Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16K—VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING
  • F16K37/00—Special means in or on valves or other cut-off apparatus for indicating or recording operation thereof, or for enabling an alarm to be given
  • F16K37/0066—Hydraulic or pneumatic means
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
  • Y10T137/598—With repair, tapping, assembly, or disassembly means
  • Y10T137/6031—Assembling or disassembling rotary valve
  • Y10T137/6035—Rotary ball valve

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a submerged valve position indicator, intended to provide as a result a totally accurate and reliable remote signaling of the position of a valve submerged in the fluid ( liquid or gas) from a tank or any other volume of fluid, thereby guaranteeing the absence of erroneous signaling, as is frequently the case with the systems or devices currently used.
• the indicator in question has been designed to be applied preferentially and fundamentally in hydraulic fluid transfer systems to reliably know the position of valves submerged in vessel tanks, allowing to know at all times the proper functioning of hydraulic systems and avoid certain incidents and / or accidents. Its application can be extended to any other practical case in which its use is required, that is, in all those cases in which it is necessary to know reliably the position of a valve submerged in a fluid (liquid or gas).
• the position signal obtained can be distorted by multiple causes, so the indication of the position of the valve provided by the system or device may not be correct.
• dilations, small leaks, etc. usually result in a distortion of the resulting position signal, and therefore an erroneous indication that is increased in those cases in which it is operated informatically.
• the indicator of the invention is based on the fact that the signal by means of which the indication of the position of a submerged valve is achieved, is transmitted by hydraulic pressure, with the particularity that the indicator assembly and components associated therewith , it presents structural and functional characteristics that allow to solve the inconveniences referred to in the previous section, providing as a result a totally reliable signal, that is, that the indication of the position of the valve to be controlled is correct.
• the indicator itself comprises an actuator shaft by means of which the corresponding valve is opened and / or closed, said axis can be rotatable or linear displacement, being driven by any appropriate conventional system.
• Such axis has mechanical means capable of acting, in the actuation thereof, on one or more hydraulic cartridges in which a pressure regulation takes place which in turn serves to regulate the pressure of a secondary hydraulic system, providing a signal of pressure that is transmitted to a converter that transforms it into any type of indication visible on a display screen, all in such a way that said indication will correspond to the specific and correct position of the valve.
• the signal obtained at a distance and therefore the result of indication of the position of the valve is totally reliable and precise.
• the mechanical means acting on the hydraulic cartridges are constituted by cams fixed to the actuator shaft, so that in the rotation of said said cams they impact on the hydraulic cartridge or cartridges to transmit the corresponding pressure signal to The valve position indication.
• the actuator shaft is linearly movable and the mechanical means acting on the hydraulic cartridges are constituted by longitudinal projections fixed on said actuator shaft, so that those projections are gradually increasing in width so that the displacement in one direction or another of the axis itself translates into an action in one way or another on the referred hydraulic cartridges.
• these projections materialize on a conical surface.
• the indicator in addition to the components and media that are part of it and / or that are associated with it for proper operation, is related to indirectly with a main hydraulic unit and a control and control unit connected to the actuator itself.
• the main hydraulic unit is intended to feed the hydraulic force and drive system that is involved in the operation of the valve through the actuator.
• an all-nothing indication (open / closed the valve) or a continuous indication can be obtained, that is, any intermediate position between the open / close limits.
• a conversion of the pressure signal to analog or digital signal can be carried out by conventional means in the control area, being compatible with any of the presentation systems that are currently known.
• Figure 1. Shows the block diagram corresponding to the indicator, as well as all the elements and components involved in the corresponding hydraulic system.
• Figure 2. Shows a practical embodiment, schematically, of the position indicator itself object of the invention, applied to a valve or chopping board and in which the actuator shaft is rotatable.
• Figure 3. Shows another schematic detail of a second alternative embodiment of the position indicator, where the actuator axis is linear displacement.
• FIG. 2 A concrete embodiment of the position indicator is shown schematically in Figure 2, in which the position of the valve or chopping board 2 is fixed by the position of the actuator shaft 3 ', logically associated with the hydraulic actuator 3 referred to in Figure 1 That axis 3 'is rotatable and is passed through the block 1 corresponding to the position indicator, the closure being made hermetic by means of corresponding joints 9, while internally that block 1 has a hollow or recess 10 in which a pair of cams 11 provided with the axis 3 'are provided, which act on one or two hydraulic cartridges 12 whose constitution characteristics and functionality are well known, so that through said cartridges 12 the pressure of a secondary hydraulic system is regulated to provide a pressure signal that is transformed or converted into block 7 of Figure 1, as previously stated, conversion that is made to any type of digital or analog indication for presentation on the display screen materialized in block 8 of figure 1.
• reference 13 corresponds to a force and coupling flange that intervenes in the closing / opening of the valve itself or chopping board 2,
• FIG. 3 A variant embodiment is shown in Figure 3 in which the actuator shaft 3 '' is linear displacement, and its action on the corresponding hydraulic cartridges 12 is carried out by projections 16 in the longitudinal direction, which are gradually increasing in width from one end to the other, in order that the displacement in one direction or the other carries with it the action in one way or another on the hydraulic cartridges 12 to provide the corresponding pressure signal in the same manner as stated above.
• projections 16 may be embodied in a conical surface that will be more advantageous and practical, since it also enables the rotation of the actuator shaft 3 ''.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Indication Of The Valve Opening Or Closing Status (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

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Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (1)

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ID=8309423

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Citations (5)

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• 1999
  • 1999-07-29 ES ES009901716A patent/ES2178523B1/es not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2000
  • 2000-07-27 EP EP00948031A patent/EP1209396A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-07-27 JP JP2001513778A patent/JP2003506642A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-07-27 KR KR1020027001247A patent/KR20020029372A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-07-27 WO PCT/ES2000/000281 patent/WO2001009540A1/es not_active Ceased
• 2002
  • 2002-01-28 NO NO20020428A patent/NO20020428L/no not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-01-29 US US10/060,913 patent/US6822577B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (5)

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