Flood preventer for fluid filling systems
US4498203A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 9, 1984 |
| Grant date | Feb 12, 1985 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 9, 2004 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T137/86485
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A flood preventer has a pneumatically operable lockout mechanism to disable a valve actuator and prevent its repeated operation when fluid in a receptacle has reached an excess level. In the preferred embodiments the flood preventer has a latch that is responsive to a partial vacuum to engage a catch in the linkage between the valve actuator and a fill control valve. The partial vacuum is created by the flow of fluid into the receptacle through a venturi. The venturi is connected by a vacuum line to a fluid level sensing orifice that opens into the receptacle and relieves the partial vacuum when not blocked by fluid that has reached an excess level. In two other embodiments the partial vacuum is subject to the same conditions at the venturi and the orifice, but the lockout mechanisms are different. In the second embodiment a pin is dropped out to uncouple a valve actuator linkage, while in a third embodiment a jamming mechanism is used to block movement of the valve actuator.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.