AU609985B2 - Hydrant closure - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

6099 8 .lass Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority t.h Related Art: r rI APPLICANT'S REF.: C.A.P. PI 8203 Name(s) of Applicant(s): .ALAN JAMErS-RU-PFTN~ Address(es) of Applicant(s): .l9-M-Mi-he-l-e-D-rive-, SCgRES-B-.

Actual Inventor(s): ALAN JAMES RUFFIN n4('Orooa J W0AI&~c 64s Liap 4 O4-' t)Cte

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Address for Service is: PHILLIPS, ORMONDE AND FITZPATRICK Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 367 Collins Street Melbourne, Australia, 3000 Complete Specification for the invention entitled: HYDRANT CLOSURE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to applicant(s): P19/3/84 HYDRANT CLOSURE This invention relates to a hydrant, and more particularly to a closure arrangement for a hydrant which is 4 operative in the event of hydrant damage.

Many different types of hydrants are known and these are used as water supply points for fire-fighting, street cleaning and the like. It is known to place such hydrants below ground but this is disadvantageous since the hydrants are not easily locatable in emergency situations, so it is often preferred to have at least part of the hydrants projecting above ground level. A problem with having hydrants projecting above ground level is that they become susceptible to damage. Generally, it is desirable to have hydrants located at easily accessible 0 cc positions, such as on street curbs or corners, but in these positions the hydrants can be knocked over or damaged by a aE S passing vehicles, and indeed this often occurs, especially in situations resulting from vehicle accidents where a vehicle leaves the road. Where hydrant damage occurs this often 00 4 results in unrestrained loss of water through the damaged C c' hydrant. Not only is this costly in terms of lost water, but damage by flooding can occur to surrounding property.

*0 This problem has previously been appreciated and various *r prior art patents deal with solutions of one or other type.

For example, British Patent No. 2,204,100 describes a hydrant 0 0 having a vertical column which carries outlet openings. A line of weakening or perimetral breaking line is provided near the base of the column so tht in the event of the column 0, a receiving an impact of considerable force it will snap off at the line of weakening. A seal arrangement housed below the line of weakening ensures that no water leakage occurs after the column has been severed. Likewi.e, U.S. patents 4,284,099 and 4,440,190 discuss the problem of loss of water when the hydrant is damaged and propose solutions to the problem..

In each of the abovementioned prior art patents the manner in which the water loss problem is solved is integral with the hydrant which solves the problem, that is, the hydrants must have a special configuration, mechanism or form in order for the solution to work. This is not satisfactory 39 in situations, such as in many cities, where large numbers of AT -2-

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hydrants are already in situ, and solving the aforementioned problems using one or other prior art hydrant which incoporates a water shut-off feature means replacing the in-situ hydrant with a new hydrant at substantial cost to the 4 relevant authority.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for adapting existing hydrants in-situ so that they have an automatic shut-off faciltiy which is inexpensive and which is relatively easy to install. A further object of the invention is to provide a method of adapting hydrants in-situ so that they include this shut-off facility.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an auxiliary valve member adapted to be installed S. onto a hydrant, said hydrant comprising a base which in use is 04 0 mounted to a water supply line, an upper housing, connection Co C o o means for connecting said upper housing to said base, an inlet into said hydrant through said base and an outlet from said Shydrant through said upper housing, a flow passage through *said hydrant connecting said inlet and said outlet, a valve C 0 seat formed on said upper housing adjacent said base said valve seat having an orifice therethrough, a valve closure cc member located in said base and adapted to engage said valve seat to close said orifice, and operating means operable to C c cause said valve closure member to disengage said seat in S order to allow water to flow through said hydrant in use, said auxiliary valve member including a body having an orifice therethrough, a valve seat surrounding said orifice, and mounting means for mounting said body to the base of a said C T hydrant, the form of the auxiliary valve member being such that when it is operatively mounted on a hydrant base the valve seat on the auxiliary valve member will be engageable by the valve closure member in the base to close the flow passage through the hydrant, said upper housing can be mounted onto said base, and said operating means will be operable to disengage said valve closure member from the valve seat on the auxiliary valve member.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of converting a hydrant which does not have 39 an automatic shut-off facility into one which does, the method AT -3- 4. including the step of installing an auxiliary valve member into the hydrant between the base and upper housing of the hydrant by mounting the auxiliary valve member to the base and refitting the upper housing onto the base.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings. The drawings, however, are merely illustrative of how the invention might be put into effect so that the specific form and arrangement of the various features as shown is not to be understood as limiting on the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a part cross-sectional side view of a hydrant incorporating an auxiliary valve member according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of a bolt used for connecting Stogether two parts of the hydrant of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the hydrant shown in Figure 1 00 along section line III-III depicted in Figure i.

too* 0o°o,0 Figure 4 shows a plan view of the auxiliary valve member viewed from the operatively lower side of the valve member.

