US3900127A - Sealing assembly in tank - Google Patents

Sealing assembly in tank Download PDF

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Publication number
US3900127A
US3900127A US420538A US42053873A US3900127A US 3900127 A US3900127 A US 3900127A US 420538 A US420538 A US 420538A US 42053873 A US42053873 A US 42053873A US 3900127 A US3900127 A US 3900127A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
tank wall
sealing member
profiled sealing
profiled
floating top
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
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US420538A
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English (en)
Inventor
Karl Schwarz
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Voestalpine AG
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Voestalpine AG
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Voestalpine AG filed Critical Voestalpine AG
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Publication of US3900127A publication Critical patent/US3900127A/en
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D88/00—Large containers
    • B65D88/34—Large containers having floating covers, e.g. floating roofs or blankets
    • B65D88/42—Large containers having floating covers, e.g. floating roofs or blankets with sealing means between cover rim and receptacle
    • B65D88/46—Large containers having floating covers, e.g. floating roofs or blankets with sealing means between cover rim and receptacle with mechanical means acting on the seal

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT The sealing assembly serves to seal an annular gap between a tank wall and a floating top of a tank.
  • a flexible sealing skirt is sealed to the periphery of the floating top and bridges the annular gap.
  • a resilient cover slopes down toward and is tightly secured to the top rim of the floating top.
  • a plurality of peripherally spaced leaf springs are secured to the periphery of the floating top. Each of said leaf springs has diverging upper and lower resilient legs, which extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from said floating top toward said tank wall.
  • Said upper legs have free ends, to which said resilient cover and an upper resilient profiled sealing member are secured and by which said upper profiled sealing member is forced into sealing engagement with said tank wall along a peripheral line thereof.
  • Said lower legs have free ends, to which said sealing skirt and 'a lower resilient profiled sealing member are secured and by which said lower profiled sealing member is forced into sealing engagement with said tank wall along a peripheral line thereof.
  • This invention relates to an assembly for sealing an annular gap between a tank wall and a floating top of a large tank for mineral oil or the like, which assembly seal is resiliently urged against the tank wall and comprises a flexible sealing skirt which bridges the annular gap, and a cover, which has a profiled sealing portion contacting the tank wall and slopes down toward the top edge of the floating top and is secured there.
  • An assembly for sealing the annular gap between the floating top and the wall of a large tank for mineral oil or the like must prevent an ingress of precipitated water into the large tank and must prevent losses resulting from an evaporation of the stored liquid.
  • the fulfilment of these requirements is rendered more difficult because the floating top can move laterally so that the annular gap cannot be expected to be constant.
  • An additional difficulty is involved in the requirement that precipitated water must not collect directly at the tank wall in order to prevent a freezing of the sealing assembly to the tank wall. Such freezing of the sealing assembly to the tank wall would prevent the floating top from sliding up and down in response to fluctuations of the level of the stored liquid and might result in a destruction of the seal.
  • sealing assemblies which are resiliently urged against the tank wall and which in case of an increase in the size of the annular gap between 'the tank wall and the floating top as a result of temperature changes or lateral movements of the top can adapt itself to the changed width of the gap so that a sealing contact with the tank wall is always ensured.
  • These sealing assemblies comprise a foam member, which is urged against the tank wall as a result of the resiliency of the foam member itself or by leaf springs, and is surrounded by a sealing skirt, which is tightly joined to the floating top and urged into sealing contact with the latter by the foam member.
  • leaf springs which comprise two diverging spring legs which extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from the floating top toward the tank wall, and a web, which connects the spring legs and is firmly secured to the periphery of the floating top.
  • leaf springs are used which comprise two diverging spring legs which extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from the floating top toward the tank wall, and a web, which connects the spring legs and is firmly secured to the periphery of the floating top.
  • the surface contact between the sealing member and the tank wall does not entirely prevent a soiling of the sealing means by stored material adhering to the tank wall, and a freezing of the sealing skirt to the tank wall cannot be prevented because water may accumulate between the tank wall and the edges of the sealing member when the same have been flexed away from the tank wall to facilitate the sliding movement. As a result, the seal may be destroyed by a movement of the floating top.
  • annular gap between the floating top and the tank wall is covered by spring steel plates, which are secured to the floating top and extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from the floating top toward the tank wall in accordance with conical frustums and are interconnected by elastic connectors in a ring.
  • the outer edges of these plates are bent back away from the tank wall in order to facilitate the sliding on the tank wall.
  • slidable fingers formed of wire are secured to the profiled sealing member on that side thereof which is remote from the tank wall. These fingers protrude beyond the profiled sealing member and their free ends protruding toward the tank wall are similar to a skid.
  • a profiled sealing member having horizontal ribs extending toward the tank wall, to urge said profiled sealing member against the tank wall be radially displaceable, spring-loaded backing arms, and to provide a flexible skirt, which covers the gap between the profiled sealing member and the floating top.
  • the backing arms carry backing rollers, which roll on the tank wall and limit the contact pressure applied to the profiled sealing member because they prevent an approach beyond a minimum clearance Be cause the sealing member extends horizontally and the backing arms are exposed to the weather, the tightness of the seal may be strongly reduced by a formation of ice.
  • a comparatively large, undesired gas space exists between the sealing means, the floating top, the tank wall, and the stored liquid.
  • the contact pressure force exerted on the tank wall should be adjustable and readjustable so that the cover can be adapted to existing conditions. It is also desired to eliminate the risk of a catching of the seal on protruding horizontal seam welds or the like whereas the sealing action should be preserved.
  • this object is accomplished in that a large number of leaf springs are secured to the periphery of the floating top and comprise upper and lower diverging resilient legs, which extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from the floating top toward the tank wall, the cover and an upper resilient profiled sealing member are secured to the free ends of the upper resilient legs, and the latter urge said upper profiled sealing member against the tank wall along a peripheral line thereof, and the sealing skirt and a lower resilient profiled sealing member are secured to the free ends of the lower resilient legs, and the latter urge said lower profiled sealing member against the tank wall along a peripheral line thereof.
  • the prestressed leaf springs which force the resilient endless profiled sealing members against the tank wall, easily compensate changes in the width of the annular gap so that a tight seal is always ensured.
  • This seal is particularly effective because each profiled sealing member is forced against the tank wall along a peripheral line, different from the surface contact in the known arrangements.
  • the cover also tightly contacts the tank wall and owing to its flexibility can easily follow the movements of the floating top, precipitated water cannot enter the annular gap so that the sealing assembly cannot freeze to the tank wall. Precipitated water will be diverted toward the floating top by the cover, which slopes down toward the top edge of the floating top.
  • each leaf spring has a web, which connects the two diverging legs and has a portion which is slightly spaced from that surface of the floating top to which the spring is secured, and a readjustable fixing screw is inserted into said web portion.
  • the profiled sealing members are strip-shaped and comprise jawlike portions, which embrace the ends of the resilient legs and the outer edge of the sealing skirt or of the cover and are provided on their outside in known manner with protruding longitudinal ribs or the like. Because the profiled sealing members have jawlike portions which embrace the ends of the resilient legs and the outer edge of the sealing skirt or the cover, the profiled sealing members have a curved surface facing the tank wall and provided with longitudinal ribs or the like, at least one of which is forced against the tank wall regardless of the position assumed by the resilient legs in dependence of the position of the floating top. Whereas changes of the width of the annular gap will result in a rotation of the legs of the leaf springs and in a rotation of the profiled sealing members, these rotations will not influence the effectiveness of the seal because the longitudinal ribs or the like are provided.
  • At least part of the diverging resilient legs of the leaf springs carry slidable fingers, known per se, which are disposed on that side of the profiled sealing member which faces the tank wall and tightly engage that portion of the profiled sliding member which contacts the tank wall and are bent away from the tank wall at least by an angle which corresponds to the largest angular movement of the resilient legs.
  • the straight sub-portion of the slidable finger will protrude from the tank wall at a corresponding angle and said straight sub-portion will then form the skid. It is thus ensured in all position of the spring legs that the profiled sealing member contacts the tank wall and the sliding fingers enable a sliding of the profiled sealing member over protruding seam welds or the like during a vertical movement of the roof.
  • FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view'sho'wing an assembly according to the invention for sealing an annularlgap between a tank wall and a floating top of a large tank,
  • FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing said assembly with thecover partly removed
  • FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view showing on a larger scale a profiled sealing member according to the invention, i
  • FlG.,4 is a transverse sectional view showing a profiled sealing member provided with slidable fingers arranged in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a view taken in a horizontal direction and showing a profiled sealing member provided with a slidable finger.
  • Each leaf spring 2 has two diverging resilient legs 4 and 5, which extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, and toward a wall 3 of the tank.
  • the upper resilient legs 4 carry at their free ends a cover 6 and an upper resilient profiled sealing member 8, which is urged by the leaf springs 2 against the tank wall 3.
  • the lower resil ient legs 5 carry at their free ends a sealing skirt 7 and a lower resilient profiled sealing member 9, which is urged by the leaf springs 2 against the tank wall 3.
