Abstract:
A valve assembly, including a quarter turn ball valve, an insert carried by the valve housing, and a flange, rotatably carried on the insert. The flange is used to secure the valve assembly in a fluid system and the assembly and disassembly of the valve assembly is facilitated by the adjustable position of the flange.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/337,498 (pending), which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention is in the field of valves, and specifically relates to adjustable flanges for securing isolation valves in a fluid system.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The use of circulator pumps to move fluid in closed-loop hot water systems is widespread. When a circulator pump needs to be temporarily removed from the system for repair, replacement, or maintenance, the system must be opened to the atmosphere. This procedure may require the system to be shut down and completely, or at least partially, drained before the pump can be removed. Depending on the size of the system, draining and then refilling can be a time consuming process. Additionally, shutting down the system during this time may be undesirable.  
           [0004]    [0004]FIG. 3 illustrates the use of isolation valves  300  to isolate circulator pump  302  from the remainder of the fluid carrying system  304 . The use of isolation valves  300  at both the input and the output sides of circulator pump  302  allows the pump to be removed by draining only the pump itself and possibly short connecting pipes. The valves are closed and then the pump can be drained, uncoupled from the system, and removed. The remainder of the system  304  is not drained and may even continue operating at a reduced level with a second pump on a separate loop. In modern installations of hydronic heating systems, such use of isolation valves is common.  
           [0005]    Many of the fluid system components for which the use of isolation valves is desirable are heavy and/or cumbersome and in many applications may be located in areas with little space. This may make removal and replacement of these components difficult. Therefore, it is desirable that the process of coupling and uncoupling the isolation valves to the system component be as simple as possible. Mating flanges are commonly used to couple isolation valves to the system components. In order to couple the component to the isolation valves, the bolt holes in the mating flanges must be matched up accurately. This may be difficult in tight spaces with heavy, cumbersome components.  
           [0006]    The considerations leading to the desirability of isolation valves are not particular to hot water systems, but they may also be important in systems such as hydraulic (oil) systems, potable water systems, sewage treatment systems, refrigeration systems, and numerous industrial plumbing systems in chemical, and other, manufacturing facilities. In some cases the considerations may be even more important than in hot water systems due to the danger and/or expense attendant to handling the fluids contained within the systems during draining of the fluid. The same considerations also exist for other discreet components in fluid carrying systems, such as filters, hot water heaters, heat exchangers, etc. Therefore, it may also be desirable to couple these other discreet components into their respective fluid carrying systems with isolation valves.  
           [0007]    It is desirable for an isolation valve to be designed so that the valve may be simply set in a fully closed or a fully open position. It is also desirable that the condition of the isolation valve (either open or closed) be obvious. If it is not clear whether the valve is open or closed, removal of the isolated component may be attempted with an isolation valve only partially closed, which may lead to leakage of fluid from the system or contamination of the system. Quarter turn ball valves with straight handles have two clearly identifiable positions 90° apart, fully open and fully closed, which may be easily noted by the handle position, parallel to the fluid flow for open and perpendicular to the fluid flow for closed. Valve stops prohibit the quarter turn ball valve from rotating beyond these positions. Therefore, a quarter turn ball valve is preferred for use as an isolation valve.  
           [0008]    One isolation valve design has a quarter turn ball valve with a cast flange rigidly integrated into the body of the valve for coupling the isolation valve onto a mating flange of the system component. Although this design desirably includes an easily operated valve design and relatively simple manufacture, the rigid integration of the cast flange requires greater accuracy in order to properly couple the mating flanges. Another design includes a free-floating flange, which is allowed to rotate relative to the valve, but this design includes a ball valve that is allowed to rotate 360° and is operated with either a screwdriver or an alien wrench rather than a handle like a standard quarter turn ball valve. This design makes it difficult to determine with certainty if the isolation valve is fully closed, or fully open.  
           [0009]    Traditionally, water heating systems were gravity fed. In other words, because hot water weighs less than cold water, the theory of gravity feed is that the hot water rises to the top of the equipment thereby heating terminal units along the way. However, gravity flow, also referred to as ghost flow, is undesirable for contemporary water heating systems as it leads to overheating of zones.  
           [0010]    Currently, many water heating systems include flow control valves to prevent gravity flow. Without flow control valves, uncontrollable heating of zones in a building may occur. When the system pump is off, the flow control valve is closed, thereby preventing the flow of unwanted hot water past the valve. When the pump turns on, the pressure developed by the pump opens the valve and permits water to flow past it.  