A hydrant 1 as shown in Figure 1 includes a hollow base o 2, having an inlet 3 and a lower flange 4, having bolt holes oo 0 0o passing therethrough by means of which the base can be mounted a 00 to a high pressure water supply conduit (not shown). An upper o. housing 6 is mounted to the base 2 by means of bolts 7 (shown in Figure The bolts 7 extend through holes 8 formed in the flange 9 of the upper housing and through hole 10 formed in the flange 11 of the base 2. The holes 8 and 10 will be aligned so that the bolt 7 can extend all the way through the two flanges and a shoulder 12 formed underneath the flange 11 on the base serves to provide a bearing surface against which a nut 13 on the bolt 7 can bear when the bolt 7 is tightened and to thereby tightly clamp the two flanges 9 and 11 together. A valve closure member 14 is located within a chamber 15 formed in the base 2. The valve closure member 14 includes a dome shaped cap 16 which is mounted on a spindle 17. The spindle is slidable within a bore 18 formed in a mount 19 and the cap 16 is biased away from the mount 19 by 39 means of a compression spring 20 which urges the valve closure member 14 in an upward direction.

An outlet 21 is provided from the housing 6 and a flow passage 22 is formed through the hydrant. A valve opening member 23 is supported by the upper housing 6. This valve opening member 23 includes a rod 24 having an enlarged lower end 25 having an convex shaped lower surface 26 which is adapted to engage against the upper surface of the dome shaped cap 16 in order to open the valve closure member 14. The rod 24 has a head 27 which extends through the upper end of the housing 6. Cooperating threads (not shown) are provided between the rod 24 and the housing 6 in an upper neck portion 28 of the housing and, by rotating the head 27 in use the rod 24 can be moved in a downward direction so that the convex S surface 26 engages the cap 16 to press the valve closure member 14 downwardly and thereby allow high pressure water to Sflow through the hydrant.

C In conventional hydrant arrangements the radially inner edge 30 of the flange 9 has a valve seat 31 formed thereon.

Generally, an elastomeric annular sealing disc is interposed between the upper housing and the base and the cap 16, when the hydrant is in a closed condition, will press the annular Ssealing disc against the valve seat 31 in order to close the hydrant.

In the embodiment shown an auxiliary valve member 35 has been located in the hydrant between the upper housing 6 and the base 2. This auxiliary valve member is preferably of a substantially rigid construction and comprises an annular disc shaped member 36 having a central orifice 37 and having a V C C valve seat 38 formed on the radially inner and operatively lower edge thereof. By locating the auxiliary valve member in position as shown in the drawing between the upper housing and the base the valve closure member 14 can be made to co-act with the auxiliary valve member 35 rather than the valve seat 31 on the upper housing 6.

In the preferred arrangement an elastomeric annular sealing disc 39 is located in position between an upper surface 40 of the base and a lower surface 41 of the auxiliary valve member. As shown in Figure 1 the cap 16 will press the 39 sealing disc 39 against the valve seat 38 to shut-off flow through the hydrant when in its closed condition.

The auxiliary valve member 35 must be mounted to the base 2 by some suitable mounting arrangement. In the embodiment shown, the auxiliary valve member is bolted to the base by six bolts 43 which are located in countersunk bores 44 radially spaced around the periphery of the auxiliary valve member and screwed into the threaded bores 45 formed in the base 2.

