US3250420A

US3250420A - Internal access means for containers

Info

Publication number: US3250420A
Application number: US347817A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold B Kohn
Original assignee: Vehoc Corp
Current assignee: Vehoc Corp
Priority date: 1964-02-27
Filing date: 1964-02-27
Publication date: 1966-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 1983-05-10
Also published as: CH426907A; ES309334A1; AT258804B; NO115255B; DE1232413B; GB1059705A; SE300828B; DE1232413C2; NL6502296A

Description

May 10, 1966 H. B. KOHN INTERNAL ACCESS MEANS FOR CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 27, 1964 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. HAROLD B. KOHN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,250,420 INTERNAL ACCESS MEANS FOR CONTATNERS Harold B. Kohn, Yonkers, N.Y., assiguor to Vehoc Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 347,817

7 Claims. (Cl. 220-3) This invention relates to access means for establishing communication with the interior of containers. More particularly it concerns a configured access conduit which supports the greater part of its length in a container by expanding resiliently against the container walls. The inventor, an employee of The Lummus Company, made the invention while engaged in development work undertaken by that organization in techniques of natural gas transportation.

While the internal access means of the invention can serve many purposes which will be apparent from the following discussion, it is primarly designed for use in pressure vessels such as elongated cylindrical containers for holding refrigerated and compressed natural gas. In certain uses of such containers, access conduits must enter through one end thereof and communicate not only with the adjacent internal end portion but also with the remote internal end portion at the opposite end of the container. Consequently, one access conduit must extend substantially throughout the length of the inside of the container.

It is characteristic of this type of container that no fasteners or attachments should be present on its inner wall except on the one end where its access conduits enter, because stresses tend to concentrate at such points even when the attachments carry no weight. Whatever form of access conduit is used to communicate with the remote end of the container, it must be inserted into the container and after the latter is sealed it must remain in place without the support of fasteners attached to the container walls. This presents considerable difliculty when varying inertia loads on the access conduit must be accommodated during operation, as for example in the transport of such containers by ships subject to rolling and pitching in heavy seas. An even more serious problem of support arises from the relative expansion and contraction between this access conduit and the container as a result of the differential temperatures which occur as the container is filled and emptied. Such conditions require that the access conduit have all degrees of freedom relative to the container walls necessary to adjust to these changes in dimensions and yet be supported against the inertia forces mentioned above.

Broadly stated, the internal access .means of the invention for use in a container comprises a conduit of a resilient configuration which is compressible to fit within said container without plastic deformation and expandable thereafter into forcible supporting engagement with the interior of said container. In its more specific form, the conduit configuration is helical and of greater length or diameter (or both) in a relaxed state than the-internal length and diameter of the container. Consequently, the conduit can be compressed into place so that it is supported solely by slideable engagement throughout the greater part of its helical configuration with the sides and ends of the container.

This form of access conduit requires no fasteners on the container wall, other than at the entry end of the container, to maintain its proper position. Therefore it does not render the container susceptible to concentration of stresses. More importantly, the new conduit can accommodate any possible degree of contraction or expansion relative to the container as a result of variations in temperature' during operation by sliding along its zone of forcible engagement with the wall, and yet withoutimpairing the desired support allorded by that engagement. Once this improved conduit is installed and the entry end of the container is sealed, the conduit can provide satisfactory service indefinitely Without maintenance or other attention. A preferred embodiment of this invention is described hereinbelow with reference to the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation partly broken away of a vertical pressure vessel equipped with the helical access conduit of.

constructed of a cylindrical shell 11 made of a suitable alloy resistant to low temperautres which may be three or four feet in diameter and generally about fifty feet long, though its size is not a limiting factor in the invention. The shell 11 of the bottle 10 is closed by rounded bottom and

top portions

12 and 13, the latterbeing the entry end of the bottle where first and second access conduit assemblies extend inside the vessel. Attached to the top end portion 13 of the shell 11 and extending upwardly therefrom is a cylindrical collar 16 by which the bottle 10 can be supported and through which the respective access conduit assemblies project. Formed in the top end por tion 13 of the shell 11 Within the collar 16 is a large opening 17 and a smaller opening 18 through which the first and second access conduit assemblies respectively extend.

The first flexible conduit assembly is comprised of a first pipe 19 which is attached at a flared end 20 to the top portion 13 of the shell about the large opening 17 and extends upwardly away from the top portion. Extending internally within the flared end portion 20 of the first pipe 19 is one end 21 of a rigid intermediate connecting tube 22 which is securely attached to the first pipe and has its opposite end 23 terminating within the vessel. The connecting tube has an inside diameter substantially equal to that of the first pipe but has a smaller outside diameter. Extending into the end 23 of the connecting tube and connected thereto by a swaged joint 24 is a conduit 25 of helical configuration which is maintained in contact with the inner wall 26 of the shell 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the conduit 25 has a lower end crimped closed at 28 and a plurality of spaced openings 29 along an end portion 30 adjacent thereto. The conduit end portion 30 rests on the bottom of the bottle so that the openings 29 face upwardly to the opposite end of the bottle. Also there is attached to the top end portion 13 of the shell 11 about the smaller opening 18 a second pipe 31 which extends parallel to the first pipe 19 and upwardly away from the top portion. Extending within a flared end portion 32 of the second pipe 31 is one end 33 of a rigid second access conduit 34 which is securely attached to the second pipe and has its opposite end 35 terminating within the bottle in communication with the top region thereof. These flared connections associated with the tube 22 and the conduit 34 serve to prevent thermal shock caused by the passage of fluids of differing temperatures, though it is to be understood that as an alternate design the end of the conduit 25 may be inserted directly into the flared end portion 20 without the use of the connecting tube 22.

