US1528211A - Valve handle - Google Patents

Description

Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES JOHN fr. HUGHES, or COUNCIL BLUFrs, IOWA.

VALVE HANDLE.

Application filed May 21,

To all whom t may Coface/m Be it known that I, JOHN T. HUGHES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Council Bluffs, in the county of Pottawattamie and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve Handles, of which the following` is a specification.

The present invention relates to valves, and more particularly to valve handles.

In globe and gate valves considerable difficulty has been experienced in the application and use of handlesv because such .handles have heretofere been constructed of castings, which at best are rough and do not fit properly upon the valve stems, and which are costly in the casting and subsequent finishing operations.

Among various other diiiiculties met with in the manufacture, application, and use of valve handles, has been that the handle is connected to the valve stem at substantially a single point, so that when considerable pressure is exerted upon the handle to turn the same,the stem, being engaged at a single point, is not capable of withstanding the strain and is frequently sheared off or broken at the handle.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a handle which overcomes at least the two above pointed disadvantages, in that the handle may be constructed of sheet metal and made in two die operations, and wherein the handle engages the stem at spaced apart points so as to distribute the pressure of the handle and prevent the shearing off or breaking of the stem.

Another object of the invention is to provide a handle structure embodying the above characteristics and which may be of conventional size and form so as to be adaptable to the valve stems which are now in use and without any alteration or addition to the same.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal handle adapted to engage the upper part of a valve stem, and which is equipped with a boxing or brace arranged to engage the thicker and more substantial portion of the stem, and be interlocked with the handle at points spaced from the outer extremity of thel stem, the parts being held in assembled relation by the usual clamping nut employed with valve handles at present in use.

The above and various other objects and 1924. Serial No. 714,802l

advantages of this invention will be in part described in, and be in part understood from, the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a `side elevation of a globe valve having the improved handle applied thereto, the handle being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a detail top plan view of the body of the handle.

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the boxing or brace of the handle detached therefrom.

Fig. t is an end elevation of the brace, and

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the same.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates a valve body of any approved construction, such as a globe or a gate valve, and which is provided with a valve stem 11 which projects through the vtop of the casing 10 and is adapted to receive a handle or other suitable device for turning the stem and opening and closing the valve.

The improved handle comprises a sheet metal body part 12, which may be stamped y to provide a flat disc like major portion and a downwardly curved flange 13 providing a suitable hand grip to facilitate grasping of the handle and holding it firmly when turning the same. The disc portion of the handle 12 may be stamped out to provide `openings 14 to reduce the weight of the handle and also for ornamental purposes. The central or intermediate portion of the handle 12 is provided with a non-circular opening 15 adapted to receive the correspondingly shaped upper end of the valve stem 11, such upper end being usually rectangular in contour `and tapering upwardly for a considerable distance to form a square shank 16 upon which the handle is mounted. The upper end of the shank 16 is provided with a threaded extremity or stud 17 over which a clamping nut 18 is threaded for engagement lagainst a washer 19 adapted for direct contact with the top Vof the handle 12 to force it downwardly upon the tapering shank 16.

The handle 12 carries at its underside a boxing or brace 20 which is substantially U-shaped in edge elevation as shown in Fig. 3, Iand which has its opposite ends upturned to provide arms 21 which space the intermediate portion of the brace 2O away from the top of the handle 12, the intermediate portion of the brace 20 having a relatively at the corners to provide tongues whichv are of less Width than the arms 2l to form shoulders 24 upon which the hand/leM l21isadapted to sea-t. The handle l2 is provided with elongated slots-25 aty opposite' sides of the non-circular` opening l5.4 The slotsv 25 receive the tongues23isoas to interlock the bracef20 with. the handle. Their thenu't 18 is turned. down` on: the stud 17` it-l binds the handle l2 against the shoulders 2410i1 theabrace andnot `only interlocks ther-brace andhandle but alsofforcesthe shank 16 up into the openings -15"andf22.o;t the handle and brace. Tortionail strain on the stemll is therefore distributed over the spaced area; of the sha-nk 16v so tlratithe pressure is' applied at a thicker. portion: of theste'm than is usual andthe upper. extremity of thezst'em Whichis-relativelythin yis not subject to the entire pressure-.ofthe handle;

It is ofcourse understood that various changes and modications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment Without departing from the spirit of the invention, suclrchangesv and modifications beingn restricted only by the scope of the tollwing claim:

VV-h'at is claimed-is:

A valve handle comprising a sheet metal disc having an intermediatev non-circular opening andhavingelongated-slots "at 'opposite'sides'ot the open'ing,a U-shaped-brc'e having anon-circular' central opening and'r upturnedL ends having thereon adapted to itf in said slots of the disc, said'fbrace an'dl disc being adapted to fit in spaced relation upon the stem ofy a valve,vand means for'bindingsaid discand brace togetherI andi for binding the same upon the valve stem.l

In testimony whereof, I have' alixcdmy signatnre in presence of two- Witnesses.

JOHN T; HUGHES.

fitnesses c ANNE S. MGKAY,` RUTH C. GORDON?.

reduced? tongues

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