  • Each profiled sealing member 8 is strip-shaped and has jawlike portions which embrace the ends of the spring legs 4 or 5 and the outer edges of the cover 6 or of the sealing skirt 7 so that tight joints between the respective elements are ensured. Rivets 9 are provided to hold the elements together.
  • Each profiled sealing member 8 is provided on its outside with protruding longitudinal ribs 10, which enable a pressure contact with the tank wall along a peripheral line thereof so that a particu larly good seal is ensured. Besides, the ribs 10 will scrape off any stored material which may adhere to the tank wall 3 so that the sealing member is not likely to be soiled. To reliably avoid such soiling, additional scrapers, known per se, could be secured to the floating top for a coarse cleaning of the tank wall whereas the profiled sealing members would then provide for an aftercleaning.
  • Each leaf spring 2 has a web, which connects the diverging legs 4 and 5 and comprises a portion 11, which is spaced from that surface of the floating top to which the spring is secured.
  • a readjustable fixing screw 12 is inserted in said web portion and can be tightened to move the web portion 11 closer to the mounting surface of the floating top so that the initial stress of the leaf spring legs 4 and 5 is increased.
  • the fixing screws 12 thus permit of an easy adjustment and readjustment of the initial stress in adaptation to different conditions.
  • the flexible cover 6 slopes down from the tank wall 3 to the top edge of the floating top 1 and is tightly secured there and diverts any arriving precipitated water to the floating top so that precipitated water cannot enter the annular gap between the floating top 1 and the tank wall 3.
  • the effective seal which is always required for this purpose will be ensured even in case of changes of the annular gap because a rotation of the leaf spring legs due to a change of the annular gap will be followed by the profiled sealing member so that the protruding longitudinal ribs 10 always ensure that at least one of the longitudinal ribs contacts the tank wall regardless of the angular position of the profiled sealing member and the resilient leg.
  • the profiled sealing members may be made, e.g., of hard rubber, the hardness of which must be selected so that they resist abrasion which is due to the roughness of the tank and to welded or riveted joints in the tank wall.
  • i v i i i At least some resilient legs are provided with slidable fingers 14, which are secured by the rivets 9 to the profiled sealing member on that side thereof which faces the tank wall.
  • slidable fingers consist preferably of thin sheet, metal or wire and are bent away from the tank wall 3 and around the profiledsealing member 8 by an angle which corresponds to the largest angular movement of the spring legs 4 and with their bent portion tightly contact the profiled sealing member.
  • theslidable fingers consist of thin sheet metal, they prevent adisengagement of the profiled sealing member from the tank wall adjacent ot the fingers because the resiliency of the profiled sealing member enables the fingers to be forced into the profiled sealing member by means of the rivets.
  • each slidable finger 14 which is bent away from the tank wall 3 and around the profiled sealing member 8 has a straight sub-portion 15, which extends from the profiled sealing member 8 and an end portion 16, which is further bent away from the tank wall.
  • a forcing of the slidable fingers 14 into the profiled sealing member 8 by the rivets 9 to an excessive depth would result in a gap in the sealing assembly.
  • the slidable fin gers 14 are provided adjacent to the rivets 9 with thrust washers 17, which ensure that the clamping forces will be distributed as required.
  • each of said leaf springs having diverging, upper and lower resilient legs, which extend upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from said floating top toward said tank wall,
  • said upper legs having free ends, to which said cover and said upper profiled sealing member are secured and by which said upper profiled sealing member is forced into sealing engagement with said tank wall along a peripheral line thereof,
  • said lower legs having free ends, to which said sealing skirt and said lower profiled sealing member are secured and by which said lower profiled sealing member is forced into sealing engagement with said tank wall along a peripheral line thereof.
  • each of said leaf springs has a web which connects said two legs and bears on a surface portion of said floating top
  • said web has a web portion spaced from said surface portion
  • an adjustable fixing screw extends through said spaced web portion and is adjustably fixed to said surface portion.
  • each of said profiled sealing members is strip-shaped and has jawlike portions
  • said jawlike portions of said upper profiled sealing member embrace said free ends of said upper resilient legs and the outer edge of said cover
  • said jawlike portions of said lower profiled sealing member embrace said free ends of said lower resilient legs and the outer edge of said sealing skirt
  • profiled sealing members are provided on their outside with protruding longitudinal ribs.
  • said resilient legs carry slidable fingers, which are disposed on that side of the associated profiled sealing member which faces the tank wall and have a portion which is angled from said tank wall at an angle which is at least as large as said predetermined angle and extends around and tightly contacts the associated profiled sealing member where it is nearest to the tank wall.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Pressure Vessels And Lids Thereof (AREA)
  • Gasket Seals (AREA)
  • Roof Covering Using Slabs Or Stiff Sheets (AREA)
  • Filling Or Discharging Of Gas Storage Vessels (AREA)
US420538A 1972-12-06 1973-11-30 Sealing assembly in tank Expired - Lifetime US3900127A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT1039972A AT319145B (de) 1972-12-06 1972-12-06 Vorrichtung zum Abdichten des zwischen der Behälterwand und dem Schwimmdach eines Großraumbehälters für Mineralöle od.dgl. vorhandenen Ringspaltes

