BALL VALVE

• US 3,598,363 A
• Filed: 09/04/1969
• Issued: 08/10/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Harry N. Shaw
• Original Assignee: Harry N. Shaw
• Inventors: Shaw, Harry N.
• Application Number:
  US04/855,086
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• US Class Current: 251/172
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/0642 the spherical plug being insertable from one and only one side of the housing
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/0673 Composite packings
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/201 with the housing or parts of the housing mechanically pressing the seal against the plug
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/208 with tongue-shaped means

Abstract

A ball valve having fireproof spring-pressed bearing rings serving as secondary seals on both sides of the ball with a primary chevron-shaped flexible plastic seal between the secondary seal bearings adjacent to the inlet side of the valve as back by a seal support ring with some lost motion so that when the valve is closed, the inner edge of the primary is marginally pressed flat against the ball by pressure on one side of the valve, and when pressure is on the other side of the ball the Vshape of the chevron is flattened substantially to press the chevron edge against the ball.

Claims

1. A ball valve Comprising a housing having a passage therethrough with openings in opposite sides and including a chamber therebetween, a ball valve member mounted for rotation in said chamber and movable appreciably in opposite directions, opposing ring bearing means internally mounted on the housing inwardly of and adjacent to said openings for limited axial movement and engaging said ball valve member, resilient means urging said bearing means towards each other to retain bearing contact with the ball and locate the ball in working position, said ball valve when closed being movable under pressure of fluid in the housing predominantly towards one of said bearing means against its resilient means, means for sealing said one of the bearing means against said housing under said ball movement and pressure, and pressure responsive ring seal means disposed between one of said bearing means and the ball in a space axially greater than its axial thickness and urged by pressure to move in either axial direction to marginally engage said ball in sealing relationship.

2. The combination called for in claim 1 in which said means for sealing said one of the bearing means comprises an annular groove opening in an axial direction in the wall of the housing around one of said openings and includes bottoming means engaged by said one of the bearing means under sealing pressure to limit movement of the ball valve.

3. The combination called for in claim 1 in which said pressure responsive ring seal means comprises a washer of resilient material cross-sectionally shaped concavely radially beyond said bearing whose inner marginal edge is bevelled to rest against said ball valve member.

4. The combination called for in claim 1 in which said pressure responsive ring seal means includes a seal support ring spaced from said one of said bearing means a distance greater than the axial thickness of said ring seal means to define an axial space between them in which said ring seal means may move bodily in an axial direction, and a chevron seal ring mounted for movement axially in said space with its inner edge resting against said ball valve member.

5. The combination called for in claim 1 including a bodily movable seal support ring carried by said housing disposed at an angle to the surface of said ball valve member in a position normally spaced from the plane of the inner edge of said ring seal means and located in the side of the housing opposite said one of said bearing means.

6. A ball valve comprising a housing having a passage therethrough with openings in opposite sides and including a chamber therebetween, a ball valve member mounted for rotation in said chamber and movable appreciably in opposite directions, opposing ring bearing means internally mounted on the housing inwardly of and adjacent to said openings for limited axial movement and engaging said ball valve member, resilient means urging said bearing means towards each other to retain bearing contact with the ball and locate the ball in working position, said ball valve when closed being movable under pressure of fluid in the housing predominantly towards one of said bearing means against its resilient means, means for sealing said one of the bearing means against said housing under said ball movement and pressure, and pressure responsive ring seal means disposed between one of said bearing means and the ball and urged by pressure in either direction to marginally engage said ball in sealing relationship, a chevron seal ring mounted for movement axially in said space with its inner edge resting against said ball valve member, said ring seal means including a seal support ring spaced from said one of said bearing means to define an axial space between them and having a face shaped to match the chevron contour of the seal ring, the housing around said one of said bearing means having a flat surface facing said seal ring and contacting said seal to support it when flattened.

7. A ball valve a housing having a passage therethrough with openings in opposite sides and including a chamber therebetween, a ball valve member mounted for rotation in said chamber and movable appreciably in opposite directions, opposing ring bearing means internally mounted on the housing inwardly of and adjacent to said openings for limited axial movement and engaging said ball valve member, resilient means urging said bearing means towards each other to retain bearing contact with the ball and locate the ball in working position, said ball valve when closed being movable under pressure of fluid in the housing predominantly towards one of said bearing means against its resilient means, means for sealing said one of the bearing means against said housing under said ball movement and pressure, and pressure responsive ring seal means disposed between one of said bearing means and the ball and urged by pressure in either direction to marginally engage said ball in sealing relationship, a chevron seal ring mounted for movement axially in said space with its inner edge resting against said ball valve member, said ring seal means including a seal support ring spaced from said one of said bearing means to define an axial space between them and having a face shaped to match in facing relationship the convex side of the chevron contour of said chevron seal ring.

8. A ball valve comprising a housing of two parts having a passage therethrough including a chamber with opposing spherical sealing surfaces around the openings and a valve stem opening whose axis is normal to said passage, one of said openings and said valve stem opening being formed in one of said two parts, a ball valve member mounted for rotation in said chamber to engage either one of said surfaces in metal to metal contact, stem means engaging one side of the ball valve member only to permit the remote side thereof to move appreciably in a direction axially of said passage for the ball valve member to engage said surfaces, opposing fire resistant bearing means internally mounted inwardly of and adjacent to said spherical sealing surfaces for limited axial movement and engaging said ball valve member in rotatable bearing supported relationship to normally hold the ball valve member in working position in spaced relationship from said spherical sealing surfaces, resilient means urging said bearing means towards each other to locate them and retain baring contact with the ball, said ball valve under pressure when closed being movable towards one of said bearing means against the effort of its resilient means, and means for sealing said one of the bearing means with respect to the housing under said ball movement and pressure.

9. The combination called for in claim 8 in which said bearing means is made of resin bonded graphite and has a spherical surface mating with that of said ball valve member.

10. The combination called for in claim 8 in which said valve member and stem means interengage in a direction axial of said stem means and including packing means received in said valve stem opening, gland means holding said packing under compression, and stud means journaling the outer end of said valve stem, said interengagement including a wrench socket on one element elongated in the axial direction to a dimension greater than the dimension on the mating member in the same direction.

11. The combination called for in claim 8 in which said valve stem opening has an enlargement at its inner end providing an inwardly directed shoulder, and said stem means has a radial flange means on its inner end engaging said shoulder in sealed relationship under pressure.

12. The combination called for in claim 8 in which said housing has a lateral bearing bore intersecting said chamber and outwardly enlarged to provide a packing and gland chamber, a valve stem journaled in said bearing bore, packing and gland means in said gland chamber around said stem, a handle received on said stem, and bearing means axially aligned with said bore and journaling the outward end of said stem.

13. A ball valve comprising a housing having a passage therethrough including a chamber with opposing spherical sealing surfaces around the openings and a valve stem opening whose axis is normal to said passage, a ball valve member mounted for rotation in said chamber to engage either one of said surfaces in metal to metal contact, stem means engaging one side of the ball valve member to permit the remote side thereof to move appreciably in a direction axially of said passage for the ball valve member to engage said surfaces, said valve member and stem means interengaging in a direction axial of said stem means and including a. packing means received in said valve stem opening, b. gland means holding said packing under compression, and c. stud means journaling the outer end of said valve stem. a handle received on said stem and said stud means including a lower plate holding the gland in place, an upper plate journaling said valve stem with the handle between the plates, and means independently holding the plates in adjusted position, opposing fire resistant bearing means internally mounted inwardly of and adjacent to said spherical sealing surface for limited axial movement and engaging said ball valve member in rotatable bearing supported relationship to normally hold the ball valve member in working position in spaced relationship from said spherical sealing surfaces, resilient means urging said bearing means toward each other to locate them and retain bearing contact with the ball, said ball valve under pressure when closed being movable towards one of said bearing means against the effort of its resilient means, and means for sealing said one of the bearing means with respect to the housing under said ball movement and pressure.

