US3731718A

US3731718A - Adapter connector

Info

Publication number: US3731718A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Gramig
Original assignee: SPRINGER CO
Current assignee: SPRINGER CO
Priority date: 1971-03-03
Filing date: 1971-03-03
Publication date: 1973-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-08

Abstract

Herein described is an adapter connector for use in connecting a reserve gas supply into a gas system. The connector includes a hollow chamber being threaded on both ends. One end of the chamber is adapted to engage the spud nut on a pressure regulator in the gas system. The other end of the chamber is adapted to directly engage the reserve tank cylinder. A wall partitions the chamber and has a threaded opening therein to receive a protruding valve engaging finger which is a cylindrical hollow member threaded into the opening in the wall. The finger is adapted to engage a needle valve in a valve stem disposed within the reserve tank.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Gramig 51 May 8, 1973 [54] ADAPTER CONNECTOR Harry A. Gramig, Culver City, Calif.

[75] Inventor:

[52] U.S. Cl. ..l4l/384, 137/233, 251/149.4 [51] Int. Cl. ..B6Sh 1/04, B65i 3/04, B67c 3/00 [58] Field of Search ..l41/348, 349, 384,

3,154,050 10/1964 Hanson ..l41/349 3,035,617 5/1962 Breitenstein ..l41/349 3,024,044 3/1962 Beneveto ..l41/349 2,925,103 2/1960 Kerr et a1. ..l4l/349 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,252,443 12/1960 France Primary Examiner-Houston S. Bell, Jr. AttorneyVictor Sepulveda [57] ABSTRACT Herein described is an adapter connector for use in connecting a reserve gas supply into a gas system. The connector includes a hollow chamber being threaded on both ends. One end of the chamber is adapted to engage the spud nut on a pressure regulator in the gas system. The other end of the chamber is adapted to directly engage the reserve tank cylinder. A wall partitions the chamber and has a threaded opening therein to receive a protruding valve engaging finger which is a cylindrical hollow member threaded into the opening in the wall. The finger is adapted to engage a needle valve in avalve stem disposed within the reserve tank.

8 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures FIG. m

D f INVENTOR.

TTORNEY ADAPTER CONNECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

This invention relates to adapters for coupling conduits and more particularly to an adapter connector which is adapted to connect a reserve tank into a pressure regulator or the like of a gas system.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art:

Mobile units, such as mobile homes, campers, camp trailers etc., have a fuel system therein which operates from a gas tank which burns butane or propane or the like for heating and cooking inside the living quarters of the mobile unit. Heretofore, it has also been necessary to provide two tanks positioned somewhere on the trailer so that if a tank becomes empty, the other tank is coupled into the system. Thereafter, the user is aware that one tank is empty and must have it refilled in due course. Of course, this is always inconvenient because of the fact that two large tanks must always be carried and whereby such large supplies are generally unnecessary when used on weekend camping trips and other short trips etc. The use of two tanks is also incon' venient because it takes up an unneeded amount of space and should for example, the user forget that one tank was empty, the inconvenience caused by lack of fuel for cooking and heating is sometimes very uncomfortable.

If two tanks are used and both tanks become empty, :1 need has arisen for a quick small reserve supply of gas to be provided to the fuel system. It would also be very convenient to use only a single tank and a small reserve be readily available to provide only a few hours of fuel until arrangements can be made to have the fuel tank filled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the difficulties provided and discussed .in the foregoing paragraphs. Briefly described, the present invention includes a cylindrical hollow member which includes a nut area on the outside thereof for threading into and out of a regulator and a reserve tank. The cylinder is hollow on either end thereof and is divided by a wall which has a threaded opening therein. One side of the wall has a concave depression therein and the other side is adapted to threadably receive a valve engaging member which is substantially elongated and protrudes from the end of the cylinder.

A reserve tank which is capable of holding a small amount of fuel such as the aforementioned propane or butane is readily available on the market which include an extending collar that is threaded on one end and has a valve core disposed therein which is in communication with the inside of the tank. The valve core is the type well known to those skilled in the art which includes a needle valve, that when engaged in the inside thereof, opens the valve and communicates the fluid to the outside of the core. The adapter threads are adapted to engage the extending collar of the reserve tank and when the extending collar engages the needle valve, the fluid is communicated to the opening in the wall of the valve and out the other end of the collar. This other end of the collar is threadably engaged into the pressure regulator of a fuel tank and thereby communicating the gas into the pressure regulator.

