US3625391A

US3625391A - Cap assembly

Info

Publication number: US3625391A
Application number: US865912A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wolfgang G Wunderlich
Original assignee: Rucker Co
Current assignee: Rucker Co
Priority date: 1969-10-13
Filing date: 1969-10-13
Publication date: 1971-12-07
Anticipated expiration: 1988-12-07

Abstract

The application discloses a mounting for a cap adapted to close the end of a fitting, such as a nipple or the like, the mounting including a support, a lever pivotally mounted on the support and carrying a closure cap at one end, the lever being so mounted that when in a given position the pivoted end can move laterally of the pivotal axis, and means on the support for engaging the lever when so moved to prevent pivotal movement thereof, the closure cap having means for moving the cap relative to the lever.

Description

United States Patent lnventor Wolfgang G. Wunderlich Saugus, Calif. Appl. No. 865,912 Filed Oct. 13, 1969 Patented Dec. 7, 1971 Assignee The Rucker Company Roylyn Division Glendale, Calif.

CAP ASSEMBLY 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI 220/34, 220/38, 222/509, 222/545 1m. Cl 865d 43/16 Field of Search 220/32, 34, 38, 57; 222/509, 545, 556. 558

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 17,962 2/1931 Harris 220/32 670,977 4/1901 Watson 2.20/32 2,365,695 12/1944 Grice.... 222/550 X 2,639,144 5/1953 Long 1. 220/34 X 2,850,760 9/1958 Vanderwalker 220/34 X FOREIGN PATENTS 947,160 1/1949 France 220/32 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-James R. Garrett Attorney-Whann & McManigal PATaminummw v 3,625,391, sum znrg WOLFGANG 6. wUAJDEQL/CH INVIiN'lUR.

BY 9%,, W

CAP ASSEMBLY The invention relates generally to closure caps adapted to be held against an end of an orifice-defining fitting and particularly to mounting means for such caps.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel durable lever type mounting of simple construction for a cap that automatically locks when the cap is properly positioned and forced against the fitting to which it is to be applied.

Another object is to provide a lever type mounting for a cap or the like in which novel means is provided on a support or base for pivotally mounting a cap-carrying lever in a manner such that when the cap is forced against a fitting the lever is moved laterally relative to its pivotal axis and to provide means for locking the lever against pivotal movement while it is in a position offset from its pivotal axis.

A further object is to provide a novel device suitable for mounting on a fitting, such as a nipple, having an orifice to be capped and to provide a device which is readily installable and easily operated.

In summary, the invention is concerned with the provision of a novel lever mounting in which the lever may be moved laterally of its normal pivotal axis and when so moved is then locked against pivotal movement, the lever being adapted to carry a cap and means for exerting force against the cap so as to cause the lever to move into a locked position as the cap is forced against the fitting.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description. Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing a cap assembly embodying the invention mounted upon a fitting which is to be capped;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view in the direction of line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 2 and line 44 of FIG. 3, but on a larger scale; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional detail views similar to the lower portion of FIG. 4, but showing different positions of the parts.

More particularly describing the invention, referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 11 generally designates a cap assembly embodying the invention shown applied to a fitting l2 which includes a nipple 13 having a passage 14 therethrough.

The cap assembly in general is made up of a lever 15 which is pivotally mounted on a support or base plate 16, a cap or closure designated 17 which is carried by the outer end of the lever, and a cap actuating lever 18 which serves to move the cap 17 with respect to the lever by means of a pin and slot connection or cam means between the two which will be described later.

The main support or base 16 may take several forms, however, it is shown as comprising an apertured plate 20 which receives the fitting and is secured thereon by a nut 21. The plate extends radially to one side of the fitting and is formed to provide a pair of upright ears 22, one at each side of the plate. A tongue 23 at the outer end of the main portion of the base extends upwardly and curves inwardly and partially downwardly back upon itself as best shown in FIGS. 46. The tongue is substantially narrower than the distance between the ears 22, leaving a space between the tongue and each ear.

The lever 15 is mounted on a pivot pin 25 which extends between the two ears 22 of the base plate. The lever is fonned to provide a free end which has two laterally spaced capmounting sections 27 connected by a cross member 28. Extending rearwardly from each of the sections 27 is an arm 30 which terminates in a slotted pivotend section 32. The two arms 30 diverge while the two end sections are parallel and are received between the cars 22 and tongue 23 of the base. The end sections 32 of the lever are each provided with a slot 34 to receive the pivot pin 25 which is positioned at the upper ends of such slots when the lever is not in locked position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The lower edge portion of each lever end section 32 is rounded at 34 so that the lever will turn freely with respect to the base and the upper edge 36 is similarly shaped although it need not be.

