U.S. patent number 3,746,431 [Application Number 05/138,546] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-17 for sight glass assembly.
Invention is credited to Charles E. Meginnis.
United States Patent |
3,746,431 |
Meginnis |
July 17, 1973 |
SIGHT GLASS ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A sight glass assembly generally including a housing structure
having an opening therethrough, the opening having an enlarged
section providing a shoulder, a face plate having an opening
registered with the opening in the housing structure, detachably
mounted on the housing structure in opposed relation to the
shoulder, a lens disposed tin the enlarged section of the opening
in the housing structure and interposed between the shoulder and
the face plate, sealing means disposed in the enlarged section of
the opening in the housing structure, between the lens and the
housing structure, and means engageable with the sealing means for
compressing the sealing means against the face plate to expand the
sealing means laterally thereby providing a positive seal between
the lens and the housing structure.
Inventors: |
Meginnis; Charles E.
(Charleston, WV) |
Family
ID: |
22482522 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/138,546 |
Filed: |
April 29, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
359/894; 65/59.3;
73/334; 359/827 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16J
15/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F16J
15/02 (20060101); G02b 007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;350/319 ;73/330,334
;220/82A ;137/559 ;116/117C |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Corbin; John K.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A sight glass assembly comprising a housing structure having an
opening therethrugh, said opening having an enlarged section
providing a shoulder, a face plate having an opening registered
with the opening in said ousing structure, detachably mounted on
said housing structure in opposed relation to said shoulder, a lens
disposed in the enlarged section of the opening in said housing
structure and interposed between said shoulder and said face plate,
said face plate having a sub-stantially planar surface supporting
said lens and engageable with said housing structure, sealing means
disposed in the enlarged section of the opening in said housing
structure, and means engageable with said sealing means for
compressing said sealing means against said substantially planar
surface of said face plate to expand said sealing means laterally
thereby providing a positive seal between said lens and said
housing structure.
2. A sight glass assembly according to claim 1, wherein said face
plate consists of a corrosive resistance material.
3. A sight glass assembl according to claim 1, wherein said face
plate is coated with a corrosive resistance material.
4. A sight glass assembly according to claim 1, including a
corrosive resistant liner permanently disposed on the wall of said
enlarged section of said opening, interposed between said sealing
means and said housing structure.
5. A sight glass assembly according to claim 1, wherein said
compression means includes a rigid member disposed in the enlarged
section of the housing structure, and enageable witl said sealing
means, and wherein said housing structure includes threaded
openings provided with set screws engageable with said rigid
member.
6. A sight glass assembly according to claim 1, wherein the wall of
the enlarged section of said opening in said housing structure is
provided with a coating of a corrosive resistant material.
7. A sight glass assembly according to claim 1, wherein the portion
of said housing structure engaged by said sealing means and said
face plate are coated with a corrosive resistant material.
8. A sight glass assembly according to claim 7, wherein said
corrosive resistant material is glass.
9. A sight glass assembly according to claim 1, wherein the opening
in said housing structure, the enlarged section of the opening in
said housing structure and said lens are circular, and wherein said
face plate and said sealing means are annular, whereby upon
compressing said sealing means against said face plate, said
sealing means is expanded radially relative to the axis of said
lens to provide a positive seal between said lens and said housing
structure, and said lens is placed in radial compression.
10. A sight glass assembly according to claim 9, wherein said face
plate consists of a corrosive resistant material.
11. A sight glass assembl/ according to claim 9, wherein said face
plate is coated with a corrosive resistant material.
12. A sight glass assembly according to claim 9, including a
corrosive resistant annular liner permanently disposed on the wall
of said enlarged section of said opening interposed between said
sealing means and said housing structure.
13. A sight glass assembly according to claim 9,wherein the wall of
the enlarged section of said opening in said housing structure is
provided with a coating of a corrosive resistant material.
14. A sight glass assembly according to claim 9, wherein the
portion of said housing structure engaged by said sealing means and
said face plate are coated with a corrosive resistant material.
Description
This invention relates to a sight glass assembly, and more
particularly to a sight glass assembly suitable for large capacity
vessels containing corrosive fluids.
