Patent Publication Number: US-2012043484-A1

Title: Remotely controlled lockout device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES 
     None. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a remotely controlled lockout device for an in-line gas flow control valve. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Most companies that provide natural gas to consumers have a large number of gas meters located inside of residential properties. Access to these meters is required to disconnect gas service for non-payment of a gas bill or to temporarily disconnect gas service in the event of an emergency or where required for repair of gas lines or equipment. Frequently, gas company personnel are denied access to meters inside of residential properties, particularly where residents are in arrears in payment of their gas bills. 
     One way to alleviate the problem of access to gas meters is to move the meters from inside a residence to outside. The disadvantage to this approach resides in the fact that it is very expensive to remove and thereafter reinstall a gas meter. Additionally, in order to remove a meter from inside of a residence, it is necessary to shut off gas flow to the inside meter. Typically, this requires cutting off the supply of natural gas to an entire street or to a number of residences on a street. 
     It is desirable to provide a device which may be operated by gas company personnel to disconnect gas service to a residence having an inside gas meter without requiring access to the inside meter. Preferably, the device would have the capability of interrupting gas service to a residence from a remote location for non-payment of gas bills or as dictated by an emergency or service situation. Additionally, it is desirable that the device operates independently of the gas meter and may be installed easily. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A remotely controlled lockout device for an in-line gas flow control valve has a control shaft adapted to be operably connected to a gas flow control valve and rotatable between gas flow control valve open and closed positions. A coaxial, rotatable lock member is operably connected to the gas valve control shaft and is rotatable between a lock member unlocked position in which the control shaft is operable between gas flow control valve open and closed positions and a lock member locked position in which the control shaft is locked in the gas flow control valve closed position. A spring attached to the lock member biases the lock member towards its locked position. A remotely controlled actuator is moveable between a first state in which it engages the lock member to retain it in a lock member unlocked position and a second state in which it is disengaged from the lock member which enables the spring to rotate the lock member to the locked position. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the remotely controlled lockout device of the instant invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a is an exploded view of the remotely controlled lockout device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1  showing the lockout device in an unlocked position; 
         FIG. 4  is a view along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view similar to  FIG. 3  showing the lockout device in a locked position; and 
         FIG. 6  is a view along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  5 , the remotely controlled lockout device  10  of the instant invention is shown overlying a gas line L and operatively connected to the actuator shaft A of a gas flow control valve V. The operating mechanism of lockout device  10  is mounted within a generally cylindrical housing or cup  12  closed at one end by a cover or end cap  14 . Housing  12  and end cap  14  have generally U-shaped openings  16  and  18  adjacent their open ends to enable them to overly the cylindrical gas line L and to clamp the gas line L and gas valve V there between such that the lockout device  10  is rigidly secured to the gas line L and the gas valve V. 
     Lockout device  10  has a central, longitudinally extending, axial control member or shaft  20  with a slot  22  at its inner end  24  adapted to receive a complimentary shaped flange of gas valve actuator shaft A. The outer end  26  of control shaft  20  projects outwardly of lockout device housing  12  and has a flange  28  formed thereon which has substantially the same shape as the flange of gas valve actuator shaft A and is aligned parallel thereto. From this it may be seen that rotating the outer end  26  of control shaft  20  by 90 degrees causes as valve actuator shaft A to rotate a corresponding 90 degrees between a gas flow control valve open position depicted in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4  and a gas flow control valve closed position shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     It should be noted that a gas valve V is in the open position, meaning that gas can flow through the valve, when the flange of gas valve actuator shaft A is aligned parallel with the gas line L and the gas valve V is in the closed position, meaning gas cannot flow through the gas valve V, when the flange of gas valve actuator shaft A is perpendicular to the gas line L. Additionally, gas valve actuator shafts A typically can rotate only 90 degrees between their open and closed positions, i.e. there are internal stops within the gas valve V which limit the rotation of the gas valve actuator shaft A to a range of about 90 degrees. 
     A cylindrical lock member  30  has a longitudinally extending axial bore  32  sized to receive control shaft  20 . A planar, circular plate  34  having a central bore  36  sized to receive the inner end  24  of control shaft  20  is rigidly attached to and an integral part of lock member  30 , as depicted in  FIGS. 3 and 5 . Additionally, it may be seen that planar, circular plate  34 , which defines the inner end of lock member  30 , rests against a lateral, planar face F at the base of the flange of actuator shaft A of gas flow control valve V. Thus, lock member  30  is positioned within lockout device housing  12  between lateral face F of gas flow control valve V and the inner surface  13  of the outer end of housing  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , it may be seen that lock member  30  has a radial arcuate  90  degree slot, keyhole or opening  38  formed in the side wall thereof. Keyhole  38  extends through an arc, identified by the numeral  40 , of 90 degrees. The 90-degree arc  40  may be seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  4  and  6 . 
     A key or shear pin  42  projects laterally from the side of control shaft  20  and extends into keyhole  38 . Because keyhole  38  extends through a 90 degree arc, control shaft  20  can be rotated 90 degrees between a gas flow control valve V open position and a gas flow control valve V closed position when lock member  30  is in an unlocked position, as will be described in greater detail herein below. 
