protecting the mount 4 from being hit accidently. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one protruding portions 14 may forme or may comprise a handle for handling the assembly 1 and/or may be connected and/or connectable to a handle portion 15. Here, the protruding portions 14 are connected to a C-shaped ring 15 forming said handle portion 15. It is noted that a top surface 17 of the assembly 1 may be defined by a top surface of the handle portion 15 which may be part of the substantially plastic top member 6 and/or may be defined by said top member 6. Preferably, said top surface 17 of the assembly 1 can be arranged for supporting a base surface 8 of a further assembly to be stacked on the assembly 1.

In embodiments, the top member 6 can further comprise one or more shoulder portions 18 for at least partly overlying a shoulder portion of the tank 3 to be housed. As a result, the tank 3 may be seized by the top member 6 relatively well.

Further, the modular housing 2 comprises multiple substantially plastic interconnecting elements 7 for interconnecting the bottom member 5 and the top member 6. Although the housing 2 comprises three interconnecting elements 7 in the embodiment shown, alternative embodiments of he housing 2 may comprise another number of interconnecting elements 7, such as for instance two, four, five or six interconnecting elements 7.

At least one and preferably each substantially plastic interconnecting element 7 is tightenable between the bottom member 5 and the top member 6 such as to enable pulling the bottom member 5 and the top member 6 towards each other. Since the interconnecting element 7 is tightenable, the height of the housing 2 may be adjustable to at least some extent, e.g. in order to adjust the housing 2 to a height of a tank 3 to be housed. Additionally or alternatively, the interconnecting element 7 being tightenable can enable secure clamping of the tank 3 between the top member 6 and the bottom member.

In embodiments, at least one and preferably each substantially plastic interconnecting element 7 can be substantially strip shaped. Advantageously, the interconnecting element 7 can be formed as a strap and/or is substantially flexible, especially at least in one direction, preferably such as to bend or roll in a direction substantially transverse its longitudinal direction.

It is noted that although the interconnecting element 7 and the top and bottom members 6, 5 are each substantially made of plastic, one or more of them may comprise other materials. For instance, they can comprise reinforcement fibres, e.g. glass or carbon fibres, such as fibres extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the interconnecting element 7.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the top member 6 of the housing 2 is positioned at a top of a first distal end the vessel 3, the bottom member 5 is positioned at a second distal end of the vessel 3, and the interconnecting elements 7 interconnect the bottom member 5 and the top member 6, thereby extending substantially along a lateral side of the vessel 3. Preferably, for instance in the case of a dry wound vessel 3, the vessel can have a substantially cylindrical shape, wherein the distal ends of the vessel may have a substantially isotensoid shape, that is, a shape whereby when the vessel 3 is under internal pressure the mechanical stresses are distributed equally among the fibres wound over the respective distal end.

The modular housing 2 can further comprise a tightening mechanism 16 for tightening said at least one substantially plastic interconnecting element 7 between the bottom member 5 and the top member 6. Preferably, multiple tightening mechanisms 16 are provided, especially at least one for tightening a respective one of the multiple interconnecting elements 7. Here, three tightening mechanisms 16 are provided, each for one of the three interconnecting elements 7.

Advantageously, said at least one tightening mechanism 16 is arranged for retightening said at least one substantially plastic interconnecting element 7. As a result, the interconnecting element 7 can be retightened, for instance after refilling the tank 3 in a filling station.

In embodiments, at least one and preferably each interconnecting element 7 can be connectable or connected to one of the top and bottom member 6, 5, preferably at or near a first distal end of said interconnecting element 7, and can be arranged to be tightenably connectable to the other of the top and bottom member 6, 5, preferably at or near a second distal end of said interconnecting element 7.

Here, the interconnecting element 7 is substantially rigidly connectable to the top member 6, and adjustably connectable to the bottom member 5 in order to be tightenable. Alternatively, the interconnecting element 7 can be substantially rigidly connectable to the bottom member 5, and tightenably connectable to the top member 5. As yet another alternative, the interconnecting element 7 can be substantially rigidly connectable to both the top member 6 and the bottom member, and may be tightenable by adjusting its length, for instance by forming the interconnecting element 7 as a two-piece tie down strap, thus including a tightening mechanism. It is noted that, instead of that the interconnecting element 7 is substantially rigidly connectable to the top and/or bottom member 6, 5, the interconnecting element 7 can be substantially rigidly connected to the respective member 6, 5, for instance by forming said member 6, 5 and the interconnecting element 7 as an integrated part. It is noted that other embodiments are possible, for example two distal end portions of the interconnecting element 7 can be tightenably connectable, one to the top member 6, and one to the bottom member 5, e.g. each being provided with a respective tightening mechanism 16.

