A pilot-operated gas pressure regulator with counterbalanced sleeve

Abstract: In a pilot-operated gas pressure regulator, each sleeve (9) fitted consists of a cylindrical element open at both ends so as to allow the inflow of gas at infeed pressure and leading into the related control head (11) in such a way that, in combination with a toroidal element (10) that makes a passage for the gas, it forms a sleeve (9) whose action is counterbalanced irrespective of variations in infeed pressure.

Description: The present invention relates to a pilot-operated gas regulator with counterbalanced sleeve. At present, gas pressure regulators, also known as gas pressure reducers, with "pilot-operated" gas flow, comprise a single body, usually made by casting and having the flanges for connecting the reducer to the high-pressure gas infeed pipe and to the user-pressure gas delivery pipe. This body houses the gas pressure regulation devices, such as the sleeves (one or, usually, two opposite one another, of which one is the main regulator and the other, usually known as "monitor" is a safety sleeve that comes into operation in the event of failure of the former) connected to a control head and to corresponding devices (such as the "pilot") to check gas pressure upstream and downstream of the regulator. Usually (see, for example, patent publication EP 683.444), the above mentioned sleeves are connected to the related control head which is equipped with a diaphragm, the latter being retained on both sides by movable plates and designed to divide the control head into two separate, sealed chambers so as to allow, through the pilot device, the inflow of the reducer drive fluid and the flow of gas at user pressure. Each sleeve consists basically of at least two elements: a cylinder that moves axially in both directions and a central stem connected at one end to the movable cylinder. The stem has axially fitted to it an assembly consisting of a plate and spring for adjusting the position of the cylinder relative to a sealed stop (called "pad" located opposite the cylinder) in accordance with the pressure in the control head: to achieve this, the other end of the cylinder is connected to the plate and diaphragm assembly. The stem also has a through duct made in it, one end of the duct leading to an area near the cylinder and the other end leading into a balancing chamber located in the control head at the user-pressure chamber. This duct is used for the high-pressure gas flow designed to balance sudden pressure changes downstream of the reducer that would cause undesired axial movements of the cylinder and, hence, incorrect pressure reduction of the incoming gas. The structure of this type of reducer is extremely complex, with a high number of large-sized movable parts and with a balancing system which, owing to the small size of the duct in the stem compared to the diameters of the gas passages in the reducer could in some cases be insufficient to keep the position of the sleeve stable in accordance with the pressures in play. With a view to making the components of gas pressure regulators, especially pilot-operated regulators, simpler and modular, the Applicant has invented and produced a pilot-operated gas pressure regulator as defined in claim 1 with a counterbalanced sleeve that is extremely simple in structure, reliable under steady-state operating conditions and capable of rapidly compensating sudden pressure variations created downstream of the reducer. The technical characteristics of the invention according to the above mentioned aims are described in the claims below and the advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which: Figure 1 shows a part of a gas pressure regulator made in accordance with the present invention, viewed in cross section; Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the pressure regulator made in accordance with the present invention, viewed in cross section. With reference to the accompanying drawings, the gas pressure regulator labelled 100 as a whole is of the pilot-operated type. The regulator comprises a body 1 with an inlet port 2, connected to a first pipe 3, for gas infeed at high pressure or infeed pressure, an outlet port 4 connected to a second pipe 5 (the pipes are drawn with dashed lines in the illustrations) for delivery of gas at user pressure, and at least one pair of auxiliary holes 6 and 7 located opposite each other. Each of the auxiliary holes 6 and 7 has fixed within it auxiliary means 8 for checking and regulating the gas flow (in the drawing only one of the means is shown, since the other is substantially the same, as described in more detail below). Each of the auxiliary means 8 consists of a sleeve 9, 9' placed partly inside the body 1 and able to move axially along the body (see arrow F1): as is well known, one of the sleeves reduces gas pressure, whilst the other comes into operation only if the former fails. For clarity and convenience, only one of the sleeves will be described here since the structures of the two sleeves are the same. The sleeve 9 is placed opposite a toroidal sealing element 10 forming a passage for the gas flowing through the body 1, said passage being closed or opened by moving the sleeve 9 respectively into contact with the circular edge of, and away from (as illustrated in Figure 1), the toroidal element 10. This passage allows the gas to flow from the first pipe 3 at infeed pressure to the second pipe 5 at user pressure, that is, at reduced pressure (see arrow F in Figure 1). As is also shown in Figure 1, the sleeve 9 is driven by a control head 11 consisting of two half bodies 12 and 13 flanged to each other and internally separated by a regulator diaphragm 14 retained by corresponding plates 15 and 16 which are, in turn, connected to the sleeve 9. The assembly consisting of the diaphragm 14 and plates 15 and 16 forms, within the control head 11, corresponding chambers 17 and 18 containing, respectively, the gas at user pressure and a pressure reducing drive fluid supplied by a "pilot" unit (not illustrated because it is of the known type and does not form part of the invention): thanks to this structure, the axial position of the sleeve 9 relative to the toroidal element 10 can be adjusted in accordance with the difference in the pressure of the two chambers 17 and 18. Still with reference to Figure 1, the sleeve 9 consists of a single cylindrical element open at both ends so as to allow the inflow of gas at infeed pressure and leading into the related control head 11; this structure, combined with the toroidal element 10, forms a sleeve 9 whose action is counterbalanced irrespective of variations in infeed pressure. The counterbalanced action is also achieved by the fact that the outside diameter D1 of the cylindrical element 9 is constant and equal to the drive diameter D2 of the cylindrical element on the circular sealing portion of the toroidal element 10. This makes it possible to equalize the different opening and closing forces acting on the cylindrical element due to variations in the gas infeed pressure. The numeral 19 in Figures 1 and 2 indicates sealing means placed between the cylindrical element 9 and an axial seat 20 in which the cylindrical element is housed. The means 19, which, in this preferred embodiment, consist of a conventional O-RING seal, are placed around the circular edge of the cylindrical element 9 and close to the retaining plates 15 and 16 of the regulator diaphragm. This prevents the inflowing gas from leaking into the chamber 17. During use, the cylindrical element 9 is surrounded by a second, fixed cylindrical element 21, connected to the control head 11 and protruding from the latter coaxially with the first cylindrical element 9 so as to act as a guide for the first cylindrical element. Obviously, as shown in Figure 1, if the regulator has two auxiliary means 8, the sleeve 9 described up to now is combined with another sleeve fitted substantially symmetrically at the other auxiliary hole 7 where there is a cylindrical element 9' (illustrated partially), controlled by a similar control head (not illustrated) and placed coaxially opposite the other cylindrical element 9. Hence, the sleeves 9 and 9' are located in opposite sides of the toroidal element 10. Each cylindrical element 9 and 9' therefore acts on a corresponding circular sealing face 10a and 10b of the toroidal element 10. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, each of the opposite sleeves 9a and 9b envisaged on the regulator is equipped with a pad P mounting head 30 that is screwed onto the free end of the corresponding cylindrical element 9a and 9b, while the toroidal element 10 is simply equipped with ring-shaped stop elements 31 opposite the corresponding pad P. Configuring the cylindrical elements 9a and 9b in this way does not substantially change the design and operation of the simplified embodiment described above, since the pad P mounting head 30 has a central through hole 32 designed to allow gas to flow into the cylindrical elements 9a and 9b at infeed pressure. Like the simplified embodiment described above, the outside diameter D1 of each cylindrical element 9a and 9b is constant and equal to the drive diameter D2 of the cylindrical element. In this case, the pad P, on the circular edge of the ring-shaped stop element 31. As in the previous case, this makes it possible to equalize the different opening and closing forces acting on the cylindrical element due to variations in the gas infeed pressure. A sleeve made in this way achieves the above mentioned aims thanks to its simple, economical construction which does not reduce the reliability of the regulator as a whole and appreciably increases its overall efficiency. The invention described can be subject to modifications and variations.

