Closure for pipes or pressure vessels and a seal therefor

• US 4,422,651 A
• Filed: 12/27/1978
• Issued: 12/27/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Descaling Company Limited
• Original Assignee: General Descaling Company Limited
• Inventors: Platts, Douglas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Robert I.
• Application Number:
  US05/974,036
• Time in Patent Office: 1,826 Days
• Field of Search: 277/181, 277/186, 277/206 R
• US Class Current: 277/647
• CPC Class Codes: F16J 13/10 attached by means of a divided ring
• CPC Class Codes: F16J 13/24 with safety devices, e.g. to prevent opening prior to pressure release
• CPC Class Codes: F16J 15/025 and with at least one flexible lip
• CPC Class Codes: F16J 15/061 with positioning means F16J15/0831 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16J 15/12 with metal reinforcement or covering
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/214 Screw
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/216 Toggle lever

Abstract

A closure for a pipe or pressure vessel comprises a door adapted to fit into an aperture in a pipe or pressure vessel and an arcuate locking member disposed around the periphery of the door for locking the door to the pipe or pressure vessel, the ends of the locking member being movable towards and away from each other to cause radial expansion and contraction of the locking member, whereby the locking member is brought into and out of locking engagement with the pipe or pressure vessel. A seal for the closure comprises a rigid, usually annular, support having first and second flanges for engaging respective opposed faces on the closure and the pipe or pressure vessel, the first flange having a greater surface area and being less flexible than the second flange, and a flexible lining carried by the support and extending beyond the terminal edges of the flanges.

Claims

1. A seal comprising a support of relatively rigid material having first and second flanges having remote surfaces adapted to engage respective opposed faces of elements between which a seal is to be formed, the first flange having a greater surface area than the second flange and being less flexible than the second flange, said flanges extending in substantially parallel planes and said support defining an inwardly opening channel, and a lining of relatively flexible material carried by the support and extending beyond the terminal edges of the flanges, portions of said lining extending beyond the terminal edges of said flanges including sealing surfaces coplanar with said remote surfaces of said flanges.