Fluid detection and shutoff actuation apparatus retrofitable on fluid shutoff valve

• US 6,170,798 B1
• Filed: 09/30/1999
• Issued: 01/09/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Charles A. Wende, Chris C. Johnson
• Original Assignee: Charles A. Wende, Chris C. Johnson
• Inventors: Johnson, Chris C., Wende, Charles A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Michalsky, Gerald A.
• Application Number:
  US09/409,769
• Time in Patent Office: 467 Days
• Field of Search: 137/78.1, 137/312, 251/68
• US Class Current: 251/68
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 17/363 the closure members being rotatable or pivoting F16K17/386 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 31/563 for rotating or pivoting valves
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/0652 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 3/18 for pipes, cables or tubes; for pipe joints or seals; for valves; for welds; for containers, e.g. radiators
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/1842 Ambient condition change responsive
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/5762 With leakage or drip collecting

Abstract

A fluid detection and shutoff actuation apparatus includes a rotatable plate mountable over a shaft of a shutoff valve, a linear actuator spaced from the plate, a trigger disposed between the actuator and plate, a fluid detector, and a control mechanism connecting the fluid detector to the actuator for activating it in response to detection of a fluid at a location monitored by the detector. The actuator is movable between extended and retracted positions toward and away from the plate. The plate rotates with the shaft between first and second positions in which the shutoff valve is respectively in opened and closed conditions and the plate is biased by a coil spring to rotate from the first to second position and change the valve from the opened to closed condition. The trigger is connected to the actuator and is pivotally movable toward and away from the plate in respond to movement of the actuator between the extended and retracted positions. As the actuator is moved toward and away from the trigger between the extended and retracted positions and the trigger therewith is pivotally moved toward and away from the plate, the plate correspondingly is prevented from rotating and thereby retains the value in the opened condition and is allowed to rotate such that the valve is changed from the opened to closed condition.

Claims

1. A fluid detection and shutoff actuation apparatus, comprising:

(a) a rotatable plate having a peripheral edge and a protrusion attached on and extending outwardly from said peripheral edge, said plate being mountable over an outer end of a shaft of a shutoff valve for undergoing rotation with the shaft between a first position of said rotatable member in which the valve is placed in an opened condition and a second position of said rotatable member in which the valve is placed in a closed condition;

(b) means for imposing a biasing force on said rotatable plate so as to bias said plate to undergo rotation from said first to second position and therewith change the valve from the opened to closed condition;

(c) a linear actuator mountable in a spaced relationship from said plate and having a movable plunger movable reciprocably and linearly between an extended position toward and a retracted position away from said plate;

(d) a trigger member mountable adjacent to and between said actuator and rotatable plate and connected to said movable plunger of said actuator for undergoing pivotal movement toward and away from said plate as said movable plunger is correspondingly moved between said extended and retracted positions, said trigger member having a protuberance thereon extending outwardly toward said plate such that, in response to reciprocal linear movement of said movable plunger of said actuator toward and away from said trigger member between said extended and retracted positions and pivotal movement of said trigger member therewith toward and away from said plate, said protuberance on said trigger member is moved between a blocking position adjacent to said plate in which said protuberance is engaged with said protrusion on said plate preventing rotation of said plate and thereby retaining said plate in said first position and the valve in the opened condition and an unblocking position away from said plate in which said protuberance on said trigger member is disengaged from said protrusion on said plate allowing rotation of said plate such that said biasing force can rotate said plate from said first to second position and therewith change the valve from the opened to closed condition;

(e) fluid detector means for sensing presence or absence of a fluid at a location being monitored; and

(f) a control mechanism for controlling operation of said actuator in response to said fluid detector means sensing the presence or absence of the fluid at the location being monitored such that said control mechanism prevents activation of said actuator and thus movement of said movable plunger thereof from said extended to retracted position in response to sensing the absence of fluid and causes activation of said actuator and thus movement of said movable plunger thereof from said extended to retracted position in response to sensing the presence of the fluid which correspondingly results in movement of said protuberance of said trigger member from said blocking to unblocking position and rotation of said rotatable member from said second to first position and changing of the valve from the opened to closed condition.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said trigger member has a pair of opposite end portions and a middle portion extending between and interconnected with said opposite end portions, said trigger member being pivotally mountable at one of said opposite end portions thereof about an axis and pivotally connected at the other of said opposite end portions thereof to said movable plunger of said actuator.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said protuberance is attached on said middle portion of said trigger member between said opposite end portions thereof.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said rotatable plate having a central hole defined therethrough for receiving therethrough the outer end of the shaft of the valve and a plurality of locations defined on said plate and spaced radially outwardly from said central hole thereof and spaced circumferentially from one another.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said means for imposing said biasing force on said rotatable plate is a coil spring placeable about the outer end of the shaft and having a pair of opposite ends, said coil spring at one of said opposite ends being attachable to a valve body of the valve and at the other of said opposite ends thereof being attachable to said plate at a selected one of said locations thereon for setting a desired magnitude of said biasing force applied by said coil spring to said rotatable plate.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said rotatable plate has a substantially flat and circular disc-shaped configuration and said coil spring is disposed generally parallel to said plate.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said locations on said rotatable plate are apertures defined through said plate and said other of said opposite ends of said coil spring is attached to said plate by a pin disposed through a selected one of said apertures.

