Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-03
2002-11-26
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06485323
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an adapter assembly for attaching a control unit to an electrical device such as a heater, and more particularly, to an adapter assembly that provides easy installation and orientation of the control unit.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The heating of tanks and pipes is a common industrial practice that has many applications. Heating may be required to maintain a certain viscosity of heavy oils or resins that allow them to be readily pumped. Heating may also prevent crystalline precipitation or freezing during a process, or may simply facilitate the process itself.
Screw plug heaters with extending heating elements are used to heat fluids in a tank or reservoir. The heating elements are inserted through a threaded bore in the tank wall, and the screw plug of the heater is tightened within the bore. In this way, the heating elements extend within the tank, the screw plug seals the opening, and the electrical terminals for the heating elements lie outside the tank barrier.
It is common to connect a control unit for the heater directly outside the tank. In some instance, the control unit is attached directly to the heater. A conventional adapter assembly for attaching a control unit to a screw plug heater
10
is depicted in
FIGS. 1A-1D
. The solution uses a series of flanges and connection rings to attach the control unit to the screw plug heater
10
. The screw plug heater
10
is threaded into a barrier or wall (not shown) so that the heating element
12
extends within a tank or reservoir (not shown). The terminals
14
of the heater
10
extend outside the barrier for connection to terminals
16
of a control unit.
To form the adapter assembly, the opposite ends of a mechanical tube
20
are fitted with a screw plug ring adapter
30
and a flange ring
40
. The screw plug ring adapter
30
and flange ring
40
may be fixed to the ends of the mechanical tube
20
by welds or a strong metallic adhesive. The end of the mechanical tube
20
having the ring adapter
30
is used to connect the mechanical tube
20
to the screw plug heater
10
. The end of the mechanical tube
20
having the flange ring
40
is used to connect the mechanical tube
20
to the back wall
60
of a control unit.
A clamp ring
50
is also used in the assembly. The clamp ring
50
has a hole
52
that slides over the exterior surface
22
of the tube
20
. Accordingly, the hole
52
of the clamp ring
50
has a diameter slightly greater than the exterior surface
22
of the mechanical tube
20
. The outer diameter of the clamp ring
50
is greater than the outer diameter of the flange ring
40
.
After sliding the clamp ring
50
on the mechanical tube
20
, the screw plug ring adapter
30
may be installed on the screw plug heater
10
. The ring adapter
30
has an opening
32
to accommodate the terminals
14
of the screw plug heater
10
. The ring adapter
30
is attached to the screw plug heater
10
by inserting screws
34
into one of two sets of holes
36
,
38
of the ring adapter
30
. The two sets of holes
36
,
38
allow the adapter
30
to attach to different sized screw plug heaters.
With the mechanical tube
20
attached to the screw plug heater
10
, the tube
20
is then attached to the back wall
60
of the control unit. The back wall
60
of the control unit has an opening
62
to accommodate wires of the control unit terminals
16
. The back wall
60
is placed against the flange ring
40
. Several bolts
64
are then inserted through access holes
66
in the back wall
60
and into holes
54
of the clamp ring
50
. As a result, the flange ring
40
is sandwiched between the back wall
60
of the control unit and the clamp ring
50
. The control unit hangs on the screw plug heater
10
.
Several inefficiencies exist with conventional adapter assemblies. For example, the location of the access holes
66
in the back panel
60
of the control unit restricts the placement of internal components within the control unit. This results in ineffective use of space within the control unit. Moreover, installation and orientation of the control unit is difficult. The control unit must be opened to insert or remove bolts
64
. Aligning the holes
54
in the clamp ring
50
with the access holes
66
in the back wall
60
of the control unit makes orientation of the control unit cumbersome.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To that end, the present invention includes an adapter assembly for connecting a control unit to a heater. The control unit has wires that connect to terminals on the heater. The adapter assembly includes a first tubular body portion, a second tubular body portion and at least one locking bolt. The first tubular body portion is attached to the heater. The second tubular body portion is attached to the control unit. At least a portion of the first tubular body portion is retained inside the second tubular body portion. The locking bolt attaches the second tubular body portion to the first tubular body portion by inserting through a hole in the second tubular body portion.
The hole in the second tubular body portion may be a slot that enables the control unit to be radially oriented with respect to the first tubular body portion when installing and attaching the second tubular body portion to the first tubular body portion. The first tubular body portion may have threaded holes circumscribed on the outer surface of the first tubular body portion to receive the locking bolt. The first tubular body portion may also have locking wells circumscribed on the outer surface of the first tubular body portion to receive the locking bolt.
The present invention also includes an adapter assembly with the reverse attachments. Specifically, the first tubular body portion (retained inside the second tubular body portion) may be attached to the control unit instead of the heater. In this case, the second tubular body portion is attached to the heater.
In another embodiment, the present invention is an adapter assembly for connecting a first unit to a second unit. The first unit has an electrical terminal connecting to a wire in the second unit. The adapter assembly includes a first conduit and a second conduit. There is a means for attaching the first conduit to the first unit and a means for attaching the second conduit to the second unit. Moreover, the adapter assembly has a means for radially orienting the first unit with respect to the second unit and a means for attaching the first conduit to the second conduit once an orientation is selected.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention includes a method for joining a control unit having power wires to an electrical device having terminals. The method includes the steps of: attaching a first conduit to the control unit so that the power wires extend within the first conduit; attaching a second conduit to the electrical device so that the terminals of the electrical device extend within the second conduit; connecting the power wires of the control unit to the terminals of the electrical device; inserting the second conduit into the first conduit; orienting the control unit radially with respect to the electrical device to a selected orientation; and maintaining the selected orientation by fastening the first conduit to the second conduit. The fastening may be done in a variety of ways including inserting a bolt through a locking slot in the first conduit and threading the bolt into a locking hole in the second conduit. The method may further include changing the attaching steps so that the first conduit is attached to the electrical device and the second conduit is attached to the control unit.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a kit containing parts of an adapter assembly for a heater. The kit includes: a first conduit capable of being attached to a heater; a second conduit capable of being attached to a control unit, the first conduit havi
Henrie John
Jarrett Randy C.
Jensen Myron L.
Nestel Steve U.
Bradley P. Austin
Chromalox, Inc.
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP
Nguyen Phuong-Chi
LandOfFree
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