US3503507A - Shut-off valve for fuse filter - Google Patents

Description

March 31; 1970 R. J. RAUPP ETAL 3,503,507

SHUT-0FF VALVE FOR FUSE FILTER Filed June 26. 1967 A- W! LLIAMS A'T TOENEY United States Patent 3,503,507 SHUT-OFF VALVE FOR FUSE FILTER Ray J. Raupp and Homer A. Williams, Madison Heights,

Mich., assignors to The Bendix Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 26, 1967, Ser. No. 648,632 Int. Cl. B0ld 25/18 US. Cl. 210-96 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A positive shut-off valve device for interrupting the fiow of fuel through a fuse filter element of a fuel-monitoring device in the'event such fuel contains free water. The device which is located between the ends of the filter element includes a plastic spacer, a buoyant ball-type valve plug, and two perforated water-soluble paper discs, one of which is located on each side of a valve plug for retaining same within the spacer. Any water which passes through the filter element will dissolve the paper discs and cause release of the valve plug which will be propelled by fluid velocity into the filter element outlet to prevent further flow therethrough.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In most present-day refueling installations fuel-monitoring devices, of the type described in Kasten Patent No. 3,117,925, are located downstream of conventional filter water separators. In such installations the fuel-monitoring devices will normally operate for long periods of time without being exposed to large amounts of contamination. During such normal operations the pressure drop through the fuel-monitoring device will build up gradually and the fuse elements will be replaced after a scheduled time interval, e.g., six months, or when the pressure differential across the fuse elements reaches a predetermined value, e.g., to p.s.i. Under such conditions the fuse elements of the fuel-monitoring device will retain all, or most all, of the solid and water contaminants in the fuel flowing therethrough.

More recently, in many installations fuel-monitoring devices have been effectively utilized in place of filter Water separators rather than in combination therewith. Even in such installations if the fuel is of average quality, that is, contains only relativeliy small quantities of water and solid contamination, the fuse elements will have no difficulty in retaining or trapping the contamination. However, in such installations certain operating conditions can occur which will cause small quantities of water to seep between the layers forming the edge-type fuse elements and flow to the outlet port of the fuel-monitoring device. For example, if the fuel-monitoring device is utilized in place of a filter water separator and the device is used at a fraction of its rated flow or less) and if, in addition, the pumping system used to pump the fuel through the device has only a rather limited low operating pressure, then in those situations when the fuel flowing therethrough is contaminated with a high percentage of Water it will be possible for some of the water to seep through the fuse elements. The reason for this is that under such conditions of limited flow and low pumping pressure the piston in the fuse element cannot compress the edge-type filter elements sufficiently to completely close off the pores between the layers and prevent further flow through the element. Thus, under such conditions water can, in effect, seep through the elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 'In view of the foregoing it is an object of this invention to provide a fuel-monitoring device which will function properly under all foreseeable operating conditions.

3,503,507 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 Another object of this invention is to provide a novel fuse element construction which will detect water seepage therethrough and prevent water seepage through the outlet fuse nipple.

In other words, it is an object of this invention to provide a water seepage-proof fuse element for use in a fuel-monitoring device.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a tubular fuse element construction incorporating a releasable valve member which is retained in an open position by perforated diaphragm means formed of a material which is insoluble in fuel but soluble in water, said diaphragm means having a first solid state for preventing movement of said valve member from said open position to a closed position in the fuse element outlet as long as fuel containing no free water flows through said diaphragm means and said outlet port and a second dis solved fluid state for permitting movement of said valve means from said first to said second position when fuel containing free water flows through said diaphragm means and said outlet port.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shut-off valve for use in a fuse filter element which does not function on a differential pressure principle, but functions essentially on its sensitivity to minute concentrations of water in the fuel flowing through the fuse washers.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view partially in section of a fuel-monitoring device containing a plurality of filter units each of which incorporates the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a filter or fuse unit incorporating the invention and showing the shut-off valve in various positions; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings it will be seen that numeral 10 indicates a tank having a fuel inlet port 12 and fuel outlet port 14. Suitably attached to the housing is a partition 16 which separates the interior of the housing into an inlet chamber 18 and an outlet chamber 20. A plurality of filter or fuse units 22 (only three of which are shown) are suitably attached to partition 16 and are retained in position by a retainer plate 24 which is suitably connected to the housing 10. The director of flow through the tank is indicated by the arrows.

