STOP-COCK COVER AND EXTENSION RING THEREFOR

Abstract: When laying out a new road surface it is difficult to perform a raising of the stop-cock covers situated in or below the road surface, as the upper covers (8) after the laying out should also be situated in the actual road surface. It is already known that for the raising of the upper cover (8) it is easier to make use of an extension ring (14) which is placed on the top of the stop-cock housing (4), but it has been found that with the known methods of stabilizing the extension ring no satisfactory securing of this ring is obtained. By the invention is provided a simple system in which the extension ring (14) can be effectively locked to the top of the housing (4), viz. by a bayonet-like locking engagement (20, 22, 26), and the upper cover (8) is used to arresting the bayonet locking engagement by its lowering onto the extension ring, by means of outer rib portions (34), which at the sides of a plug portion (12) depending from the cover are guided down into engagement with flushing holding grooves (32, 22) in the extension ring (14) and in the top portion of the stop-cock cover housing (4).

Description: Stop-cock cover and extension ring therefor. The present invention relates to a stop-cock cover or a corresponding covering device, which, usually in a roadway, provides an inlet passage between the upper rim of a valve well and an upper access opening having a removeable cover. In roadways it is essential that this cover is situated at road surface level and is fairly easily removeable despite being tightly enclosed by the road surface. The upper end of the valve well normally lies somewhat below the road surface and as a connection element is used a stop-cock cover, which is a comparati¬ vely heavy cast iron structure in the form of an upward¬ ly slightly converging pipe piece, which at its bottom has a protruding collar for placing on the upper rim of the valve well and at the top has a mouthing for suppor¬ ting the upper, removeable cover. This cover structure is mounted on the well prior to the laying out of the road surface or before a local digging up of the lane, and at the laying out or a local re-establishment of the road surface it is ensured that this is laid right up _to-- the rim of the upper cover. The cover may be bottom swaged in the mouthing of the cover structure such that also the top of the latter is flush with the road sur¬ face, while the cover is easier to remove, because it is in no direct holding engagement with the road surface. It is a well-known situation that it can be desir¬ able to raise the level of the stop-cock cover or pri¬ marily the level of the upper cover, viz. when laying on a new road surface, and this, of course, can be carried out by uncovering the stop-cock cover and remount it in the raised position with suitable distance means in¬ serted between the well rim and the lower collar of the cover structure or housing. However, this is an exten¬ sive task, which calls for local breaking up and re- establishment of the road, and it is an immediately simpler solution to make use of an extension ring at the top of the housing, such that the upper cover may be supported by the extension ring in the required new height; hereby the raising may be performed without breaking up the road and ideally without changing the least in the road surface, as the extension ring can have the same outer diameter as the top of the housing or the upper cover, respectively. Practice, however, has shown that the use of these extension rings is not particularly popular with the specialists concerned, for which reason they are used only as an exception. The problem is that the rings tend to move at the rather heavy influence as occuring espe¬ cially from heavy traffic and in connection with frost and thaw. An associated problem is that the upper cover must be retained entirely stable from random pulling up, e.g. already at the passing of lorry wheels which may cause a heavy suction effect on the covers. Hereby a certain side force on the covers may also occur, and for the achievement of a good stability the covers should not only have a substantial weight, but also be lateral-" ly supported by the extension ring, which will hereby be subjected to extra heavy forces. The object of the invention is to provide a stop¬ cock cover with an associated extension ring, which is well suited to be placed on the cover housing in a stable manner, and where the various elements still are well suited to be produced as castings, and besides are handy in a very simple manner for the achievement of the stable engagement. According to the invention this is achieved by the the extension ring being shaped with a number of lower, downwardly and outwardly protruding gudgeons which by the placing of the extension ring on the top of the cover housing can be led down into respective bayonet lock grooves provided in the upper part of the inner side of the housing in such a manner that the extension ring can be placed in its position supported by the top of the housing and then be turned into a locked position in which it is prevented from being pulled up, the hold¬ ing crooks at the same time at least contributing to support the extension ring in the transverse directions in the top part of the housing, the downwardly protrud¬ ing, cylindrical plug portion of the