State Industries, Inc.

Rolf E Faber

D Kent Lindahl

Rodney Ray Syler

Otto Z Vago

Rodeny R Syler

A tank connector assembly including a metal spud member having an internally threaded portion and a cylindrical wall portion. An insert member of polymer material having a cylindrical wall portion. The insert member is mounted inside the cylindrical wall portion of the spud member. A bonding member of polymer material fits the cylindrical wall portion of said bonding member positioned between the external surface of the cylindrical wall portion of the insert member and the internal surface of the cylindrical wall portion of the spud member. The cylindrical wall portion of said bonding member being securely bonded to both the insert member and the spud member. In a preferred embodiment, the polymer material of the bonding member is malcated olefin. The bonding of the cylindrical wall portion of the bonding member to the polymer insert and the steel spud will prevent or at least substantially reduce any tendency of the water in the tank to leak past the outer surface of the insert member which, in turn, prevents water from coming into contact with the wall of the steel tank. Such contact if allowed to occur may cause corrosion of the steel tank. The bond between the outer surface of the cylindrical wall of the bonding member and the steel spud prevents water from coming into contact with the steel spud to thus prevent corrosion of the spud.

Tank connector construction

A tank connector construction comprised of an outer shell of metal material and an inner shell of polymer material mounted inside the outer shell. A metal connector member having a tubular wall and a welding projection at one end thereof is provided with the welding projection of said metal connector member welded to the outer shell of metal material. An insert member of polymer material is mounted in one end of the metal connector member with the insert member fused to the inner shell of the tank. A connector sleeve member is mounted inside the tubular wall of the metal connector member. A connector sleeve member has an internally threaded tubular wall portion and is made of a polymer material having 'low creep' characteristics. In the preferred embodiment, the polymer material of the connector sleeve member is a polyamide material.

Tank and tank connector assembly

A method of making a tank includes the steps of forming a pair of top and bottom half members by deep drawing, welding at least one tank connector assembly in an opening in one of the half members and fastening the top and bottom half members together by welding to form an outer shell having an internal surface. The outer shell is changed with non-corrosive polymer material before or after the welding step. The tank is subjected to a rotational movement in the presence of heat to thus cause the polymer material to be uniformly distributed over the internal surface of the outer shell to thereby form an inner shell of non-corrosive material inside the outer shell wherein the inner shell provides a substantially leak-tight liner for the outer shell to thus prevent contact between the contents of the tank and the outer shell, said outer shell serving as a mold for the inner shell wherein the mold becomes a permanent part of the completed tank. The tank connector assembly is fabricated by first providing a metal connector member having a tubular wall and a welding projection on one end thereof, inserting an insert member of non-metallic, non-corrosive material in one end of the metal connector member. Forming a connector sleeve inside the assembly of the metal connector member and insert member by injection molding. The connector sleeve member has an internally threaded tubular wall portion and is made of a polymer material having 'low creep' characteristics.

Method of fabricating a tank and method of fabricating a tank connector

The method of fabricating a tank connector assembly comprising the steps of first providing a metal spud member having an internally threaded portion and a cylindrical wall portion. Mounting an insert member of polymer material inside the cylindrical wall portion of the spud member, the insert member having a cylindrical wall portion. Positioning a bonding member between the cylindrical wall of the spud and the cylindrical wall of the insert member. Applying heat to the spud insert member and bonding member to cause the material of the bonding member to become bonded to the spud wall and the insert wall. In a preferred embodiment, the polymer material of the bonding member is maleated olefin. The metal spud member is welded in an opening in the wall of a steel tank. A polymer material is introduced into the interior of the steel tank and the tank is then subjected to a rotational casting movement in the presence of heat to cause the polymer material in the tank to be uniformly distributed over the internal surface of the tank. The heat applied during the rotational casting step serves to cause the bonding member to become bonded to the spud and insert member.

A tank connector construction for a tank. The tank is comprised of an outer shell of metal material and an inner shell of non-corrosive and non-metallic material mounted inside the outer shell. A metal connector fitting is provided which has an internal threaded body portion, an internal groove and a weld projection portion on the inner end thereof. The weld projection portion of the fitting is welded to the outer shell of the tank. A sleeve member of non-corrosive and non-metallic material is mounted in the internal groove of the connector fitting. An extension portion of non-corrosive and non-metallic material is formed integrally with the inner shell of the tank and is fused to the material of the sleeve to prevent contact between the contents of the tank and the outer shell of the tank. The extension portion of non-corrosive and non-metallic material has a threaded portion which forms a continuation of the internal threaded body portion of the metal connector fitting.

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Clarksville, TN, United States of America

Rolf E Faber