Fluid handling – With casing – support – protector or static constructional... – Vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-15
2001-05-29
Chambers, A. Michael (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
With casing, support, protector or static constructional...
Vehicle
C251S267000, C251S252000, C251S144000, C114S198000, C114S197000, C114S070000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237639
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns improvements made to dump-valve devices fitted to crafts and in particular pneumatic crafts.
By dump-valve device, otherwise said self-bailer device, is understood a manually or automatically operating plugging device allowing the discharging of water which has entered a craft, and particularly a flexible bodied pneumatic craft wherein the volume between the flexible body (canvas stretched into a V-shape), the floor and the bottom of the transom plate is not sealed.
Currently, dump-valve devices for pneumatic crafts are essentially arranged in the form of a plug engaged in a passage passing through the transom plate.
In the case of flexible bodied crafts, the dump valve is located at the extreme bottom of the transom plate, opposite the lower point of the body, and the plug must be removed or put in place from the outside of the boat, by leaning over the transom plate and thrusting a hand into the water, which is restricting for the user.
In the case of stiff bodied crafts (a stiff body defines a volume closed in a sealed way), a dump-valve device is generally speaking provided at the junction of the transom plate and the floor to allow the water shipped over the edge to be discharged. For the dump-valve device to be effective, it is necessary to place it slightly under the level of the floor and, so that the plug can be controlled, it is necessary to clear a space by cutting out notably the back of the floor. The result is a difficulty in the manufacture of the floor and in the making of its connection with the transom plate.
For flexible bodied pneumatic crafts, a second dump-valve device can also be provided at the junction of the transom plate and the floor, as in the previous case and with the same drawbacks.
There is therefore currently a unsatisfied demand for a dump-valve device which can be handled straightforwardly and easily from inside the craft and which does not require a particular configuration of the back edge of the floor (elimination of the indentation).
To this end, the invention proposes a dump-valve device for a craft which is characterized in that it includes:
a plug valve movable approximately rectilinearly relative to a fixed seat supported by a transom plate of the craft,
drive means mobile in rotation along a rotary stroke of limited angular amplitude and able to be activated from inside the craft,
coupling means interposed between the valve and the drive means to convert the rotary stroke of limited angular amplitude of the drive means into a rectilinear stroke of limited angular amplitude of the valve.
In a preferred embodiment, the device comprises:
a cylindrical body suitable to be fixed in a through hole provided in the craft transom plate,
a coupling ring coaxial to the body and mounted to rotate in a longitudinal portion of the body facing inwards to the craft, stop means being provided to limit angularly the rotary stroke of the coupling ring in the body,
said plug valve being engaged in said body and comprising a plug head suitable to engage in a sealed way with said seat provided towards the end of the body located outside the craft and a valve body of cylindrical shape extending coaxially into the tubular body and into the coupling ring,
said coupling means being of the pin-groove type provided on the valve body and on the coupling ring to convert the angular movement of specified amplitude of the ring into an axial rectilinear movement of specified amplitude of the valve,
passage means provided on the valve and/or the tubular body and the coupling ring to permit the outflow of the water contained in the craft when the valve is open,
and said activation means being mechanically integral with the coupling ring and extending above the craft floor to enable the opening/shutting of the valve of the dump-valve device to be controlled from inside the craft.
By means of the arrangements of the invention, a dump-valve device is constituted which is able to be activated in a straightforward way from inside the craft, even when it is located at the lower part of the transom plate on flexible bodied crafts.
The coupling and drive means of the different parts can be made structurally straightforward and operationally reliable even in particularly turbulent weather conditions at sea. Thus, provision can be made for the angular rotation stop means of the ring in the body to include at least one groove cut in the inner face of the body and to extend circumferentially approximately tranversally to the axis of the body, on a specified angular amplitude, and for the ring to be fitted with a radially outward projecting pin, engaged in said groove. It can also be arranged for the coupling means of the valve body and of the coupling ring to include a groove cut in the outer face of the valve body in its part engaged in the coupling ring, said groove extending on a specified angular amplitude being inclined relative to the axis of the valve body, and a pin carried by said ring, projecting radially inwards and engaged in said groove. It is possible to combine to great advantage the two previous arrangements and to provide for the two grooves cut respectively on the inner face of the tubular body and on the external face of the valve body to be situated approximately opposite each other on either side of the wall of the coupling ring, and for the coupling ring to be fitted with a fixed, through spindle, the ends of which projecting radially on either side constitute the two above-mentioned pins engaged respectively in the two above-mentioned grooves; in this case, it is advantageous for the groove cut in the tubular body to be a through groove, in the shape of an elongated port, and for the spindle to be fixed in the coupling ring through said port, by means of which arrangement said spindle acts as an assembly component of the tubular body, of the coupling ring and of the valve. Thus is constituted a structure of extreme simplicity wherein the three constituent parts, mobile relative to each other with movements of different types and directions, remain mechanically assembled by a single and same component, namely the above-mentioned spindle.
Preferably, to ensure the reliability of the valve movement, provision is made to attach to the device axial groove and projecting pin guide means provided on the inner face of the tubular body and the outer face of the valve in such a way that the valve is activated by an axial rectilinear movement in the body.
Still in the interests of straightforward manufacture, it is desirable for the valve body to be tubular, for ports to be cut in said valve body at the back of the plug head and for the activation ring to be hollowed out axially. Additionally, this arrangement enables the incorporation, inside the valve body or the coupling ring, of a membrane valve able to be deformed resiliently outwards in the direction of the opening under the action of the pressure of the water present inside the craft.
To facilitate the assembly of the dump-valve device on the transom plate, whatever the thickness of the latter, provision is made for the tubular body to comprise, at its end fitted with the activation ring, a flange suitable to press on the inner face of the transom plate and, at it other end fitted with the valve, an external thread intended to receive a screwing nut suitable to be supported against the outer face of the transom plate.
In a very advantageous way, the activation means include a radial arm integral with the coupling ring and suitable to extend along the inner face of the transom plate as far as the top of the craft floor: adjustment of the length of the arm thus allows the dump-valve device to be mounted in any location on the transom plate, either in the bottom of the latter (i.e. below the floor), or flush with the floor, while still retaining an extreme simplicity of control. Additionally, the fact that the control movement is a rotary movement makes it possible to conceive in a simple way of motorization with transmission reduction by gears.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1669276 (1928-
Jougla Daniel
Valax Pierre
Chambers A. Michael
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
McShane Thomas L.
Russell Dean W.
Zodiac International
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