Fluid handling – With leakage or drip collecting
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-18
2001-07-03
Walton, George L. (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
With leakage or drip collecting
C122S504000, C122S507000, C137S421000, C137S422000, C137S429000, C251S065000, C251S074000, C251S076000, C251S077000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253785
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a fluid supply shut-off valve system used to shut off the supply of fluid to a hot water heater when a leak or rupture is detected.
BACKGROUND—DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Hot water heaters are well known for the property damage that can result from an unattended leak or rupture. To minimize the damage resulting from leakage, numerous designs have been created for fluid supply shut-off valve systems. These designs involve different types of shut-off valves that close when activated or actuated by various means of leak detection. Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,274 is one such design. That design operates by containing the leaking fluid which raises a float and rod assembly and causes a set of gears to close a valve thus shutting off the supply of water to the water heater. That particular design requires no electrical power but is not economical to manufacture and is also impractical to install and operate.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,808 uses pressure differential that occurs during a rupture to close a shut-off valve. That design is not economical to manufacture, requires maintenance due to its daily moving parts, and may not work under a drip-type leak scenario.
Still, several other prior arts such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,770,002, 4,805,662, 5,008,650, 5,632,302, 5,992,443, and 6,024,116 use various means of leak detection to cause an electrically operated shut-off valve to close. These designs are also uneconomical and require electrical power in order to operate. Accordingly a need exists for a device to shut off the supply of water to a water heater during a leak or rupture that is economical to manufacture and install, simple and reliable to operate, requires minimum maintenance, and requires no electrical power. The invention disclosed herewith accomplishes said criteria
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention involves the collection of water resulting from a leak or rupture at a water heater or the like. The leaking water is collected in a leak collection pan that is located beneath a water heater. A float containing a permanent magnet is located in the leak collection pan. Upon reaching a predetermined water level in the leak collection pan, the magnetic float and a rigidly attached vertical float rod rise and slowly enter the magnetic field developing between the top of the magnetic float and both the bottom of the water heater as well as a magnetic attractive float stop. The stationary float stop is located adjacent to the outside bottom jacket of the water heater. The magnetic float and its float rod are accelerated quickly upward due to the magnetic force. The top end of the float rod strikes the bottom end of a vertical lift rod with a predetermined force. Upon said impact of force the lift rod is quickly forced upward and causes the release and closing of a spring loaded quarter-turn ball valve. The closure of the ball valve shuts off the supply of water to the water heater. A check valve in the outgoing hot water heater line then automatically closes due to a no flow condition and prevents any back flow drainage.
The resulting property damage is minimized due to the automatic shut off of the water supply to the water heater and the check valve's prevention of any back flow drainage.
Several objects and advantages exist with the present invention. One such advantage of our invention is that there are no personnel safety hazard concerns regarding electrical shock with water contact as this invention requires no electrical power in order to operate. Another advantage over the prior art is that the present invention performs even during a power outage.
This invention is constructed of simple materials and hardware that can be found in a typical hardware store. No newly designed or newly manufactured valve or other major component is required. Standard “off the shelf ” hardware, valves, and magnet are used in the construction of this invention. Hence, minimal initial capital is required for tooling and production.
The simplicity of this invention is clearly an advantage over prior art such that a typical home owner could easily understand, purchase, install, and operate this invention.
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Shumake, Jr. Carlis L.
Sumner Wallace M.
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