CHANNEL PROVIDED WITH A VALVE

Abstract: Channel provided with a valve which can pivot about a pivot axis between an open position and a closed position, whilst sealing means are provided on walls of the channel which in the closed position of the valve co-operate with circumferential edges of the valve extending along the sealing means, characterized in that a sealing means is formed by a strip consisting of resilient material, said strip having a central part with a curved cross-section and, on both sides of said central part, edge parts joining said central part, by means of which edge parts the strip is mounted on a wall of the channel by means of fixing means in such a way that an edge part can be adjusted transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip and locked in a desired position.

Description: The invention relates to a channel provided with a valve which can pivot about a pivot axis between an open position and a closed position, whilst sealing means are provided on walls of the channel which in the closed position of the valve co-operate with circumferential edges of the valve extending along the sealing means. Such channels are e.g. used for the transport of gasses which may have a high temperature, such as e.g. hot flue gasses. A problem that occurs hereby is obtaining a good sealing of the gap which in the closed position of the valve is present between the circumferential edges of the valve and the walls of the channel in question. In many cases sealing means made of a cord of glass fibre or ceramic fibre are used for this pupose. Such a fibre cord, however, is practically unelastic and becomes embrittled at high temperatures. A further problem that occurs hereby, especially with hot gasses, is that on putting such an installation comprising a channel with a valve into operation the temperature of the valve usually increases faster than that of the channel at the start, so that, as a result of the increase in the temperature the valve initially expands more strongly than the channel, whilst at a later point of time also the channel will expand, so that large variations in the gap width between the circumferential edge of the valve and the walls of the channel may occur during operation. According to the invention a sealing means is formed by a strip consisting of resilient material, said strip having a central part with a curved cross-section and, on both sides of said central part, edge parts joining said central part, by means of which edge parts the strip is provided on a wall of the channel by means of fixing means in such a way that an edge part can be adjusted transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip and locked in a desired position. By using the construction according to the invention an effectively operating sealing means can be obtained, which, because of its resilient nature and configuration, can adjust well to e.g. variations in the gap between the circumferential edge of the valve and the wall of a channel caused by temperature fluctuations. On closing the valve the circumferential edge of the valve will furthermore move along the central part and press it down a little, as a result of which also an effective removal of any particles deposited on said parts is effected, which will promote a good sealing. When the sealing means is being mounted it will moreover be easy, because of the method of mounting that has been chosen, to adjust said sealing means, in particular its central part, to possible variations in the width of the gap present between the circumferential edge of the valve and the wall of the channel in the closed position of the valve. The invention will be further explained hereinafter with reference to a few embodiments of the construction according to the invention diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying figures. Fig 1 diagrammatically illustrates an arrangement of a valve according to the invention. Fig 2 illustrates on a larger scale an end of a valve with a sealing means co-operating therewith. Fig 3 illustrates a section of a further embodiment according to the invention corresponding with fig. 2. Fig 4 diagrammatically illustrates a section of a shaft support for a valve, seen according to the line IV - IV in fig 5, whereby for the sake of clarity various parts are illustrated at some distance from one another. Fig 5 is a view of fig 4, seen according to the arrow V in fig 4. Fig. 6 is a section of fig 5, seen according to the line VI - VI in fig 5, whereby in fig 6 some parts are again illustrated at some distance from one another for the sake of clarity. Fig 1 diagrammatically illustrates a valve 1, which in this embodiment is provided with a pair of rectangular plate-shaped parts 2 and 3 extending parallel to each other. The valve 2 is rotatably supported in a frame 5 by means of a shaft 4, which frame is intended for being mounted in a channel for the passage of gasses such as flue gasses, such that the inner boundary walls 6 of said frame 5 will form part of the inner walls of the channel in question. The valve 1 is adjustable, by means of adjusting means (not shown), between an open position, in which the gasses can freely flow through the channel in question, and a closed position, in which the valve must close off the passage through the channel. For sealing the gaps between the circumferential edges of the valve 1 in the closed position and the inner wall 6 of the relevant channel use is made of a sealing means 7. Such a sealing means is formed by a strip-shaped part made of resilient material, e.g. spring steel, whose longitudinal axis in the closed position of the valve extends parallel to the circumferential edge of the valve located opposite said strip-shaped part. The strip-shaped part thereby has a central part 8 having a curved cross-section and at both sides of said central part edge parts 9 and 10 joining the central part, said edge parts being fixed to the frame 5 and the wall of the channel respectively by means of regularly spaced bolts 11 and 12 respectively. Supporting strips 13 and 14 respectively are thereby provided between the inner wall 6 and the edge parts 9 and 10, the facing edge parts 15 and 16 respectively of said supporting strips extending under the ends of the curved central part joining the edge parts 9 and 10. The space bounded by the sealing means and the inner wall 6 of the channel is furthermore filled with an insulating material 8′, such as e.g. glass wool, which prevents dust from entering said space during operation. If dust can enter said space namely and adhere therein the resilient action of the curved central part 8 of the sealing means 7 may be undone with the lapse of time. As furthermore appears from fig 2 the bolts 11 and 12 are passed through holes 17 and 18 respectively provided in the wall of the channel and in the frame 5 respectively, whereby the holes 18 are constructed as slotted holes extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the elongated sealing means. Because of this it is possible, when the sealing means is fixed to the wall of the channel, to adjust the curvature of the curved central part to the width of the gap present between the relevant circumferential edge of the valve 1 and the opposite inner wall 6 of the channel by displacing the bolts 12 in the slotted holes 18, so that manufacturing tolerances and the like can be taken up easily. Furthermore, when the sealing elements are mounted the sealing elements extending parallel to the pivot axis 4 are first provided on the wall parts located opposite each other. After these opposing sealing elements have been mounted the valve is pivoted into the closed position, whereby the circumferential edges of the valve 1 co-operating with said sealing elements will press down a little the curved central parts of said sealing means 7. Then the sealing elements, which must be mounted on the opposing wall parts supporting the shaft 4 are made to fit and mounted, so that it is ensured that there will be no leak slits at the joining ends of the walls 6 of the channel arranged perpendicularly to each other. It will be apparent that when a valve is closed the circumferential edges of the valve will brush against the curved central parts 8, whereby any particles from the gasses conveyed through the channel which adhere to said central parts and/or to the edges will be struck off and at the same time the central parts will be pressed down resiliently, as a result of which a good sealing between the central parts of the sealing means and the circumferential edges of the valve will be effected. Fig 3 illustrates a further possible embodiment of the construction according to the invention. Those parts which correspond with the parts discussed and illustrated in the figs 1 and 2 are provided with the same reference numbers as used in said figures. Fig 3 illustrates an embodiment of a valve 1′, whereby one of the plates 3′ forming part of the valve protrudes from the plate 2′ forming the other part of the valve at two opposing sides of the valve, so that at two opposing circumferential edges of the valve only the circumferential edges of the plate 3′ touch the curved central parts 8 of the sealing means in the closed position of the valve. For the rest the operation of this construction corresponds with that of the embodiment first described. In the figs 4 - 6 the construction of the sealing means near a valve axis 4 is illustrated. As further appears from these figures a sealing means which extends along a wall part through which the shaft 4 is passed is constructed from a pair of strips 7′ and 7″, whose configuration is the same as that of a strip 7. In the end of the strip-shaped part 7″ directed towards the shaft 4 there is provided a slotted hole 20, so that the end of said strip-shaped part 7″ extends beyond the shaft 4 at both sides, as will be apparent especially from fig 5. The end of the strip 7′ directed towards the shaft thereby overlaps the parts of the strip 7′ extending beyond the shaft 4. A ring 21 slid round the shaft 4 extends over the partly overlapping ends of the strips 7′ and 7″. Thus, using a sealing means according to the invention, an effective sealing has been realised also at the passage of a shaft 4 through the wall of the channel, whereby the two strips 7 and 7′ can freely expand in longitudinal direction when there are temperature fluctuations. It will be apparent that additions and/or alterations to the construction described hereinabove and illustrated in the figures will be possible within the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus it will be possible to provide slotted holes in one or both of the edge parts 9 and 10 of the strip 7 (7′, 7″), instead of the slotted holes 18 in the wall parts of the channel. Although fig 1 illustrates a valve whereby the shaft 4 is provided near the centre of the valve it will also be possible to provide the shaft near a boundary edge of the valve. Furthermore it will be possible to provide several rotatable valves for closing the passage in the channel, whereby in the closed position of the valves the facing ends of adjacent valves will overlap each other. At least one of the two overlapping edges may thereby be provided with a similar sealing means as described hereinabove.

