US2866213A - Apparatus for inserting soluble plugs in fluid lines - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 30, 1958 R. F. MGARTHUR ETAL 2,856,213

APPARATUS PoR INSEPTING soLuBLE PLUGS 1N FLUID LINES Filed April 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 33 aw. (iwf/2.

Dec. 30, 1958 R. F. MGARTHUR ErAL 2,866,213

APPARATUSVFOR INSERTING soLUBLE PLUGS 1N FLUID LINES Filed April 27. 195s f Y 2 sheets-snee: z

PAL/DH E /Vc/JRTHUR NA THEW A. MscusKE/e B7 THE/R Arron/vers APPARATUS FOR INSERTIN G SOLUBLE PLUGS IN FLUID LINES Ralph F. McArthur, Huntington Park, and Mathew R.

Mecusker, Long Beach, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Kobe, Inc., Huntington Paris, Calif., a corporation of 4California Application April 27, 1953, Serial No. 351,311

-14 Claims. (Cl. 15-104.06)

The present invention relates in general to the insertion into Huid lines of plugs for such purposes as removing paran deposits and the like therefrom, said plugs being either soluble or insoluble, and a primary object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for inserting such plugs into uid lines with a minimum expenditure of time and effort and without interrupting llow through the lines while inserting plugs'therein.

Many crude oils contain appreciable proportions of deposits build up insidethe lines very rapidly. While the present invention nds particular utility in connection with the removal of paraffin deposits from iluid lines, it will be understood that other applications thereof are also possible.

In View of all of the foregoing, an important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which may be connected permanently in a iluid line and which provides means for inserting a clean-out plug into the line quickly and easily, preferably without interrupting iloW through the line and without bleeding the line to atmospheric pressure. A related object is to provide an apparatus by means of which a plug can be inserted into a iluid line without disconnecting sections of the line,

or without disconnecting the apparatus itself from the line.

More particularly, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for inserting a plug in a fluid line which includes a housing havingl inlet and outlet passages therein adapted to be connected in the line, and which includes a valve member having a plug receiving passage therethrough and movable in the housing from a normal position wherein the plug receiving passage is aligned with the inlet and outlet passages to a plug re ceiving position wherein it is out of alignment with the inlet and outlet passages, but in alignment with a plug entry passage through which a cleanout plug may be introduced into the plug receiving passage in the valve member. After a clean-out plug has been inserted into the plug receiving passage in the valve member through the plug entry passage in the housing, the valve member may be moved back to its normal position, Whereupon the fluid ilow through the line propels the plug through the outlet passage and into the line to perform therein its cleaning function.

Another object is to provide in the valve member a bypass passage which provides a fluid communication between the inlet and outlet passages in the housing when the valve member is in its plug receiving position so that there is no interruption of ow through the line upon nited States Patent F ice movement of the valve member from its normal position to its plug receiving position, which is an important feature of the invention.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus wherein the valve member is rotatable between its normal and its plug receiving positions, the ends of the bypass pas sage in the valve member being substantially circumferentially aligned with, but circumferentially spaced from, the ends of the plug receiving passage therein.

Another object, and an important one, is to provide means for sealing the inlet and outlet passages in the housing with respect to the bypass passage in the rotatable valve member, which sealing means includes tubu lar, passage forming shoes reciprocable axially of the inlet and outlet passages and having at ends engageable with flats on the valve member and encompassing the ends of the bypass passage in the Valve member. The shoes are biased into engagement with the valve member and, when they engage the flats encompassing the ends of the bypass passage, they provide fluid tight seals encompassing such passage ends, the valve member and the shoes preferably being metallic to obtain the ad vantages of metal-to-metal seals.

Assuming that the shoes are in sealing engagement with corresponding ats on the valve member, when the valve member is rotated, the shoes are cammed outwardly thereby breaking the seals and permitting rotation of the valve member to its new position.

Preferably, the ats on the valve member are connected by cylindrical surfaces so that the shoes make only line contact with the valve member except when they are in sealing engagement with the flats. Thus, sliding contact between the sealing faces is held to a minimum, thereby minimizing scratching of the sealing faces by abrasives which may be present in the crude oil or other lluid.

