Pressure responsive device having stacked diaphragm assembly

Claim 2

A pressure responsive device comprising an open-ended housing having a wall member with a central opening defining its open end, a stacked diaphragm assembly supported inwardly in said housing providing a movable wall closing said central opening and defining with the interior walls of said housing an expandable chamber therein, said diaphragm assembly including a series of springy, curved, corrugated diaphragms interconnected together in accordian bellow-like arrangement, each of said diaphragms extending radially away from said central opening and terminating a short distance from said interior walls of said housing, wherein one end of said series is secured about the margin of said central opening of said wall meber and the other end of said series terminates in a springy, curved, corrugated diaphragm having a closed wall underlying said central opening, inlet means for introducing a fluid into said expandable chamber, a push-rod coupled to said closed wall member and extending outwardly of said housing for actuating a controlled device in response to variations in pressure within said housing and wherein adjacent diaphragms of said series of curved diaphragms abut and become based against each other and the outermost diaphragm abuts and becomes based against said wall member of said housing under conditions of overpressure within said chamber to transmit further pressures to the walls of said housing and thereby significantly Restrict the application of further forces to said push rod with the application of further pressure to said bellows to thereby provide an automatic high pressure stop for said pressure responsive device.

Claim 3

A pressure responsive device as set forth in claim 1 wherein spring means opposing said compressed movement of said diaphragm assembly are provided and wherein low pressure stop means are provided for limiting the movement of said push-rod when pressure within said housing is below a predetermined minimum.

Claim 4

A pressure responsive device for moving a switch actuator lever in response to changes of a sensed pressure condition comprising an open-ended housing having a wall member with a central opening defining its open end, a stacked diaphragm assembly supported inwardly in said housing closing said central opening and defining with the interior walls of said housing an expandable chamber therein, said diaphragm assembly including a series of springy, curved corrugated diaphragms connected together in an accordian bellow-like arrangement and an actuator plate disposed inwardly of said open end, each of said diaphragms extending radially away from said central opening and terminating a short distance from said interior walls, wherein one end of said series is secured about the margin of said central opening and the other end of said series terminates in a springy, curved, corrugated diaphragm having a closed wall underlying said central opening, said actuator plate being coupled to said closed wall member, a push-rod coupled to said actuator plate and extending outwardly of said open end, said push-rod being operatively connected to said switch actuator lever, spring means for normally biassing said switch actuator lever and said push-rod to urge said bellows to an expanded state, said bellows and said spring means being compressed with the occurrence of pressure of a predetermined value in said chamber, said adjacent diaphragms of said series of springy, curved diaphragms being moved into abuttting relation with and becoming based against each other and the outermost diaphragm being moved into abutting relation with and becoming based against said wall member of said housing in response to overpressure conditions to significantly restrict the application of further operating forces to said push-rod and switch actuator member.

Claim 5

A pressure responsive device for moving a switch actuator lever in response to changes of a sensed pressure condition comprising an open-ended housing having a wall member with a central opening defining its open end, a stacked diaphragm assembly supported inwardly in said housing closing said central opening and defining with the interior walls of said housing an expandable chamber therein, said diaphragm assembly including a series of springy, curved corrugated diaphragms connected together in an accordian bellow-like arrangement and an actuator plate disposed inwardly of said open end, each of said diaphragms extending radially away from said central opening and terminating a short distance from said interior walls, wherein one end of said series is secured about the margin of said central opening and the other end of said series terminates in a springy, curved, corrugated diaphragm having a closed wall underlying said central opening, said actuator plate being coupled to said closed wall member, a push-rod coupled to said actuator plate and extending outwardly of said open end, said push-rod being operatively connected to said switch actuator lever, spring means for normally biassing said switch actuator lever and said push-rod to urge said bellows to an expanded state, said bellows and said spring means being compressed with the occurrence of pressure of a predetermined value in said chamber, said adjacent diaphragms of said series of springy, curved diaphragms being moved into abuttting relation with and becoming based against each other and the outermost diaphragm being moved into abutting relation with and becoming based against said wall member of said housing in response to overpressure conditions to significantly restrict the application of further operating forces to said push-rod and switch actuator member.

Claim 6

A pressure responsive device comprising an open-ended housing having a wall member with a central opening defining its open end, a stacked diaphragm assembly supported inwardly in said housing providing a movable wall closing said central opening and defining with the interior walls of said housing an expandable chamber therein, said diaphragm assembly icluding a series of springy, curved, corrugated diaphragms with the inner ends and the outer ends of the diaphragms alternately connected together in accordian bellows-like arrangement, each of said diaphragms extending radially away from said central opening and terminating a short distance from said interior walls of said housing, each of the outer peripheral portions of said diaphragms having a planar portion brazed to the corresponding planar peripheral portion of an adjacent diaphragm to minimize rupture stresses applied to the outer portions of the diaphragm during the application of compression forces to the diaphragm, and wherein one end of said series is secured about the margin of said central opening of said wall member and the other end of said series terminates in a springy, curved, corrugated diaphragm having a closed wall underlying said central opening, raised portions on the outer surface of each corrugated diaphragm being in aligned relation with the raised portion of the outer surface of the next adjacent diaphragm, inlet means for introducing a fluid into said expandable chamber, a push-rod coupled to said closed wall member and extending outwardly of said housing for actuating a controlled device in response to variations in pressure within said housing, The raised portion of the adjacent diaphragms of said series of curved diaphragms being moved into abutting relationship to cause the diaphragms to become based against said wall member of said housing under conditions of overpressure within said chamber to provide an automatic high pressure stop and thereby prevent further movement of said push-rod and controlled devices by said bellows in response to excessive pressure.

Claim 7

A pressure responsive device comprising an open-ended housing having a wall member with a central opening defining its open end, a stacked diaphragm assembly supported inwardly in said housing providing a movable wall closing said central opening and defining with the interior walls of said housing an expandable chamber therein, said diaphragm assembly icluding a series of springy, curved, corrugated diaphragms with the inner ends and the outer ends of the diaphragms alternately connected together in accordian bellows-like arrangement, each of said diaphragms extending radially away from said central opening and terminating a short distance from said interior walls of said housing, each of the outer peripheral portions of said diaphragms having a planar portion brazed to the corresponding planar peripheral portion of an adjacent diaphragm to minimize rupture stresses applied to the outer portions of the diaphragm during the application of compression forces to the diaphragm, and wherein one end of said series is secured about the margin of said central opening of said wall member and the other end of said series terminates in a springy, curved, corrugated diaphragm having a closed wall underlying said central opening, raised portions on the outer surface of each corrugated diaphragm being in aligned relation with the raised portion of the outer surface of the next adjacent diaphragm, inlet means for introducing a fluid into said expandable chamber, a push-rod coupled to said closed wall member and extending outwardly of said housing for actuating a controlled device in response to variations in pressure within said housing, The raised portion of the adjacent diaphragms of said series of curved diaphragms being moved into abutting relationship to cause the diaphragms to become based against said wall member of said housing under conditions of overpressure within said chamber to provide an automatic high pressure stop and thereby prevent further movement of said push-rod and controlled devices by said bellows in response to excessive pressure.

Claim 8

A pressure responsive device as set forth in claim 4 in which said outer ends of at least one diaphragm of each adjacent pair of diaphragms includes a portion bent at an angle to said planar portion to provide a nesting configuration for the end of the other diaphragm of said pair.