US3208648A - Control means for fluid feed lines - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 28, 1965 M. NANNI 3,208,648

CONTROL MEANS FOR FLUID FEED LINES Filed Sept. 22. 1964 FIG. 2

MARTIN NANNl JOHN P, CHANDLER HIS ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,208,648 CONTROL MEANS FOR FLUID FEED LINES Martin Nanni, 2 Darwood Place, Mount Vernon, NY. Filed Sept. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 398,348 1 Claim. (Cl. 222464) This invention relates to control means for fluid feed lines and relates more particularly to a novel cut-off means for feed lines which deliver fluid from a tank, and wherein the fluid is withdrawn from an area close to the liquid level.

I have described in my co-pending application Serial No. 274,085, now Patent No. 3,172,581, a novel fluid withdrawal means for tanks wherein the delivery conduit moves up and down with the liquid level so that, in the case of an oil tank for domestic heating use, only the top level oil, which is clean, clear and free from all contaminants, is delivered. This floating intake avoids all contact with bottom sludge, water and other impurities at the lowest level and provides a trouble-free operation of the burner and fewer service calls.

Essentially, this intake consists of an arm pivoted in the tank, either on the bottom or on a support extending downwardly from a top opening in the tank, and the fluid intake is at the free end of the arm which is also provided with a float.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus extending downwardly through a hole in the top wall of the tank, which allows the arm to be raised above the liquid level and thus, when any repairs are to be made in the fluid line from the tank, the delivery arm is simply raised to the top of the tank, which of course, is above the fluid level and no oil can flow.

The present invention consists essentially of a hookshaped lifter which is connected with a finger piece supported on a boss associated with a top wall opening of small dimensions and which is accessible when a screw cap for the boss is removed. The lifter may be made from a length of wire, having a hook-shaped contour at its lower end and when it is raised to a point that the intake head, at the free end of the conduit arm, contacts the top wall of the tank, the wire is simply bent over the threaded boss or is otherwise secured in this elevated position. In this fashion the intake arm remains at the top of the tank above the liquid level for as long as is necessary and when it is desired to return the intake head downwardly to operating location, the wire is straightened and allowed to fall to the bottom of the tank.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a central vertical section taken through a tank fitted with a pivoted fluid withdrawal arm with a floating head and equipped with the arm lifter of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed view of the arm lifter.

A conventional oil tank is shown at and it has a number of openings including a filling opening 11 with a short vertical pipe section 12 having a closure cap 14. It also has an end wall opening 16 near the bottom which receives an oil delivery pipe 18. A tube 19 connects the oil delivery pipe 18 with a block 20. A tubular arm 21 having a float 22 at its outer end and an intake opening 25 just below the float is arranged to rise and fall with the change in the fluid level shown at 24. The tubular arm 21 is connected with block by a flexible conduit 26 and up and down movement of the arm is guided by pivotal members 28 connected at one end on block 20 and their opposite ends to the arm.

The foregoing structure is taught in my co-pending application earlier mentioned.

The tank has another opening 30 which receives a threaded fitting 31 having a threaded boss 32 at its upper end and having a small through opening 34. An elongated member 36 which forms the lifter and which may be made from wire is connected to a finger piece 38 of larger dimensions than the hole 34 so that it will not pass through the hole and into the tank.

At its lower end the wire has a hook-shaped configuration shown at 39 and provided with a restricted portion 40 which may have a clearance with the main portion of the wire of less than the diameter of tubular arm 21.

When the intake assembly is first installed in the tank the arm 21 passes into the hook-shaped lifter 36. When the tank is substantially full and the float is near the tank top the wire simply is bent into a curved configuration or the hook portion simply rests on the tank bottom and the arm may pass out of the hook portion but it readily moves into it again. When it is desired to raise the arm intake above the fluid level, a closure cap 41 is removed from the threaded boss and the wire is drawn upwardly and bent over the top of the boss as indicated at 43.

In most instances the lifter for the pivoted fluid delivery arm will be introduced in tank at some time after the arm has been installed in the tank. The pivotal mounting for the arm is such that there is only the slightest amount of lateral movement during its up and down travel. To catch the arm on the hook-shaped lifter, working in the dark as one must, is not diificult since opening 30 which receives the lifter assembly is in the center of the tank and so is the pivoted arm.

The lifter, mounted within threaded fitting 31 is first inserted into the tank with the hook portion 39 generally parallel with the major axis of the tank. The lifter is then turned and raised and if the pivoted arm has not been ensnared, as it were, the operation is repeated after the hook has been rotated 90 in the other direction. It is simple to detect the hook having attached itself to the arm since the arm has some weight. The fitting 31 is now screwed into the tank and the cap 41 screwed into place. When it is desired to completely cut oil flow of the oil, the cap is removed and the lifter raised until the floating head hits the top wall of the tank. The wire is now bent over the top of the boss as indicated at 43. Alternatively, a pointed, tapered pin may be inserted into hole 34 as a wedge to keep the lifter elevated.

While there have been described herein what are at present considered preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the essence of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the exemplary embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims, and that all modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be included therein.

What I claim is:

A tank for fluids having therein a fluid delivery arm which is pivotedly mounted at one end in said tank and 3,208,648 3 4 is provided with a floating head at its opposite end and References Cited by the Examiner further provided with a fluid intake opening arranged to UNITED STATES PATENTS lie just below the level of the fluid, in combination therewith, a lifter for the arm which is mounted within an 558131 4/96 Warren 222464 opening in a fitting to be received in threaded relation in 5 FOREIGN PATENTS a central opening in the top wall of the tank, said lifter 10,355 5/04 Great Britain.

having a hook-shaped lower end which receives and supports the pivoted arm when the lifter is raised, and means LOUIS DEMBO Pnmmy Examl'wr' for securing the lifter in elevated position within the fitting. 1O HADD S. LANE, Examiner.

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