WO2000009918A2

WO2000009918A2 - Lpg (liquefied petroleum gas) overflow blocking apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2000009918A2
Application number: PCT/KR1999/000448
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Ha Oh
Original assignee: Shin Han Precision Electronic Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 1998-08-12
Filing date: 1999-08-12
Publication date: 2000-02-24
Also published as: WO2000009918A3; KR20000013723A; KR100311358B1

Abstract

An LPG overflow blocking apparatus, having a valve body (110) with a gas inlet/outlet (110A), a gas passage hole (110B) and a gas outlet (110C), and a valve handle (120) for opening and shutting the gas passage hole (110A) of the valve body (110), is disclosed which includes: a valve means being operated upward according to a difference pressure when the pressure difference is caused inside the gas passage hole (110B) when an overflow occurs at the gas outlet (110C), and blocking the gas passage hole (110B); two valve axis guide members (132, 142) being disposed at the gas inlet/outlet (110A) of the valve body (110) for supportably guiding the valve means in its upward operation; and an elastic support means (180) being mounted at the valve axis guide member (132) for elastically supporting the valve means. With this construction, when the gas is discharged as overflow, it is quickly and safely blocked, thereby preventing a possible big gas incident.

Description

LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) OVERFLOW BLOCKING APPARATUS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an LPG container valve, and in particular to an LPG overflow blocking apparatus which is capable of preventing a big incident in advance by blocking a gas quickly and stably when the gas is excessively discharged incidentally.

BACKGROUND ART In general, a gas overflow blocking apparatus is requisite for preventing an overflow of gas discharging in using the gas.

The gas overflow can happen in various situations, such as , during the use of gas-related equipment, in movement of gas container, in recharging of the gas, in eruption of earthquake, or in an undesirable attempt to self-injury or terror, etc., for which a overflow blocking apparatus is required at a gas container valve.

A conventional overflow blocking for a gas container valve will now be described with reference to Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a gas container valve having an overflow blocking apparatus according to the conventional art, which includes a valve body 10 having a gas inlet/output 11 for injecting and discharging to and from a container, a gas passage hole 12 communicating with the gas inlet/outlet 11 , and a gas outlet 13 communicating in a horizontal direction with the gas passage hole 12; a valve handle 20 combined to an upper portion of the valve body 10 for opening and shutting the gas passage hole 12; a ball cylinder 30 disposed inside the gas inlet/outlet 11 ; and an automatic valve ball 50 supported by a spring 40 inserted within the ball cylinder 30 for shutting the gas passage hole 12 in occurrence of an overflow in the gas outlet 13. Reference 60 denotes a regular safe valve formed at the valve. 'A' denotes an extended passage portion of the ball cylinder 30, and T refers to a communicating portion which communicates the gas passage hole 12 with the gas outlet 13.

Steps for blocking the overflow by the gas container valve having the overflow blocking apparatus in the conventional art as constructed above will now be described.

First, when the gas passage hole 12 is opened by rotating the valve handle 20, the gas outlet 13 is ready for discharging gas.

At this time, the automatic valve ball 50 performs a normal gas supply in a manner that while in the state of being mounted on the spring 40, keeping a predetermined distance from the gas passage hole 12, the gas flows to the gas outlet 13 upon passing through the gas passage hole12.

However, when a malfunction occurs at a hose (not shown) connected to the outlet 13 and an excessive gas far more than a regular degree is leaked, i.e., cut-off of the hose, or a fire occurs at the hose, the pressure of the gas outlet 13 is rapidly dropped, and accordingly, the automatic valve ball 50 is raised up by the high gas pressure at the gas inlet/outlet 11 , thereby blocking the gas passage hole However, such a conventional overflow blocking apparatus for the gas container valve as mentioned above suffers from disadvantages as follows.