Claims: A pilot-operated gas pressure regulator comprising a body (1) with an inlet port (2), connected to a first pipe (3), for gas infeed at high pressure or infeed pressure, an outlet port (4) connected to a second.pipe (5) for delivery of gas at user pressure, and at least one pair of auxiliary holes (6, 7) located opposite each other and each having fixed within it auxiliary means (8) for monitoring and regulating the gas pressure; at least one of the auxiliary means (8) consisting of a sleeve (9) protruding partly into and able to move axially within the body (1), one end of the sleeve (9) being located opposite a toroidal valve seat element (10) located in the body (1) and forming a passage for the gas flowing through the body (1), said passage being closed or opened by moving the sleeve (9) respectively into contact with and away from the circular edge of the toroidal valve seat element (10) to allow the gas to flow from the first pipe (3) at infeed pressure to the second pipe (5) at user pressure; said sleeve (9) being driven by the auxiliary means (8) in the form of a control head (11) consisting of two half bodies (12, 13) flanged to each other and internally separated by a regulator diaphragm (14) retained by corresponding plates (15, 16) connected to the sleeve (9) to form corresponding chambers (17, 18) containing, respectively, the gas, at user pressure (17) and a pressure reducing drive fluid (18) supplied by a pilot unit, so as to enable the axial position of the sleeve (9) to be adjusted in accordance with the difference in the pressure of the two chambers (17,18); the regulator being characterized in that the sleeve (9) comprises a cylindrical element open at both ends so as to allow the inflow, into the sleeve (9), of gas at infeed pressure and the leading of said gas into the related control head (11) whereby the sleeve (9) is driven solely via the connection between the plates (15, 16) and the sleeve (9) itself wherein the action of the sleeve (9) in combination with the toroidal valve seat element (10) is counterbalanced irrespective of variations in infeed pressure. The regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that the outside diameter (D1) of the sleeve (9) is constant and equal to the drive diameter (D2) of the cylindrical element on the circular sealing portion of the toroidal valve seat element (10). The regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that the sleeve (9) is made in one piece. The regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least two similar auxiliary means (8) consisting of said sleeves (9, 9') coaxial to and opposite one another and placed on opposite sides of the toroidal valve seat element (10); each sleeves (9, 9') acting on a corresponding circular sealing face (10a, 10b) of the toroidal valve seat element (10). The regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises sealing means (19) between the sleeve (9) and an axial seat (20) in which the cylindrical element is housed; said sealing means (19) being placed around the circular edge of the cylindrical element (9) and close to the retaining plates (15, 16) of the regulator diaphragm. The regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a second, fixed cylindrical element (21) connected to the control head (11) and protruding from the latter coaxially with the first sleeve (9) so as to act as a guide for the first cylindrical element. The regulator according to claim 1, characterized in that the free end of the first sleeve (9a) has a head (30) that mounts a sealing pad (P) designed to come into contact with a corresponding ring-shaped stop element (31) on the toroidal valve seat element (10); the head (30) being screwed onto the sleeve (9a) and equipped with a central through hole designed to allow the gas to flow through at infeed pressure.

Inventors: TARTARINI ROBERTO, TARTARINI, ROBERTO
Applicants: O M T OFFICINAMECCANICA TARTAR, O.M.T. OFFICINAMECCANICA TARTARINI S.P.A.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: G05D16
IPC codes: G05D16