           [0011]    These flow control valves are additional components in the heating system that are themselves expensive and add the additional expense of installation. There is a need for an improved, easy-to-install valve assembly that provides fluid isolation and prevents gravity flow in a fluid system.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    An embodiment of the present invention comprises an isolation valve assembly including a quarter turn ball valve, an insert, and a flange. The quarter turn ball valve includes a housing having inlet and outlet ports. The insert includes a cylindrical body having an axial flow channel. One end of the insert body is coupled to one of the ports of the quarter turn ball valve and the other end of the insert body has a flared lip. The flange has a circular hole, the diameter of which is greater than that of the insert body. The flange is rotatably carried on the outer surface of the insert and is retained thereon by the lip. The flange is also formed with holes adapted to cooperate with fasteners to secure the valve in a piping system.  
           [0013]    Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a valve assembly including a ball valve and a check valve. The ball valve includes a valve housing having an inlet port and an outlet port and a valve member adapted to control flow therethrough. The check valve prevents fluid flow from the inlet port to the outlet port when an associated fluid system is unpressurized. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    The invention is best understood from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing. It is emphasized that, according to common practice, the various features of the drawing may not be to scale and that the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Included in the drawing are the following figures:  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of an isolation valve assembly with an adjustable flange according to the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the isolation valve assembly shown in FIG. 1A in its assembled condition.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2A is a front plan drawing one embodiment of a rotatable flange according to the present invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2B is a front plan drawing another embodiment of a rotatable flange according to the present invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2C is a front plan drawing the rotatable flange shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1A.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2D is a front plan drawing still another embodiment of a rotatable flange according to the present invention.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the use of isolation valves in a fluid carrying system.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of another embodiment of an isolation valve assembly with a check valve according to the present invention, configured to be installed on the discharge side of a system component that requires removal.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the isolation valve assembly shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 is a cutaway perspective view of two isolation valve assemblies, one of which is similar to that shown in FIG. 4, and the other configured to be installed on the suction side of a system component that requires removal. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0025]    [0025]FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a valve assembly in accordance with an embodiment of this invention. This valve assembly includes a valve  98 , insert  102 , and rotatable flange  106 . Valve  98  includes a valve body  100  and, as will be understood, both the valve and insert  102  are necessarily in contact with the fluid during operation of the associated fluid system. Therefore, it is desirable for these two parts of the valve assembly to be formed of a material that is unlikely to interact significantly with or contaminate the fluid. For example, in a potable water system valve body  100  and insert  102  may be desirably formed of brass.  
         [0026]    The valve  98  is a quarter turn ball valve of any usual construction and, thus, its inner parts are not shown. The housing  100  is formed with inlet and outlet ports and includes a hollow, substantially cylindrical portion aligned with the direction of the fluid flow and forming a flow channel in which a valve seat is formed. Although this substantially cylindrical portion of valve body  100  is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B as having a circular cross-section, it is contemplated that a section of this portion may have a polygonal exterior surface  101  to accommodate a wrench for coupling valve housing  100  to insert  102  and/or a pipe in the fluid system.  
         [0027]    The housing  100  is also formed with a raised cylindrical portion for accommodating the valve mechanism. Stem  108  of the valve extends through this cylindrical housing portion and is connected to handle  110  for opening and closing the valve. Handle  110  is coupled to valve stem  108  by a fastener  112  and includes a skirt  111  extending down the side of the raised cylindrical portion of the housing  100 . Shoulders  113  (only one of which is shown) are formed on the raised cylindrical portion and are spaced apart by ninety degrees (90°). The skirt  111  and the shoulders  113  serve to limit the rotation of the handle  110  and thus the valve member between its open and closed position. Any suitable rotation limiting arrangement can be used. Other standard methods to couple handle  110  to valve stem  108  may be used as well.  
         [0028]    Similar to the isolation valves  300  shown in FIG. 3, the valves  98  are coupled to a pipe system so that once the valves are closed, the component coupled between them may be removed for maintenance, repair, replacement, inspection, etc., without requiring the rest of the system to be drained, or shut down. The interior of one of the inlet or outlet ports, here the inlet port, is internally threaded (adjacent the polygonal exterior  101 ) so that the valve assembly can be screwed onto a threaded pipe in the associated fluid system. Alternatively, this port interior may be press fitted and/or sweat soldered, or may include a standard coupling flange.  
