Hydrant nozzle cap spacer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12012732-B2
Application number	US-202318298934-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2023
Priority date	Mar 3, 2020
Publication date	Jun 18, 2024
Grant date	Jun 18, 2024

Abstract

A nozzle cap spacer for a hydrant nozzle cap includes a spacer body defining an outer body edge, the spacer body defining a spacer body thickness; and a resilient first spacer spring arm extending from the outer body edge and biased away from the spacer body in an extended orientation, wherein the first spacer spring arm defines a first spring arm thickness; wherein the first spring arm thickness of the first spacer spring arm is equal to the spacer body thickness of the spacer body.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A spaced nozzle cap assembly comprising:
a nozzle cap comprising a cap body, the cap body comprising a bore sidewall defining a threaded bore; and
a nozzle cap spacer comprising a spacer body and a spacer spring arm extending from the spacer body, the nozzle cap spacer received within the threaded bore, the spacer spring arm biased to an extended orientation and engaging the bore sidewall;
wherein:
a thickness of the spacer body is equal to a thickness of the spacer spring arm to define a uniform spacer thickness of the nozzle cap spacer;
the cap body defines a first body end and a second body end;
the threaded bore extends from the second body end of the cap body to an inner wall of the cap body;
a front spacer surface of the nozzle cap spacer abuts the inner wall
the bore sidewall defines internal threading and an annular recess;
the internal threading extends from the second body end towards the inner wall;
the annular recess is oriented between the internal threading and the inner wall; and
the spacer spring arm extends into the annular recess.

2. The spaced nozzle cap assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the nozzle cap comprises an antenna; and
the nozzle cap spacer is configured to adjust a rotational indexing of the nozzle cap to reorient the antenna.

3. The spaced nozzle cap assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the nozzle cap defines a leak channel; and
the nozzle cap spacer is positioned adjacent to the leak channel but does not extend into the leak channel.

4. The spaced nozzle cap assembly of claim 3 , wherein:
the leak channel defines an L-shape and comprises a first leak channel segment and a second leak channel segment;
the first leak channel segment is formed in the inner wall of the cap body; and
the second leak channel segment is formed in the bore sidewall of the cap body and extends from the first leak channel segment to the second body end of the cap body.

5. The spaced nozzle cap assembly of claim 1 , wherein the spacer spring arm is configurable in the extended orientation and a compressed orientation, and wherein the bore sidewall biases the spacer spring arm to the compressed orientation.

6. A method for adjusting a rotational indexing of a nozzle cap comprising:
providing a nozzle cap and nozzle connector, the nozzle cap defining a threaded bore;
inserting a nozzle cap spacer into the threaded bore to adjust a rotational indexing of the nozzle cap relative to the nozzle connector, the nozzle cap spacer defining a spacer body and a resilient spacer spring arm extending from the spacer body and biased to an extended orientation, the nozzle cap spacer defining a uniform thickness;
inserting a second nozzle cap spacer into the threaded bore to further adjust the rotational indexing of the nozzle cap relative to the nozzle connector; and
connecting the nozzle cap to the nozzle connector.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein connecting the nozzle cap to the nozzle connector comprises mating the internal threading of the threaded bore with external threading of the nozzle connector and rotating the nozzle cap relative to the nozzle connector.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising orienting an antenna of the nozzle cap in an upward-facing position.

Assignees

• Mueller Int Llc

Inventors

• Gibson Daryl Lee
• Robertson Bruce
• Sobhani Mohammad Hassan

Classifications

• F16F1/027

  Planar, e.g. in sheet form; leaf springs · CPC title

• F16F2236/025

  radial flexion of ring-type springs · CPC title

• Y10T137/5503

  Stop and waste · CPC title

• Y10T137/5762

  With leakage or drip collecting · CPC title

• E03B9/14

  Draining devices for hydrants · CPC title