In accordance with the present invention, it is now possible to readily adapt a small fuel supply reserve tank into the gas system by simply screwing on the adapter and the reserve bottle when the other regular supply tank becomes empty.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken into consideration with the following detailed description wherein like reference numerals indicate like and corresponding parts throughout the several views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a reserve tank coupled into a pressure regulator using the adapter in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section view taken along the lines 22 of FIG. 3 showing the internal structure of the connector adapter;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the adapter connector in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 4 is a section view similar to that shown in FIG. 2 except with the valve engaging collar removed;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 2 showing the internal structure of the valve engaging collar;

FIG. 6=is an end view of the connector adapter taken along the lines 6--6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a section view of the top of a reserve tank illustrating the valve core thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a section view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 1 illustrating the reserve supply directly coupled to the gas system.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to a more detailed description of but one preferred embodiment of this invention and particularly to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a reserve tank 10 which is connected into a pressure regulator 12 through an adapter connector 14. The reserve tank 10 is the type which is used for holding a small supply of pressurized gas, such as propane or butane and is in the neighborhood of I or 2 pound containers. The container 10 is in the form of a cylindrical bottle which is substantially tapered to form a neck 11 and has a fitting 16 on one end thereof which is threaded to receive the adapter connector 14. The fitting 16 has a valve therein and will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The pressure regulator 12 is the type which regulates the pressure from the inlet end 18 through the outlet end 20. The outlet 20 is connected to the fuel system and preferably the type of fuel system contained in a mobile home or camper. The inlet end 18 of pressure regulator 12 includes a spud nut 22 which is shown and described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4. The spud nut 22 is adapted to be threaded directly into the adapter connector 14 as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 2 is a section view illustrating the internal structure of the connector 14. The connector 14 is generally cylindrical in shape at end 24 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. A nut end 26 is formed on the other end so that a suitable wrench may be coupled thereto for screwing the adapter connector 14 into the spud nut 22 in a suitable manner. Each end of the connector .14 has

threads

28 and 30 thereon, with threads 28 being at cylindrical end 24 and threads 30 being atnut end .26. Generally the threads on end 28 are in a reverse direction, that is left hand threads because as a general policy and for safety purposes, the spud nut 22 on regulator 12 is also of left hand threads. The threads 30 are right hand threads which are the type which are normally provided on the connection end 16 of the reserve tank 10. It should be understood that the direction of the threads have no bearing on this invention other than to show a single operative embodiment.

The connector 14 which is substantially hollow is divided into two portions by a wall area 32. The wall 32 is typically formed in the cylindrical section of the connector 14 in a suitable manner. For example, wall 32 may be cast therein when the original part is formed or can be machined therein in the manner well known to those skilled in the art. As shown in FIG. 4, the wall 32 has a threaded opening 34 therein which communicates between the two portions of the cylindrical connector 14. A protruding collar 36 is formed on the wall 32 on theinside thereof. The other end of wall 32 has a depression 38 therein which is concave and somewhat frustro-conical shaped which leads into a larger opening 40 which in turn leads into the threaded opening 34. The shape of the depression 38 in wall 32 is tapered in such a manner wherein it fits the conical end 42 of spud nut 22. When the spud nut 22 is tightly threaded into the threads 28 of end 24, the conical end 42 virtually seals against the depression 38 in the wall 32.

With reference again to FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, a valve engaging finger 44 is provided and has threads 46 on one end thereof, which are adapted to engage the threads in opening 34. The finger 44 is generally cylindrical in shape and includes a nut 48 thereon which is used to facilitate the threading of the threads 46 into the opening 34. A somewhat larger collar 50 is provided between the nut end 48 and the threaded end 46 to engage a washer 52 positioned between the collar 50 on the finger 44 and the collar 36 on the wall 32. A resilient washer 52 which may be comprised of cork or rubber or the like, is positioned within the recessed area 56 between the walls of the cylindrical 14 and the protruding collar 36. The washers 52 and 54 are used to effectively seal the fitting in a manner yet to be described.

The valve engaging finger 44 has an opening 54 therethrough and has a smaller orifice end 57 which exits from the finger 44. A slot 58 is provided along the top of the finger 44 and communicates with the orifice end 57 in opening 54. This slot is used to prevent blocking of the opening of the small orifice 56.

With reference now to FIG. 7, there is shown the typical connection end 16 of the reserve tank 10. The connection end 16 protrudes outwardly from the tank and includes a valve 60 therein. Valve 60 is the type which includes a plunger 62 which releases a seal 64 when the plunger 62 is pushed inwardly against a spring 66 which is disposed between the seal 64 and a stop 68. The valve comprises of a elongated hollow cylindrical collar '70 which engage an orifice 72 leading into communication with the fuel within the tank 10. The fuel is allowed to escape from the tank 10 through the collar 70 when the plunger 62 is depressed.

When the permanent fuel tank in the supply system becomes empty, the spud nut 22 is disconnected from the permanent tank and the adapter connector 14 'is threaded thereon, whereby the threads 28 of the end 24 engage the spud nut 22. As previously stated the spud nut 22 and the threads 28 are normally comprised of left hand threads for safety purposes. Thereafter, the reserve tank 10 is threaded thereon into the threads 30 of the adapter connector 14. The elongated finger 44 is then disposed inside the collar of the valve 60 and depresses the plunger therein so that fuel will fill the entire chamber of the connector 14 and be forced into the opening 58 and through the hollow portion 54 to communicate with the inside of the regulator 12. The purpose of the slot 58 across the top is to assure that the plunger 62 does not seal off the orifice end 56. The completely engaged connector 14 with the fitting 16 and the spud nut 22 is shown in FIG. 8.