         [0029]    The other port, the outlet port in this embodiment, is coupled to insert  102 . Insert  102  has a hole running axially therethrough, functioning as a fluid flow channel  109  that is aligned with the flow channel in the valve housing  100 . Insert  102  is shown to have an externally threaded circular section  103  and a polygonal interior section  105  to accommodate a wrench for coupling insert  102  to valve housing  100 . The outlet port of valve housing  100  is internally threaded to allow coupling with the threaded section  103  of the insert. Alternatively, the threaded section of insert  102  may be designed to slide into the valve housing body and once inserted may be secured by sweat soldering or other usual means. Press fitting of insert  102  into the aperture of valve body  100  may also be possible.  
         [0030]    Before coupling insert  102  to valve housing  100 , the threaded end  103  of insert  102  is slipped through the central hole  115  formed in rotatable flange  106 . The diameter of hole  115  is such that it snugly, but rotatably fits on the exterior of the insert. The other end of insert  102 , that is, the end with the polygonal section  105 , includes lip  104 . Lip  104  is an annular flange that extends beyond the outer surface of the insert  102  and provides an abutment that serves to prevent rotatable flange  106  from being removed from the assembled valve assembly. Although lip  104  is shown to have a circular cross-section in the embodiment of FIGS. 1A and 1B, it is contemplated that this lip may have other cross-sections and that it need not be continuous. It could include a series of spaced apart fingers that engage the insert.  
         [0031]    FIGS.  2 A-D illustrate end views of four embodiments of rotatable flanges that may be used in the present invention. FIG. 2A shows a four point star shaped flange with one bolt hole  116  in each point of the star. FIG. 2B shows a circular flange with four bolt holes  116  equally spaced around the flange. FIG. 2C shows the diamond shaped flange shown as part of the valve assembly shown in FIG. 1A-C. This diamond shaped flange has two bolt holes  116  located symmetrically on opposite sides of central hole  208 . The flange shown in FIG. 2D is similar to the exemplary flange shown in FIG. 2B, except that bolt holes  116  have been replaced by slots  206 . These slots further simplify the coupling of the rotatable flange to its mating flange by accommodating slight misalignments between the slots and the holes in the mating flange. It is noted that, although FIGS. 2B and 2D include four bolt holes or slots, other numbers of holes or bolt slots may be used. It is also noted that the holes or slots are preferably arrange symmetrically around the flange.  
         [0032]    These rotatable flanges are flat, stamped metal flanges having central hole  115  located substantially in the center of the flange with either the bolt holes  116  or slots  206  located near the perimeter of the flange to accommodate bolts for coupling the flanges to mating flanges. Strong, durable metals, such as chrome plated steel or zinc plated steel, are desirable materials for exemplary rotatable flanges. The surface of an exemplary rotatable flange may include a stepped, or beveled, area along the edge of central hole  115  for lip  104  of insert  102  to seat into when the exemplary rotatable flange is coupled to its mating flange  
         [0033]    In valve assemblies in which the rotatable flange forms a seal directly to its mating flange, rather than the insert forming the seal, the material of the flange is desirably chosen to be a metal which does not significantly interact with the fluid. In such a valve assembly, it may be desirable for the rotatable flange to include a circular groove on its front surface, between central hole  115  and bolt holes  116  and/or bolt slots  206 , for an O-ring to improve the seal.  
         [0034]    In potable water systems and systems for corrosive fluids, it may be particularly desirable for the flange to remain clear of the fluid path. In these fluid carrying systems, lip  104  of insert  102  is desirably designed to form the seal with a mated pipe or component when the rotatable flange is coupled into the fluid carrying system and the fluid does not come into contact with flange  106 . Inserts that are designed to provide a seal as well as holding rotatable flange  106  onto the valve assembly may be formed from a somewhat malleable metal, such as copper or brass, to allow sight deformation during coupling of the rotatable flange to its mating flange, thereby improving the seal. Lip  104  of insert  102  may also include a circular groove on its surface for an O-ring to improve the seal.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIGS. 4-6 illustrate another embodiment of the valve assembly. The configuration and operation of the valve assembly of this embodiment are essentially the same as those of the valve assembly described previously with reference to FIGS. 1A-3, with some notable differences. Reference numeral notation “D” denotes the discharge side with respect to a system component (not shown) that requires removal, while reference numeral notation “S” denotes the suction side, the significance of which will be explained subsequently. Similar to the embodiment described previously, the valve assembly illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 includes a ball valve  498  and a rotatable flange  406 . Ball valve  498  includes a valve housing  400 D,  400 S having an inlet port  420 D,  420 S and an outlet port  422 D,  422 S and a valve member  424  adapted to control flow therethrough. Rotatable flange  406  secures the assembly in a fluid system. Referring specifically to valve body  400 D of FIG. 4, an insert  402  including a fluid flow channel  409  is coupled to inlet port  420 D in housing  400 D. Referring specifically to valve body  400 S of FIG. 6, an insert  402  including a fluid flow channel  409  is coupled to outlet port  422 S in housing  400 S. Generally, the valve assembly further includes a stem  408  connected to a handle  410  for opening and closing the valve  498 . Handle  410  is coupled to valve stem  408  by a fastener  412 .  
