US3754679A

US3754679A - Inspection device

Info

Publication number: US3754679A
Application number: US00195795A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Beernink
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-11-04
Filing date: 1971-11-04
Publication date: 1973-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 1990-08-28
Also published as: CA959294A

Abstract

An inspection device for mounting in a cavity in a body of insulating material surrounding a vessel wall, said device comprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto. The flange part is shaped to conform to the outer surface of the body of insulating material, and the tubular part has an inner portion projecting from an inner face of the flange part to enter said cavity and extend towards the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face of the flange part. Closure means are also provided for securing to said outer portion to close the tubular part from the exterior. The device enables the vessel wall to be inspected promptly without the need to disrupt the insulating material, and without giving rise to any need to reinstate insulating material that has been removed for inspection purposes.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Beernink [4 Aug. 28, 1973 INSPECTION DEVICE [76] Inventor: John William Beernlnk, 150

Wilkerson P1., Corruna, Ontario, Canada [22] Filed: Nov. 4, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 195,795

[52] US. Cl. 220/63, 220/41 [51] Int. Cl B65d 25/14, B65d 41/00 [58] Field of Search 220/9, 14, 82 A,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,954,581 4/1934 Wortmann 220/14 830,920 9/1906 Olbrich 220/24 R 3,097,900 7/1963 Berta et al. 220/14 2,818,995 1/1958 Duguid 220/63 R 2,619,870 12/1952 Torricelli 350/245 2,799,425 7/1957 Werker 220/14 2,229,388 l/194l Postlewait 220/41 3,062,507 11/1962 Andrus 220/63 R 3,354,913 11/1967 Goto ..220/63R Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg Assistant Eqcq rniner-Allan N. Shoap Attorney- Peter Kirby, Charles P. Curphey ct al.

[57] ABSTRACT An inspection device for mounting in a cavity in a body of insulating material surrounding a vessel wall, said device comprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto. The flange part is shaped to conform to the outer surface of the body of insulating material, and the tubular part has an innerportion projecting from an inner face of the flange part to enter said cavity and extend towards the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face of the flange part. Closure means are also provided for securing to said outer portion to close the tubular part from the exterior. The device enables the vessel wall to be inspected promptly without the need to disrupt the insulating material, and without giving rise to any need to reinstate insulating material that has been removed for inspection purposes.

3 Clnims, 2 Drawing Figures INSPECTION DEVICE This invention relates to a device for facilitating the periodic inspection of insulated vessels and the like.

In large installations, such as chemical plants and oil refineries, it is common to have pipes, boilers and other vessels that store or handle liquids or gases at high pressures and high or low temperatures. Such parts, hereinafter referred to merely as vessels for simplicity, frequently require heavy wrappings of insulation. Safety regulations demand periodical inspection of such vessels, especially those containing fluids under pressure or corrosive fluids, but the wrapping of insulation around the vessels forms an impediment to proper inspection. The conventional manner of carrying out such inspections has been to remove sections of the insulation material in order to obtain access to an exposed portion of the vessel itself, for subsequent inspection visually or by other methods such as sonic or ultra-sonic testing apparatus or X-ray devices. After inspection the insulation has to be reinstated.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device that will facilitate such inspection operations.

A further object is to provide a device that can be installed permanently in the insulation to provide prompt access to the vessel without the need to disrupt the insulation.

The features of the invention will be more fully understood from the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention by way of example. The broad scope of the invention is not limited to all the features illustrated, but is defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inspection device; and

FIG. 2 is a section taken in a horizontal plane showing the device installed.

FIG. 2 shows a section of the metal wall of a vessel which may, for example, be a large cylindrical tank. The vessel wall 10 is insulated by means of a body of insulatingmateria] 11. This material may be applied as a series of wrappings; but for convenience in the drawings it has been shown as a single layer of insulating material.

