Valve Bonnet Lifting Accessory for Stable Hoisting Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional spring-loaded pressure relief valves are cumbersome and require skilled handling due to their elongated structure and weight, posing risks during installation and removal, especially when using hoisting equipment, as improper sling wrapping can lead to accidents.
Innovation Solution
A bonnet accessory with a fixture plate and threaded fasteners that provides a secure attachment point for hoisting equipment, eliminating the need for a lifting sling and ensuring safe handling by distributing the valve's weight uniformly and aligning the center of mass and gravity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a lifting sling is used to handle the valve, then the valve can be moved during installation and removal, but the valve may swing or slip out of the sling causing accidents
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-installing a lifting eye (attachment feature) directly onto the valve body during manufacturing. This eliminates the need for temporary sling wrapping operations and ensures that the lifting attachment is always properly positioned and secured before handling, thereby preventing swinging and slipping accidents
Solution Approach 2:
The lifting eye serves as an intermediary component between the valve body and the hoisting equipment. Instead of directly wrapping a sling around the valve body (which causes instability), the sling connects to the lifting eye that is firmly attached to the valve, providing a reliable intermediate connection point that ensures safe handling
2Reliability
If an experienced rigger is required to wrap the lifting sling correctly, then proper alignment of center of mass and gravity can be achieved, but the operation becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The valve design incorporates the lifting eye as a self-aligning feature that automatically positions itself for correct lifting. The lifting eye is positioned at the valve's center of gravity, so when hoisting equipment attaches to it, the valve automatically hangs in the correct orientation without requiring a skilled rigger to calculate and achieve proper alignment, thereby eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures
Data Source
AI summary
A valve bonnet has an elongated cavity to accommodate a spring-loaded valve stem, an upper surface, and tapped holes exposed at the upper surface. A bonnet accessory for the valve bonnet includes a fixture plate with holes formed in a predetermined hole pattern that matches a hole pattern of the tapped holes of the bonnet. The bonnet accessory includes threaded fasteners, each of which has a length to position the fixture plate at a predetermined height above the upper surface of the bonnet. The threaded fasteners have first ends to threadedly engage the tapped holes on the bonnet and second ends aligned with the holes in the fixture plate and retained on the fixture plate. The bonnet accessory includes a loop fastener that is retained on the fixture plate. The bonnet may be lifted by applying a pull force to a loop portion of the loop fastener.