Clearly, other arrangements for connecting the auxiliary valve member to the base are possible and specifically envisaged is some sort of permanent connection such as welding, or some other form of removable connection such as a clamping ring or the like.

o 1 One advantage of providing an auxiliary valve member Co C of the type described is that, it is often found when hydrants S are damaged by, for example, a vehicle knocking into the upper housing, the hydrant will be damaged by the bolts 7 which hold the upper housing member to the base shearing off with the S upper housing member 6 thus becoming disengaged from the base 2. When this occurs, the valve seat 31 remains attached to the now disengaged upper housing 6 and the valve closure member 14 no longer has a seat against which it can engage to close the hydrant. Water is thus able to freely discharge c r.

through the hydrant and closure can only be effected by shutting off the mains valve associated with the particular hydrant which has been damaged. Thereafter, the mains must remain in a closed condition until such time as the damage hydrant has been repaired.

o ct Generally hydrants of the type under consideration shear off at the interface between the base and the upper housing particularly since the hydrant is generally placed with the base 2 below ground level and the upper housing 6 above ground level. The usual ground level is indicated in Figure 1 by dotted line 47.

In the present arrangement, the auxiliary valve member is securely mounted to the base 2. Thus, in the event of the bolts which hold the upper housing to the base shearing, the upper housing 6 will become detached fr*om the base 2 39 without affecting the operability of the auxiliary valve seat AT -6- Substantially no shear forces will be placed on the bolts 43 holding the auxiliary valve member 35 to the base 2.

Due to the fact that, with the auxiliary valve member in position, it is desirable that the hydrant does in fact shear off at the interface between the base and the upper housing it may be preferable to ensure that shearing does occur at this point. For this reason it may be preferable to provide the bolts 7 which connect the upper housing to the base 2 with a line of weakness coincident with the plane of shear that is desired. As shown in Figure 2, the bolts 7 are necked bolts having a reduced diameter zone numbered towards the upper part of the bolt 7. That reduced diameter zone 50 will be coincident with the underside 51 of the flange S 9. It is envisaged that this line of weakness will ensure CCc a Sthat when the upper housing is knocked laterally, as will occur when a vehicle strikes the side of the housing, the S bolts 7 will shear along the plane of weakness provided by reduced diameter zone 50. The provision of this plane of Sweakness is considered important since in this way it C t encourages the hydrant shearing into two portions at the interface between the base 2 and the upper housing 6 and not 1C at some other point, such as at the interface between the Slower side of flange 4 and the water supply conduit.

C 9 t It will be appreciated that it will be a simple matter S to adapt in situ hydrants to have a shut-off facility which will operate even if the upper housing of the hydrant becomes detached from the base. In order to install the auxiliary valve member to achieve the shut-off facility referred to S above it will be necessary to first switch off the mains supply which supplies water to the hydrant. Thereafter, the bolts 7 will be detached and the upper housing 6 removed from the base 2. The annular sealing disc 39 will be located in position on the base 2 and the auxiliary valve member will then be mounted to the base so that the orifice 37 through the auxiliary valve member is aligned with the axis of the valve closure member 14. Preferably the annular disc 36 will have had the bores 44 pre-formed therein and threaded bolts 45 can then be formed in the base 2 by using the annular disc 36 as a 39 template for positioning where those bores should be drilled.

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After drilling suitably deep holes in the base 32 threads of the appropriate form will be cut into the bores 45. Suitable bolts, which will preferably comprise Allen head bolts will then be screwed into the countersunk threaded bores 45 in the base 2 to thereby connect the disc 36 to the base 2 and simultaneously clamp the sealing disc 39 in position between the annular disc 36 and the base 2. Once this has been done the mains can be switched on since the valve closure member 14 will now effectively shut-off the flow passage 22 through the hydrant. The upper housing 6 can be now mounted to the base in the conventional manner, although it may be desirable for the reasons mentioned above to replace the original bolts used to secure the upper housing 6 to the base with necked bolts 7 e similar to those depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 3 shows one suitable configuration of bolt S spacing for the auxiliary valve member 35. As previously mentioned, the means for mounting the auxiliary valve member S in position can take any suitable form. Clearly, the form of the auxiliary valve member will be selected with a view to the strength requirements of the device. The thickness of the auxiliary valve member will also be such as to ensure the hydrant can be operative without having to provide a longer rod 24 or other adapted fittings.

Thus, it is submitted that the invention provides a simple, inexpensive, and easily installed device which can be used on existing hydrants without having to significantly adapt those existing hydrants and without having to remove the hydrants from their in situ location in order to effect necessary adaptations.