8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said rotatable plate has opposite top and bottom surfaces and a slot defined through said plate and extending between said opposite top and bottom surfaces for receiving through said slot a handle attached to the shaft of the valve and extending therefrom along said bottom surface of said plate through said slot thereof to along said top surface thereof to an outer free end of the handle being spaced outwardly from said top surface of said plate for facilitating a user to grip the handle in order to overcome said biasing force of said coil spring and turn the handle and therewith rotate said plate from said second to first position and change the valve from the closed to opened condition.

9. A fluid detection and shutoff actuation apparatus, comprising:

(a) a rotatable plate having a central hole, a peripheral edge spaced outwardly from and surrounding said central hole and a protrusion attached on and extending outwardly from said peripheral edge, said plate being mountable at said central hole over an outer end of a shaft of a shutoff valve for undergoing rotation with the shaft between a first position in which the valve is placed in an opened condition and a second position in which the valve is placed in a closed condition, said plate also having a plurality of locations defined thereon and spaced radially outwardly from said central hole and circumferentially from one another;

(b) a coil spring for imposing a biasing force upon said rotatable plate so as to bias said plate to undergo rotation from said first to second position and therewith change the valve from the opened to closed condition, said coil spring being placeable about the outer end of the shaft of the valve and having a pair of opposite ends, said coil spring at one of said opposite ends being attachable to a valve body of the valve and at the other of said opposite ends thereof being attachable to said plate at a selected one of said locations thereon for setting a desired magnitude of said biasing force applied by said coil spring to said plate;

(c) a linear solenoid-activated actuator mountable in a spaced relationship from said periphery of said plate and being movable between an extended position toward and a retracted position away from said periphery of said plate;

(d) a trigger member mountable adjacent to and between said actuator and said peripheral edge of said plate and connected to said actuator for undergoing pivotal movement toward and away from said peripheral edge of said plate as said actuator is correspondingly moved between said extended and retracted positions, said trigger member having a protuberance thereon extending outwardly toward said peripheral edge of said plate such that, in response to said actuator being moved toward and away from said trigger member between said extended and retracted positions and said trigger member therewith being pivotally moved toward and away from said peripheral edge of said plate, said protuberance on said trigger member is moved between a blocking position adjacent to said peripheral edge of said plate in which said protuberance is engaged with said protrusion on said peripheral edge of said plate preventing rotation of said plate and thereby retaining said plate in said first position and the valve in the opened condition and an unblocking position away from said periphery of said plate in which said protuberance is disengaged from said protrusion on said peripheral edge of said plate allowing rotation of said plate such that said biasing force of said spring can rotate said plate from said first to second position and therewith change the valve from the opened to closed condition;

(e) fluid detector means for sensing presence or absence of a fluid at a location being monitored; and

(f) a control mechanism for controlling operation of said actuator in response to said fluid detector means sensing the presence or absence of the fluid at the location being monitored such that said control mechanism prevents activation of said actuator and thus movement thereof from said extended to retracted position in response to sensing the absence of fluid and causes activation of said actuator and thus movement thereof from said extended to retracted position in response to sensing the presence of fluid which correspondingly results in movement of said protuberance of said trigger member from said blocking to unblocking position and rotation of said plate from said second to first position and changing of the valve from the opened to closed condition.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said trigger member has a pair of opposite end portions and a middle portion extending between and interconnected with said opposite end portions, said trigger member being pivotally mountable at one of said opposite end portions thereof about an axis and pivotally connected at the other of said opposite end portions thereof to said movable plunger of said actuator.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said protuberance is attached on said middle portion of said trigger member between said opposite end portions thereof.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said rotatable plate has opposite top and bottom surfaces and a slot defined through said plate and extending between said opposite top and bottom surfaces for receiving through said slot a handle attached to the shaft of the valve and extending therefrom along said bottom surface of said plate through said slot thereof to along said top surface thereof to an outer free end of the handle being spaced outwardly from said top surface of said plate for facilitating a user to grip the handle in order to overcome said biasing force of said coil spring and turn the handle and therewith rotate said plate from said second to first position and change the valve from the closed to opened condition.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said rotatable plate has a substantially flat and circular disc-shaped configuration.

