FLUID PRESSURE ACTUATED VALVE OPERATOR

• US 3,789,875 A
• Filed: 05/15/1972
• Issued: 02/05/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Vetco Gray Incorporated (Baker Hughes Company)
• Original Assignee: John K. Mcgee
• Inventors: McGee, John K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosenthal, Arnold
• Application Number:
  US05/253,512
• Time in Patent Office: 631 Days
• Field of Search: 251/63.6,14 137/553,557,554
• US Class Current: 137/553
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 31/143 the fluid acting on a piston
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 37/0033 using a permanent magnet, e.g. in combination with a reed relays
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 37/0041 for measuring valve parameters F16K37/0033 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/8225 Position or extent of motion indicator
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/8242 Electrical

Abstract

The valve operator preferably includes electrical or fluid pressure means for indicating the open or closed condition of the valve at a remote location. Means are provided for exerting additional valve operating force, should the normal manual and/or automatic actuator prove insufficient. The valve operator is constructed to be easily installed and serviced.

Claims

1. An operator mountable on equipment such as a gate valve for reciprocating a reciprocable element thereof such as a gate valve gate, comprising:

an annular bonnet member having securement means thereon for fixedly securing the bonnet on the equipment;

said bonnet having a bore for reciprocably receiving a portion of the element to be reciprocated; and

packing means received in said bore for sealing against the element to be reciprocated;

a cylinder member including tubular sidewall means closed at opposite ends by upper and lower annular end wall means defining a housing with said cylinder;

means sealing and securing the lower annular end wall coaxially upon the bonnet so the element to be reciprocated may protrude up into within the cylinder;

means defining external helical threading circumferentially on said bonnet;

an annular bonnet drive gear;

means co-axially mounting the bonnet drive gear in the bore of said lower annular end wall means;

said annular bonnet drive gear having means defining internal helical threading thereon which is complementary with the external helical threading defined on the bonnet;

a bonnet drive pinion mounted on the lower end wall means in meshing engagement with the bonnet drive gear and accessable from exteriorly of said operator, so that the bonnet drive pinion, upon being rotated from exteriorly of the operator, rotates the bonnet drive gear to engage said threading when rotated in one angular sense and to disengage said threading when rotated in the opposite angular sense;

an annular piston slidingly coaxially received within the cylinder, means sealing the outer peripheral extent of the piston with respect to the inner periphery of the tubular sidewall means of the cylinder;

port means on said cylinder for admitting and releasing pressurized fluid to and from the cylinder above the piston for reciprocating the piston;

port means on said cylinder below the piston for admitting and exhausting fluid to and from the cylinder below the piston to permit the piston to reciprocate in response to admission and release of said pressurized fluid above the piston;

a compression coil spring coaxially mounted to bear at one end against the housing and to resiliently urge the piston toward adjacency with the upper end wall means;

annular sealing means in the bore of said cylinder annular upper end wall means;

an upper stem slidingly received in the last-mentioned bore and sealed with respect thereto by the last-mentioned sealing means;

said upper stem having downwardly facing shoulder means near the lower end thereof, the upper stem being insertable through the bore of said piston down to said shoulder means; and

said upper stem having securement means thereon below said shoulder means for removably securing the lower end of the upper stem to the element to be reciprocated, within the cylinder, with the piston abutting the shoulder means.

2. The operator of claim 1 further including cooperating stop means mounted to move with said piston and interiorly of the cylinder adjacent the lower extent thereof, engageable to positively limit downward movement of the piston.

3. The operator of claim 2 wherein the stop means mounted with the piston includes removable shim means selectively installable for reducing the permitted downward movement of the piston.

4. The operator of claim 1 wherein the tubular sidewall means of the cylinder and the upper end wall means thereof are disassembleable from one another and said operator includes means removably securing the upper end wall means to the tubular sidewall means and means sealing the upper end wall means with respect to the tubular sidewall means.

5. The operator of claim 4 wherein the tubular sidewall means and the lower end wall means of the cylinder are disassembleable from one another and said operator includes means removably securing the lower end wall means to the tubular sidewall means and means sealing the lower end wall means with respect to the tubular sidewall means.

6. The operator of claim 1 further including indicator means upwardly extending to exteriorly of the cylinder from the upper stem through the upper end wall means for providing a visual indication of the relative vertical disposition of the reciprocable element.

7. The operator of claim 1 including at least two vertically spaced sensors mounted on the upper end wall means, and a sensor triggering device mounted on the upper stem in such disposition as to trigger one of the sensors as the piston is depressed by admission of pressurized fluid to the cylinder above the piston and to trigger the other of the sensors as the pressurized fluid is released and the spring causes the piston to raise to adjacency with the upper end wall means;

and indicator means disposed externally of the cylinder and operatively connected to the sensors for providing an external indication of the disposition of the reciprocating element.

8. The operator of claim 7 wherein the sensors are reed switches and the sensor triggering device comprises permanent magnet means for operating the reed switches.

9. The operator of claim 7 wherein the sensors are actuators of valves communicated by conduit means to a supply of pressurized fluid and the sensor triggering device comprises surface means on the upper stem engageable with the valve actuators for actuating the valves;

and wherein the indicator means comprise pressure gauge means interposed in said conduit means.

10. The operator of claim 1 further including securement means on said upper stem, accessable from exteriorly of the operator, for attachment of means for applying mechanical force for raising and lowering the upper stem to reciprocate the reciprocable element.

11. The operator of claim 10 wherein hand wheel means are secured to said securement means for manually reciprocating the reciprocable element.