Various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts previously described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

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Claims (12)

1. An auxiliary valve member adapted to be installed onto a hydrant, said hydrant comprising a base which in use is mounted to a water supply line, an upper housing, connection means for connecting said upper housing to said base, an inlet into said hydrant through said base and an outlet from said hydrant through said upper housing, a flow passage through said hydrant connecting said inlet and said outlet, a valve seat formed on said upper housing adjacent said base said valve seat having an orifice therethrough, a valve closure member located in said base and adapted to engage said valve seat to close said orifice, and operating means operable to cause said valve closure member to disengage said seat in S order to allow water to flow through said hydrant in use, said auxiliary valve member including a body having an orifice Co S therethrough, a valve seat surrounding said orifice, and mounting means for mounting said body to the base of a said Shydrant, the form of the auxiliary valve member being such that when it is operatively mounted on a hydrant base the valve seat on the auxiliary valve member will be engageable by the valve closure member in the base to close the flow passage through the hydrant, said upper housing can be mounted onto Ssaid base, and said operating means will be operable to disengage said valve closure member from the valve seat on the auxiliary valve member.

2. An auxiliary valve member according to claim 1 wherein said body is of annular plate like form and the valve seat of V I the auxiliary valve member is formed on the radially inner and operatively lower edge of said annular plate.

3. An auxiliary valve member according to either preceding claim wherein said mounting means comprises a plurality of bolts which in use secure said auxiliary valve member to said base, said auxiliary valve member being adapted to cooperate with said bolts.

4. An auxiliary valve member according to claim 3 wherein a plurality of bores are formed through said body, each said bore being of stepped configuration defining a shoulder within the bore and having a relatively large diameter upper bore, 39 each of said bolts having a head which locates within said upper bore when said auxiliary valve member is mounted on said base, the heads of said bolts engaging against the shoulders in said bores to clamp the auxiliary valve member against the base in use.

A method of adapting a hydrant to provide the hydrant with an automatic shut-off facility for the hydrant, said hydrant comprising a base mounted or adapted to be mounted to a water supply conduit, an upper housing mounted to said base, a flow passage formed through said hydrant, a chamber formed within said base, a valve closure member located within said I chamber, and a valve seat formed on said upper housing with which said valve clsoure member is adapted to engage to close said flow passage through said hydrant, said hydrant having operating means for moving said valve closure member into an S" open position in order to allow water to flow through said S flow passage, said method including the steps of: i removing said upper housing from said base, i S(b) mounting an auxiliary valve member to said base, said auxiliary valve member comprising a body having an 200 orifice therethrough and a valve seat surrounding said Sorifice, and remounting said upper housing to said base, said auxiliary valve member being of a form, and mounted in a manner such that said valve closure member will seal with said S valve seat on said auxiliary valve member and said operating o means will be operable to move said valve closure member into San open position once said upper housing has been mounted on said base.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the step of mounting said auxiliary valve member to said base includes the steps of drilling and tapping holes into an upper face of said base, and bolting said auxiliary valve member onto said base with bolts which engage in said tapped holes.

7. A method according to either claim 5 or 6 wherein an elastomeric annular sealing disc is clamped between said base and said auxiliary valve member, said elastomeric sealing disc being dimensioned such that said valve closure passes said elastomeric sealing disc against said auxiliary valve member 39 seat in order to close said flow passage.

8. A method according to includes the step of mounting by means of bolts having a zo adapted to shear off at the said housing being knocked lat

9. A hydrant when an auxi one of claims 1 to 4 is o thereof.

An auxiliary valve memb described with reference to th

11. A method of adapting hereinbefore described with re C 0 DATED:

12 May, 1989 t PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK 1 0 t* one of claims 5 to 7 which said upper housing to said base ne of weakness, said bolts being zone of weakness in the event of erally by a substantial force. liary valve member according to peratively mounted to the base er substantially as hereinbefore e drawings. a hydrant substantially as ference to the drawings. *'0 t I f t o tt 0 «It 9 0t 9 4 9e ft8O Attorneys for: -ALAN -JAMES -RUFFIN ^boudr oThN o i 6o IA o' LAke 'I I I I t 0 39 2700k AT -11-