The reserve tank will be used for only a short period of time until the regular tank is again refilled. The convenience of having the fitting 14 of the reserve tank 10 available is that a number of these reserve tanks 10 can be purchased and refilled or traded for full tank 10 for a nominal cost and be readily available for emergency purposes. These can be easily stored in any small place and it would be convenient therefore to have two or three of these reserve tanks 10 readily available in the mobile unit.

Having thus described one preferred embodiment of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A connector for providing reserve fuel to a fuel system which has a pressure regulator with a spud nut connected thereto;

a reserve fuel container, having a threaded valve connection and a plunger valve; hollow member on one end thereof and being adapted to threadably engage the valve connection on said reserve fuel container and the other end being adapted to threadably engage the spud nut of said pressure regulator;

a wall in said hollow member dividing said hollow member and having a threaded opening therethrough; and

a valve actuating member threadably mounted into the opening in the wall in said hollow member, said member being substantially elongated and cylindrical and having a hollow orifice therethrough and being adapted to open the plunger valve in said reserve fuel container when one end of said member being threadably engaged in the valve connection in said fuel container.

2. The connector as defined in claim 1 and including a nut portion on the outside of the hollow member.

3. The connector as defined in claim 1 and further ineluding a frustro-conical depression in the wall thereof the apex of which is juxtaposed with the opening in said wall to receive the frustro-conical portion of said spud nut.

4. The connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the threaded portion within said one end of said hollow member having left hand threads thereon.

5. The connector as defined in claim 1 wherein said valve actuating member includes a smaller orifice on the end which engages said plunger of said plunger valve.

6. A connector for coupling a reserve fuel tank to a fuel system which has a regulator and a spud nut connected thereto, said spud nut being of the type which includes a frustro-conical end member, said reserve fuel tank having a protruding hollow collar which has external threads thereon, and a plunger valve disposed within said protruding collar of the type which opens when depressed, said connector comprising:

a housing member having a first internally threaded bore on one end of said housing which engage the threads on the reserve fuel tank and a second internally threaded bore on the other end thereof which engage said spud nut, said member including a central wall between each bore having an opening therethrough substantially centrally spaced in said wall;

a substantially elongated hollow valve actuating member mounted in the opening in said wall extending from said first bore in said housing to open said plunger valve when said connector is coupled to said reserve fuel tank; and

a frustro-conical depression in said second bore which mate with the frustro-conical end member of said spud nut when said second bore is threaded thereon.

7. The connector as defined in claim 6 wherein said valve actuating member is threadably engaged into the opening in said central portion.

8. The connector as defined in claim 6 and further including:

Claims

1. A connector for providing reserve fuel to a fuel system which has a pressure regulator with a spud nut connected thereto; a reserve fuel container, having a threaded valve connection and a plunger valve; a hollow member on one end thereof and being adapted to threadably engage the valve connection on said reserve fuel container and the other end being adapted to threadably engage the spud nut of said pressure regulator; a wall in said hollow member dividing said hollow member and having a threaded opening therethrough; and a valve actuating member threadably mounted into the opening in the wall in said hollow member, said member being substantially elongated and cylindrical and having a hollow orifice therethrough and being adapted to open the plunger valve in said reserve fuel container when one end of said member being threadably engaged in the valve connection in said fuel container.

3. The connector as defined in claim 1 and further including a frustro-conical depression in the wall thereof the apex of which is juxtaposed with the opening in said wall to receive the frustro-conical portion of said spud nut.

6. A connector for coupling a reserve fuel tank to a fuel system which has a regulator and a spud nut connected thereto, said spud nut being of the type which includes a frustro-conical end member, said reserve fuel tank having a protruding hollow collar which has external threads thereon, and a plunger valve disposed within said protruding collar of the type which opens when depressed, said connector comprising: a housing member having a first internally threaded bore on one end of said housing which engage the threads on the reserve fuel tank and a second internally threaded bore on the other end thereof which engage said spud nut, said member including a central wall between each bore having an opening therethrough substantially centrally spaced in said wall; a substantially elongated hollow valve actuating member mounted in the opening in said wall extending from said first bore in said housing to open said plunger valve when said connector is coupled to said reserve fuel tank; and a frustro-conical depression in said second bore which mate with the frustro-conical end member of said spud nut when said second bore is threaded thereon.

8. The connector as defined in claim 6 and further including: a collar disposed around the opening in said first bore of said central wall in said housing member; and a sealing gasket disposed around said collar and against said central wall to seal said protruding collar on said reserve fuel tank against said central wall when said housing is threaded thereon.