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:
Aug. 18, 1987
Filed:
Sep. 24, 1986
Susumu Takahashi, Niigata, JP;
Niigata Engineering Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An emergency release valve apparatus for releasably connecting a pair of pipes together includes a pair of tubular housings, a ball valve member, a rotating shaft and a retaining mechanism. Each housing is secured at one end to a respective one of the pipes. The housings include retaining portions having generally hemispherical interiors adjacent to their other ends. The housings are releasably coupled together so that the hemispherical interiors cooperate to define a generally spherical space inside the housings. The ball valve member is disposed in the spherical space, and includes a pair of generally hemispherical valve elements which are releasably coupled together and respectively accommodated in the retaining portions in sealing relation thereto. The ball valve member is rotatable about an axis of rotation and has a fluid passage formed therethrough. The rotating shaft is operable to rotate the ball valve member between an open position where the fluid passage of the ball valve member is in fluid communication with the housings and a closed position where the fluid communication of the fluid passage thereof with the housings is interrupted. The retaining mechanism retains each valve element in a respective one of the retaining portions in sealing relation thereto to close a respective one of the passages of the housings when the pipes are released from each other.