     Turning to  FIGS. 2 through 6  of the drawings, it may be seen that a torsion spring  44  overlies the external surface of lock member  30  within housing  12 . A hook  46  at the inner end of torsion spring  44  engages a lug  48  mounted on the inner surface of lock member planer plate  34 . Similarly, a hook  50  at the outer end of torsion spring  44  engages a lug  52  mounted on the inner surface  13  of the outer end of housing  12 . 
     In  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , torsion spring  44  is shown in a tightened or twisted condition such that it tends to bias lock member  30  in a counterclockwise direction toward the lock member  30  locked position. Such movement is prevented and lock member  30  is retained in its unlocked position by a remotely controlled solenoid  54  rigidly affixed to the inner cylindrical side wall  15  of housing  12 . Solenoid  54  has a power source such as a battery B and a conventional receiver R built in to enable the solenoid to be actuated from a remote location. Solenoid  54  has a spring-biased plunger  56  which resides in a bore  58  formed in planar plate  34  of lock member  30  to retain lock member  30  in the unlocked position. In this position of lock member  30 , control shaft  20  may be freely rotated 90 degrees between a gas flow control valve V open position, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  and a gas flow control valve V closed position, shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . Referring to  FIG. 4 , it may be seen that control shaft  20  may be rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees from the gas flow control valve V open position to the gas flow control valve V closed position independently of any rotational movement of lock member  30 . 
     In the event of emergency or if the gas company wishes to discontinue gas service to a residence, it may do so by actuating remotely controlled solenoid  54 . Typically, this would be accomplished by sending a signal to the receiver R within solenoid  54 . When solenoid  54  is actuated, plunger  56  is withdrawn from lock member bore  58 . When this occurs, torsion spring  44  causes lock member  30  to rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise to the locked position, illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . Rotational movement of lock member  30  also causes key  42  and control shaft  20  to rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise from the position depicted in  FIG. 4  to the position depicted in  FIG. 6 . Consequently, gas valve actuator A is moved to a position perpendicular to that of gas line L, as seen in  FIG. 6 , and the flow of gas is interrupted. 
     Upon rotation of lock member  30  through an angle of 90 degrees, a spring-biased plunger  60  rigidly affixed to the inner end surface  17  of end cap  14  enters a bore  62  in planar plate  34  of lock member  30 . (Bore  62  is separated from bore  58  by a counterclockwise arc of 90 degrees.) This secures lock member  30  in its locked position and prevents rotation of control shaft  20  if a torque is applied to flange  28  at the outer end of control shaft  20  in an attempt to rotate control shaft  20  and lock member  30  clockwise to the unlocked position of lock member  30 . In fact, key  42  acts as a shear pin and will break in the event a maximum pre-set torque is applied to flange  28  of control shaft  20 , in an attempt to move lock member  30  out of its locked position, depicted in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . It should be noted that plunger  60  will withstand a far greater torque applied to lock member  30  prior to failure than will key  42 . 
     As stated above, subsequent to the operation of remotely controlled solenoid  54  and the resultant movement of lock member  30  to the locked position, control shaft  20  cannot be operated to return gas valve actuator A to the gas flow control valve V open position. In fact, the remotely controlled lockout device  10  must be removed from gas line L and gas valve V by a technician and reset to the lock member  30  unlocked position, depicted in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , before gas valve actuator A can move to a gas valve open position. 
     In sonic instances it may be desirable to make lockout device  10  resettable to the lock member  30  unlocked position by remote control without removing the lockout device  10  from the gas line L and gas valve V and enable a resident or service personnel at the location of the lockout device  10  to reset the device to an unlocked condition. To accomplish this, a bore  64  is formed in planar plate  34  of lock member  30 . Bore  64  is separated from bore  58  by a clockwise arc of 90 degrees and is the same radial distance from the center of bore  36  as bore  58  and is the same diameter as bore  58 . When solenoid  54  is actuated and plunger  56  is momentarily withdrawn from bore  58  to thereby enable spring  44  to move lock member  30  to its-locked position, lock member  30  will rotate counterclockwise 90 degrees, as viewed in  FIG. 2 . In this position bore  64  is aligned with spring-biased plunger  56  such that plunger  56  will enter bore  64  and secure lock member  30  in the locked position in the same manner as plunger  60 . Thereafter, actuating solenoid  54 , which may be accomplished from a remote location, will withdraw plunger  56  from bore  64  to allow lock member  30  to be rotated clockwise to its unlocked position by applying a manual clockwise torque to control shaft  20 . Of course, shear pin or key  42  must have sufficient strength to overcome the force of torsion spring  44  as control shaft  20  is rotated in order to move lock member  30  to its unlocked position. Additionally, in this instance, spring-biased plunger  60  would not be utilized. It should be noted that the internal stops in a gas flow control valve V act to prevent rotation of lock member  30  beyond a 90-degree arc. 
     Various changes may be made to the size, shape, and relative proportions of the different invention elements disclosed and described herein without departing from the scope, meaning, or intent of the claims which follow.