First, in order to block the overflow of the gas, when the automatic valve ball 50 is raised up after passing the extended passage portion 'A' formed inside the ball cylinder 30 for retrieving the current gas, since the pressure in the rise suddenly drops at the extended passage of 'A' portion, failing to block completely the gas passage hole 12, it stops at the middle portion thereof, leading to a failure of blocking of the gas overflow, and then to a possibility of occurrence of big incident. Secondly, it takes a long time to retrieve the remaining gas liquid within the

LPG container, that is, for which the valve handle is rotated to press down the automatic valve ball 50 and the gas passage hole 12 needs to be opened to open the communicating portion T, causing a problem in a desired rapid retrieval of the remaining gas liquid. Lastly, referring to the safe valve additionally equipped at the valve body, in case that a discharge pressure is increased higher than a predetermined level of pressure, since the discharge pressure that has risen higher than the predetermined level can not be removed, the LPG gas container is typically heated, causing a possibility of explosion.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an LPG gas overflow blocking apparatus which is capable of preventing a big gas incident by blocking rapidly and stably in advance in an incident that the gas is excessively discharged.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an LPG gas overflow blocking apparatus which is capable of retrieving quickly the remaining gas liquid by increasing the operative feed of valve handle more than double the conventional one.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an LPG gas overflow blocking apparatus which is capable of preventing a gas container from exploding by discharging effectively a discharge pressure that is typically higher than a predetermined pressure level at an overflow blocking apparatus disposed at the gas container valve.

To achieve these objects, there is provided an LPG overflow blocking apparatus having a valve body with a gas inlet/outlet, a gas passage hole and a gas outlet, and a valve handle for opening and shutting the gas passage hole of the valve body, including: a valve means being operated upward according to a difference pressure when the pressure difference is caused inside the gas passage hole when an overflow occurs at the gas outlet, and blocking the gas passage hole; a valve axis guide member being disposed at the gas inlet/outlet of the valve body for supportedly guiding the valve means in its upward operation; and an elastic support means being mounted at the valve axis guide member for elastically supporting the valve means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a gas container valve having a overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with the conventional art;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a gas container valve having a overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 5 Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the portion T of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4A is a vertical-sectional view of a valve axis upper guide member of the overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4B is a plan view of a valve axis upper guide member of the overflow l o blocking apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a valve axis guide member of the overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6A is a vertical -sectional view of a valve axis lower guide member of 15 the overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 6B is a plan view of a valve axis lower guide member of the overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the portion T in a blocking state when a gas overflow occurs.

20

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The LPG overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with the present

invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the gas container valve having the overflow blocking apparatus in accordance with the present invention, which illustrates a state prior to occurrence of the overflow, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the portion of T of Fig. 2. As shown in this figure, first, the gas container valve is provided with a gas inlet/outlet 110A for injecting/discharging gas. A gas passage hole 110B is formed communicating with the inlet/outlet 110A. A valve body 110 having a gas outlet 110C for supplying the gas to a gas appliance communicates with the gas passage hole 110B in a horizontal direction. A valve handle 120 is combined with an upper portion of the valve body 110 and artificially opens and shuts the gas passage hole 110B.

A spindle 122 is connected to the valve handle 120 through the screw 121. The spindle is threaded in an upper portion of the valve body 110. A stem 123 is combined to a lower portion of the spindle 122, moving upward and downward depending on the rotation direction of the valve handle 120 as being engaged in the spindle 122. A sheet 124 for opening and shutting the gas passage hole 110b is disposed at a lower surface of the stem 123.

A needle 125 for compulsorily lowering the valve axis 150 of a valve means for blocking the overflow, that would be described later, is disposed at the sheet 124.

The spindle 122 is combined to the valve body 110 in a form of at least 2 lines of screws. Since the stem 123 is combined to the spindle 122 in the form of 2 lines or more of screws, when the valve handle 120 is rotated, its feed is increased more than double that of conventional one, so that the current gas liquid can be retrieved speedily.

Inside the gas inlet/outlet 110A of the valve body 110, there is provided a valve axis guide member for preventing of shaking right and left and guiding the valve axis 150 of the valve means when the valve means is operated. The valve axis guide member includes an upper guide member 130 mounted at an upper portion of the gas inlet/outlet 110A, a lower guide member 140 combined to the entrance of the gas inlet/outlet 110A, and a cylinder-shape support 146 disposed between the upper guide member 130 and the lower guide member 140 for supporting the guide member 130.

A formation of the upper guide member 130 and the lower guide member 140 will now be described with reference to Figs. 4A, 4B, 5, 6A and 6B.

The upper guide member 130, as shown in Figs. 4A and 4B, is made in the form of cylinder having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the gas inlet/outlet 110A of the valve body 110. A protrusion 133 is formed at a central portion thereof and a guide hole 131 for guiding a valve axis 150 is formed at the center thereof, around which a plurality of gas holes for passing the gas are formed.