Another object is to provide a closure for the plug entry passage in the housing and to provide means for bleeding the housing before removal of the closure to avoid a wet job in removing the closure and inserting the clean-out plug. A related object is to provide an apparatus wherein the bleeding means is incorporated in the closure and wherein the bleeding means is manually operable and the closure is manually removable to make the use of tools in connection with the insertion of the clean-out plug unnecessary.

Bleeding of the housing and removal of the closure for the plugentry passage in the foregoing manner reduces to atmospheric the pressure acting on external transverse surfaces of the shoes which face the valve member so that line pressure acting on internal transverse surfaces of the shoes which face away from the Valve member hydraulically biases the shoes into huid-tight sealing engagement with the flats at the ends of the by-pass passage, thereby preventing any leakage of the uid owing through the line into the housing while the housing is open, i. e., while the closure for the plug entry passage is otf, this being an important feature.

However, after the clean-out plug has been inserted into the plug receiving passage in the valve member through the plug entry passage and the closure for the plug entry passage has been reinstalled, this pressure unbalance makes it difcult to rotate the valve member sufficiently to break the seals between the shoes and the flats at the ends of the bypass passage. Consequently, an important object of the invention is to provide pressure balancing means for applying the line pressure to the external transverse surfaces mentioned so as to eliminate the hydraulic forces biasing the shoes into engagement with the flats at the ends of the bypass passage, thereby facilitating rotation of the valve member to break the w3 seal between these flats on the valve member and the shoes when restoring the valve member to its normal position.

Another object is to provide a dual motion handle for rotating the valve member which is also capable of operating the pressure balancing means. Another object in this connection is to provide means requiring actuation of the pressure balancing means by the handle before the handle can be utilized to rotate the valve member.

Another object is to provide an actuator for rotating the valve member to which the aforementioned handle is connected and which is flexibly connected to the valve member substantially in axial alignment therewith. This tlexible connection compensates for any minor misalignments of the actuator and the valve member, which is an important feature.

The foregoing objects, advantages and features of the present invention, together with various other objects, advantages andfeatures thereof which will become apparent, may be attained with the exemplary embodiments of the invention which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and which are described in detail hereinafter. Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of an apparatus which embodies the invention, the apparatus being shown installed in a fluid line;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with a closure of the apparatus removed;

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of a valve member and actuator therefor of the apparatus;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the curved line 7-7 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional View similar to the lower end of Fig. 2 but showing another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the plug inserting or injecting apparatus of the invention, hereinafter referred to as a plug injector for convenience, is indicated generally by the numeral 1t) and is adapted to be connected in a iiuid line 11 between two sections 12 thereof, the line 11 being adapted to convey any fluid having the characteristic of depositing materials which are capable of being removed by a plug propelled through the line. As hereinbefore pointed out, the plug injector 10 is particularly applicable to a fluid line 11 for conveying crude oil which has the characteristic of depositing paraffin on the wall of the line so that such paratiin must be removed by propelling a clean-out plug through the line. However, the plug injector 10 of the invention may be utilized for cleaning out other materials deposited by other fluids.

Considering the plug injector 10 in more detail, it includes a housing 15 having therein inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17 which are preferably axially aligned. Disposed between the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17 is a rotatable valve member 18 having therethrough a plug receiving passage 19 and rotatable by means of a handle 20 from a normal position, wherein the plug receiving passage 19 is in alignment with and registers with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings, to a plug receiving position wherein the plug receiving passage 19 is out of alignment with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the plug receiving position of the valve member 18 preferably being 90 from the normal position thereof. When the valve member 18 is in its plug receiving position, as shown in Fig. 5.0f the drawings, it is in registering alignment with a plug entry passage 21 in the housing 15 through which a clean-out plug 22 may be inserted or injected into the plug receiving passage 19 in the valve member. When the valve mem- Cil ber 18 is restored to its normal position, wherein the plug receiving passage 19 is aligned with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, by the handle 20, the flow through the line propels the plug from the plug receiving passage through the outlet passage and on into the line 11, wherein it performs the function for which it is designed. V

With the foregoing generalized description of the structure and operation of the plug injector 10 as a background, the plug injector will now be considered in detail. The housing 15 includes a main body portion 26 having aligned tubular projections 27 and 28 for the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, respectively, having a central tubular portion 29 between and normal to the tubular portions 27 and 23 and defining a chamber 30 for the valve member 18, and having a tubular portion 31, between the tubular portions 27 and 28 and normal to the tubular portions 27, 2S and 29,' for the plug entry passage 21.

Threaded into the tubular portion 27 is a coupling 35 into which one of the line sections 12 is threaded. Similarly, threaded into the tubular portion 23 is a coupling 36 and connected to this coupling by a gland nut 37 is a fitting 38 into which the other of the line sections 12 is threaded. Various reductions in diameter in the direction of flow occur throughout the coupling 36 and the fitting 38 and these members are beveled at such points to avoid upstream facing shoulders which might catch the plug as it is propelled through the outlet passage 17 by the fluid flow. Referring to Fig. 8 of the drawings, a similar construction is illustrated therein, differing only in the substitution of a fitting 38a for the fitting 38. The passage through the tting 38a is larger than the passage through the fitting 38 to accommodate a larger fluid line 11a and a larger clean-out plug. Thus, the plug injector 10 can be used with different line sizes and different cleanout plug sizes merely by substituting the fitting 38a for the tting 38, or vice versa, which is an important feature of the invention.

The valve member 18 is fundamentally cylindrical and the chamber 30 in which it is disposed is of circular cross section and of substantially the same diameter as the valve member so that the latter is journalled for rotation therein. At one end, the valve member 13 is provided with a central boss 41 which bears against one end of the chamber 30 as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the other end of the valve member being provided with a transverse groove 42 which receives a complementary tongue 43 on a rotatable actuator 44 carried by a bearing 45, the latter being carried by a closure 46 for the outer end of the tubular portion 29 of the main body portion 26 of the housing. The tongue and groove connection 43, 42 between the actuator 44 and the valve member 18 provides a tiexible connection adapted to compensate for any minor misalignnients of the valve member and the actuator so that close tolerances in manufacture need not be maintained, which is an important feature. At its outer end, the actuator 44 is provided with a transverse groove 47 which receives the handle 20, the handle being pivotally connected to the actuator 44 for pivotal movement about a pivot axis normal to but spaced laterally from the axis of rotation of the valve member 1S, by a pin 48 which extends across the groove 47. The reason for this pivotal connection of the han die 20 to the actuator 44 will be considered hereinafter.

Thus, as will be apparent, by swinging the handle back and forth through an arc of in the particular construction illustrated, the valve member 1S is rotated between its normal position, wherein the plug receiving passage 419 is aligned with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, and its plug receiving position, wherein the plug receiving passage 19 is aligned with the plug entry passage 21.

Considering the valve member 18 in more detail, in addition to the plug receiving passage 19 therethrough, it is provided with a V-shape'd bypass passage 52 there through which, as best shown in Fig. 3, detour-s around the passage 19. The ends of the bypass passage 52 are circumferentially spaced from the ends of the plug receiving passage 19 by 90 in the particular construction illustrated, and the ends of the bypass passage are n the same transverse zone as the ends of the passage 19 so that, when the valve member 18 is in its plug receiving position, shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the inlet passage 16 and the outlet passage 17 are connected through the bypass passage 52 so as to avoid flow interruption through the line 11, this being an important feature of the invention.

As best shown in Figs. 4 to 6 of the drawings, the valve member 18 is provided with at faces 53, hereinafter referred to as flats 53, which are parallel and which encompass the ends of the plug receiving passage 19. Similar parallel ats 54 spaced 90 from the flats 53 in the particular construction illustrated encompass' the ends of the bypass passage 52, each of the iats 53 and 54 being separated from the iiats thereadjacent by cylindrical portions 55 of the valve member 18. These cylindrical portions engage the wall of the cylindrical chamber 30 in which the valve member 18 is disposed so that, as hereinbefore mentioned, the valve member is journalled in such chamber.

As shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, the ats 53 and 54 on the valve member 18 are engageable by flat inner ends 58 of tubular sealing shoes 59 which are reciprocable in bores 641 respectively concentric with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17 and respectively formed in the couplings 35 and 36. Fluid-tight seals between the shoes 59 and the couplings 35 and 36 are provided by O-rings 61 disposed in annular grooves in the couplings. The shoes 59 are biased into engagement with the valve member 18 by springs 62 seated against the inner ends of the couplings 35 and 36 and against annular flanges 63 on the shoes 59.

When the fiat sealing faces at the ends of the shoes 59 are in engagement with the ats 53, respectively, or the flats 54, respectively, they encircle the corresponding passage ends, the valve member 18 and the shoes 59 being metallic and the flats 53 and 54 and the ilat ends 58 being ground to provide fluid tight seals around the ends of the bypass passage 52 in particular as will be described hereinafter. Upon rotation of the valve member 18 by the handle 2t) from one of its positions to the other, the shoes 59 are cammed apart by the cylindrical portions 55 of the valve member 18, thereby separating the at ends 58 of the shoes and the iiats 53 or the ats 54. As the valve member 18 reaches its new position, the shoes 59 are again moved into engagement with the ilats 53 or 54 brought into registry therewith. This construction provides the advantages of metal-to-metal engagement, but with the additional feature that sliding contact is held to a minimum, there being only substantially line contact between the flat ends 58 of the shoes and the cylindrical portions 55 as the valve member is rotated. Thus, any possibility of scratching of the sealing faces by any abrasives in the fluid is minimized, which is an important feature.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the valve member 18 is provided with a port 67 which connects the plug receiving passage 19 to the chamber 30 in which the valve member is disposed. Consequently, when the valve member 18 is in its normal position so that the plug receiving passage 19 is aligned with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, the line pressure acts on all transverse surfaces of the shoes 59 so that the shoes are hydraulically balanced.

However, when the valve member has been rotated into its plug receiving position and the pressure in the chamber 30 has been reduced to atmospheric in the course of introducing a clean-out plug into the plug receiving passage 19, hydraulic forces bias the shoes 59 into sealing engagement with the ats 54 encompassing the ends of 6 the bypass passage 52. As will be apparent, with atmospheric pressure prevailing in the chamber 30, there is a net area on each shoe 59 to which line pressure is applied to bias the shoe into engagement with the valve member, this net area being equal to the area of the bore 60 minus the area of the effective sealing circle between the shoe and the valve member. This is very desirable since it insures against any leakage between the sealing shoes and the valve member when the housing 15 is open for the purpose of introducing a clean-out plug.

However, this same condition makes breaking of the seals between the sealing shoes 59 and the flats 54 difcult when it is desired to restore the valve member to its normal position. To overcome this difficulty, a pressure balancing means 70 is provided to equalize the pressures internally and externally of the shoes so that no net hydraulic biasing forces are applied to the shoes, thereby facilitating breaking of the seals between the shoes and the valve member when rotation of the valve member back toward its normal position is initiated. Considering the pressure balancing means 70, as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the valve member 18 is provided with a bore 71 for a valve seat 72 adapted to accommodate a check valve 73, this check valve being held against the seat 72 by the line pressure within the bypass passage 52 when the bypass passage is in communication with the inlet and outlet passages 16 and 17, since the bore 71 is in communication with the apex of the bypass passage as shown. The passage through the valve seat 72 communicates with a transverse groove or channel 74, best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, which leads to the chamber 30 surrounding the valve member 18. As best shown in Fig. 2, the shoes 59 extend into this chamber so that, by unseating the check valve 73, the line pressure is applied to the exteriors of the shoes 59, as well as to the interiors thereof.

For the purpose of unseating the check valve '73 to balance the internal and external pressures applied to the shoes 59, apin 78 extending through the actuator 44 into engagement with the check valve '73 is provided, this pin having a head 79 disposed in a counterbore 80 and being biased outwardly out of engagement with the check valve 73 by a spring 81 disposed in the counterbore 80 between the bottom thereof and the head 79. The outer face of the head 79 is engageable by a screw 82 in the handle 20 so that pivoting of the handle about the pin 48 in the counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2 of the drawings, results in unseating of the check valve 73 to balance the pressures acting on the shoes 59 as hereinbefore described. A second screw 83 in the handle 20 is engageable with the outer end of the actuator 44 to serve as a stop for limiting pivotal movement of the handle.

The closure 46 which carries the actuator 44 is connected to the main body portion 26 of the housing by screws 85 and 86. The screws 85 have heads which project outwardly from the outer face of the closure 46 substantial distances to serve as stops for limiting the rotational or swinging movement of the handle 20 to 90 in the particular construction illustrated. Between the two screws 85 are two of the screws 86, the latter having partly recessed heads which are adapted to be cleared by the handle 20, after it has been pivoted to unseat the check valve 73, to permit the swinging movement of the handle between the screws or stops 85. Each screw 85 and the screw 86 thereadjacent provide a receptacle 87 into which the handle 20 is pivoted automatically by the spring S1 when the valve member 18 is in one or the other of its operating positions. Consequently, before the handle can be swung to rotate the valve member 18 from one of its operating positions to the other, it must rst be pivoted outwardly, i. e., in the counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, to withdraw it from the corresponding receptacle 87. Thus, this insures unseating of the check valve 73 to equalize the pressures on the interiors and exteriors of the shoes 59 before any at- 7 tempt can be made to move the valve member 1S from its plug receiving position back to its normal position. In other words, the operator of the device must take the step necessary to eliminate any net hydraulic forces on the shoes 59 before he can swing the handle 20, which is an important feature.

Considering now the manner in which a clean-out plug is inserted into the plug receiving passage 19 in the valve member 18 when the latter is in its plug receiving position, the plug entry passage 2l is provided with a removable closure 90 threaded into the plug entry passage. This closure is provided with a bore therein for a pin 91 having a button 92 at its outer end, the pin 91 being biased outwardly by a spring 93 under the button 92. The inner end of the pin 91 is provided with a stern 94 of reduced diameter which is adapted to unseat an inwardly opening check valve 95 to permit bleeding of the pressure in the chamber 3l) past the check valve and through radial passages 96 in the closure 90 and an annular groove 97 in the tubular portion 3l, a drain line 9S communicating with this groove. Thus, after the valve member R8 has been rotated into its plug receiving position, the operator may bleed oft enough uid from the chamber to reduce the pressure to atmospheric merely by depressing the button 92, which unseats the check valve 95. This prevents a wet job in removing the closure 9d and in installing the clean-out plug 22. An important feature is that this bleeding process takes but a few second, whereas, without the present invention, the entire fluid line must be bled to atmospheric pressure, which may take as much as fteen minutes, or more.

After the bleeding process has been terminated, as indicated by termination of drainage through the drain line 98, the closure Si() may be removed and a plug 22 inserted into the plug receiving passage 19 iii the valve member 18, as shown in Fig. 5. The closure 90 is preferably manually removable, which is possible because of the use of an C-riiig 99 to seal the closure, so that no tools whatsoever are required for introducing the plug 22, which is a feature of the invention.

Considering the over-all operation of the plug injector 10, it will be assumed that the plug member 18 is in its normal position. When it is desired to introduce a plug into the line, the operator merely grasps the handle 2t), pivots it about the pin 48 to withdraw it from the receptacle 87 in which it is disposed, and rotates it from its normal position into its plug receiving position wherein the plug receiving passage is aligned with the plug entry passage 2l. The operator then depresses the button 92 to bleed the pressure within chambers 3@ and 19 to atmospheric, whereupon he manually unscrews the closure 9i) and removes it. Unscrewing the closure 9d can be performed manually because the O-ring 99 avoids seating the closure tightly. Thereafter, he inserts the plug ZZ into ythe plug receiving passage i9, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and replaces the closure 9?. Subsequently, he grasps the handle 2l? and withdraws it from the receptacle 87 in which it is disposed when the valve member i8 is in its plug receiving position. This action automatically results in equalization of the pressures on the interiors and exteriors of the shoes 59 to facilitate breaking the seals between the shoes and the flats 54 on the valve member. Thereafter, he swings the handle back to its normal position so as to restore the valve member 1S to its normal position wherein the plug receiving passage i9 therein is aligned with the outlet passage 17. The lluid flowing through the line 11 then propels the plug 22. through the outlet passage T7 and into the line to perform therein the function for which it is intended.

Thus, it will be apparent that the present invention provides an apparatus for injecting clean-out plugs into lluid lines by means of which clean-out plugs can be inserted conveniently and easily with a minimum expenditure of time and effort and without the use of any tools, it being completely unnecessary to make anyl line disconnections. Although We havedisslcssdsxsmplary embodiments 0f;

our invention for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modications and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

l. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of: a housing having inlet and outlet passages therein; a valve member in said housing and rotatable therein between first and second positions, said valve member being disposed between said inlet and outlet passages and having passage means therethrough provided with ends registrable with said inlet and outlet passages when said valve member is in said first position, said valve member having first flats respectively encompassing said ends of said passage means and second flats between said first ats, and said valve member having cylindrical surfaces between said flats; tubular shoes in said housing communicating with and movable axially of said inlet and outlet passages, respectively, said shoes having flat ends engageable with said first and second flats, respectively, in said rst and second positions of said valve member, each of said shoes having inner transverse surfaces communicating with the interior thereof and providing a net, differential area facing away from said valve member so that fluid pressure in said shoe acts on said net, differential area to hold said shoe in engagement with one of said dats on said valve member, and each of said shoes having outer transverse surfaces out of communication with the interior thereof when said shoe is in engagement with one of said ats; means biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member; and pressure balancing means for exposing said inner and outer transverse surfaces of said shoes to the same pressure.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of: a housing provided with inlet and outlet passages therein; a rotatable valve member disposed in said housing between said inlet and outlet passages and having a passage therethrough the ends of which are adapted to register with said inlet and outlet passages, said valve member having rst ats encompassing the ends of said passage therethrough and having second ilats between said rst flats, and said valve member having cylindrical surfaces between said ats; tubular, hat-ended shoes movable axially of said inlet and outlet passages and engageable with said first flats in one position of said valve member to provide seals encompassing said ends of said passage through said valve member, said shoes engaging said second dats in another position of said valve member; and means for biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of: a housing having passage means therein; a rotatable valve member in said housing and provided with a passage therein, said valve member having a flat spaced circumferentially from and circumferentially aligned with an end of said passage, said valve member having cylindrical surfaces on opposite sides of said flat; a tubular, passage-forming shoe reciprocable in said housing toward and away from said valve member and engageable with said flat and said cylindrical surfaces of said valve member alternately as said valve member rotates, said shoe communicating with said passage means in said housing and having a dat inner end sealably engageable with said dat in one position of said valve member and adapted to encircle said passage end in another position of said valve member, rotation of said valve member from said one position resulting in substantially line engagement of said flat end of said shoe with one of said cylindrical surfaces; and means for biasing said shoe into engagement with said valve member.

4. In an apparatus for inserting a plug in a fluid line, the combination of: a housing having inlet and outlet passages therein which are adapted to be connected in the line into which a plug is to be inserted; a valvemember ,hai/insa plus, receiving passaselherethrough, said.

valve member being journalled n said lhousing between said inlet and outlet passages and being rotatable from a normal position wherein said plug receiving passage is aligned with said inlet and outlet passages to a plug receiving position wherein it is out of alignment with said inlet and outlet passages, said housing having therein a plug entry passage with which said plug receiving passage is aligned when said valve member is in said plug receiving position, whereby a plug may be inserted into said plug receiving passage through said plug-entry passage when said valve member has been rotated into its plug receiving position, the plug being conveyed into the line through said outlet passage by uid flo-w through the line when said valve member is subsequently moved back into its normal position, said valve member being provided with first ats on opposite sides thereof which encompass the respective ends of said plug receiving passage and being provided with second ats between said rst flats, and said valve member having cylindrical surfaces between said flats; tubular, flat-ended shoes in said housing and movable axially of said inlet and outlet passages, respectively, into and out of engagement with said first ats, respectively, as said valve member is rotated into and out of said normal position, said shoes engaging said second flats when said valve member is in said plug receiving position; and means for biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 including a bypass passage through said valve member the ends of which register with said inlet and outlet passages, respectively, when said valve member is in its plug receiving position so as to provide for uninterrupted iiow through the line, the ends of said bypass passage being circumferentially spaced from the ends of said plug receiving passage and being encompassed by said second ats, said shoes engaging said second flats, respectively, to provide seals encompassing the ends of said bypass passage when aid valve member is in said plug receiving position.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said biasing means includes transverse areas on said shoes facing away from said valve member and exposed to the uid pressures in said shoes, respectively, whereby the Huid pressures in said sho-es act on said transverse areas to hold said shoes in engagement with said valve member.

7. ln an apparatus for inserting a plug in a fluid line, the combination of: a housing having inlet and outlet passages therein which are adapted to be connected in the line into which a plug is to be inserted; a valve member having a plug receiving passage therethrough, said valve member being journalled in said housing between said inlet and outlet passages and being rotatable from a normal position wherein said plug receiving passage is aligned with said inlet and outlet passages to a plug receiving position wherein it is out of alignment with said inlet and outlet passages, said housing having therein a plug entry passage with which said plug receiving passage is aligned when said valve member is in said plug receiving position, whereby a plug may be inserted into said plug receiving passage through said plug entry passage when said valve member has been rotated into its plug receiving position, the plug being conveyed into the line through said outlet passage by uid flow through the line when said valve member is subsequently moved back into its normal position, said valve member having a bypass passage therethrough the ends of which communicate with said inlet and outlet passages, respectively, when said valve member is in said plug receiving position so as to provide for uninterrupted low through the line, the ends of said bypass passage being spaced circumferentially from the ends of said plug receiving passage, said valve member being provided with flats respectively encompassing the ends of said bypass and'plug receiving passages, and

said valve member having cylindrical surfaces between said flats; tubular, flat-ended shoes movable axially of said inlet and outlet passages, respectively, into and out of engagement with said ats encompassing the ends of said plug receiving passage and said flats encompassing said ends of said bypass passage as said valve member is rotated between said normal and plug receiving positions, said shoes engaging said Hats which encompass the ends of said plug receiving passage when said valve member is in said normal position, and said shoes engaging said flats which encompass the ends of said bypass passage, respectively, so as to provide seals therearound when said valve member is in said plug receiving position; and means for biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member. y

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of: a housing having inlet and outlet passages therein; a valve member rotatable in said housing between rst and second positions, said valve member being disposed between said inlet and outlet passages and having-passage Imeans therethrough provided with ends registrable with said inlet and outlet passages, and said valve member having areas respectively encompassing said ends of said passage means; tubular shoes in said housing communicating with and movable axially of said inlet and outlet passages, respectively, said shoes having ends engageable with said areas in said first position of said valve member, each of said shoes having inner transverse surfaces communicating with the interio-r thereof and providing a net, differential area facing away from said valve member so that fluid pressure in said shoe acts on said net differential area to hold said shoe in engagement with one of said areas of said valve member, and each ofsaid shoes having outer transverse surfaces normally out of communication with the interior thereof; means biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member; pressure balancing means for exposing said inner and outer transverse surfaces of .said shoes to the same pressure, said pressure balancing means including auxiliary passage means in said valve member for providing fluid communication between the interiors and the exteriors of said tubular shoes in said first position of said valve member, and including valve means in said valve member for opening said auxiliary passage means; and common actuating means for rotating said valve member and for opening said valve means.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said valve means includes a check valve adapted to be seated by uid pressure in the interiors of said tubular shoes, said apparatus including means for unseating said check valve.

l0. An apparatus as defined in claim 9 including a handle operatively connected to said valve member for rotating same between said first and second positions, said handle being mounted for pivotal movement about a pivot axis extending transversely of and spaced from the axis of rotation of said valve member to provide for movement of a portion o-f said handle along the axis of said valve member, said means for unseating said check valve including a pin movable along the axis of rotation of said valve member and engageable by said portion of said handle, said pin being engageable with said check valve to unseat same in response to pivotal movement of said handle.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim l0 including at least one external receptacle on said housing into which said handle is adapted to pivot in at least one of said first and seco-nd positions of said valve member, said apparatus including means for biasing said handle into said receptacle in a direction to prevent unseating of said check valve by said handle actuated pin, whereby said handle must be pivoted out of said receptacle to unseat said check valve before said handle can be rotated to rotate said valve member from one of said first and second positions thereof to the other.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of: a housing having inlet and outlet passages therein; a valve member rotatable in said housing between first and second positions, said valve member being disposed between said inlet and outlet passages and having passage means therethrough provided with ends registrable with said inlet and outlet passages, said valve member having first ats respectively encompassing said ends of said passage means and having second ats between said irst iiats, and said valve member having cylindrical surfaces between said iiats; tubular, fiatended shoes in said housing communicating with and movable axially of said inlet an-d outlet passages, respectively, said shoes being engageable with said lirst ilats, respectively, in said rst position of said vaive member, and with said second iiats, respectively, in said second position of said valve member, each of said shoes having inner transverse surfaces communicating withy the interior thereof and providing a net, differential area facing away from said valve member so that uid pressure in said shoe acts on said net, differential area to hold said shoe in engagement with one of said rst and second ats of said valve member, and each of said shoes having outer-transverse surfaces out of communication with the interior thereof when said shoe is in engagement `'.vith one of said first and second ats; means biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member; and pressure balancing means for exposing said inner and outer transverse surfaces of said shoes to the same pressure, said pressure balancing means including passage means communicating between the interiors and the exteriors of said tubular shoes and including valve means for opening the passage means last detined.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of: a housing having a passage; a valve member rotatable in said housing an-d having a radial port therein; at least one tubular shoe movable in said housing radially toward and away from and engageable with said valve member, said shoe registering with said passage and registering with said port in one position of said valve member, said shoe having an area facing away from said valve member and expo-sed to uid pressure in said passage acting to hydraulically hold said shoe in engagement with said valve member; means biasing said shoe into engagement with said valve member; actuating means for rotating said valve member; balancing means for hydraulically balancing said shoe in a direction radially toward and away from said valve member toV offset the hydraulic holding action resulting from fluid pressure acting on said area; and means interconnecting said actuating means and said balancing means for operating first said balancing means and then saidl vided with a transverse passage therethrough, said valve member having flats respectively spaced circumferentially from the ends of said passage, said ilats and said passage ends being circumferentially aligned, said valve member having cylindrical surfaces on opposite sides of each of said flats; tubular, passage-forming shoes reciprocable in said housing toward and away from said valve member, said shoes respectively communicating with said inlet and said outlet and being respectively engageable with said ilats-and said cylindrical surfaces alternately as said valve member rotates, said shoes having flat inner ends respectively encircling said passage ends in one position of said valve member and respectively sealably engaging said ats in another position of said valve member, rotation of said valve member from such other position resulting in substantially line engagement of said flat ends of said shoes with said cylindrical sur' faces; andy means for biasing said shoes into engagement with said valve member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED ST TES PATENTS 489,931 Clay Ian. 17, 1893 616,696 Cochranl Dec. 27, 1898v 1,238,023 Kleinman Aug. 21, 1917 1,527,032 Dollar Feb. 17, 1925 2,030,458 McKellar Feb. 11, 1936 2,095,823 Marshall Oct. 12, 1937 2,191,232 Heinen Feb. 20, 1940 2,287,205 Stone June 23, 1942 2,493,504 Roberts Jan. 3, 1950 2,506,128 Ashton May 2, 2,623,226 Jones Dec. 30, 1952 2,676,037 Mueller Apr. 20, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 262,639 Switzerland Oct. 1, 1949 530,687 Germany July 31, 1931

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