Before it is installed the helix defined by the conduit 25 has an overall length and diameter when relaxed which are greater than the length and diameter of the bottle 10. The helical configuration is therefore twisted to reduce its diameter and contracted longitudinally to reduce its length so that it can be fitted into the bottle 10 before the top portion 13'thereof is attached. Once within the bottle it), the conduit 25 tends to untwist and expand in

length access conduits

25 and 35.

3 so that throughout virtually its entire length it is urged into forcible sliding engagement with the bottle wall and end portions. This engagement is sufficient to support the conduit 25 against inertia changes which would tend to shift its position appreciably but it permits the limited movement relative to the bottle which is necessary to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction. Also, vibrational forces cannot create a resonant response in the conduit because its unsupported length is short and its frictional engagement with the bottle has a dampening effect. In achieving these results, the conduit 25 requires no fasteners or attaching means on the bottle walls at which stresses might otherwise concentrate.

In operation, extremely cold gases and liquids may pass into and out of the bottle 10 through the first and second When a colder fiu'id enters the bottle through the first access conduit 25 it is directed out of the plurality of openings 29 at the lower conduit end portion 30 and does not impinge directly on the bot tom 12 of the bottle in a manner Which could result in undue thermal shock. Consequently, an attachment similar to a shower head fitting may be used in place of the spaced .holes 29. Whatever changes in length occur between the conduit 25 and the bottle 10 during this operation, there is no significant stress exerted on any part of the assembly because the helical conduit 25 simply slides in its resilient supporting engagement with the interior of the bottle and thereby adjusts for all expansion and contraction.

I claim:

1. In combination with a cylindrical container for holding refrigerated and compressed fluids, internal access means comprising a conduit of a resilient helical configuration greater in at least some overall dimensions in a relaxed state than the internal dimensions of said container, said configuration being compressed longitudinally within said container without plastic deformation and expanded into forcible supporting engagement with the interior of said container.

2. Access means according to claim 1 wherein said configuration is greater in length in a relaxed state than the internal length of said container. I

3. Access means according to claim 1 wherein said configuration is greater in outside diameter in a relaxed state than the internal diameter of said container.

4. In combination with an elongated cylindrical container for holding compressed fluids, internal access means comprising a conduit of a resilient helical configuration greater in length and outside diameter in a relaxed state than the internal length and diameter of said container, said configuration being compressed in length and diameter to fit longitudinally within said container without plastic deformation and expanded into forcible slideable supporting engagement with the interior ends and sides of said container.

5. In combination with an elongated cylindrical metal container having rounded ends for holding refrigerated and compressed fluids, internal access means comprising a metal conduit of a resilient helical configuration greater in length and outside diameter in a relaxed state than the internal length and diameter of said container, said configuration being compressed in length and diameter to fit longitudinally within said container without plastic deformation and expanded into forcible slideable supporting engagement with the interior ends and sides of said container, one end portion of said conduit being formed with a plurality of openings.

6. In combination with an elongated cylindrical container for holding compressed fluids, internal access means comprising a conduit communicating through one end of said container and extending in helical configuration throughout said container to the opposite end thereof, said conduit being resiliently restrained and supported in place throughout the greater part of its helical configuration solely by slidable engagement with the sides and ends of said container.

7. In combination with an elongated cylindrical metal container having rounded ends for holding refrigerated and compressed fluids, internal access means comprising a metal conduit communicating through one end of said container and extending in helical configuration throughout said container to the opposite end thereof, said conduit being resiliently restrained and supported in place throughout the greater part of its helical configuration solely by slideable engagement with the sides and ends of said container, the end of said conduit remote fromwhere it communicates through said container being closed and formed along its adjacent end portion with a plurality of openings facing the opposite end portion of said conduit.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Rodgers 138-78 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Examiner.

R. H. SCHWARTZ, Assistant Exam iner.

Dedication 3,250,420.Har0ld B. Kohn, Yonkers, N.Y. INTERNAL ACCESS MEANS F OR CONTAINERS. Patent dated May 10, 1966. Dedication filed Sept. 16, 1971, by the assignee, Vehoc Uorpomtian. Hereby dedicates to the Public the entire remaining term of said patent.

[Oflicz'al Gazette December 28, 1971.]