In the prior art, sight glass assemblies adapted for use with gas
or liquid containers often are provided with a resilient packing
member which is compressed and thus expanded to form a fluid tight
seal between the lens and the housing structure for the lens which
is secured to the fluid container. Usually, the packing member is
exposed to the interior of the container, so that it is subject to
corrosion caused by contact with the fluid within the container. In
addition, the housing structure may be exposed to the interior of
the container, so that it also is subjected to corrosion caused by
contact with the fluid in the container.
In my invention as described and claimed in U.S. provided a sight
glass assembly particularly adapted for use with containers
containing corrosive fluids. Such invention includes an insert
consisting of a corrosive resistant material which is interposed
between the sealing means and the housing structure of the
assembly, and which includes an inwardly extending annular flange
portion interposed between the sealing means and the housing
structure, on the one hand, and the opening in the housing
structure, on the other hand, for shielding the packing member from
the deteriorative action caused by contact with the housing
structure, and the corrosive action caused by contact with the
fluid within the 9container. Such insert further functions to
shield the housing structure of the sight glass assembly from the
corrosive effects of the fluid within the container on which the
sight glass assembl is mounted.
Although the use of an insert as prvided in my aforementioned
invention has been found to be highly effective in prolonging the
lives of the components of a sight glass assembl/ and assuring
maintenance free operation of the sight glass over an extended
period of service, it further has been found that the use of such
an insert increases the cost of such assemblies. It thus has been
found desirable to provide a sight glass assembly of the type
disclosed in the aforementioned patent, wherein a more inexpensive
means is provided for protecting the components of the assembly
while providing a means for supporting the lens within the housing
structure of the assembly, and forming a positive fluid tight seal
between the periphery of the lens and the housing structure.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to
provide an improved sight glass assembly.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved sight
glass assembl for a gluid container, wherein the sealing means
disposed between the sight glass and the housing structure for the
sight glass is shielded from the corrosive action of the fluid
within the container.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved sight
glass assembly having the lens thereof mounted within a metallic
housing structure, wherein the sealing means interposed between the
periphery of the lens and the housing structure is shielded from
any corrosive action otherwise caused by contact with the fluid
within the container.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved
sight glass assembly for fluid containers containing corrosive
gases or liquids, wherein noncorrosive resistant sealing means may
be used to form a seal between the lens and the housing structure
for the sight glass.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved
sight glass assembly for a fluid container, wherein there is
provided a fluid tight seal between the sight glass and the housing
structure for the sight glass for the useful life of the
assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved
sight glass assembly for containers containing corrosive gases or
liquids, which is simple in construction, easy to assemble and
inexpensive to manufacture .
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become
more apparent to those persons skilled in the art, from the
following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drwaings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional vew taken along line 2--2 in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1
and 2;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 5--5 in
FIG. 4; and
FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4
and 5.
Briefly described, the present invention provides an improved sight
glass assembly generally including a housing structure having an
opening therethrough, the opening having an enlarged section
providing a shoulder, a face plate having an opening registered
with the opening in the housing structure, detachably mounted on
the housing structure in opposed relation to the shoulder, a lens
disposed in the enlarged section of the opening in the housing
structure and interposed between the shoulder and the face plate,
sealing means disposed in the enlarged section of the opening in
the housing structure, between the lens and the housing structure,
and means engageable with the sealing means for compressin the
sealing means against the face plate to expand the sealing means
laterally, thereby providing a positive seal between the lens and
the housing structure.
