The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 12, 1980
Filed:
Oct. 11, 1978
Patricio D Alvarez, Rosenberg, TX (US);
ACF Industries, Incorporated, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
An improved gate valve of the expanding type wherein a gate and segment assembly having cooperative wedge surfaces are moved linearly between a pair of valve seats to block the flow therebetween in one position and open the flow in another, the fluid flowing through aligned ports in the gate and segment in such open position. The improvement lies in substituting for prior art springs a guide rail (28, 28') fixed to the valve housing or body and extending parallel to the stroke of the movable members, together with a rocker arm (54) pivotally mounted on one member and having a slot (66) receiving a pin (58) out of the other. A pair of lobes (64) extend from the opposed ends of the rocker arm (54) and contact the guide member. When the gate and segment assembly are at any position between the ends of its stroke, the rocker arm keeps both pairs of wedge surfaces tightly in contact, preventing any expansion. At either end position, one of the rocker lobes enters a gap in the guide rail, permitting the rocker to rotate and allowing wedging action between the two members to expand their overall thickness.