Gas breaker, automatic gas shut-off valve
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A normally open earthquake actuated shut-off valve having at least one vertically arranged inlet port and one outlet port, the two ports being open into a valve chamber configured laterally of said inlet port and comprising:
- a flat bottom surface tilted slightly downward toward said inlet port, said surface being provided with a shallow concave dish portion;
a gravity operated ball positioned within the dish portion and free to roll in any direction in response to seismic motion;
and a valve seat associated with said inlet port and adapted to be closed by the gravity operated ball to shut off fluid flow.
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Abstract
A gas flow shut-off valve that senses seismic motion inducing oscillating ball movement in a concave dish of a lateral valve chamber. When the intensity of seismic shaking reaches a destructive level, the ball valve is dislodged from the dish into a valve seat, thus blocking the gas flow passage through the valve. The tripped ball is reset from outside the valve by using a strong magnet to retrieve the ball from the valve seat and back to the dish.
52 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A normally open earthquake actuated shut-off valve having at least one vertically arranged inlet port and one outlet port, the two ports being open into a valve chamber configured laterally of said inlet port and comprising:
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a flat bottom surface tilted slightly downward toward said inlet port, said surface being provided with a shallow concave dish portion; a gravity operated ball positioned within the dish portion and free to roll in any direction in response to seismic motion; and a valve seat associated with said inlet port and adapted to be closed by the gravity operated ball to shut off fluid flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A normally open earthquake actuated shut-off valve, including:
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a vertically disposed inlet port and an outlet port opening into a laterally disposed valve chamber having a cradle area with a bottom tilted downward and having a flat valve seat area with a substantially horizontal bottom, said bottoms continuing one into the other at a line of joinder; the bottom of the cradle area being provided with a shallow concave dish portion; a gravity operated ball valve normally positioned within the dish portion and free to roll in any direction therein in response to seismic motion; the bottom of the valve seat area being provided with a valve seat surrounding the vertically disposed inlet port and adapted to be closed by the ball valve rolling free of the dish portion and onto said seat to shut off the inlet port. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification