초록 ▼

Featured is an automatic high-negative pressure relief valve and its use in combination with an apparatus for draining fluid from a body. In broad terms the negative pressure relief valve includes a biasing mechanism, a moveable member acted upon by the biasing mechanism and a seating surface. When

Featured is an automatic high-negative pressure relief valve and its use in combination with an apparatus for draining fluid from a body. In broad terms the negative pressure relief valve includes a biasing mechanism, a moveable member acted upon by the biasing mechanism and a seating surface. When the pressure within a chamber, in which a portion of the relief valve is in fluid communication with, is less than a predetermined negative pressure, the moveable member is moved by the biasing mechanism to sealing engage the seating surface and when the pressure is at or above the predetermined value, the restoring force of the biasing mechanism is overcome and the moveable member moves away from the seating surface. In an exemplary embodiment, the biasing mechanism is a spring, diaphragm or wave washer.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An automatic high negative pressure relief valve a portion of which is in fluid communication with a chamber, said relief valve comprising:a housing having an interior compartment;a biasing mechanism,a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing and being operably coupled to the biasing m

1. An automatic high negative pressure relief valve a portion of which is in fluid communication with a chamber, said relief valve comprising:a housing having an interior compartment;a biasing mechanism,a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing and being operably coupled to the biasing mechanism, wherein the sealing member includes a through aperture therein; andwherein the sealing member includes a flexible member that extends between interior surfaces of the housing dividing the interior compartment into first and second sub compartments, where the first sub compartment is fluidly coupled to the chamber and the second sub compartment is fluidly coupled to a gas source;wherein the biasing member urges the sealing member against a seating surface to close the relief valve when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value, wherein the seating surface comprises a conically shaped member and wherein the end of the through aperture sealingly engages the conically shaped member; andwherein the sealing member moves away from the seating surface to open the relief valve and to fluidly couple the chamber to the gas source when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value. 2. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, wherein the biasing mechanism is one of a spring, a wave washer, a diaphragm, leaf spring, hydraulic member and a pneumatic piston. 3. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, wherein the flexible member is configured so as to not impose a changing force on the sealing member as the sealing member moves responsive to the differential pressure developed across the sealing member. 4. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 2, wherein the biasing mechanism further includes an adjusting mechanism operably coupled to the spring so as to adjust the amount of compression of the spring. 5. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, wherein the sealing member and the seating surface are configured and arranged so that they are in line contact with each other when the valve is in the closed position. 6. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, wherein the sealing member includes a through aperture therein, and wherein an end of the through aperture is sealingly engaged with the seating surface when the valve is closed and is spaced from the seating surface when the valve is opened, whereby the chamber and the gas source are fluidly coupled to each other via the through aperture. 7. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 6, wherein the seating surface is configured so the end of the through aperture sealingly engages the seating surface in edge contact when the valve is closed. 8. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, wherein the end of the through aperture and the conically shaped member are configured and arranged so that they are in line contact with each other when the valve is in the closed position. 9. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, wherein the conically shaped member contacts an interior surface of the through aperture and so that the interior surface and the conically shaped member are in line contact with each other when the valve is in the closed position. 10. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 1, further comprising an adjustment mechanism operably coupled to the biasing mechanism, the adjusting mechanism being configured and arranged so as to selectively adjust a force developed by the biasing mechanism corresponding to a set point of the relief valve. 11. An automatic high negative pressure relief valve a portion of which is in fluid communication with a chamber, said relief valve comprising:a housing having an interior compartment and a seating surface;a biasing mechanism,a sealing member moveably disposed with in the housing including a floating seal member and a flexible member being mechanically coupled to each other;wherein the floating seal member is operably coupled to the biasing mechanism and includes a through aperture therein;wherein the flexible member extends between interior surfaces of the housing dividing the interior compartment into first and second sub compartments, where the first sub compartment is fluidly coupled to the chamber and the second sub-compartment is fluidly coupled to the gas source;wherein an end of the floating seal member through aperture is moved against the seating surface so as to sealingly engage the end with the seating surface, when a differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value and wherein the seating surface comprises a conically shaped member and wherein the end of the floating seal member through aperture sealingly engages the conically shaped member;wherein the sealing member moves away from the seating surface to fluidly couple the chamber to the gas source via the floating seal member though aperture when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value; andwherein the seating surface is configured so the end of the floating seal member through aperture sealingly engages the seating surface in edge contact when the valve is closed. 12. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 11, wherein the flexible member is configured so as to not impose a changing force on the sealing member as the sealing member moves responsive to the differential pressure developed across the sealing member. 13. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 11, wherein the conically shaped member contacts an interior surface of the floating seal member through aperture and so that the interior surface and the conically shaped member are in line contact with each other when the valve is in a closed position. 14. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 11, further comprising an adjustment mechanism operably coupled to the biasing mechanism, the adjusting mechanism being configured and arranged so as to selectively adjust a force developed by the biasing mechanism corresponding to a set point of the relief valve. 