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the upper guide member 130, in which the guide hole 131 for guiding the valve axis 150 is formed in a bar shape, both ends of which is closely contacted to the inner wall of the valve body 110. Through the space between the inner wall of the valve body 110 and the both

ends of the bar 130a, the gas flows. In other words, by securing the passage through which the gas flows at its maximum, the gas injecting and discharging is not hindered.

Similarly in the upper guide member 130, the lower guide member 140, as shown in Figs. 6A and 6B, is made in the form of cylinder shape having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the gas inlet/outlet 110A of the valve body 110, at the center of which a guide hole 141 is provided for guiding the valve axis 150, and around the guide hole 141 a plurality of gas holes 142 for passing the gas are formed.

Another embodiment of the lower guide member 140 can be made the same manner as the second embodiment of the upper guide member 130.

The valve means, being moved upward to block the gas passage hole 110B according to a pressure difference when it occurs within the gas passage hole 110B at an occurrence of the overflow in the gas outlet 110C, includes the valve axis 150 supportedly guided by the valve axis guide hole 131 and 141 of the upper and the lower guide members 130 and 140; a pressure working portion 170; and an overflow blocking packing 160 disposed at the valve axis 150 at the lower side of the pressure working portion 170, for blocking the gas passage hole 110B.

The overflow blocking packing 160 is elastically inserted between a packing protrusion 157 and a packing receiving portion 158. At a lower surface of the entrance of the gas passage hole 110B of the valve body 110, a circular gas-tight support 111 is protrusively formed to

supportedly maintain the contact gas-tight of the overflow blocking packing 160.

A coil spring 180, an elastic support, is disposed between the upper guide member 130 and the packing receiving portion 158 of the valve axis 150, as being inserted to the protrusion 133 of the upper guide member 130, in order to enable the pressure working portion 170 to be positioned within the gas passage hole 110B. The gas amount passing through the gas passage hole 110B is controlled by the gap 'B' between the end portion of the pressure working portion 170 and the wall of the gas passage hole 110B.

In other words, the gas amount is controlled according to how distant the end portion of the pressure working portion 170 is formed from the wall of the gas passage hole 110B, and it is designed in that the pressure difference occurs at the lower portion 'e' and the upper portion 'd' of the packing receiving portion, with the boundary of the gap 'B'.

A circular groove 170A is formed at a lower portion of the pressure working portion 170, for a smooth flowing of the gas in a normal use of the gas. Referring to the needle 125 formed at the sheet 124, it may be formed at an upper surface of the pressure working portion 170 instead of forming at the sheet 124.

In the valve body 110, a surplus pressure removing hole 110E is formed at the safe valve 200 which communicates with the gas inlet/outlet 110A, to remove a surplus pressure in case that the gas pressure discharged within the gas container exceeds a predetermined pressure.

Reference numerals 201 denotes a sheet, 202 denotes a valve, 203 denotes a compression spring, 204 denotes a safe cover, 300 denotes an O-ring, and 301 denotes a stop ring.

An operation according to the one embodiment of the present invention as constructed above will now be described with reference to Fig. 7.

Fig.7 is an enlarged view of operative state of the overflow blocking apparatus at an occurrence of the overflow.

First, as shown in Fig. 1 , when the valve handle 120 is manipulated so that the sheet opens the gas passage hole 110B of the valve body 110, the gas can be discharged by the outlet.

At this time, when the gas is normally used at a state that a gas appliance is connected to the gas outlet 110C, there is no pressure difference between the gas outlet 110C, that is, 'd', and the gas inlet/outlet 110A, that is, 'e\ thus, no rising pressure occurs toward the pressure working portion 170.

However, if the hose (not shown) connected to the gas outlet 110C is broken down and a fire breaks out, causing an unintentional incident that the gas is excessively discharged to the gas outlet 110C, the pressure at the gas outlet 110C of the valve body 110, that is, 'd' portion, drops remarkably. Due to this pressure difference, the pressure at the gas inlet/outlet 110A of the valve body 110 marks considerably higher than that at the gas outlet 110C.