14. A fluid detection and shutoff apparatus, comprising:

(a) a shutoff valve including

(i) a valve body,

(ii) a ball-shaped valve element rotatably mounted in said valve body,

(iii) a shaft having an inner end engaged with said valve element and rotatably mounted to said valve body and extending outwardly from said valve element to an outer end of said shaft protruding outwardly from said valve body, and

(iv) a handle attached on said outer end of said shaft such that turning of said handle and therewith rotation of said shaft in one direction rotates said valve element to an opened condition whereas reverse turning of said handle and rotation of said shaft in an opposite direction rotates said valve element to a closed condition, said handle having inner and outer end portions offset from one another and from said valve body and a middle portion disposed between and interconnecting said inner and outer end portions such that said middle portion is disposed at an angle relative to each of said inner and outer end portions and spaces said outer end portion away from but in a substantially parallel relation to said inner end portion and said valve body; and

(b) a fluid detection and shutoff actuation arrangement including

(i) a rotatable plate having a peripheral edge and a protrusion attached on and extending outwardly from said peripheral edge, said plate being mountable over said outer end of said shaft of said shutoff valve for undergoing rotation with said shaft between a first position of said plate in which said valve element is placed in said opened condition and a second position in which said valve element is placed in said closed condition;

(ii) a coil spring for imposing a biasing force upon said rotatable plate so as to bias said plate to undergo rotation from said first to second position and therewith change said valve element from said opened to closed condition;

(iii) a linear actuator mountable in a spaced relationship outwardly from said peripheral edge of said rotatable plate and having a movable plunger reciprocably and linearly movable between an extended position toward and a retracted position away from said peripheral edge of said plate;

(iv) a trigger member mountable adjacent to and between said actuator and said peripheral edge of said plate and connected to said movable plunger of said actuator so as to undergo pivotal movement toward and away from said peripheral edge of said plate as said movable plunger is correspondingly moved between said extended and retracted positions, said trigger member having a protuberance extending outwardly toward said peripheral edge of said plate such that, in response to said movable plunger of said actuator being reciprocally and linearly moved toward and away from said trigger member between said extended and retracted positions and said trigger member therewith pivotally moved toward and away from said peripheral edge of said plate, said protuberance on said trigger member is moved between a blocking position adjacent to said peripheral edge of said plate in which said protuberance is engaged with said protrusion on said plate preventing rotation of said plate and thereby retaining said plate in said first position and said valve element in said opened condition and an unblocking position away from said periphery of said plate in which said protuberance is disengaged from said protrusion on said plate allowing rotation of said plate such that said biasing force can rotate said plate from said first to second position and therewith change said valve element from said opened to closed condition,

(v) fluid detector means for sensing presence or absence of a fluid at a location being monitored; and

(vi) a control mechanism for controlling operation of said actuator in response to said fluid detector means sensing the presence or absence of the fluid at said location being monitored such that said control mechanism prevents activation of said actuator and thus movement of said movable plunger from said extended to retracted position in response to sensing the absence of fluid and causes activation of said actuator and thus movement of said movable plunger from said extended to retracted position in response to sensing the presence of fluid which correspondingly results in movement of said protuberance of said trigger member from said blocking to unblocking position and rotation of said plate from said second to first position and changing of said valve element from said opened to closed condition.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said rotatable plate has a substantially flat and circular disc-shaped configuration.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said rotatable plate having a central hole defined therethrough for receiving through said central hole said outer end of said shaft of said shutoff valve and a plurality of locations defined thereon and spaced radially outwardly from said central hole and spaced circumferentially apart from one another.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said means for imposing said biasing force is a coil spring placed about said outer end of said shaft and having a pair of opposite ends, said coil spring at one of said opposite ends being attached to said valve body of said shutoff valve and at the other of said opposite ends thereof being attached to said plate at a selected one of said locations thereon for setting a desired magnitude of said biasing force applied by said coil spring to said plate.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein:

said rotatable plate has a substantially flat and circular disc-shaped configuration; and

said coil spring surrounds said outer end of said shaft and is disposed generally parallel to said plate and said valve body.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said locations are apertures defined through said plate and said other of said opposite ends of said coil spring is attached to said plate by a pin disposed through a selected one of said apertures.

20. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said rotatable plate has opposite top and bottom surfaces and a slot defined through said plate and extending between said opposite top and bottom surfaces for receiving through said slot said handle at said middle portion thereof such that said inner end portion of said handle extends from said shaft along said bottom surface of said plate to said slot therein and said outer end portion of said handle extends from said slot in said plate along said top surface thereof to an outer free end of the handle being spaced outwardly from said top surface of said plate for facilitating a user to grip said handle in order to overcome said biasing force of said coil spring and turn said handle and therewith rotate said plate from said second to first position and change said valve element from said closed to opened condition.