upper cover being provided with longitudinal side grooves which at the lowering of the cover can accommodate the basic parts of the holding crooks, which are inwardly projecting rela¬ tive the inner side of the extension ring. Thus the invention requires a specially designed extension ring and modified designs of both the cover housing and the upper cover, but it is a matter of quite coarse special shapes, which neither casting technically nor in other ways give rise to particular problems. The extension ring can be mounted in a quite simple manner by being lowered and modestly turned, and with regard to sight the ring will not cause any significant reduction of the clear at the top of the cover housing as the crooks at. • - their rear sides need only be slightly inwardly project¬ ing into the usual clear. The cover can still both be supported and roughly tighten against the inner side of the housing top and against the inner sides of the ex¬ tension rings, and both the extension ring and the cover will be effectively supported in the lateral di¬ rections. Hereby it is even a separate advantage that a kind of engagement is provided between the grooves in the outer wall of the cover plug and the reverse of the crooks of the locked extension ring, and this additional engagement will make it more difficult to accidentally pull up the cover, e.g. by suction from a passing wheel. The cover will be just as easy to remove by a pure lift¬ ing, but a minor wryness in the pulling up may cause the said groove engagement to yield an extra pulling up friction or edging locking. In adverse circumstances such effects on the cover may occur in the course of time that the cover, which, of course, via said groove engagement is non-turnably connected with the extension ring, will co-turn this ring to the position in which it is removable from its lock-engagement with the cover housing. For this reason it can be advantageous to clamp the extension ring to the cover housing in its locked position, and according to the invention this can be effected in an especially simple manner by utilizing the cover plug at its lower¬ ing to cause a turning locking between the cover housing and the extension ring, viz. by establishing a tongue and groove connection between on one side the cover top and on the other side the unit constituted by the hous¬ ing and the extension ring, which is placed thereon and turned to locked position. In the inner walls of the cover housing and the extension ring is preferably pro¬ vided one or more axial grooves, which in the locked final position of the extension ring flush with one another, while the cover plug correspondingly comprises one or more projecting rib portions, which then at the placing of the cover projects down through these grooves to effective turning locking of both the extension ring and the cover relative the cover housing. It will be appreciated that also this effect is achievable through quite rough and simple means. The invention is described in more detail in the following with reference to the drawing, in which:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stop-cock cover with extension ring, Fig. 2 is a corresponding view for further illu¬ stration of the inventioan and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the extension ring as seen from above. The stop-cock cover shown in Fig. 1 is constituted by a cover housing portion 2, which is a cast member, comprising a conical tube portion 4 with a lower, out¬ wardly projecting collar flange 6, and an upper cover 8 having a top plate portion 10 and a cylindrical plug portion 12 depending therefrom. This cover can be put down in the upper end of the cover housing 4, but as said it may be advantageous to insert an extension ring between these parts, and such an extension ring is shown by 14 resting on the top of the housing 4. The housing 4 is placed with the lower flange 6 resting against the upper rim of a valve well 16, which e.g. may be a con¬ crete pipe. The part of the cover plate 10 projecting beyond the cylindrical plug portion 12 is at its lower side shaped outwardly and upwardly inclined, and the upper rims of both the cover housing 4 and the extension ring 14 is shaped with a corresponding conicity, such that the cover plate 10 is supported in a centered manner and such that it does not need to be upwardly protruding from the said upper rims, i.e. a surrounding road sur¬ face can fit the stop-cock cover tightly without ob¬ structing the removal of the upper cover. The known main layout of a stop-cock cover is main¬ tained in principle by the invention such that the posi¬ tion of the upper cover 8 may be raised by inserting an extension ring 14 between this cover and the cover hous¬ ing 4. However, as shown in Fig. 2 the extension ring 14 is provided with some crooks 16 which are downwardly projecting from the inner side of the extension ring by a shaft portion 18, which has a certain thickness rear¬ wards or inwards towards the centre of the extension ring, and which at the bottom continues in an outwardly projecting hook portion 20. This portion, however, is only projecting to approximately half the casting thick- ness of the extension ring, the diameter and thickness of which otherwise correspond with the top of the cover housing 4. In the innerside of this cover housing top vertical groove portions 22 are