Trunnion ball valve for high pressure, and hydrogen station

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9546736-B2
Application number	US-201314378722-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2013
Priority date	Feb 28, 2012
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

A trunnion ball valve includes a ball provided inside a body main unit in a freely rotatable manner; and a seal mechanism provided on positions on both sides of the ball so as to be in seal contact with the ball, the seal mechanism including: a seat retainer having a sealing surface that is to be in seal contact with a ball surface of the ball; a spring member provided for applying elastic force on a sealing surface side; and a sealing member provided on an outer surface of the seat retainer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A trunnion ball valve for high pressure, comprising:
a ball provided inside a body main unit in a freely rotatable manner; and
a seal mechanism provided on positions on both sides of the ball so as to be in seal contact with the ball,
the seal mechanism comprising:
a seat retainer of a tubular shape having a sealing surface that is to be in seal contact with a ball surface of the ball;
a spring member provided for applying elastic force such that the elastic force is applied on a sealing surface side; and
a sealing member provided on an outer surface of the seat retainer,

wherein the sealing surface of the seat retainer is set at a position deviated from a spherical diameter center of the ball surface so that the sealing surface has a slightly longer radius than a radius of the ball surface, and the sealing surface has a sealing position with the ball surface at a substantially center position of the sealing surface.

2. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the seat retainer has a base material hardness set higher than a base material hardness of the ball.

3. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the base material of the seat retainer is BeCu alloy, and the base material of the ball is stainless steel.

4. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 1 , wherein either one or both of the sealing surface and the ball surface has a conforming layer provided on a surface of a coating layer.

5. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the ball has an upper shaft section and a lower shaft section provided in an integrated manner, the ball being provided on an outer periphery of the upper shaft section and the lower shaft section in a freely rotatable manner via a radial bearing, and the ball being provided in a freely rotatable manner via a rotational force of a stem that is joined to the upper shaft section, the stem having on a lower end thereof a parallel two-surface groove on which a parallel two-surface section provided on an upper end of the upper shaft section is provided to work in connection therewith, and when the ball is pressed by high-pressure fluid while the trunnion ball valve is closed, the ball having the upper shaft section and the lower shaft section is supported in a perpendicular state in a secondary direction.

6. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 5 , wherein the radial bearing is a member in which an inner peripheral surface of a rigid cylindrical body is coated with polytetrafluoroethylene.

7. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 5 , wherein the trunnion ball valve is a manually operated ball valve to which a handle for manual operation is provided on an upper end of the stem, or is an automatically operated ball valve in which the upper end of the stem is connected to an actuator installed in the body main unit for automated operation.

8. A hydrogen station comprising a trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 1 , in a supply line for high pressure hydrogen.

9. A trunnion ball valve for high pressure, comprising:
a ball provided inside a body main unit in a freely rotatable manner; and
a seal mechanism provided on positions on both sides of the ball so as to be in seal contact with the ball,
the seal mechanism comprising:
a seat retainer of a tubular shape having a sealing surface that is to be in seal contact with a ball surface of the ball;
a spring member provided for applying elastic force such that the elastic force is applied on a sealing surface side; and
a sealing member provided on an outer surface of the seat retainer,

wherein the sealing surface of the seat retainer has one part of a drawn semispherical surface serving as a trajectory surface, the semispherical surface being drawn to have a slightly longer radius than that of the ball surface, the slightly longer radius being a length from a point deviated from a spherical diameter center of the ball surface along a Y-axis direction by a predetermined distance, at an angle 180° in a direction opposite to a side to which the point is deviated, the Y-axis running orthogonally to an X-axis that runs in a flow channel direction of the ball.

10. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the seat retainer has a base material hardness set higher than a base material hardness of the ball.

11. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the base material of the seat retainer is BeCu alloy, and the base material of the ball is stainless steel.

12. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 9 , wherein either one or both of the sealing surface and the ball surface has a conforming layer provided on a surface of a coating layer.

13. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the ball has an upper shaft section and a lower shaft section provided in an integrated manner, the ball being provided on an outer periphery of the upper shaft section and the lower shaft section in a freely rotatable manner via a radial bearing, and the ball being provided in a freely rotatable manner via a rotational force of a stem that is joined to the upper shaft section, the stem having on a lower end thereof a parallel two-surface groove on which a parallel two-surface section provided on an upper end of the upper shaft section is provided to work in connection therewith, and when the ball is pressed by high-pressure fluid while the trunnion ball valve is closed, the ball having the upper shaft section and the lower shaft section is supported in a perpendicular state in a secondary direction.

14. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the radial bearing is a member in which an inner peripheral surface of a rigid cylindrical body is coated with polytetrafluoroethylene.

15. The trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the trunnion ball valve is a manually operated ball valve to which a handle for manual operation is provided on an upper end of the stem, or is an automatically operated ball valve in which the upper end of the stem is connected to an actuator installed in the body main unit for automated operation.

16. A hydrogen station comprising a trunnion ball valve for high pressure as set forth in claim 9 , in a supply line for high pressure hydrogen.

Assignees

• Kitz Corp

Inventors

• Watanabe Osamu
• Watanabe Tetsuya

Classifications

• F16K25/005

  Particular materials for seats or closure elements · CPC title

• F16K5/0657

  Particular coverings or materials · CPC title

• F16K5/227

  for plugs with spherical surfaces · CPC title

• F16K5/0647

  Spindles or actuating means · CPC title

• F16K27/067

  with spherical plugs · CPC title