Abstract:
An improved signal with adjustable mounting to allow the signal to be oriented to face any direction, without rotating the pressure-containing plug, and with integral seal to protect the outer threads of the mounting nipple.

Description:
REFERENCE TO PENDING APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/917,554 filed May 11, 2007. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Much of the liquid and gas utilized in the world, and particularly hydrocarbon liquids and gases, are transmitted from areas of production to areas of consumption through pipelines. To keep the interior of the pipelines clean, to separate different components, and to perform surveying functions, devices known as pipeline pigs are frequently used. Since the pipeline pigs may move at various speeds in the pipeline depending upon the velocity of fluid flow and other factors, it is sometimes difficult for the operator of a pipeline to know the location of a pipeline pig or to know when a pipeline pig has passed a certain point in a pipeline. 
     Various pig signals are known in the industry and are commonly available in the marketplace. These signals typically have a tubular body member or nipple which is mounted on the pipeline by welding or other means. The tubular body has a small diameter opening into the pipeline such that it is in fluid communication with the interior of the pipeline. A stem assembly is typically sealably placed inside the tubular body member thus sealing off the interior of the tubular body member and interior of the pipeline from the atmosphere. The stem has a shaft or trigger which extends into the interior of the pipeline. When the pipeline pig passes by the tubular body member it contacts the shaft. This contact then releases a spring loaded flag or other signal fixedly secured to the exterior of the tubular body member. This is accomplished through various mechanical and/or magnetic means. 
     Early pig signals used a mechanical linkage to release a spring loaded flag. More recent developments in this field have taken advantage of magnetic linkages to release a spring loaded flag. However no matter what type of mechanism was used to link the interior movement of the shaft to the releasing mechanism of the flag, the prior art flag assembly was always secured to the stem assembly and/or tubular body member by means which kept it in predetermined, fixed orientation relative to the stem assembly and/or tubular body member. 
     Because the flag is much easier to see from the front rather than a side view it is often beneficial to rotate the flag such that the flag faces the direction of an observer. Given the prior art design of the flag assembly being fixedly attached to the tubular body or stem assembly, the rotating of the flag requires either the tightening or loosening of the threadably engaged stem assembly. This could lead to the stem being either over tightened or too loose, or adjusted under pressure which may be a safety concern. 
     The other option was to unbolt the flag assembly from its mounting and re-bolt it in a different orientation. The drawback to the prior art in this situation is that the flag assembly can only be reoriented to a very limited number of orientations, typically 90 degree increments. Many times the optional orientations do not provide optimized viewing of the flag. 
     The external threads on the nipple often suffer from weathering and corrosion. The prior art generally does not address this problem. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is an improved pipeline pig signal. The improved signal has a nipple, plug assembly and indicator assembly. When in use the nipple is attached to a pipeline such that it is in fluid communication with the pipeline. The plug assembly is sized to be contained within the nipple. The plug assembly has a radial groove on its outer surface. The indicator assembly has a flag, release mechanism and a cylindrical shaped body. The cylindrical shaped body fits over the plug assembly and nipple. The indicator assembly is secured to the plug assembly and nipple by at least one set screw passing through the cylindrical body of the indicator assembly and securing to the radial groove of the plug assembly. An O-ring is disposed between the interior surface of the indicator assembly cylindrical body and the outer surface of the nipple. This prevents moisture and other debris from entering in between the indicator assembly and the nipple. 
     The present invention provides the benefit of allowing the orientation or direction of the flag to be altered without loosening or tightening the plug assembly. 
     The present invention also provides the benefit of allowing the flag to be oriented such that it can face any direction unlike the prior art which is limited to facing the flag in one of a few pre-designated directions, or requiring rotating the plug assembly under pressure, or over-under tightening the threaded flag assembly. 
     Further objects and features of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings (which are not to scale) where: 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional side view assembly of one embodiment of the present invention showing how the various parts fit together. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view assembly showing the detail of the plug assembly. 
         FIG. 7  is a top perspective view showing the release mechanism. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing the indicator assembly and the plug assembly. 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional side view showing the internal detail of the indicator assembly. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the indicator assembly showing the detail of the release mechanism. 
         FIG. 11  is a bottom perspective view of the release mechanism of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     For explaining the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of the parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 
     Elements shown by the drawings are identified by the following numbers: 
     
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 20 
                 Improved pipeline pig signal 
               