14. A ball valve comprising a body member having a passage therethrough with an opening on one side and an axially directed annular groove around said opening with a recess in the bottom defining at least one shoulder in the wall of said groove, a wave spring received in said recess, a graphite seal ring received in said groove and normally held away from said shoulder and having a planar surface, a ball valve received against said seal ring on the planar surface side in bearing relationship, a Teflon chevron seal ring having its inner marginal edge beveled and engaging said ball in sliding sealing relationship, a seal support ring adjacent to said chevron seal ring having a shallow V-groove facing the chevron seal ring and spaced from said planar surface of the graphite seal ring a distance approximately as great as the thickness of said chevron seal ring, said chevron seal ring flattening towards said planar surface when pressure is applied from the direction of the ball to move its inner marginal edge radially inwardly between the ball and graphite seal ring.

15. A valve comprising a valve body having a valve chamber and inlet and outlet passages in communication with the valve chamber, a valve member disposed within the valve chamber and movable between open and closed positions relative to the inlet and outlet passages, means for rotating the valve member, bearing seal means around each passage engaging said valve means with one of them defining an acute angle therewith providing a tapering space between the inner surface of the one bearing seal means and the valve member, ring seal means extending into said space and engaging said valve means contiguous to said bearing seal means within said tapering space as supported by said bearing seal means, and ring seal support means cooperating with said one bearing seal means to provide space therebetween for limited axial movement of the intermediate portion of the ring sEal means which is in said space for the inner portion to follow movement of the ball.

16. In a ball valve the combination of a ball valve member having a passage therethrough, a housing means enclosing the ball valve member, a ring element carried by the housing bordering said passage and surrounding the ball valve, said element having a face disposed essentially normal to said passage and being offcenter of said ball to define an acute angle with with the spherical surface of the ball around said passage, a formed resilient sealing ring supported by the housing in sealed relationship and arched intermediate its radially spaced inner and outer edges to provide a concave face on one side facing said flat wall, and a seal support carried by said housing spaced from said flat wall and defining a concave wall accommodating the other side of the sealing ring, the inner edge of said sealing ring being tapered to be received in the space between the ball and flat face portion that is proximate to said ball.

17. The combination called for in claim 16 in which said ring element comprises a graphite ring having a spherical surface mating with said ball valve member.

18. The combination called for in claim 17 in which said housing means has an inlet opening and an outlet opening for the passage and a spherical sealing surface concentric with and between said ring element and one of said to engage said ball valve member in metal to metal contact in absence of said ring element.

19. A ball valve comprising a housing member flanged at both ends and having a passage therethrough including a central valve chamber of stepped dimensions providing a progression of shoulders to receive in supported spaced relationship the valve parts through the wide portion of the chamber, a compression ring member secured to said housing member within the dimensional confines of the flanges to close said chamber and having a passage therethrough, said members having facing annular grooves internally around the openings of said passages with a recess in the bottom defining at least one shoulder in the wall of each groove, a spring means in each recess, a graphite seal ring received in each groove normally held by the spring means away from said shoulders and having facing surfaces, a ball valve received between said seal rings under compression of said spring means to rotatably support the ball valve in sealed relationship upon the seal rings and defining acute angles with the facing surfaces, a chevron seal ring marginally clamped between said members at one of said shoulders having its inner marginal edge beveled and engaging said ball in sliding sealed relationship in the space defined by one of said acute angles, a seal support ring resting against the adjacent smaller shoulder in spaced relation to said chevron seal ring and having a shallow V-groove facing the convex side of the chevron seal ring, said chevron seal ring flattening against the adjacent one of the facing surfaces when fluid pressure is applied from the ball side thereof to move its beveled marginal edge radially inwardly in said space as the graphite seal ring adjacent thereto is moved to bottom against the shoulder in its supporting groove.