Manually actuated diaphragm valve with lockout feature for open and closed positions

A manually actuated valve comprising a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet, and an actuator having an open position wherein the inlet and outlet are connected and a closed position wherein the inlet and the outlet are isolated. The valve has a handle movable between a first position and a second position, the handle controlling operation of the actuator. The valve further includes a member on the valve casing for receiving a locking member that maintains the handle in at least one of the first position and second position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention pertains to the valve art, and more particularly to a 
diaphragm valve of the type used in fluid systems requiring high purity 
and high reliability. 
The assignee of the present invention previously developed a related 
diaphragm valve as shown and described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 
5,131,627, herein incorporated by reference. That patent discloses a valve 
assembly that controls flow between inlet and outlet passages that 
selectively communicate with a valve chamber. A diaphragm is selectively 
brought into sealing engagement with a valve seat via an actuating stem. 
The embodiment shown in the drawings of the '627 patent discloses an air 
actuated valve that reciprocates the stem between open and closed 
positions. 
In selected situations, however, a manually actuated version is desired. 
The details of this invention are particularly directed to a manually 
actuated diaphragm valve of this type. It is important to convey to the 
operator whether the valve is in an open or closed position. Moreover, it 
may be necessary or advantageous to lock the valve in either its open or 
closed position, or both positions. It is these features that are 
particularly addressed in the subject invention. 
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from 
the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying 
drawing and claims, which form a part of the specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 17, the subject new valve includes valve body 
11 having an inlet 12 and outlet 14 that communicate with a valve chamber 
16. Outer casing 10 includes a bonnet 20 and the valve body 11. A 
diaphragm 18 is sealed about its periphery between the valve body and the 
bonnet 20. The bonnet has a throughbore that receives an actuating stem, 
or actuator, 22 and a biasing spring 24 that urges the actuator 22, and 
thus the diaphragm 18, toward a closed position. The actuator 22 is 
pivotally secured to actuating handle 26. When the handle 26 is in the 
first, or closed position, the actuator impedes communication between the 
inlet 12 and outlet 14. When the handle 26 is in the second, or open, 
position, the actuator allows communications between the inlet 12 and the 
outlet 14. The handle is shown in its open position, in broken lines, as 
handle 26' in FIG. 17. In a preferred embodiment, the handle 26 is axially 
rotated in a vertical plane through substantially 90.degree. between its 
open and closed positions. Further preferably, the handle is generally 
horizontal when in the closed position and generally vertical when in the 
open position. However, the valve may be modified such that nearly any 
orientation or angle may correspond to the open position and a different 
orientation or angle may correspond to the closed position without 
departing from the scope of the present invention. 
Additionally, a bracket, or member, 30 is received around the bonnet. The 
bracket includes indicia 32, 34 representative of the open and closed 
positions, respectively, of the handle. The bracket or member 30 may 
either be separate from, or integral with, the casing 10. The open indicia 
32 and closed indicia 34 may consist of any symbols, drawings, text or the 
like, or combinations thereof, which serve to communicate the position of 
the handle 26 or actuator 22. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates the handle 
in an upright or open position. A lower flange 40 of the handle covers the 
closed indicia in this position of the handle. Thus it is quickly evident 
to an operator that the valve is in the open position allowing fluid 
communication between the inlet 12 and outlet 14. Moreover, the bracket 30 
includes a pair of spaced flanges 42, 44 having respective openings 46, 48 
to receive a locking member. The locking member may include any structural 
member which impedes the rotation of the handle 26 from the open position 
to the closed position, or vice versa. For example, a structural member 
passed through the openings 46, 48 may serve as the locking member. 
Furthermore, a single locking member may be used to lock multiple valves. 
A bar, flexible cable, chain or the like may be passed through the 
openings 46, 48 of multiple valves to retain each handle in the open or 
the closed position. In a preferred embodiment, a padlock 50 is used to 
lock a single valve. When the padlock 50 is positioned in place as shown 
in FIG. 1, the handle 26 is maintained in its open position and cannot be 
inadvertently moved to the closed position. Only upon removal of the lock 
50 can the handle be rotated to the closed position shown in FIG. 3. 
When rotated to the closed position, the handle covers the open indicia 32 
and reveals the closed indicia 34. Moreover, and as evident in FIG. 2, the 
lock can be received in the flange openings 46, 48 to maintain the handle 
in its closed position. The closed position is more particularly 
illustrated in FIG. 7. An intermediate portion of the handle is received 
between the flanges of the bracket. Thus the handle 26 covers the open 
indicia 32 and the flange 40 at the lower end of the handle is disposed 
upright so as to reveal the closed indicia 34. 
Still another feature provided by the valve is that the bracket 30 may be 
optionally keyed to the bonnet 20. In other words, the bracket cannot 
rotate relative to the bonnet which, in turn, prevents the handle 26 from 
being rotated in a radial plane. In a preferred manner of coupling the 
bracket to the bonnet, the bracket 30 has a downwardly-extending flange 
31, as best shown in FIG. 4. The downwardly-extending flange 31 is 
received in cut-out 33 in the bonnet 20. Because the downwardly-extending 
flange 31 is captured within the cut-out 33, the bracket is prevented from 
rotating relative to the bonnet. The handle 26 is received in the bracket 
30 which thereby limits the rotation of the handle 26. It is to be 
understood that a variety of other methods and arrangements may be used 
for coupling the bracket to the bonnet without departing from the scope of 
the invention. In one embodiment, the rotation of the handle is limited, 
therefore, to 90.degree. within a vertical plane. However, it is also 
within the scope of the invention to have a valve wherein the bracket is 
not coupled to the bonnet. In this manner, the bracket and handle may 
radially rotated relative the bonnet. 
There is an increasing demand for valves which can be locked in the first 
position, such as the closed position, but cannot be locked in the other 
position, such as the open position. Accordingly, in alternate embodiment 
of the invention, shown in FIGS. 9-16 , handle 26 can be locked in the 
closed position but not the open position. As shown in FIG. 9, the spaced 
flanges 42, 44 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-8 are replaced with a pair of 
generally "U" shaped flanges 60, 62. The flanges 60, 62 are shaped to 
receive a lock 50 (FIG. 10) or other locking member when the handle 26 is 
in the closed position, but the flanges do not retain the lock 50 when the 
handle 26 is in the open position. Each flange 60, 62 is coupled to the 
bracket or member 30, and is generally shaped as an inverted "U". Each 
flange 60, 62 further has a cut-out 64, 66, each cut-out having an upper 
locking portion 68 (FIG. 11), 70 (FIG. 14). The flanges 60, 62 are spaced 
apart a sufficient distance so as to receive the actuating handle 26 
therebetween. The open indicia 32 and closed indicia 34 are located on the 
bracket 30. 
When the actuating handle 26 is in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 
10, the open indicia 32 is covered and the closed indicia 34 is visible. A 
padlock 50 may be passed through the locking portions 68, 70 of the 
cut-outs 64, 66. In this manner, the padlock 50 is retained between the 
handle 26 and the flanges 60, 62, thereby preventing axial rotation of the 
actuating handle 26. In contrast, when the actuating handle is in the open 
position, as shown in FIG. 9, there is no support below the flanges 60, 
62, for the locking member 50. Accordingly, the locking member cannot be 
retained in the bracket 30, and there is no impediment to the rotation of 
the handle 26 to the closed position. 
The preferred form of the valve has been described above. However, with the 
present disclosure in mind it is believed that obvious alterations to the 
preferred embodiments, to achieve comparable features and advantages in 
other assemblies, will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the 
art.