The slots in the end sections 32 of the lever 15 also carry a shaft 38 on which is mounted a roller 39 which acts as a cam follower with respect to a cam 40 mounted on the pivot pin and extending between the two lever end sections 32. This cam is configured to fit inside the end wall or tongue as best shown in FIGS. 4-6. It is also formed with a surface recess 41 which extends from side to side directly beneath the pivot point and faces directly toward the plane of the base plate 20. Laterally of this recess the cam has lobes 43 which are at a greater distance from the pivotal axis of the pivot pin than the surface defining the recess. Consequently it will be apparent that the lever may be moved upwardly or normal to the plane of plate 20 and laterally with respect to the pivot pin axis a limited extent as shown in FIG. 4, the cam follower and cam limiting such motion of the lever.

The outer end of the main lever is formed with parallel end sections 27 between which the cap actuating lever 18 is mounted on a pin 51. The lever has a pair of laterally spaced end plates 53 which are slotted at 54 to receive the ends of a pin 55 mounted in and projecting from opposite sides of a stud 56 on the closure cap 21. Thus, when the actuating lever is moved from the position in which it is shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 to the full line position of that figure, the cap will be moved relatively downwardly with respect to the end of the lever 18.

In the operation of the device, assuming that the assembly is in the broken line position of FIG. 1, the main lever 15 will be in the position shown in FIG. 6. To cap the nipple, the assembly is then rotated to bring lever 15 to the position of FIG. 1 with the cap directly over the fitting. The cap actuating lever 18 is then moved counterclockwise to move the cap downwardly against the nipple. Once the cap engages the end of the fitting, the lever 15 moves upwardly with respect to the fitting and the base plate 20 and since the lever is in the position occupied by the parts as shown in FIG. 5, the lever is free to move upwardly until the cam 40 is engaged by the roller 39 as shown in FIG. 4. It will be apparent that when this condition is reached the lever then cannot rotate and the device is locked in place.

I claim:

I. A cap assembly comprising:

a. a support fixedly mounted adjacent a fitting to be capped;

b. a lever pivotally mounted at one end on said support, said lever being adapted for pivotal movement relative to the fitting to be capped so that its free end is movable into juxtaposition with the distal end of the fitting;

c. means for pivotally mounting the lever on said support so that the lever may be moved laterally with respect to its pivotal axis in a direction substantially paralleling the principal axis of the fitting to be capped;

d. a cap means carried by the free end of the lever for capping the distal end of the fitting;

e. means between the free end of the lever and the cap for moving said cap and said free end of the lever relatively opposite to one another; and

f. interengaging means on said lever and said support for preventing pivotal movement of said lever when said lever has been moved to a position wherein the cap is in closing engagement with the distal end of the fitting.

2. The cap assembly set forth in claim 1 in which the means pivotally mounting the lever at one end on the support comprises a pin and slot connection between the lever and the support.

3. The cap assembly set forth in claim 2 in which the interengaging means on the lever and the support prevent pivotal movement of the lever when said lever has been moved to a position of closing engagement of the cap with the fitting comprises a cam mounted on said support and a cam follower carried by said lever.

4. A cap assembly comprising:

a. cap means for closing the end of a fitting;

b. a support mounted adjacent to the fitting;

c. a lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to said support and adapted to carry said cap means at its other end, said lever being constructed so that said cap means may be moved into juxtaposition with the said end of the fitting to be closed;

d. means between the free end of said lever and said cap means for moving said lever and said cap means relatively opposite to one another to close said fitting;

e. a cam mounted on said support, said cam having a surface recess extending parallel to and longitudinally of the pivotal axis of the lever and facing away from the lever;

f. a cam follower carried by said lever, said cam follower being adapted to cooperatively engage the recess in said cam when said lever is in a position in which said cap means is in closing engagement with said fitting.

5. A cap assembly comprising:

a. a cap means for closing the end of a fitting;

b. a support mounted adjacent the fitting to be capped;

c. a lever carrying said cap means at one end and terminating at the other end in a pair of laterally spaced end sections, said end sections each having a clot therein in registration with the slot in the other end section;

d. a pivot pin fixedly mounted on said support and extending through said slots;

e. a cam mounted on said pivot pin between the end sections of said lever, said cam having a surface recess extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pivot pin and facing away from the lever; and

f. a cam follower carried by said end sections of said lever adapted for engagement with the recess in said cam to prevent relative linear movement between the pivot pin and the end sections of the lever along the slots therein, and to prevent pivotal movement of the lever when said lever is in a position in which said cap means is in closing engagement with the fitting.

