US2539262A

US2539262A - Valve turning tool

Info

Publication number: US2539262A
Application number: US704345A
Authority: US
Inventors: Moore Arthur Hugh
Original assignee: TIDE WATER ASSOCIATED OIL COMP
Current assignee: TIDE WATER ASSOCIATED OIL Co; TIDE WATER ASSOCIATED OIL COMP
Priority date: 1946-10-19
Filing date: 1946-10-19
Publication date: 1951-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 1968-01-23

Description

Jan. 23', 1951 A. H. MOORE 2,539,262

VALVE TURNING TOOL Filed Oct. 19, 1946 INVENTOR Arthuml lMoore BY Z/m ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 23, 1 951 VALV-E TURNING TOOL Arthur' Hugh Moore, Bayonne, N J., assignor to Tide Water Associated Oil Company, Bayonne,

a corporation of Delaware Application-October 19, 1946-, Seri'alNo. 704,345

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a wrenchtype tool and. more particularly,. to a wrenchtype tool adapted for turning valve wheels.

The valve wheels for; which use of this tool is particularly intended are the widely employed types of wheels generally comprising a substantiallyv circular outer rim connected bymeans, such as spokes, to a hub which when: the wheel is rotated, functions either to open or close a valve. As is known. to those skilled in the art, considerable force must oftentimes be employed to tightly close valves to prevent leakages therethrough and, similarly, to open tightly closed valves. Common practice is to use means, such as wrenches, rods, and the like, to engage the hub, spokes and/or rim of the valve wheel in order to apply sufficient force to rotate the-wheel, and by using commonly employedmeans, breakage of the wheel rim, or spokesand the like often occurs necessitating replacement of the.

valve wheel.

One object of the present invention is to provide a tool of such, construction that it can effectively be employed for turning valve wheels with decreased tendency for breakage of said wheels.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool of the wrench type having hook-likev members so formed that they may be firmly engaged with the rim of a valve wheel and notlikely to slip out of engagement with said rim when force is applied to the tool. for the purpose .of rotating the valve wheel.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tool which is-very strong, easy to operate, and not likely to break when considerabl force is applied thereto forrotating valve wheels.

The present invention also; embodies as another object the provision of a tool. oft. the wrench-type having hook-like members, formed so that they maybe engaged with the substantially circular outer rim of a valve wheel whereby considerable rotative forcemay beappliedtothe wheel with greatly reduced tendency for the;

wheel to break as a result. of the force applied v thereto.

The invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings in which likereference numbers have the same signficance, setting forth .pre,- ferred embodiments of the "invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tool such as provided by the present invention;

Figure 2 is another perspective view of the tool shown in Figure 1, further illustrating. the

dispositionof the hook-like members of thenovel tool;

Figure 3' is a perspectiv view of the tool, such as shown in Figure 1, illustrating a manner of engaging, the tool with a valve wheel to provide for clockwise turning of valve wheels; and

Figure 4 is a perspective View of the improved tool illustrating the manner of engagement of said tool with a valve whe;l to provide for counter-clockwise rotating of valve wheels when employing a tool such as illustrated in Figure l.

Broadly speaking, the novel tool of the present invention is a lever device for rota-ting valve wheels and comprises a handle member and a bifurcated end member integral therewith and a substantially semi-circular end portion onieach leg of said bifurcated member adapted to engage substantially opposite surfaces of the rim of a valve wheel. The bifurcatd end member, integral with the handle member, is preferably of U-shape. and provides an effective means for rotating valve wheels when the tool is engaged with the valve wheel, in a manner such as hereinafter described, and force is applied to the, handle member.

In order to illustrate my invention, reference is made to the drawing of Figure 1, illustrating an embodiment of the novel tool provided herein. As shown in Figure l, the improved tool is of the wrench type and consists of a bar ll! of tool steel, or othzr suitable material of convenient length for handling and whose dimensions in cross-section are sufficient to withstand the uses to which the tool would ordinarily be put. Handle H" of bar it is preferably of polygonal design, such as octagonal, to provide for sumcient gripping of the handle, such as at end [6 of handle H, to minimize the tendency for slippage when means, e. g., such as by hand, are employed for applying force to the tool when in use for rotating valve wheels. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one end of bar I0 is'flattened and widened on opposed surfaces, such as at handle portion l2, integral with a substantially U-shaped, g., bifurcated member l3 having substantially semi-circular legs M and I5 adapted for engaging circumferentially remote and substantially opposite surfaces of the rim of a valve wheel. As shown in Figure 1, one leg of said U-shaped member, such asrepresented by reference charact:r I4, is upset at the end of the U-shaped member l3 for engaging a portion of the inner surface of the rim of a valve wheel and the other leg, 1. e., leg 1%, is substantially oppositely upset to provide for en- 3 gaging a portion of the outer surface of the rim of said wheel. Figure 2 is another view of the novel tool, as shown in Figure 1, further illustrating a suitable manner in which the hooklike members are disposed, and in the specific embodiment shown, rim-engaging members i4 and I5 have angular rim-engaging leading edges and axes of curvature converging toward each other. By engaging the tool with the rim of a valve wheel, in a manner such as described more fully hereinafter, force may be applied to handle member H, such as at end 56 thereof, whereby leverage is applied to the U-shaped member providing for rotating of the wheel engaged by legs 14 and l5. 1

In application of the novel tool for rotating valve wheels, legs l4 and I5 are engaged with the rim of a valve wheel as shown in Figure 4 illustrating the use of the tool shown in Figure 1 for turning the wheel in a counter-clockwise direction. As illustrated in Figure 4., the tool ill is engaged with wheel rim l! by placing hook-like member i4 around an inner surface portion of rim I1 and hook-like member i5 around an outer surface portion of rim l'i, both hook-like mem bers preferably engaging rim if in a substantially close-fitting contact. Through the leverage afforded by the length of the tool when force is applied to the handle portion it of tool 55], the tool provides an effective means fOr rotating the valve wheel.