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3900127A true US3900127A (en) 1975-08-19

Family

ID=3622083

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US420538A Expired - Lifetime US3900127A (en) 1972-12-06 1973-11-30 Sealing assembly in tank

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3900127A (enExample)
AT (1) AT319145B (enExample)
DE (1) DE2358636C3 (enExample)
FR (1) FR2210992A5 (enExample)
GB (1) GB1428514A (enExample)
IT (1) IT1001046B (enExample)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4116358A (en) * 1977-05-16 1978-09-26 Aerojet-General Corporation Weather and vapor seal for storage tank
US4353477A (en) * 1977-09-30 1982-10-12 Chicago Bridge & Iron Company Floating roof metallic shoe secondary seal

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4099644A (en) * 1976-04-07 1978-07-11 United States Steel Corporation Low emission multiple sealing system for floating roof tanks
DE3202278A1 (de) * 1982-01-25 1983-07-28 Ingenieurbüro Imhof GmbH, 6050 Offenbach Vorrichtung zur entfernung des niederschlagswassers von der senkrechten innenwand eines schwimmdachtanks
DE3313564A1 (de) * 1983-04-14 1984-10-18 Ingenieurbüro Imhof GmbH, 6050 Offenbach Vorrichtung zur abdichtung des ringspalts zwischen behaelterwand und schwimmender abdeckung eines grossraumbehaelters
GB8425321D0 (en) * 1984-10-06 1984-11-14 Petroleum Seals & Systems Ltd Seal for floating roof tank
US5284269A (en) * 1993-06-28 1994-02-08 Petrie Jack G Space saving double seal
CN115158884B (zh) * 2022-07-28 2023-07-18 余江县恒欣精密元件有限公司 一种防锈的金属尾座存放装置

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3116850A (en) * 1962-04-12 1964-01-07 Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Tube seal for floating roof storage tank
US3422981A (en) * 1967-04-18 1969-01-21 Helmerich & Payne Secondary seal
US3565279A (en) * 1968-10-29 1971-02-23 Us Industries Inc Floating roof tank seal means
US3625415A (en) * 1970-03-27 1971-12-07 Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Floating roof seal

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3116850A (en) * 1962-04-12 1964-01-07 Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Tube seal for floating roof storage tank
US3422981A (en) * 1967-04-18 1969-01-21 Helmerich & Payne Secondary seal
US3565279A (en) * 1968-10-29 1971-02-23 Us Industries Inc Floating roof tank seal means
US3625415A (en) * 1970-03-27 1971-12-07 Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Floating roof seal

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4116358A (en) * 1977-05-16 1978-09-26 Aerojet-General Corporation Weather and vapor seal for storage tank
US4353477A (en) * 1977-09-30 1982-10-12 Chicago Bridge & Iron Company Floating roof metallic shoe secondary seal

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2358636B2 (de) 1977-07-21
AT319145B (de) 1974-12-10
FR2210992A5 (enExample) 1974-07-12
DE2358636A1 (de) 1974-07-18
GB1428514A (en) 1976-03-17
DE2358636C3 (de) 1978-03-02
IT1001046B (it) 1976-04-20

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