US1681209A - Valve - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 21, 1928.

H. E. ATKINSON VALVE Filed Aug. 18, 1924 llmmemwz W 6. MW

Patented Au 21, 1928.

PATE NTjOFFlCE.

HERBERT E. ATKINSON, or nocrinsrnra, NE YORK.

VALVE;

I Application filed August 18, 1924. Serial No. 732,680.

This invention relates to valves for use 7 in connection with liquid or with plastic or valves used to discharge the contents of semi-solidmaterial, and particularly to the tanks, mixers, and the like, in which milk or other food or perishable material is carried or treated.

Ina valve for the purpose in question it is necessary to avoid dead spaces or pockets in which material can be trapped, and to provide ready access to all interior surfaces of the valve for the purpose of sterilizing and cleaning it. Stufling-boxes' and non- .metallic parts of all kinds are undesirable,

yetthe valve must be capable of holding tightlyagainst substantial pressure, and, in many applications, of handling materials containing solid particles or grit without sufferinginjury from such materials.

The object of the present invention is to produce a sanitary valve which shall fulfill the foregoing requirements, and which shall be, at the same time, simple in construction and easy to operate and maintain. To this end'the invention consists in the valve hereinafter described, as it is defined in the annexed claim. V

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a sectionalside-elevation of a valve embodying the present invention, and Fig. Elis a bottom-view of the valve'.- 7

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a valve adapted for use in discharging the contents from the bottom of a tank, though the valve, either with or without obvious modifications, may be used in other positions. The body or casing 3 of the valve is cylindrical inform, and it is partially closed at the upper end to form a valve-seat 4. The valve-proper is a disc 5, provided with a soft-metal ring 6 seated in a groove in its uppersurfac'e. An upward projection 7 on the valve-disc closely fits the opening through the valve-seat, so that the upper surfaces of the projection and thetop of the.

, valve-body form a single smooth surface when the valve is closed.

The valve-disc is fixed on the upper end of a long and relatively slender stem 8, which is guided by a bearing-sleeve 9. The sleeve is integralwith a lug 10, which 1 screws into the lowerend o the body 3. A

soft-metal ring, seated in a groove in the plug, makes a tight joint against a shoulder 11 on the body. V

The lower portion 12 of the bearing sleeve projects below the plug and is screws threaded to cooperate witha threaded cap 13. The cap is rigidly attached to the end of the valve-stem by'means of a pin 14, and

it is provided wi-th handles 15' bywhich it may be turned.

The inner end with a soft-metal insert 16, adapted to co operate with a raised annulus 17 on theback of the valve-disc.

The body 3 has a lateral branch 18, and

of the sleeve 9 is provided the. outlet-opening through this branch is flush, at its lowermost point, with the upper. surface of the plug, so that no pocket or dead space is formed above the plug. The valve is shown as attached to the bottom of a tank 19, with its uppermost surfaces flush 'with'the inner surface of the tank. This arrangement, and the formation of the valve which permits it,avoids the oc' currence of any inward projection which would interfere with the operation of' a stirrer in the tank, while at the same-time no pocket or recess is formed to hold stagnant material o'rcollect dirt.

When the cap 13 is turned in the direction to close the valve, the valve-disc is positively rotated while rnoving'into engagement with its seat. It has been found that this combined movement has theefi'ec't of crash ing, and of displacing'from the raised rim of the valveseat, any solid particles which might otherwise prevent tight seating of the valve, and this makes the valve suitable for use with materials which-have been found to render the ordinary ground-plug valve useless in a; short time, owing to scoring of the ground surfaces. The slender stem 8, and the soft-metal insert 6, yield sufliciently to permit the valve to seat closely, all,

around, without'the necessity of any grinding or of an expensive degree of precision in the manufacture of the valve.

7 When the valve is opened to discharge the contents of the tank the long bearing between the stem and its guide-sleeve'acts to prevent'the escape of liquid at this point without the assistance of packing of any kind, and this has been found true even with liquids under considerable pressure and.-

without great accuracy of fit between the, parts. As an extra precaution against leakage, however, the valve may be turned down until the disc engages the upper end of the sleeve and thus forms a positive closure at this point.

llhe n it: is necessary to clean the interior of the valve the plug 10 and the parts carried thereby may he removed, without the use of any tool, by merely continuing the P0- tation of the cap after the valve-disc has engaged the upper end of the guide-sleeve, whereby the plug is unscrewed from the body. The interior of the body may then be cleaned easily, owing to its smooth cylindrieal form. The plug, may be replaced in a similar manner. if a spacing" device he insorted between the plug and the inner end of the cap to prevent seating of the valve until the plug has screwed home.

HERBERT E. ATKINSON.

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