Whereas Figure 4 illustrates a manner for using the novel tool of Figure 1 for counter-clockwise turning of a valve wheel, Figure 3 illustrates a manner of engaging the rim of a valve wheel with a substantially similar tool to turn the wheel in a clockwise direction. For such a purpose, tool ll] of Figure 3 is engaged, as shown, with rim :8 in a manner whereby hook-like members l4 and are placed around portions of rim l8, the hooklike members engaging substantially circumferentially remote and oppositely disposed surface portions of the wheel rim and, preferably, in substantially close-fitting contact with said rim surfaces.

With reference to hook-

like members

14 and 15 of the U-shaped member of the novel tool, it has been stated hereinbefore that the function of these hook-like members is to o rte s11. stantially opposite surfaces of a wheel rim, to provide leverage for rotating the wheel when force is applied to the handle portion of the tool. Satisfactory results, in turning valve wheels employing the novel tool of the present invention, are provided when the engaging portions of each of the hook-like members are wholly or partly engaged with the aforesaid surfaces of the wheel rim. However, in order to provide optimum results for rotating valve wheels, it is preferable that the angular leading edges of the hook-like members engage the wheel rim in substantially close-fitting contact and hence, the inner-curved surfaces of each of the substantially semi-circular hook-like members Hi and i5 should be so formed as to be similar in curvature to the portion of the rim surfaces that is to be engaged by each of said hook-like members. By disposing the hook-like members in a manner to provide for substantially close-fitting engagement with the rim surface, considerable force may be applied to the tool with highly satisfactory results in rotating valve wheels with considerably decreased tendency, as compared with previously employed methods, for breakage of the wheel.

In the foregoing description of the application of my novel tool for use in rotating valve wheels, it has been set forth that hook-like members l4 and I5 are engaged with substantially oppositely disposed portions of the wheel rim. In order to provide an efficient means for thus engaging the wheel rim, such as wherein one hook-like member engages the outer surface and the other hookllke member engages the inner surface of the wheel rim, the novel tool contains a bifurcated portion as shown by bifurcation l3 of Figure 1. In engaging the novel tool with the wheel rim on which it is to be employed, the tool is manipulated so that the space between the hook-like members l4 and I5 provides clearance for the rim and the tool is then twisted to engage the hooklike members with the rim. Hence, in order that proper clearance of the wheel rim is provided, the hook-like members are disposed so that the space between the hook-like members provides clearance for the rim on which the tool is employed. Thus, for example, when employing the novel tool on a substantially circular rim, such as may be illustrated by Figure 4, the distance between hook-like members l4 and [5 should be greater than the diameter of a transverse section through rim 5? whereby proper clearance of the rim is provided for efiiciently engaging the tool with the wheel rim.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with certain preferred embodiments thereof, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the construction and arrangements of parts of the tool may be varied Without departing from the spirit of m invention. Such variations and modifications are to be considered to be within the purview of the specification and the scope of the appended claims. Thus, although the present invention has been described in connection with the drawings herein illustrating my novel tool as an integral unit, such as may be provided by'welding together certain parts thereof, it is within the scope of the present invention to include similar tools formed by attaching together parts thereof in a manner whereby replacement of the hook-like members can easily be made. For example, it is considered within the scope of the present invention to include a tool similar in construction and arrangement of parts thereof as illustrated in Figure 1, but in which tool the handle portion and hook-like members are attached together in a manner, other than to provide an integral unit, e. g., such as obtained by welding, whereby the hook-like members can be changed as desired to provide a tool that is adaptable for adjustment and use with wheel valves of a different rim size to provide for efficient engagement of the hook-like members with the specific wheel rim on which it is to be used.

I claim:

,1. A valve turning tool for rotating a valve wheel by application of rotative force to the rim of said wheel comprising a leverage handle member carrying a bifurcated end portion one le of which carries a curved leading rim-engaging member adapted to engage an outer portion of the rim and'the other leg of which carries a hookshaped trailing rim-engaging member adapted to engage a circumferentially remote inner portion of the rim, said rim-engaging members having axes of curvature converging toward each other.

2. A valve turning'tool, as defined in claim 1, in which the said bifurcated end portion comprises two strips of rectangular cross-section the terminal portions of which constitute the said rim-engaging members.

3. A valve turning tool for rotating a valve wheel by application of rotative force to the rim of said wheel comprising a leverage handle member carrying a bifurcated end portion one leg of which carries a curved leading rim-engaging member adapted to engage an outer portion of the rim and the other leg of which carries a hook-shaped trailing rim-engaging member adapted to engage a circumferentially remote inner portion of the rim, said rim-engaging members having angular rim-engagin leading edges and axes of curvature that converge toward each 6 other whereby localized force is exerted on the wheel rim by said edges in use of the tool.

ARTHUR HUGH MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 913,625 David Feb. 23, 1908 1,040,982 Ingerham Oct. 8, 1912 1,408,561 Carman Mar. 7, 1922 2,086,722 Matuells -1--- July 13, 1937