6. The cap assembly set forth in claim 5 in which said support comprises an apertured plate having a pair of spaced ears between which the slotted ends of the lever are received and in which the pivot pin is mounted.

7. A cap assembly comprising:

a. a cap means for closing the end of a fitting;

b. a support mounted on the fitting to be capped, said support including a base plate section having a pair of laterally spaced upright ears;

c. a main lever adapted to carry said cap means at one end and terminating at the other end in a pair of laterally spaced end sections disposed between the ears of said support, said end sections each having a slot therein in registration with the slot in the other end section;

d. a pivot pin fixedly mounted in the ears of said support and extending through said slots in the end sections of the arms of the lever;

e. means between the lever and the cap for moving said cap and said lever relatively opposite to one another for closing the fitting;

f. a cam having a surface recess which extends axially of said cam and faces toward the plane of the base plate section of said support mounted on said pivot pin between the end sections of said lever; and

g. a cam follower including a roller between said end sections of said lever for engagement with said cam, said roller being carried on a shaft having its ends received in the slots in end sections of the lever and being adapted to engage the surface recess in said cam so as to prevent relative linear movement between the pivot pin and the end sections of the lever along the slots therein, and to prevent pivotal movement of the lever when said cap means is in closing engagement with said fitting.

Claims

1. A cap assembly comprising: a. a support fixedly mounted adjacent a fitting to be capped; b. a lever pivotally mounted at one end on said support, said lever being adapted for pivotal movement relative to the fitting to be capped so that its free end is movable into juxtaposition with the distal end of the fitting; c. means for pivotally mounting the lever on saId support so that the lever may be moved laterally with respect to its pivotal axis in a direction substantially paralleling the principal axis of the fitting to be capped; d. a cap means carried by the free end of the lever for capping the distal end of the fitting; e. means between the free end of the lever and the cap for moving said cap and said free end of the lever relatively opposite to one another; and f. interengaging means on said lever and said support for preventing pivotal movement of said lever when said lever has been moved to a position wherein the cap is in closing engagement with the distal end of the fitting.

4. A cap assembly comprising: a. cap means for closing the end of a fitting; b. a support mounted adjacent to the fitting; c. a lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to said support and adapted to carry said cap means at its other end, said lever being constructed so that said cap means may be moved into juxtaposition with the said end of the fitting to be closed; d. means between the free end of said lever and said cap means for moving said lever and said cap means relatively opposite to one another to close said fitting; e. a cam mounted on said support, said cam having a surface recess extending parallel to and longitudinally of the pivotal axis of the lever and facing away from the lever; f. a cam follower carried by said lever, said cam follower being adapted to cooperatively engage the recess in said cam when said lever is in a position in which said cap means is in closing engagement with said fitting.

5. A cap assembly comprising: a. a cap means for closing the end of a fitting; b. a support mounted adjacent the fitting to be capped; c. a lever carrying said cap means at one end and terminating at the other end in a pair of laterally spaced end sections, said end sections each having a slot therein in registration with the slot in the other end section; d. a pivot pin fixedly mounted on said support and extending through said slots; e. a cam mounted on said pivot pin between the end sections of said lever, said cam having a surface recess extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pivot pin and facing away from the lever; and f. a cam follower carried by said end sections of said lever adapted for engagement with the recess in said cam to prevent relative linear movement between the pivot pin and the end sections of the lever along the slots therein, and to prevent pivotal movement of the lever when said lever is in a position in which said cap means is in closing engagement with the fitting.

7. A cap assembly comprising: a. a cap means for closing the end of a fitting; b. a support mounted on the fitting to be capped, said support including a base plate section having a pair of laterally spaced upright ears; c. a main lever adapted to carry said cap means at one end and terminating at the other end in a pair of laterally spaced end sections disposed between the ears of said support, said end sections each having a slot therein in registration with the slot in the other end section; d. a pivot pin fixedly mounted in the ears of said support and extending through said slots in the end sections of the arms of the lever; e. means between the lever and the cap for moving said cap and said lever relatively opposite to one another for closing the fitting; f. a cam having a surface recess which extends axially of said cam and faces toward the plane of the base plate section of said support mounted on said pivot pin between the end sections of said lever; and g. a cam follower including a roller between said end sections of said lever for engagement with said cam, said roller being carried on a shaft having its ends received in the slots in end sections of the lever and being adapted to engage the surface recess in said cam so as to prevent relative linear movement between the pivot pin and the end sections of the lever along the slots therein, and to prevent pivotal movement of the lever when said cap means is in closing engagement with said fitting.