         [0036]    Generally, the system fluid flow path includes a relative upstream portion and a relative downstream portion. These relative upstream and downstream portions define the inlet and outlet ports of the valve assemblies illustrated in FIGS. 4-6. More specifically, the inlet port of each valve assembly is located at the upstream portion of the system fluid flow path, and the outlet port of each valve assembly is located at the downstream portion of the system fluid flow path.  
         [0037]    Unlike the embodiment described previously with reference to FIGS. 1A-3, each valve assembly illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 includes a check valve  426  located between rotatable flange  406  and valve member  424  for preventing fluid flow from outlet port  422 D,  4225  to inlet port  420 D,  420 S, respectively, when an associated fluid system is unpressurized. Check valve  426  is located within insert  402 . Insert  402  is similar to insert  102  disclosed in FIGS. 1A and 1B, except that insert  402  is elongated relative to insert  102  such that insert  402  can accommodate the check valve  426 . Referring specifically to FIGS. 4 and 5 (and valve body  400 D of FIG. 6), check valve  426  is located adjacent inlet port  420 D, i.e., adjacent the upstream portion of the system fluid flow path. In other words, the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 (and valve body  400 D of FIG. 6) is a valve assembly configured to be installed on the discharge side of a system component (not shown) that requires removal.  
         [0038]    Conversely, a valve assembly that is configured to be installed on the suction side of a system component that requires removal is oriented in the opposite direction from that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (and valve body  400 D of FIG. 6), with check valve  426  oriented in the same direction as that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (and valve body  400 D of FIG. 6), i.e., adjacent the upstream portion of the system fluid flow path. Such an embodiment is illustrated as valve body  400 S in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, each valve assembly may be oriented along the system fluid flow path as necessary to simplify the coupling of each rotatable flange  406  to its mating flange on the system component to be isolated. However, check valve  426  is always located within insert  402  at the inlet port  420 D,  420 S of valve housing  400 D,  400 S, respectively, i.e., adjacent the upstream portion of the system fluid flow path. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the inlet port  420 S of the suction side valve assembly  400 S is located adjacent the upstream portion of the system fluid flow path and, thus, the upstream side of a system component that requires removal. The inlet port  420 D of the discharge side valve assembly  400 D is also located adjacent the upstream portion of the system fluid flow path and, thus, the downstream side of a system component that requires removal.  
         [0039]    Check valve  426  includes a seat  428 , a plunger  430 , a spring  432 , and a plurality of guides  434  for guiding fluid flow through the fluid flow channel  409 . Spring  432  has a relaxed position and a compressed position. Plunger  430  contacts seat  428  when spring  432  is in the relaxed position (as illustrated in FIG. 4), thereby preventing fluid flow through the valve assembly from the outlet port  422 D to the inlet port  420 D. In other words, check valve  426  is normally closed via the force of spring  432 . Plunger  430  is separated from seat  428  when spring  432  is in the compressed position, thereby permitting fluid flow through the valve assembly  400 D from the inlet port  420 D through the outlet port  422 D. In other words, system pressure will overcome the force of spring  432 , permitting fluid to flow in only one direction (upstream to downstream), while check valve  426  prevents fluid from flowing in the opposite direction (downstream to upstream), when the system is at rest.  
         [0040]    This embodiment may combine the features of the rotatable flange  106 ,  406  and a quarter turn ball valve  98 ,  498  with a check valve  426 . Such a combination within a valve assembly isolates equipment so that it can be conveniently removed without draining the system, and provides a positive check that prevents undesirable gravity flow.  
         [0041]    While the invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate variations in structure and substitutions of materials that are within the scope and spirit of the invention.