Fluid handling – Destructible or deformable element controlled – Destructible element
Patent
1992-09-08
1994-04-26
Schwadron, Martin P.
Fluid handling
Destructible or deformable element controlled
Destructible element
13761402, F16K 1740
Patent
active
053057767
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an emergency shut-off device for use in the event of the breakage of a pipe for conveying fluids, for example, oil and petroleum derivatives. The device is particularly applicable to pipes connecting ships to floating or underwater installations or to shore.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a device which automatically seals the two portions formed when the axial tensile stress exerted on the pipe exceeds a predetermined threshold value and causes it to break at a point, preventing the fluid they contain from polluting the outside environment.
The subject of the present invention is a device of the type indicated, characterised in that it comprises two adjacent valves arranged in series in the pipe and each comprising:
a hollow body having means with a predetermined breaking load for joining it to the body of the other valve and means for joining it to the adjacent portion of pipe, and
an abturator which is rotatable in the body so that it can assume a shut-off position transverse the pipe and an open position substantially perpendicular to its shut-off position, the obturator having means for engaging the obturator of the other valve, the means fixing the two obturators in a contiguous arrangement in the open positions they assume normally and releasing the obturators so that they can assume their shut-off configurations when the valves move apart because their joining means have been subjected to loads greater than or equal to their breaking loads.
According to the invention, the means joining the two valves are the weakest point of the entire pipe and hence are intended to break under critical conditions. As will be described in detail below, the separation of the two valves causes their obturators to close and to isolate the two portions of pipe produced by the breakage from the outside environment.
The device according to the invention has the advantage that it is constituted by a small number of simple components and is therefore very reliable, which is a very important requirement for a device that must be guaranteed to operate correctly each time it is used.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further advantages and characteristics of the present invention will become clear from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the appended drawings, provided by way of non-limiting example, in which:
FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a pipe with a shut-off device according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line II--II of FIG. 1, and
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pipe.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With reference to the drawings, an emergency shut-off device is located in a pipe 2 for conveying petroleum derivatives, for example, from a ship to shore and comprises two adjacent valves 4 arranged in series with the interposition of a sealing ring 6. The valves 4 are butterly valves. In embodiments of the invention not illustrated, the valves may be of a different type, for example, ball valves. Each valve 4 includes a hollow body 8 with a sealing seat 10 to which a flange 12 is fixed. The flange has a ring of holes 16 for the passage of the bolts 14 with predetermined breaking loads which also pass through corresponding holes 16 of the flange 12 of the other valve 4 and are clamped by nuts 15, as well as for the engagement of screws 18 which also pass through respective holes 20 in a further flange 22 fixed to the portion of pipe adjacent each valve 2.
Each valve 4 has a disc-shaped obturator 24 with diametral pins 26 freely rotatable in recesses formed between the body 8 and blocks 28 fixed thereto by screws 30. Each obturator 24 has a shaped face 34 and its opposite face 36 has a flat portion which is intended to come into contact (FIG. 2) with the other obturator 24 in the open position, its remaining portion having a projection 38 which forms an extension of the profile of the other obturator 24 in the open position. Each projection 38 car
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patent: 4667883 (1987-05-01), Fink, Jr.
patent: 4828183 (1989-05-01), Fink, Jr.
Lee Kevin L.
Schwadron Martin P.
LandOfFree
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