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:
Sep. 05, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 29, 1998
Paul Marcus Evans, Lexington, SC (US);
Edmund Emory DeMario, Columbia, SC (US);
Michael Thomas Sloop, Hopkins, SC (US);
David Douglas Seel, Columbia, SC (US);
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
The adaptor plate of a top nozzle assembly is removably secured to selected thimble tubes in a nuclear fuel assembly by quick release couplings. The openings in the adaptor plate aligned with the selected thimble tubes are counterbored from above to form shoulders with diametrically opposed slots extending downward through the shoulders. The quick release couplings include a sleeve secured to the upper end of the thimble tube. A support plate fixed to the sleeve has a pair of upwardly extending bosses engaging the slots in the adaptor plate. A latch member with a pair of diametrically opposed outwardly projecting latch ears rotates on the sleeve between a first position in which the latch ears are aligned with the slots and are positioned over the bosses so that the adaptor plate may be lifted off, and a second position with the latch ears overlaying the shoulder to latch the adaptor plate to the thimble tube. A spring member with a cylindrical body has a pair of diametrically opposed radially compliant projections formed by bulges in strips defined by circumferential slits spaced from the bottom edge of the cylindrical body which engage detents in the bosses to latch the latch member in the first, unlatched position even with the adaptor plate removed, and which engage detents in the opening in the adaptor plate to latch the latch member in the second, latched position.