Joints and connections – Structurally installed in diverse art device
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-11
2001-05-15
Kim, Harry C. (Department: 3629)
Joints and connections
Structurally installed in diverse art device
C403S374300, C137S884000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231260
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of gas delivery systems, and more specifically to the mechanism of attachment and reconfiguration of a plurality of blocks which provide the gas routing conduits and passages for a gas panel.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Gas panels are used to control the flow of gases and gas mixtures in many manufacturing processes and machinery. A typical gas panel, such as gas panel
100
shown in
FIG. 1
, is made up of literally hundreds of discreet or individual components, such as valves
102
, filters
104
, flow regulators
106
, pressure regulators
107
, pressure transducers
109
, and connections
108
, connected together by tens (or hundreds) of feet of tubing
110
. Gas panels are designed to provide desired functions, such as mixing and purging, by uniquely configuring the various discreet components.
A problem with present gas panels is that most of them are uniquely designed and configured to meet specific needs. Today there is simply no standard design in which gas panels are configured. Today it takes weeks to months to design a gas panel, fabricate all subassemblies, and then assemble the final product. Uniquely designing or configuring each new gas panel costs time and money. Additionally, the lack of a standard design makes it difficult for facilities' personnel to maintain, repair, and retrofit all the differently designed gas panels which may exist in a single facility. The unique designs require an intensive manual effort which results in a high cost to the customer for customized gas panels. Customized gas panels also make spare parts inventory management cumbersome and expensive.
Another problem with present gas panels is a large number of fittings
108
and welds required to interconnect all of the functional components. When tubes are welded to fittings
108
, the heat generated during the welding process physically and chemically degrades the electropolish of the portion of the tube near the weld (i.e., the heat affected zone). The degraded finish of the heat affected zone can then be a substantial source of contaminant generation. Additionally, during the welding process metal vapor, such as manganese, can condense in the cooler portions of the tube and form deposits therein. Also, if elements being welded have different material composition (e.g., stainless steel with inconel), desired weld geometry and chemical properties are difficult to achieve. Thus, gas panels with large numbers of fittings and welds are incompatible with ultra clean gas systems which require extremely low levels of contaminants and particles. Additionally, high purity fittings
108
are expensive and can be difficult to obtain, thereby increasing the cost of any gas panel incorporating them.
Yet another problem associated with present gas panel designs is the large amount of tubing
110
used to route gas throughout the gas panel. Large volumes of tubing require large volumes of gas to fill the system and make it difficult to stabilize and control gas flows. Additionally, gas panels with excessive tubing require significant amounts of time to purge and isolate which can result in expensive downtime of essential manufacturing equipment, resulting in an increase in the cost of ownership. Still further, the more tubing a gas panel has, the more “wetted surface area” it has, which increases its likelihood of being a source of contamination in a manufacturing process.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/760,150 filed on Dec. 3, 1996 has addressed the above issues by disclosing, as shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, modular building blocks for an integrated gas panel. The use of such building blocks greatly simplify the design and reduce the technical shortcomings associated with current gas panel technology. This invention relates to the mechanism employed for mounting the modular blocks. It is possible to mount the modular building blocks by individually drilling and tapping mounting holes in a customized pattern into a planar base fixture. Such a customized mounting plate will anchor the modular blocks with sufficient accuracy such that the low tolerance requirements of the block to block misalignment (+/−0.003″) are met. However, customized drilling is both expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, easy reconfiguration of an existing gas panel is impossible if the reconfigured gas panel design has a different mounting hole footprint than the previous gas panel design. A breadboard-like mounting plate with pre-drilled and tapped mounting holes located at periodic locations on the mounting plate is also possible. Such a mounting plate eliminates the wasted time and money devoted to a customized mounting plate. However, a breadboard like design limits the total number of possible configurations on a mounting plate. That is, the modular blocks are not capable of being anchored at any of a continuous range of positions, but rather, their positions are limited to the relatively few discrete locations that are determined by the placement of the pre-drilled holes. Furthermore, a breadboard-like mounting plate forces the dimensions of the modular blocks to conform to the dimensions of the periodical spacing of the pre-drilled holes. This results in wasted space and possibly incompatible downstream product offerings. Additionally it is highly desirable to have a mounting technology that allows for the reconfiguration of gas panel even if the gas panel is fixed in a vertical position (for example on a wall). Such a capability would not even require that the gas panel be taken down in order to be reconfigured.
Thus, what is desired is a versatile mounting technology for a modular gas system that: 1) is easy to manufacture; 2) allows for rapid configuration or reconfiguration of a gas panel; 3) maximizes the available positions where modular blocks may be mounted; 4) allows for highly precise anchoring of modular blocks and 5) allows for reconfiguration even if the mounting fixture remains fixed in a vertical position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a mechanism for rapidly configuring (or reconfiguring) and accurately mounting to a planar surface a set of uniquely ported and passage routed modular blocks which can be coupled together to form a weldless and tubeless gas panel. This mechanism maximizes the positions where the modular blocks may be placed, allows for easy and rapid configuration or reconfiguration and also allows the gas system to be configured while the mounting fixture is vertical. Each embodiment consists of lengthwise tracks and centering elements. The centering elements run along the length of the tracks and precisely anchor the modular blocks at any position across the length of each track. The mechanism for centering the modular blocks with high precision involves moving a centering element with a narrowing width into a cavity with substantially the same narrowing width. As the centering element presses snug against the wall of the cavity its location with respect to the mounting plane is centered within the cavity. Additionally, the centering elements have grooves on the surface that interface with the cavity wall in order to increase the friction at the interface resulting in a stronger anchor for the modular blocks. Additionally the cavity material is softer than the centering element. Again, this results in stronger anchoring. Further still, the narrowest width of the centering element is larger than the smallest width of the cavity so that the centering element does not distort or pull through an opening in the cavity. Furthermore, the centering elements are purposely manufactured such that their width narrows at a slightly greater rate than the rate at which the cavity narrows. This ensures that all centering elements will fit inside all cavities, thus manufacturing yield is maximized. Finally, the centering elements may be held vertically by the use of springs that press the centering elements against the walls of the cavity.
REFERENCES:
patent:
Elliot Brent D.
Markulec Jeffrey R.
Rex Dennis G.
Schuster Richard E.
Insync Systems, Inc.
Kim Harry C.
Wolf Greenfield & Sacks P.C.
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