Fluid handling – Self-proportioning or correlating systems – Self-controlled branched flow systems
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-01
2001-11-20
Buiz, Michael Powell (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
Self-proportioning or correlating systems
Self-controlled branched flow systems
C137S113000, C137S111000, C251S332000, C251S333000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06318400
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to valves, and more particularly to shuttle valves. The invention is an improvement upon shuttle valves of the type made and sold by applicant's assignee, Gilmore Valve Company, which is the owner of the other U.S. patents for improved shuttle valves including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,533,431 and 4,253,481.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Shuttle valves have been used for many years to control the flow of gases as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,529,384 and 2,408,799. Other shuttle valves have been used to control the flow of liquids as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,686,310 and 1,795,386.
Shuttle valves used to control hydraulic fluid, particularly those used in underwater oil field equipment, must be designed taking into consideration working pressures, up to several thousand psi and flow rates of up to several hundred gpm. It is especially important that underwater shuttle valves used in connection with operation of subsea blowout preventers (BOPs) have a long trouble-free life because of their inaccessibility. The differential pressure on the shuttle often results in high momentum as it moves from one valve seat to another. When a shuttle contacts a valve seat, the repeated impact can break or crack the cage or cause it to be warped, and can otherwise disrupt proper valve operation.
One way to address the problem of shuttle impact is to lighten the shuttle and provide rubber cushions in the form of thick sealing elements as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,038,487. Yet another way of addressing shuttle impact is a hydraulic cushion as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481 owned by applicant's assignee. The hydraulic cushion discussed above is similar to the action of a hydraulic cushioned slush pump valve as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,197,455 and 2,605,080. U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,564 discloses a metal to metal seat to take the axial load imposed on the shuttle and thereby to limit the pressure on the rubber seal ring so that the rubber is prevented from being overloaded, cut or extruded by the action of high pressure fluid.
The shuttle valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481 was sold for many years by Gilmore Valve Company for use with underwater oil field equipment. This prior art valve shuttle valve was limited to two inputs and was relatively expensive to manufacture. To overcome some of these limitations, Gilmore introduced the Mark I shuttle valve in 1997 as shown in
FIG. 1
of the drawings. The Mark I relied upon two elastomeric o-rings mounted around the central flange of the shuttle to achieve a seal. The end portions of the shuttle were relatively thin and were prone to cracking because of shuttle impact. In addition, the o-rings were sometimes cut or blown off due to operational pressures and flow rates.
In order to overcome some of the limitations of the Mark I, Gilmore developed a retrofit design known as the Mark II which was introduced in 1998 as shown in
FIG. 2
of the drawings. The Mark II design included an increased thickness of the end portions or cage, a decrease in hole size, larger o-rings which were stretched around the shuttle and a pair of plastic teflon bearings to center the shuttle and reduce vibration as it traveled back and forth. The Mark II eliminated many of the problems of the Mark I; however, at the highest operational flow rates, o-rings were still lost. The present invention is designed for operation at 5,000 psi; the ½ inch model is designed for an 80 gpm flow rate, the 1 inch model is designed for a 250 gpm flow rate and the 1½ inch model, is designed for a 350 gpm flow rate.
In an effort to overcome the limitations of the Mark I and Mark II, applicant has developed an improved design which is the subject of the present invention. In order to overcome some of the problems associated with elastomeric seals, the present invention has eliminated such seals and now relies upon a metal to metal seal. In addition, the shuttle of the present invention has been hardened by nitriding. The metal to metal seal of the present invention is progressively coined because of repeated contact between opposing tapered sealing surfaces surrounding a central flange on the shuttle and opposing metal valve seats.
The present invention includes alternative embodiments having a modular design that allows the components to be stacked one upon the other to receive more than two inputs. Another stackable, multi-input valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,825. This design uses a plurality of spool valve members to direct a superior fluid input signal to the outlet.
The present invention is less expensive to manufacture than prior shuttle valves sold by Gilmore Valve Company as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481. Alternative embodiments of the present invention allow the shuttle valve to receive 3 or more inputs which was not possible with the shuttle valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,481. In addition, the present invention overcomes the limitations of the Mark I and Mark II discussed above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes two coaxial inlets or supply ports and a single transverse outlet or function port. A metal valve seat surrounds each of the coaxial opposing supply ports. An elongate shuttle is coaxial with the metal valve seats and the supply ports. The shuttle valve moves from one valve seat to the other in response to differential fluid pressure. The shuttle includes a central circumferential flange with opposing tapered sealing surfaces that alternatively engage the metal valve seats around the supply ports. Each metal valve seat has a chamfer which forms an obtuse metal point. As the shuttle moves back and forth into alternative engagement with the metal valve seats, the opposing tapered sealing surfaces strike the obtuse points and displaces a portion of the metal into each respective chamfer. This displacement occurs repeatedly as the shuttle strikes the obtuse points. This displacement of metal from the obtuse point into the chamfer insures a good metal to metal seal between the valve seats and the tapered sealing surfaces on the flange of the shuttle. This phenomena is also known as “progressive coining.”
REFERENCES:
patent: 776061 (1904-11-01), Hewett
patent: 1529384 (1925-03-01), Adams
patent: 1686310 (1928-10-01), Beebe
patent: 1754975 (1930-04-01), Andersen
patent: 1795386 (1931-03-01), Beebe
patent: 2197455 (1940-04-01), Volpin
patent: 2318962 (1943-05-01), Parker
patent: 2335814 (1943-11-01), Stevenson
patent: 2358228 (1944-09-01), Hoff
patent: 2408799 (1946-10-01), Melichar
patent: 2445505 (1948-07-01), Ashton
patent: 2551045 (1951-05-01), Parker
patent: 2605080 (1952-07-01), Rea
patent: 2634743 (1953-04-01), Audemar
patent: 2651491 (1953-09-01), Ashton et al.
patent: 2654564 (1953-10-01), Pech
patent: 2685295 (1954-08-01), Tromp
patent: 2811979 (1957-11-01), Presnell
patent: 3038487 (1962-06-01), Gardner
patent: 3454029 (1969-07-01), Fredd
patent: 3529624 (1970-09-01), Cryder et al.
patent: 3533430 (1970-10-01), Fredd
patent: 3533431 (1970-10-01), Kuenzel et al.
patent: 3550611 (1970-12-01), Baatrup
patent: 3642020 (1972-02-01), Payne
patent: 3726312 (1973-04-01), Wognum
patent: 4249557 (1981-02-01), Habiger
patent: 4253481 (1981-03-01), Sarlls, Jr.
patent: 4451047 (1984-05-01), Herd et al.
patent: 4467825 (1984-08-01), Boyd
patent: 4832381 (1989-05-01), Boulton
patent: 5893389 (1999-04-01), Cunningham
Hollister F. Harold
Hope Rodney C.
Watson Richard R.
Blackwell Sanders Peper & Martin
Buiz Michael Powell
Gilmore Valve Company
Krishnamurthy Ramesh
LandOfFree
Low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Low interflow hydraulic shuttle valve will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2569544