Each filter or fuse assembly 22 includes a metal tube 26 having a plurality of perforated inlet ports 28 surrounding a compressible porous tubular edge-type filter element 30 formed from a plurality of washers in registered faceto-face contact. A plastic nipple-like ferrule 32 is suitably connected to one end of the tube and is in abutment with one end of the filter element. A retainer washer 34 is located at the other end of the tube and a movable plastic piston-like endplate 36 is located within the tube and is in abutment with the other end of the filter element. A preloaded piston spring 38 is located between the retainer washer 34 and the piston 36 for placing the edgetype filter element under the desired calibrated precompression. The washers which are used in the filter may be formed from paper, cellulose, or other suitable fibrous or non-fibrous materials and are arranged so that flow through the filter element will be via the radially extending pores formed between the washers. The filter element may also be formed by utilizing a ribbon-like material wound edgewise. The method for winding and making the ribbon- 3 type element is disclosed and claimed in Kasten Patent No. 2,421,704. In the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1 flow will be from outside the filter element to inside the filter element. For additional details regarding this type of fuse assembly reference may be made to Kasten Patent No. 3,117,925 and Kasten Patent No. 3,151,071.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that each nipplelike ferrule 32 is formed with a valve seat 40 in the outlet port for receiving a buoyant ball-type valve member 42. The valve member is located within a plastic cylindrical spacer 44 which is interposed between the ends of the filter element 30 and is confined between two diaphragms 46 each of hich contains perforations 48 to permit fluid flow therethrough. The diaphragms which are formed of a suitable material which is insoluble in fuel, but soluble in water, are disc-like elements, the radially outer portions of which are confined between the spacer 44 and the next adjacent washer of the filter element 30. If desired, the disc-like diaphragms may be suitably affixed to spacer 44. These discs, in effect, have a first solid state for preventing the valve member 42 from being seated on valve seat 40 as long as fuel containing no free water flows through the perforations 48 of the discs 46 and through the outlet port in the nipple 32 and a second dissolve fluid state for permitting movement of the valve member 42 on to the valve seat 40 when fuel containing free water flows through or contacts the discs 46. A suitable material for the diaphragms or discs 46 is a watersoluble paper composed of a cellulose polymer which is sold by the Gilbreth Company, 212 E. Courtland St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19120, under the trade name Dissolvo. When this material comes into contact with water it instantly becomes gelatinous and dissolves completely leaving only a slight residue which cannot be reconstituted.

With the foregoing construction it will be understood that the perforated discs 46 will retain the valve member 42 therebetween and within the spacer 44 as long as there is no water in the fuel flowing through the filter element 30. However, if the discs 46 come in contact with any water in the fuel, the discs will dissolve and the fluid flow through the filter element will cause the valve member 42 to be seated on the valve seat 40 and thereby prevent further flow through the outlet port of the fused element.

Those acquainted with this art will readily understand that the invention set forth herein is not necessarily limited and restricted to the precise and exact details presented and that various changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, filter elements other than those of the edge type could be utilized in conjunction with the above-described water-sensitive shut-off valve. Accordingly, we do not desire to be limited to the specific details described herein primarily for purposes of illustration.

Having thus described the various features of the invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A filter unit comprising a housing having a plurality of inlet ports and a single outlet port therein, said outlet port having a valve seat formed therein, a tubular filtering element of the outside-in flow type located within said housing for normally permitting flow of fuel therethrough but preventing flow of water and solid contaminants therethrough, said tubular element having one end thereof in alignment with said outlet port, a coaxial tubular spacer located between the ends of said tubular element, a non-preloaded valve member located within said filter element, said valve member having a first position for permitting flow through said outlet port and a second postiion wherein said valve member is seatable on said valve seat for preventing flow through said outlet port, two perforated non-stressed diaphragms located within and extending radially across said filtering element, one of which is located at each axial end of said spacer for confining said valve member therebetween and retaining same in said first position, said diaphragms being characterized by being insoluble in fuel but soluble in water and having a first solid state for preventing movement of said valve member from said first to said second position as long as fuel containing no free water flows through said diaphragms and said outlet port and a second dissolved fluid state for permitting movement of said valve member from said first to said second position when fuel containing free water flows through said diaphragms to said outlet port.

2. A filter unit, as defined in claim 1, wherein said diaphragms are formed of water-soluble paper.

3. A filter unit, as defined in claim 2, wherein said valve member is a buoyant spherical member.

4. A filter unit, as defined in claim 3, wherein said filtering element is a layered edge-type compressible tubular element.

5. A filter unit, as defined in claim 4, wherein said edgetype compressible tubular element is formed of a plurality of washers stacked in registered face-to-face contact.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,678,055 5/1954 Heim 137-67 2,798,503 7/1957 Carver et al. 13767 3,078,862 2/1963 Maly 13767 3,151,071 9/1964 Kasten.

3,339,734 9/1967 Kasten 2l096 3,357,560 12/1967 Raupp 2l096 3,367,503 2/1968 Topol 2l096 3,406,827 10/1968 Topol et al. 2l096 3,416,665 12/1968 Kasten 210--96 3,416,666 12/1968 Kasten 2l096 3,434,486 3/1969 Kasten 2l096 X REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary Examiner W. S. BRADBURY, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 13767

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