15. An automatic high negative pressure relief valve a portion of which is in fluid communication with a chamber, said relief valve comprising:a housing having an interior compartment and a seating surface comprising a conical shaped member;a spring,a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing including a floating seal member and a flexible member being mechanically coupled to each other;wherein the floating seal member is operably coupled to the spring and includes a through aperture therein; wherein the flexible member extends between interior surfaces of the housing and the floating seal member thereby dividing the interior compartment into first and second sub compartments, where the first sub compartment is fluidly coupled to the chamber and the second sub compartment is fluidly coupled to the gas source;wherein the flexible member is configured so as to not impose a changing force on the sealing member as the sealing member moves responsive to a differential pressure developed across the sealing member;wherein an end of the floating seal member through aperture is moved against the seating surface conically shaped member by the spring when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value so the seating surface conically shaped member contacts an interior surface of the floating seal member through aperture such that the interior surface and the conically shaped member are in one of edge or line contact with each other, thereby causing the end to sealingly engage the seating surface conically shaped member; andwherein the sealing member moves away from the seating surface conically shaped member to flu idly couple the first and second sub compartments via the floating seal member though aperture when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is greater than a predetermined value, thereby also fluidly coupling the chamber and the gas source. 16. An automatic high negative pressure relief valve a portion of which is in fluid communication with a chamber, said relief valve comprising: a housing having an interior compartment, a seating surface having a conically shaped member and an aperture in the seating surface,wherein one portion of the interior compartment is fluidly coupled to the chamber and the aperture in the seating surface is fluidly coupled to a gas source such as atmosphere; a biasing mechanism, a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing interior compartment including a first and as second part that are mechanically coupled to each other;wherein the sealing member first part is operably coupled to the biasing mechanism and responsive to differential pressure developed across the sealing member;wherein the sealing member second part is configured and arranged so as to form a pressure boundary with the housing seating surface;wherein the biasing member urges the sealing member second part against the conically shaped member of the seating surface to seal the housing through aperture and thereby close the relief valve when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value; andwherein the sealing member moves away from the conically shaped member of the seating surface to un seal the housing through and thereby fluidly couple the chamber to the gas source when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is greater than a predetermined value. 17. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 16,wherein the material comprising the sealing member second part is formed of a soft material having a shore durometer in the range of from about 20 to 50. 18. The automatic high negative pressure relief valve of claim 16, further comprising an adjusting mechanism operably coupled to the biasing mechanism the adjusting mechanism being configured and arranged so as to selectively adjust a force developed by the biasing mechanism corresponding to a set point of the relief valve. 19. An apparatus for draining a fluid from a body comprising a collection chamber maintained under a negative pressure condition and an automatic high pressure negative relief, said automatic high negative pressure relief valve including:a housing having an interior compartment;a biasing mechanism,a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing and being operably coupled to the biasing mechanism;wherein the sealing member includes a flexible member that extends between interior surfaces of the housing dividing the interior compartment into first and second sub compartments, where the first sub compartment is fluidly coupled to the collection chamber and the second sub compartment is fluidly coupled to a gas source;wherein the biasing member urges the sealing member against a seating surface having a conically shaped member to close the relief valve when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value; andwherein the sealing member moves away from the conically shaped member of the seating surface to open the relief valve and to fluidly couple the collection chamber to the gas source when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is greater than a predetermined value. 20. An apparatus for draining a fluid from a body comprising a collection chamber maintained under a negative pressure condition and an automatic high pressure negative relief, said automatic high negative pressure relief valve including:a housing having an interior compartment and a seating surface having a conically shaped member;a biasing mechanism,a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing including a floating seal member and a flexible member being mechanically coupled to each other;wherein the floating seal member is operably coupled to the biasing mechanism and includes a through aperture therein;wherein the flexible member that extends between interior surfaces of the housing dividing the interior compartment into first and second sub compartments, where the first sub compartment is fluidly coupled to the collection chamber and the second sub compartment is fluidly coupled to a gas source;wherein an end of the floating seal member through aperture is moved against the conically shaped member of the seating surface so as to sealingly engage the end with the conically shaped member of the seating surface when a differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value;wherein the sealing member moves away from the conically shaped member of the seating surface to fluidly couple the chamber to the gas source via the floating seal member though aperture when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value; andwherein the seating surface is configured so the end of the floating seal member through aperture sealingly engages the seating surface in edge contact when the valve is closed. 21. An apparatus for draining a fluid from a body comprising a collection chamber maintained under a negative pressure condition and an automatic high pressure negative relief, said automatic high negative pressure relief valve including:a housing having an interior compartment, a seating surface having a conically shaped member and an aperture in the seating surface, wherein one portion of the interior compartment is fluidly coupled to the collection chamber and the aperture in the seating surface is fluidly coupled to a gas source such as atmosphere;a biasing mechanism,a sealing member moveably disposed within the housing interior compartment including a first and as second part that are mechanically coupled to each other; wherein the sealing member first part is operably coupled to the biasing mechanism and responsive to differential pressure developed across the sealing member;wherein the sealing member second part is configured and arranged so as to form a pressure boundary with the housing seating surface;wherein the biasing member urges the sealing member second part against the conically shaped member of the seating surface to seal the housing through aperture and thereby close the relief valve when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is less than a predetermined value; andwherein the sealing member moves away from the conically shaped member of the seating surface to un seal the housing through and thereby fluidly couple the chamber to the gas source when the differential pressure developed across the sealing member is greater than a predetermined value.