Abstract:
The safety valve contains a resilient gland to be held between a valve seat and a valve member and is secured to the valve member by a sleeve surrounding the end of the valve member adjacent to the valve seat. The sleeve is movable relative to the valve member through a limited axial distance and a gap exists between said valve member and said sleeve.

Description:
This is a continuation application of Ser. No. 308,250 filed Oct. 5, 1981. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to a safety valve having a spring biased valve member axially movable in a housing, and a resilient gland connected to the valve member and adapted to abut and seal an annular valve seat valve member. When the valve member moves to its closed position, it prevents passage of fluid through a high pressure inlet located centrally in the housing and opening into the housing through the valve seat which lies in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement of the valve member and out through an outlet in the housing arranged remote from the seat. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Safety valves of the type referred to above may be used for very high differences in pressure across the valve seat--e.g. more than 20 MPA. During such use, the extremely high fluid velocities may deform the resilient gland and such deformations will have detrimental influence on the valve closing ability. Hitherto, the gland has been designed as a disc or a toroid ring fastened, e.g. vulcanised, to the valve member. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to provide a safety valve of the type referred to above in which the resilient gland is secured to the valve member in such a way that the desired function of the safety valve is obtained even under extreme conditions. This object is achieved in this invention by locating the gland between a shoulder surface on the distal end of the valve member and an inwardly directed flange on a sleeve surrounding the valve member with a radial play and being axially movable relative thereto through a distance limited by interengaging stop surfaces on the sleeve and said valve member, so that the sleeve forms an axial extension of the valve member to shield the gland from the action of the high velocity fluid when the valve is open and to contact a part of said valve seat and compress and confine the gland in the closed valve position. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The objects and advantages of the invention, and the invention itself, will become better understood by reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a safety valve according to the invention 
     FIG. 2 is a vertical section corresponding to a part of FIG. 1 showing details in different relative positions and 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2, but showing still different relative positions. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made to preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing. 
     FIG. 1 shows a housing 1 shaped as a hollow cylinder and containing a valve member 2 axially movable therein. The said valve member 2 is axially influenced by a prestressed compression spring 3 resting against a cover 4 forming a part of the housing 1. A first opening 5 in the housing 1 is located centrally and constitutes the end of a duct connection 6 to a high pressure fluid vessel (not shown). A second opening 7 in the housing is vented to the atmosphere or could be connected to a low pressure reservior (not shown). 
     The interior surface area of the housing 1 surrounding the inlet 5 is designated by 8 and constitutes a valve seat adapted to be engaged by a resilient gland 9 attached to the lower end of the valve member 2. The valve seat 8 is also adapted to be engaged by a metal sleeve 10 surrounding a lower part 2a of the valve member 2 and connected thereto by a pin 11 passed through coaxially arranged holes in the valve member 2 and the sleeve 10. The holes in the sleeve 10 are of a diameter greater than the diameter of the pin 11, thus allowing limited relative axial movements of the sleeve 10 and the valve member 2. 
     The inner diameter of the sleeve 10 is somewhat greater--e.g. 0.5 mm--than the outer diameter of the lower part 2a of the sleeve 2. Axially active shoulder surfaces 12 on the valve member 2 and shoulder surface 22 on the sleeve 10 limit the axial movements of the sleeve 10 upwards relative the valve member 2. 
     The resilient gland 9 is of disc shape having a central part of almost uniform thickness and a peripheral bead along its periphery which is of larger axial dimensions. The material used may be a rubber quality of the type sold under the trade number Neoprene. 
     At its lower end the sleeve 10 is provided with a flange 13 engaging the gland 9 by a surface tapering frusto conically towards the valve seat engaging end (the lower end) of the sleeve 10. 
     The safety valve described above and shown in the drawing will operate as follows. 
     In the relative positions of the elements shown in FIG. 1 a high pressure prevails in the duct 6. The resilient gland 9 is forced against the inner frustoconically tapering surface of the flange 13. The gland 9 is also forced against the small gap between the sleeve 10 and the part 2a of the valve member 2 due to the low pressure prevailing in said gap. 
     When the pressure in the duct 6 exceeds a predetermined value, the spring 3 will be compressed and the valve member 2 will be axially displaced upwardly. The relative positions of the valve elements will now correspond to FIG. 2. Fluid will now escape through the inlet opening 5 into the valve housing and pass under the gland 9 and the flange 12 at great velocity. However, due to the low static pressure between the sleeve 10 and the part 2a the risk of blowing away the gland 9 is small. 
     Shortly after the opening of the safety valve the elasticity of the gland 9 may cause the sleeve 10 to move downwardly. A gap will now occur between the surfaces 12 and 22 the downward movement of the sleeve 10 will further protect the gland 9 from being blown away. This situation has been depicted in FIG. 3. As soon as the pressure in the duct 6 has decreased below a certain value the spring 3 will cause the valve member 2 to move downward and the lower end surface of the sleeve 10 will contact the valve seat 8. 
     A further downward movement of the valve member 2 will cause a relative axial movement of the flange 13 and the part 2a causing a compression of the gland 9. The gland will now be firmly held by the flange 13 and as soon as the flow through the opening 5 is stopped the pressure will again cause the gland to be pressed in the direction towards the gap between the sleeve 10 and the part 2a as shown in FIG. 1.