Fluid handling – With repair – tapping – assembly – or disassembly means – Tapping a pipe – keg – or apertured tank under pressure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-31
2001-04-17
Walton, George L. (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
With repair, tapping, assembly, or disassembly means
Tapping a pipe, keg, or apertured tank under pressure
C137S242000, C138S089000, C138S097000, C251S205000, C251S249500, C251S901000, C015S104040
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216724
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The subject of the invention is the safety valve. The valve can be used to block flow pipes at the required spot in cases of accidents or other situations where speed is necessary. The safety valve is based on winding a band through a hole made in the pipe to form a reel of band filling the inner diameter of the pipe with the view to blocking the flow.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
The safety valve can be used particularly in oil and gas fields, where pipes are used to transport liquid/gas for example to refineries or ports etc. The bursting of such a pipe for any reason always creates the risk of an environmental disaster. Also long pipes often do not have valves at sufficiently frequent distances so the only possibility to stop the substance in the pipe from spilling into the environment is to block the pipe quickly with the safety valve presented in this invention. The safety valve can be flown to the site for example by helicopter to be connected to the pipe to be blocked. Naturally the invention can also be used to block other types of pipes.
In the valves presently being used, which are based on winding bands, the pipe has a tendency to flatten when a hole is made in it. Additionally when the band is wound against the inner surface of the pipe the moment caused against the wall of the pipe by the friction of the band is directed through the frame of the winding device to the hole in the pipe, which tends to further change the shape of the pipe. Changes in the shape of the pipe cause gaps between the pipe and the reel of band and thus leaks.
In the apparatus being presently sealing the hole is inefficient or nonexistent, because large flows of liquied and/or high pressures would require a firm frame, against which the seals could be supported. Thus oil, gas or other substance often leaks from the hole, and trying to prevent this substance from ending up in the environment or being wasted is the purpose of the safety valve.
Big oil and gas pipes are often constructed above ground where they are exposed to winds and storms thus making them often considerably dirty or even covered in snow and ice. Even if the pipes are dug into the ground they are dirty when dug up. Dirty pipes are hard to seal as dirt often ends up between the seal and the pipe. Additionally when a hole is made in the side of the pipe solid impurities, such as gravel and/or sand, may easily end up in the pipe, which may cause problems when the impurities are transported by the flow for example to a pump station or corresponding plant.
When the band is wound into a roll inside the pipe, the pressure in the pipe tends to separate the bands and make gaps in between, to push over the roll of band and to bend it causing the threat of leaks, or even the whole plug may begin to open. This is a problem especially when blocking pipes with a large diameter and when using a relatively small hole in relation to the diameter of the pipe when the band is narrow and the width of the roll of band is small.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the invention is to eliminate the above problems.
The safety valve consists of a drilling device and its frame for the purpose of drilling a hole in the flow pipe, a winding device fixed to the frame of the drilling device and a band which is reeled with the winding device. Additionally the device of this invention includes a sleeve to which sleeve a drilling device and a winding device have been connected and the sleeve is equipped with a system to fix it to the outer surface of the pipe.
The operation of the drilling device and the winding device is already familiar so they are not described in detail in the explanation.
The sleeve includes equipment to fix the safety valve to the pipe so that the winding and drilling device can be sealed to the pipe and drilled into the pipe. Advantageously the sleeve has been designed so that the sleeve supports both the winding device and the drilling device as well as the pipe.
Advantageously the sleeve consists of two semicircular fixing shoes, which are connected to each other by means of a joint so they turn to be fixed to form a circle around the pipe. The fixing shoes have been dimensioned with the size of the pipe in question in mind so that their diameter equals the outside diameter of the pipe. The fixing shoes are equipped with a power device, which squeezes the shoes tightly around the pipe. The power device can, for example, be a hydraulic cylinder.
In one application of the safety valve a hole has been made in the sleeve and a cup formed around the hole so that the drilling device can be drilled through the wall of the pipe and also through the opposite wall making it possible to push the drilling device into the cup and the frame of the drilling device forms a bar supporting the roll of band resting in two places on the wall of the pine and the sleeve.
In accordance with one application of the invention a cleaning device has been fixed to the sleeve, its purpose being to clean off dirt etc. from the outer surface of the pipe so that the sleeve fits tightly onto the surface of the pipe and so that the sealing of the drilled holes will be tight. The cleaning device consists of a cleaning surface or surfaces and a drive mechanism to move the cleaning surfaces around and against the pipe.
In one application of the safety valve the cleaning surfaces are placed against the inner surfaces of the fixing shoes in special threads reserved for the cleaning surfaces. The drive mechanism includes an operating motor to turn the cog and a tooth ring surrounding the cleaning surfaces. The drive mechanism turns the tooth ring with the cog and thus also the cleaning surfaces. The cleaning surfaces revolve around the pipe cleaning its surface and at the same time turn round from under the fixing shoes along the threads. When the cleaning surfaces have turned round from under the shoes the fixing shoes are pressed together to form a sleeve tightly against the pipe.
The cleaning surfaces can also be placed on the inner surfaces of the fixing shoes, for example, so that the drive mechanism turns them along the inner surface of the fixing shoes thus cleaning the pipe and finally ending in a spce reserved for them, which can be for example a slot in the inner surface of the fixing shoe.
In one application of the safety valve the device includes a supporting system to support the roll of band from the oposite side of the pipe's pressure side. The support system is advantageously a pin-like system, which is placed inside the pipe against the roll of band on the opposite side from its pressure side.
In one application of the safety valve the support system is connected by a joint to the frame of the drilling device and it has a power device, which is used to turn it out to form a support transverse to the pipe and the frame of the drilling device, when the frame of the drilling device is pushed into the pipe.
In one application of the safety valve the support system has a drilling system to drill the support system into the pipe. This can be drilled for example at the same time as the hole for the winding device.
In one application of the safety valve the support system is a pin-like system, which can be pushed forward telescopically and it is on the frame of the drilling device. The device includes a power device with a support system fixed to it and which can be used to push out the support system.
There may be one or more support systems, essentially the support system supports the roll of band from the opposite side in relation to pressure preventing it from bending and/or being displaced. The power devices of the support systems can be for example hydraulic or electrical.
The band used in the winding device can be any generally used band, for example the band can be hollow in which case glue or some sealing substance for example can be pumped into it to seal the gaps in the roll and gaps between the band and the inner surface of the pipe. The band may have holes in it through which the substance being pumped will be squeezed
AB Grundstenen (Metal Patent WHSS AB)
Altera Law Group LLC
Walton George L.
LandOfFree
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