Figure 3 shows a detail of a cross section III of a lower part of the housing 2 of Figure 2 comprising the tightening mechanism 16. Here, the tightening mechanism 16 comprises a toothed rack 19 provided at the at least one interconnecting element 7 and comprises a corresponding engagement element 21 provided at one of the top and bottom member 6, 5, here the bottom member 5, for engaging teeth of the toothed rack 19. Preferably, the toothed rack 19 extends in a longitudinal direction of the interconnecting element 7 and/or extends at least along an end portion of said interconnecting element 7. In embodiments, the toothed rack 19 can extend over a relatively long portion of the interconnecting element 7, for instance over at least a fifth, a quarter, or a third of its length, especially at least half, two thirds, or three quarter of the length. Hence, said interconnecting element 7 may be connected to the respective member 5, 6 at different height levels, e.g. by using different parts of said rack 19. As a result, the housing 2 can house tanks 3 of various heights. Alternatively or additionally, the interconnecting element 7 can be provided with multiple toothed racks 19 or toothed rack sections for use with tanks having a predetermined height.

Here, the engagement element 21 is formed by an external thread 21 of a rotatable part 20, such as the thread 21 of a screw, bolt or worm wheel. Preferably, said rotatable part 20 extends substantially in longitudinal direction of the interconnecting element 7 and/or is substantially locked in its axial direction, such that by rotating said rotatable part 20, the interconnecting element 7 can be pulled towards the respective member 5. It is noted that the rotatable part 20 may be provided with a screw drive for driving it, for instance an external fastener head and/or an inertial screw drive 22, such as a slotted type or a socket type.

Advantageously, the housing 2 and/or the assembly 1 may be arranged such that the rotatable part 20 can be rotated substantially in one direction only, e.g. in a direction in which the interconnecting element 7 is tightened. For instance, the rotatable part 20 may be formed as a security screw or a so-called one-way screw, for instance having a head which counteracts it to be rotated in the opposite direction. Alternatively or additionally, other means may be provided for counteracting counter rotation of the rotatable part 20, for instance by providing a ratchet mechanism at a distal end face of said rotatable part 20.

In alternative embodiments, the tightening mechanism can comprise a ratchet. The engagement element 21 may then be formed by a pivoting spring loaded finger for engaging the teeth of the toothed rack 19. This spring loaded finger or so-called pawl may be biased towards said rack 19 and may be arranged for irreversibly riding teeth of the toothed rack 19. Advantageously, the interconnecting element 7 may be provided with a grip for manually or mechanically gripping said element 7 in order to tighten it. It is noted that the interconnecting element 7 can thus be tightenable such as a cable tie or so-called tie-wrap. Preferably, the toothed rack 19 has teeth, especially triangular teeth, that slope in one direction and are relatively steep in the opposite direction, such that untightening can be counteracted. As a result, the tightening mechanism 16 may be arranged such that the interconnecting element 7 and the corresponding top or bottom member 6, 5 can move only in a direction towards each other, while counteracting or preventing motion in the opposite direction. It is noted, that other means may be provided for counteracting such counter motion, for instance the above mentioned one-way screw heads.

In the embodiment of Figures 2 and 3, each tightening mechanism 16 is provided at a lower part of the housing 2, whereas the interconnecting element 7 is substantially rigidly connected to the top member 6. As noted before, the tightening mechanism 16 can alternatively be provided at an upper part of the housing 2, for instance by tightenably connecting an upper distal end of the interconnecting element 7 to the top member 6.

Here, as can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, each interconnecting element 7 comprises a shoulder portion 23 for at least partly overlying a shoulder portion of the tank 3 to be housed. Preferably, the shoulder portion 23 of the interconnecting element 7 is extending at least partly inwardly with respect to a longitudinal portion 24 of the interconnecting element 7 extending substantially in longitudinal direction of said element 7 and/or the tank 3. An at least partly inwardly reaching shoulder portion 23 of the interconnecting element 7 can thus rest at least partly on a shoulder portion of the tank 3. As a result, loads or forces, e.g. resulting from a tank 3 tending to push the top and bottom member 6, 5 away from each other, can thus be absorbed partly by the interconnecting element 7, thereby relieving the connection between said element 7 and the respective one of the top and bottom member 6, 5.

Additionally or alternatively, at least one and preferably each interconnecting element 7 can be connectable to and/or connected with the top or bottom member 6, 5 along an edge 25 being substantially longer than an average width of said interconnecting element 7 and/or a width 26 of the longitudinal portion 24 of the interconnecting element 7. Hence, loads or forces to be transferred between the interconnecting element and the respective top or bottom member may be distributed over a relatively large transferring area, thereby counteracting relatively large local loads in the connection between said interconnecting element and the respective member. Additionally or alternatively, the edge 25 can form a curve, thereby providing for a relatively large contact area.

It is noted that the invention further relates to a kit of parts for forming a modular housing 1. Said kit comprises a substantially plastic bottom member 5 forming a tank support for supporting a gas tank 3, a substantially plastic top member 6 for at least partly covering a top portion of a gas tank 3 to be housed, and multiple substantially plastic interconnecting elements 7 or interconnecting the bottom member 5 and the top member 6. In embodiments, the kit of parts may comprise multiple sets of substantially plastic interconnecting elements 7, wherein the interconnecting elements 7 of a first one of said sets can have a different, length than the interconnecting elements of a further set. Consequently, different housings 1 having substantially different lengths may be formed for accommodating tanks of different volumes.