Claims: 1.Channel provided with a valve which can pivot about a pivot axis between an open position and a closed position, whilst sealing means are provided on walls of the channel which in the closed position of the valve co-operate with circumferential edges of the valve extending along the sealing means, characterized in that a sealing means is formed by a strip consisting of resilient material, said strip having a central part with a curved cross-section and, on both sides of said central part, edge parts joining said central part, by means of which edge parts the strip is mounted on a wall of the channel by means of fixing means in such a way that an edge can be adjusted transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip and locked in a desired position. 2. Channel according to claim 1, characterized in that an edge part of the strip is fixed by means of bolts which extend through slotted holes extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip. 3. Channel according to claim 2, characterized in that the slotted holes are provided in the wall of the channel. 4. Channel according to claim 2, characterized in that the slotted holes are provided in at least one edge part of the strip. 5. Channel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the space located between the central part of the strip and the wall of the channel is filled with a compressible insulating material. 6. Channel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at the spot of the passage of a shaft supporting the valve there are provided a pair of strips whose ends overlap each other, whilst in at least one of said strips there is provided a slotted hole for accommodating the shaft. 7. Channel according to any one of the preceding claims, whereby several co-operating valves are provided in the channel, such that in the closed position of the valves the facing edges of two adjacent valves overlap each other, characterized in that at least one of the overlapping edges is provided with a sealing means according to any one of the preceding claims. 8. Method for mounting sealing means in a channel according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that first the sealing means extending parallel to the shaft of the valve are mounted on the opposing walls of the channel, after which the valve is put into its closed position and then the sealing means, to be mounted between the end of the sealing means already mounted, are made to fit in order to fill the space between the sealing means pressed down by the valve in its closed position.

Inventors: KOUDIJS, PHILIP RIJK
Applicants: KOUDIJS, PHILIP RIJK
Application year: 1987
Main classification: F16K1
IPC codes: F16K1