The inspection device 12 is made of light gauge metal and consists of a cylindrical tubular part 13 to which a flange part 14 is secured. The flange part 14 is secured in such a position that the tubular part 13 has an inner portion 13a projecting from an inner face of the flange part, the length of the portion 13a being almost equal to the thickness of the insulating material 11 so that the extreme end 13b of the tube portion 13a almost touches the vessel wall 10. If preferred, it can actually touch; but normally a small gap will be useful to minimise the transfer of conducted heat.

A shorter portion 13c of the part 13 projects forwardly from the outer face of the flange part 14, this portion being formed with a small circular lip 13d that serves to retain a cover 15 in place when the latter is slid on to the lip 13d to the position shown in FIG. 2. This is merely one convenient way of closing the device. Any other suitable closure means may be employed instead After the device 12 has been installed in a preformed cavity in the body of insulating material 11, the flange part 14, which will be curved as necessary to conform to any curvature of the outer surface of the material 11,

will be secured to such outer surface by a suitable adhesive or by other convenient means such as strapping, or even by screws or similar fixing devices if the insulating material is firm enough to retain such fixing devices.

A cylindrical plug 16 of insulating material may be placed inside the tubular part 13 before the closure cap 15 is put in place. This plug 16 is optional, however, and can be omitted if the slight lack of insulation represented by an empty tubular part 13 is acceptable.

It is desired to stress the advantages of this construction, in comparison with previous inspection methods. The present device will be seen to have the following advantages:

1. It can be opened at any time, promptly and without damaging the outer surface of the main body of insulation 11;

2. It can be just as quickly reinstated, the only action necessary being to replace the cap 15 and, if used, the plug 16;

3. Notwithstanding these advantages, the wall 10 of the vessel remains without interference. For example, there are no holes drilled in it or parts welded to it. Nor is its structural nature or functional performance interfered with in any way;

4. In many installations operating under high pressures and high temperatures, government regulations prohibit any alteration, of the plant without approval. Once the present device has been installed, no alterations are required to the vessel itself or to the insulation 11;

5. Due to the expansion and contraction that may be experienced, it is important that the inspection device be fastened to the insulating material 11 and not to the vessel wall 10. This enables an efiective weather seal to be formed by the adhesive material by which the flange part 14 is secured to the outer surface of the material 11. Any fixing of the device to the vessel itself would tend to cause movement between the device and the insulation with consequent breaking of this seal and a risk of general disruption to the firmness of the device in its mounting in the insulation;

6. With the plug 16 in place, there is virtually no interruption in the insulation of the vessel. As indicated above, the extreme inner end 13b of the tube 13 is preferably slightly spaced from the vessel wall 10, rather than being in direct metallic contact therewith, in order to reduce heat flow along the metallic part 13 from the wall 10.

I claim:

l. The combination of a vessel, a body of insulating material surrounding an uninterrupted portion of a wall of said vessel and an inspection device mounted in a cavity in said body, said device comprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto, the flange part being shaped to conform to an outer surface of the body of insulating material and being secured to said outer surface, and the tubular part having an inner portion projecting from an inner face of the flange part into said cavity and towards said uninterrupted portion of the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face of the flange part, and removable closure means secured to said outer portion for blocking access to the interior of the inspection device.

2. The combination of claim 1, including a removable sel wall in order to provide a gap therebetween.

* k k i

Claims

1. The combination of a vessel, a body of insulating material surrounding an uninterrupted portion of a wall of said vessel and an inspection device mounted in a cavity in said body, said device comprising a tubular part and a flange part connected thereto, the flange part being shaped to conform to an outer surface of the body of insulating material and being secured to said outer surface, and the tubular part having an inner portion projecting from an inner face of the flange part into said cavity and towards said uninterrupted portion of the vessel wall and an outer portion projecting from an outer face oF the flange part, and removable closure means secured to said outer portion for blocking access to the interior of the inspection device.

2. The combination of claim 1, including a removable plug of insulating material mounted in said tubular part.

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein said inner portion of the tubular part terminates short of the vessel wall in order to provide a gap therebetween.