Accordingly, the high gas pressure as charged at the 'e' portion enables the gas within the gas container to strongly erupt from the gas inlet/outlet 110A to the gas passage hole 110B in the valve body 110, and thus the pressure at T portion and 'e' portion at the lower surface of the pressure working portion 170 renders the valve axis 150 to move upward rapidly. According to the upward movement of the valve axis 150, the upper surface of the overflow blocking packing 160 disposed at the upper portion of the valve axis 150 is closely contacted to the gas-tight support 111 formed at a lower surface of the entrance of the gas passage hole 110B, to thereby block the overflow of the gas flowing through the gas passage hole 110B (Refer to Fig. 3) In the LPG overflow blocking method of the present invention, when the valve axis 150 moves upward by the pressure difference due to the overflow, since there is no factor to hinder the rising pressure, it wouldn't stop or stay in the middle of upward movement, securing a reliability in the gas blocking operation. Also, the remaining gas can be reused after removal of the cause of the overflow in a manner that the handle 120 is manipulated so that the needle 124 presses down the upper end of the pressure working portion 170, then, the valve axis 150 moves downward and the overflow blocking packing 160 opens the gas passage hole 110B. In addition, while the valve body 110 is being operated, since the valve body 110 is supported by the upper guide member 130 and the lower guide member 140 respectively disposed at the upper and the lower portion of the gas inlet/outlet 110A thereof, it would hardly be shaken at an external severe impact, thus, there is no fear of gas leakage. Moreover, in case that the gas is charged more than a predetermined level pressure of the gas container, the safe value 200 is operated to rapidly remove the surplus pressure by using the surplus pressure removing hole 110E, thereby preventing a gas explosion possibly due to an over-pressure on the gas. Furthermore, when the handle 120 is manipulated in order to retrieve the current gas liquid within the gas container, the feed of the spindle 122 is increased more than that in the conventional art, so that the needle 124 quickly presses down the valve axis 150, resulting in the speedy operation. As so far described, according to the LPG gas overflow blocking apparatus of the present invention, when the overflow occurs within the valve which opens and shuts the gas within the LPG container, a pressure difference is made at the gas passage hole inside the valve body, by which the gas passage is rapidly blocked, accomplishing a stability and a reliability in overflow blocking. Also, the remaining gas can be retrieved quickly, and an incidental explosion of the gas container due to the over-pressure can be prevented.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the plasma polymerization on the surface of the material of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An LPG overflow blocking apparatus having a valve body with a gas 5 inlet/outlet, a gas passage hole and a gas outlet, and a valve handle for opening and shutting the gas passage hole of the valve body, comprising:

a valve means being operated upward according to a difference pressure when the pressure difference is caused inside the gas passage hole when an o overflow occurs at the gas outlet, and blocking the gas passage hole;

a valve axis guide member being disposed at the gas inlet/outlet of the valve body for supportedly guiding the valve means in its upward operation; and

5 an elastic support means being mounted at the valve axis guide member for elastically supporting the valve means.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve means includes

0 a valve axis;

a pressure working portion being extended in a horizontal direction to have a predetermined space against a wall of the gas passage hole at an upper portion of the valve axis, and being subject to a pressure difference due to an overflow; and

an overflow blocking packing disposed at a valve in the lower portion of the pressure working portion for blocking the gas passage hole when the pressure difference is applied to the pressure working portion.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the overflow blocking packing is elastically inserted between a packing protrusion and a packing receiving portion formed at the valve axis.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the valve axis is integrated with a packing sheet on which the overflow blocking packing is mounted.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the gas amount passing between the wall of the gas passage hole and the end portion of the pressure working portion is controlled by the extended length of the pressure working portion.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve axis guide member, each being disposed at an upper and a lower portion of the gas inlet/outlet of the valve body, is made in a circular form having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the gas inlet/outlet, and provided with a valve axis guide hole for guiding the valve axis at the center thereof, around which a plurality of gas holes are formed for passing the gas.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the valve axis guide member is provided with a protrusion formed by an extension of the guide hole at the center thereof on which the elastic support means is mounted.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the elastic support means is a spring in a coil form.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve axis guide member, each being disposed at an upper and a lower portion of the gas inlet/outlet of the valve body, is made in a bar form having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the gas inlet/outlet, and provided with a valve axis guide hole for guiding the valve axis at the center thereof, so that gas flows through a space between the inner wall of the gas inlet/outlet and the bar.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve body is provided with a safe valve communicating with the gas inlet/outlet and having a surplus pressure removing hole.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve body is provided with a circular gas-tight support protrusion at an entrance of the gas passage hole for supportedly maintaining the contact gas-tight of the overflow blocking packing thereof when the valve means moves upward.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve body is provided with spindle in a two or more line of screw form, combined to the valve handle, to considerably increase the feed in operating the valve handle.