The invention also relates to a method for servicing an assembly 1 of a housing 2 and a tank 3 as disclosed herein. The method comprises the step of tightening at least one and preferable each interconnecting element 7 of said housing 2. Advantageously, the tightening is performed when the tank 3 is at a filling plant or filling station. Said tightening can be performed at least partly prior to, during and/or after the actual act of filling said tank 3. Prior to tightening the interconnecting element 7, the tension in said interconnecting element 7 may be checked. When the tension in one or more of the interconnecting elements 7 is not high enough, the respective interconnecting elements 7 can be tightened.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above. It will be understood that many variants are possible.

For example, the length of one or each interconnecting element 7 may be adjusted after assembling the housing 2, for instance by removing a superfluous portion of the respective distal end portion. It is noted that the interconnecting element 7 may be arranged for removing superfluous portions thereof, for instance by providing it with one or more tear offlines. Alternatively or additionally, the housing, e.g. the respective bottom or top member 5, 6, can be arranged for holding a superfluous portion or end portion of the respective interconnecting element 7. For instance, by providing an insertion opening for storing said portion, thereby counteracting that said portion protrudes from the housing unintentionally.

As an further example, the top member 6 may be provided with an opening 27 or recess for allowing a tool to reach through in order to engage a rotationally free held mount 4 so as to temporarily fix said mount 4 in rotational direction. For instance to counteract tampering, a cover 28 may be provided for covering said opening 27 or recess. In embodiments, said cover 28 may be integrated with a serial plate, nameplate, or the like.

These and other embodiments will be apparent to the person skilled in the art and are considered to lie within the scope of the invention as formulated in the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is: 1. A modular housing for housing a refillable fiber-reinforced gas tank, comprising a substantially plastic bottom part that forms a tank support for supporting a tank to be housed, a substantially plastic top part for covering at least part of an upper part of said tank. housing tank, and a plurality of substantially plastic connecting elements for mutually connecting the bottom part and the top part, wherein at least one and preferably each substantially plastic connecting element can be tensioned between the bottom part and the top part to enable the bottom part and the top part to to attract each other.

Modular housing according to claim 1, further comprising a tensioning mechanism for tensioning said at least one substantially plastic connecting element between the bottom part and the top part.

Modular housing as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tensioning mechanism is adapted to retension said at least one substantially plastic connecting element.

Modular housing according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the tensioning mechanism is arranged such that the connecting element and the corresponding upper or bottom part can only move towards each other in one direction, while movement in the opposite direction is prevented.

Modular housing as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein at least one and preferably each connecting element is substantially strip-shaped.

Modular housing as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein at least one and preferably each connecting element is connectable or connected to one of the upper and bottom part, preferably at or near a first distal end of said connecting element, and is arranged to be tensionably connectable to the other of the upper bottom part, preferably at or near a second distal end of said connecting element.

Modular housing as claimed in any of the claims 2-6, wherein the tensioning mechanism comprises a rack that is provided on the at least one connecting element and comprises a corresponding engaging element which is provided on one of the upper and bottom part for engaging teeth of the rack and pinion.

A modular housing as claimed in claim 7, wherein the engaging element is formed by an external thread of a rotatable part, such as the thread of a screw, bolt or worm gear.

9. Modular housing according to claim 8, wherein the housing is arranged such that the rotatable part can only rotate in one direction.

The modular housing of claim 7, wherein the tensioning mechanism comprises a ratchet and the engaging element is formed by a pivoting spring-loaded finger for engaging the teeth of the rack.

A modular housing according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one and preferably each connecting element comprises a shoulder portion for lying at least partially over a shoulder portion of the tank to be housed.

A modular housing as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one and preferably each connecting element is connectable and / or connected to the upper or bottom part along an edge which is substantially longer than an average width of said connecting element.

Kit of parts for forming a modular housing as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, comprising a substantially plastic bottom part that forms a tank support for supporting a gas tank, a substantially plastic upper part for at least partially covering an upper part of a gas tank to be accommodated, and a plurality of substantially plastic connecting elements for mutually connecting the bottom part and the top part.

A kit of parts according to claim 13, comprising a plurality of sets of substantially plastic connecting elements, wherein the connecting elements of a first of said sets have a different length than the connecting elements of a further set.

Connecting element for use in a modular housing according to one of claims 1-12.

A barrel assembly, such as a refillable fiber-reinforced tank, and a modular housing as claimed in any one of claims 1-12, wherein the upper part is positioned on a top of a first distal end of the barrel, the bottom part is positioned on a second distal end of the vessel, and the connecting elements interconnect the bottom part and the upper part, thereby extending substantially along a side of the vessel.

A method of turning an assembly according to claim 16, comprising the step of tensioning at least one and preferably each connecting element.

The method of claim 17, wherein the step of tensioning is at least partially performed before, during and / or after refilling the tank.