               
                 22 
                 Indicator assembly 
               
               
                 24 
                 Plug assembly 
               
               
                 26 
                 Nipple 
               
               
                 28 
                 Interior (nipple) 
               
               
                 30 
                 Trigger 
               
               
                 32 
                 Magnet 
               
               
                 33 
                 O-ring 
               
               
                 34 
                 Threads 
               
               
                 36 
                 Threads 
               
               
                 38 
                 Groove 
               
               
                 40 
                 Flag 
               
               
                 42 
                 Release mechanism 
               
               
                 44 
                 Body (indicator assembly) 
               
               
                 46 
                 Interior (body - indicator assembly) 
               
               
                 48 
                 Second O-ring 
               
               
                 50 
                 Set screws 
               
               
                 52 
                 Pin 
               
               
                 54 
                 Release 
               
               
                 56 
                 Second magnet 
               
               
                 58 
                 Shaft (2 nd  magnet) 
               
               
                 60 
                 Torsion spring 
               
               
                 120 
                 Pipeline pig signal (flange mounted) 
               
               
                 122 
                 Flange 
               
               
                 124 
                 Second flange 
               
               
                 220 
                 Pipeline pig signal (with extension) 
               
               
                 320 
                 Pipeline pig signal (integral valve) 
               
               
                 322 
                 Integral valve 
               
               
                 324 
                 Flange 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       FIGS. 1 through 4  show various embodiments of the improved pipeline pig signal  20 ,  120 ,  220  and  320  of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is a side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . The pipeline pig signal  20  has an indicator assembly  22 , a plug assembly  24  and a nipple  26 . When in use a small hole is made into the pipeline. The nipple  26  is secured to the pipeline by welding or other means well known in the art. Once secured to the pipeline the interior of the nipple  28  is in fluid communication with the interior of the pipeline. The plug assembly  24  is sized to fit into the interior  28  of nipple  26 . 
     The plug assembly  24  has a cylindrical shaped body with a trigger  30 . The first end the trigger  30  extends into the pipeline when the plug assembly  24  is placed in the nipple  26 . The second end of the trigger  30  has a first magnet  32 . The threads  34  located on the outside of the plug assembly  24  engage threads  36  located on the interior  28  of the nipple. The pressure inside the pipeline and inside the plug assembly are sealed off by an O-ring  33  with the plug head in place by the threads  34  of the plug assembly  24  engaging the threads  36  of the nipple  26 . The plug assembly  24  also has a circumferential groove  38  in its outer diameter. 
     The indicator assembly  22  has a flag  40 , a release mechanism  42  and a cylindrical body  44 . The cylindrical body  44  has a hollow interior  46  which fits over the plug assembly  24  and nipple  26 . A second O-ring  48  located on the interior  46  of the indicator assembly body  44  provides a seal in between the exterior of the nipple  26  and the interior  46  of the indicator assembly body  44 . This prevents moisture and other debris from getting inside the interior  46  of the indicator assembly body  44  and causing corrosion or otherwise seizing up the parts. The indicator assembly  22  is secured to the plug assembly  24  by at least one set screw  50  passing through the indicator assembly body  44 . The exact number of set screws  50  can vary, however in the preferred embodiment there are 3 or 4. These set screws  50  engage the groove  38  in the plug assembly  24  and hold the indicator assembly  22  in place relative to the plug assembly  24 . 
     Once the nipple  26  and plug assembly  24  are mounted on the pipeline the indicator assembly  22  is placed over the nipple  26  and plug assembly  24 . The indicator assembly  22  can be rotated such that the flag  40  faces any direction. This is accomplished by loosening one or more of the set screws  50 , rotating the indicator assembly  22  to the desired orientation and securing the indicator assembly  22  in this orientation by tightening the set screws  50  to bear against the groove  38  in the plug assembly  24 . 
     The embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings has the flag  40  pivotally mounted to the indicator assembly  22 . To prepare the signal for use the flag  40  is rotated such that the pin  52  engages the pivotally mounted release  54 . As the pig moves along the pipeline and past the pipeline pig signal  20 , the pig pushes against the trigger  30 . This causes the trigger  30  to move longitudinally inside the plug assembly  24  and the first magnet  32  to move toward the second magnet  56 . The first and second magnet  32  and  56  are polar opposites. Thus as the first magnet  32  moves closer to the second magnet  56  the second magnet moves upward away from the first magnet  32 . As the second magnet  56  moves upward, this causes its mounting shaft  58  to also move upward and push against the release  54 . This in turn causes the release  54  to rotate. As the release  54  rotates, the pin  52  is disengaged from the release  54 . The torsion spring  60  then causes the flag  40  to pivot upward into its activated position. 
     While the figures show an activating mechanism with magnetic linkage to illustrate the operation of the present invention, it is possible to adapt the present invention to be used with other activating mechanisms and still fall within the scope of the claims. 
     Further, it would be possible to have the circumferential groove in the outer surface of the nipple  26 . The set screws  50  would then be located to engage the groove on the nipple  26  to hold the indicator assembly  22  in the desired orientation. 
     The present invention can be mounted to a pipeline using various configurations. Turning to  FIG. 2  the present invention can be flange mounted  120 . The plug assembly  24  is secured to a flange  122  which is secured to a second flange  124 . The second flange  124  being permanently affixed to a pipeline. This allows the trigger  30  to extend into the pipeline. The indicator assembly  22  and plug assembly  24  operate as previously described. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 3  wherein the present invention  220  can be constructed such that the indicator assembly  222  is elongated. The device would still be constructed and operated as described as above, the difference being the shaft  58  for the second magnet  56  would be lengthened along with the body of the indicator assembly  220 . This embodiment would be useful in situations where there are objects obstructing the view of the flag  40 , such as un-mowed grass or brush. 
     The present invention  320  can also be used in conjunction with an integral valve. Here the plug assembly  24  and trigger  30  extend through the valve  322  and into a pipeline. The plug assembly  24  threadably engages a flange  324 , in the same manner as other embodiments engage a nipple  26  as described above. The flange  324  mates up with the valve  322 . The indicator and plug assemblies  22  and  24  function as described above in the other embodiments. 
     While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.