Preferably, the face plate consists of, or is coated with a
corrosive resistant material, the enlarged section of the opening
in the housing structure is provided with a liner or a coating of a
corrosive resistant material interposed between the sealing means
and the housing structure, the compressing means includes a rigid
member disposed in the enlarged section of the housing structure,
engageable with the sealing means, and the housing structure
includes a plurality of threaded openings provided with set screws
engageable with the rigid member for compressing the sealing means
against the face plate, causing it to expand laterally to form a
fluid tight seal between the periphery of the lens and the housing
structure.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, there is illustrated a first
embodiment of the invention. Specifically, there is illustrated a
fluid containe 10 having a circular opening 11 therein and a sight
glass assembly 12 secured to the fluid container. The sight glass
assembly includes a housing structure 13 which may consist of gray
cast iron, having an opening 14 adapted to register with the
opening 11 in the fluid container. The housing structure is secured
to the fluid container 10 by means of a plurality of bolts 15
extending through suitable openings 16 circumferentially spaced in
the housing structure, which are adapted to register with suitable
threaded holes in the fluid container. The opening 14 in the
housing structure is provided with an enlarged section 17 which
providesan annular upper shoulder 18. Mounted on the shoulder 18 is
a gasket 19 and a circular lens 20 having a diameter less than the
diameter of the enlarged section 17. Disposed on the cylindrical
wall of the enlarged section 17 is a coating 21 of a corrosive
resistance material, such as glass. The coating 21 extends beyond
the enlarged section 17 onto the surface 21 of the housing
structure, as indicated at 21a.
Detachably secured to the housing structure 13 by means of a
plurality of bolts 23 is an annular face plate 24 having an inner
diameter less than the outside diameter of the lens 20 and an
outside diameter greater than the diameter of the enlarged section
17 of the opening 14, so that when the annular face plate is
mounted on the housing structure 13, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the
face plate will support the lens 20, and the main body thereof will
bridge the annular space between the lens 20 and the housing
structure 13. The face plate 24 consits of a metallic material
having a coating 25 of a corrosive resistant material, such as
glass. As best illustrated in FIG. 2, an annular gasket 26 is
interposed between the housing structure and the periphery of the
lens 20, and the face plate 24, so that the lens 20 will be
interposed between the annular shoulder 18 and the annular face
plate 24, and provided with annular gaskets 19 and 26 to prevent
contact of the lens 20 with a rigid contact surface. As shown in
FIG. 2, the opening 11 in the fluid container 10 is provided with
an enlarged annular section 27 for receiving the annular face plate
24 when the sight glass assembly is mounted on the fluid container
10. To prevent contact of the face plate 24 with the wall of the
fluid container, an annular gasket 28 is provided on the annular
shoulder of the enlarged section 27.
A fluid tight seal is provided between the periphery of the lens 20
and the housing structure 13, by means of a retainer ring 29, an
annular resilient packing member 30 and a compression ring 31. The
retainer ring 29 preferably consists of a corrosive resistant
material such as Teflon and is disposed in the enlarged section 17
of the opening 14, seated on the gasket 26. The packing member 30
may consist of Teflon or Teflon impregnated with asbestos and is
interposed between the periphery of the lens 20 and the coating 21
within the enlarged section 17. The compression ring 31 is seated
on the packing member 30 and is partially received within an
annular recess 32 provided in the annular shoulder 18 of the
housing structure. The housing structure 13 further is provided
with a plurality of circumferentially spaced threaded openings 13a
communicating with the recess 32, having a plurality of set screws
33 engageable with the compression ring 31. It will be appreciated
that with the components of the sight glass assembled as
illustrated in FIG. 2, when the set screws 33 are tightened to
force the compression ring 31 toward the packing member 30, the
packing member will engage the retainer ring 29 and be caused to
expand laterally or radially relative to the axis of the lens 20 to
form a fluid tight seal between the periphery of the lens 20 and
the coating 21 of the housing structure to prevent leakage of fluid
within the container 10 through the sight glass assembly, and to
place the lens 20 in radial compression, thereby preventing blowout
of the lens 20 in the event of breakage of the lens.
It is contemplated that the sight glass assembly including the
housing structure 13, the face plate 24, the lens 20, retainer ring
29, packing member 21, compression ring 31 and the various gaskets
therefor, will be assembled as an integral unit, so that the
assembly can be installed on a fluid container 10 merely by
positioning the housing structure 13 on the wall of the fluid
container with the face plate 14 received within the enlarged
section 27 of the wall of the container, and securing the entire
assembly to the wall of the container by means of the bolts 15. In
the event of failure of any of the components of the assembly, the
assembly may easily be removed from the wall of the container,
disassembled to replace any defective component and then easily
installed again on the wall of the container.