provided, which can accommodate the hook portions 20 at the lowering of the extension ring on the housing top and which continue into a lower widening or recess 24 in the inner wall of the housing 4, down below an upper recess rim 26. This rim extends in the rotational direction towards the right to a ver¬ tical rib 28, which seen in this rotational direction is situated immediately in front of the next groove portion 22. It will be understood that the extension ring 14 can hereby be lowered onto the top of the housing 4 by guiding down of the hooks 20 in the grooves 22, after which the extension ring can be turned until the hooks 20 hit the respective ribs 28, whereby the extension ring will be effectively secured against being pulled up from the housing 4, while the extension ring will con¬ stitute an upward extension of the top part of this housing 4. Hereby an extension ring of such height may be chosen that it corresponds to the required raising of the upper cover 8. The engaging portions 16,18,20 are rearwardly or inwardly projecting into the lowering path of the cover 8, and since the latter is desired to project quite far downwardly the outer side of the plug portion 12 of the cover is provided with vertical grooves 30, which at the following lowering of the cover can pass down along the inwardly protruding projections 18, while, moreover, the plug portion concerned coarsely tightens against the inner side of both the extension ring 14 and the top of the housing 4. The recess rim 26 will render it impos¬ sible for the extension ring to be lifted from the established engagement with the top of the housing 4, and the extension ring 14 will be securely supported against the inner wall of this top portion in the hori¬ zontal plane. An axial groove 32 is provided in the inner side of the extension ring 14 at two opposed places, these grooves being placed such that after the insertion and the locking rotation of the extension ring 14 they will be flush with a couple of the grooves 22 in the inner wall of the upper end of the housing 4. Correspondingly the cover plug 12 is provided with some projecting ribs 34, which at the lowering of the cover 8 will pass through the flush grooves 32 and 22 and thereby obstruct a mutual turning occurring among the cover, the exten¬ sion ring and the housing in the assembled condition. As the housing 4 is securely anchored in the road surface this will, in fact, mean that by affection of the cover 8 no unintended situation will be caused, by which the extension ring 14 is turned to a releaseable position relative the housing 4. At its upper side the cover 8 is provided with a central indentation 36 having a transverse peg 38, by the aid of which the cover may be caught and lifted with a suitable tool, but of course the cover may be arranged such as to be taken up in any other manner. By way of example the lower side of the cover or the upper side of the housing top, respectively of the extension ring, may have an outwardly open, radial groove - as shown by 40 - in which a pole tool may be inserted for initial raising of the cover. It should be noted that the rotational locking of the extension ring may also be brought about by means of the grooves 30 in the cover 10,12, viz. if at the inner side of the housing 4 there are proveded inwardly pro¬ truding knobs underneath the end positions of the lock crooks 16.

Claims: C L A I M S : 1. A stop-cock cover or a corresponding covering device comprising a tubular, preferably conical housing portion (2) for upright mounting e.g. at the upper rim of a valve well in a roadway, and an upper cover (8) with a cover plate (10) and a cylindrical plug portion (12) depending therefrom, and an extension ring (14) for placing between the housing por tion (2,4) and the cover (8) , characterized in that the extension ring (14) is provided with a number of lower, downwardly and outward¬ ly protruding crooks (16,20) which can co-operate with corresponding bayonet lock grooves (22,24) provided in the inner side of the upper end of the housing portion, these crooks inwardly having rear portions (18) projec¬ ting into the clear of the extension ring (14) , and that in the cylindrical plug portion of the cover there are provided longitudinal groove means (30) for accommoda¬ tion of the rear portions (18) of the crooks (16) when the cover (8) is lowered onto the extension ring (14) . 2. A stop-cock cover according to claim 1, charac¬ terized in that in the inner side of both the extension ring (14) and the upper part of the housing (2) there are provided substantially vertical grooves (32,22) , which two by two flush with one another when the exten¬ sion ring is lowered and turned to a locked position on the housing portion, and in that the plug portion (12) of the cover is provided with correspondingly placed, projecting ribs (34) to be guided downwardly into these grooves. 3. A stop-cock cover according to claim 2, charac¬ terized in that the vertical grooves in the upper part of the housing portion are identical with the downward guiding bayonet lock grooves (32) .

Inventors: JOERGENSEN KNUD ERIK, KOBBERUP JENS, PEDERSEN PER NORMANN LUND, JOERGENSEN, KNUD, ERIK, KOBBERUP, JENS, PEDERSEN, PER, NORMANN, LUND
Applicants: HOLSTEBRO JERNSTOEBERI A S, HOLSTEBRO JERNSTOEBERI A/S
Application year: 1988
Main classification: E03B7
IPC codes: E02D29, E03B9