FIGS. 4 through 6 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention
which is similar to the above mentioned embodiment. Specifically,
there is shown a fluid container 10a, having a circular opening 34
and a sight glass assembly 35 secured to the fluid container by
means of suitable bolts 36. The components of the sight glass
assembly include a housing structure 37, an annular liner 38 having
an annular flange 38a, an annular compression ring 39, a circular
lens 40, a packing ring 41, a retainer ring 42, a gasket 43 and an
annular face plate 44. As best illustrated in FIG. 5, the housing
structure 37 is provided with an opening 45 which is adapted to
register with the opening 34 in the wall of the container 10a when
the sight glass assembly is mounted on the wall of the container.
The opening 45 is provided with an enlarged section 46 providing an
annular shoulder 47. The annular liner 38 consists of a
substantially rigid, corrosive resistant material such as stainless
steel or titanium, and is press fit within the enlarged section 46
of the opening 45 with the annular flange portion 38a engaging the
surface 48 of the housing structure.
The lens 40 has a diameter larger than the diameter of the opening
45 and the inside diameter of the face plate 44, and smaller than
the diameter of the enlarged section 46 of the opening 45, so that
when the lens is inserted in the housing structure and the annular
face plate 44 is secured to the housing structure with bolts 49, as
illustrated in FIG. 5, the lens will be interposed between the
annular shoulder 47 and the annular face plate 44, providing an
annular space between the periphery of the lens and the annular
liner 38. Glass to metal contact of the lens 40 is prevented by
means of an annular gasket 50 interposed between the lens 40 and
the annular shoulder 47 of the housing structure, and the annular
gasket 43 interposed between the lens 40 and the housing structure
37, and the annular face plate 44. Similar to the face plate 24 as
shown in FIG. 2, the annular face plate 44 has an inside diameter
less than the diameter of the lens 40 and an outside diameter
greater than the diameter of the enlarged section 46 of the opening
45, so that the annular face plate bears upon the lens 40 and the
housing structure, and bridges the annular space provided between
the liner 38 and the periphery of the lens 40.
The face plate 44 consists of a corrosive resistant material, such
as stainless steel or titanium, and is received within an enlarged
section 51 of the opening 34 in the wall of the fluid container
when the sight glass assembly is mounted on the fluid container. As
shown in FIG. 5, an annular gasket 52 is interposed between the
face plate 44 and the shoulder of the enlarged section 51.
The retainer ring 42 and the packing ring 41 are disposed within
the enlarged section 46 between the periphery of the sight glass
and the liner 38. The packing ring 41 is compressed by the
compression ring 39 to cause the packing ring 41 to expand
laterally or radially relative to the axis of the lens 40, to form
a fluid tight seal between the periphery of the lens and the liner
38, and to place the lens in radial compression. As shown in FIG.
5, the compression ring 39 partially projects into an annular
recess 53 in the annular shoulder 47 of the housing structure, and
is forced downwardly by a plurality of set screws 54 threaded into
a plurality of circumferentially spaced threaded openings 55 in the
housing structure, communicating with the annular recess 53.
In each of the above described embodiments, it will be noted that
the liner or coating of corrosive resistant material provided
between the packing member and the housing structure prevents the
packing member from deteriorating by preventing contact with the
housing structure. This would permit the selection of a packing or
sealing material without concern for the possible deleterious
effects of the packing material with the particular material of the
housing structure. In addition, it is to be noted that the
interposition of the annular face plate member in each of the
embodiments shields both the packing member and the housing
structure from the possible corrosive effects of the fluid
contained within the fluid container. This again would permit the
selection of a material for the packing member without concern for
the possible effects of the fluid within the container coming into
contact with th packing member. In addition, this further would
permit the selection of a material for the housing structure
without being concerned for the possible corrosive effects of the
fluid within the container on the material of the housing
structure. In both instances, it is contemplated that a wider
selection of materials would be available for the packing member
and the housing structure, which ultimately has the effect of
reducing the cost of the entire sight glass assembly.
From the foregoing detailed description, it will be evident that
there are a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the
present invention which come within the province of those skilled
in the art. However, it is intended that all such variations not
departing from the spirit of the invention be considered as within
the scope thereof as limited solely by the appended claims.
* * * * *