Rupture disk assembly

Claim 2

A rupture disk assembly comprising: a substantially cylindrical hollow housing having an inlet end and an outlet end and including an annular shoulder within the interior thereof facing the outlet end thereof; a circular reverse buckling rupture disk positioned within said housing, the outer annular portion of said rupture disk lying adjacent and being supported on said annular shoulder of said hOusing; an annular supporting member adapted to fit within said housing adjacent said rupture disk including an annular surface to coact with said annular shoulder in said housing and support the annular outer portion of said rupture disk therebetween, said supporting member including an annular lip portion extending outwardly around the periphery thereof; and the outlet end of said housing being folded over said outwardly extending lip portion of said supporting member so that said lip portion is deformed towards the inlet end of said housing and said supporting member and said rupture disk are rigidly clamped against said shoulder within said housing.

Claim 3

The rupture disk assembly of claim 1 wherein said annular supporting member is further characterized to include a cutting edge means attached thereto positioned to cut said rupture disk upon the reversal thereof.

Claim 4

The rupture disk assembly of claim 1 which is further characterized to include: said annular shoulder within the interior of said cylindrical housing including an annular groove disposed therein facing the annular outer portion of said rupture disk; and an annular seal ring formed of deformable material disposed in said groove, said seal ring being of a size and shape such that a seal is provided thereby between said annular outer portion of said rupture disk and the surfaces of said groove.

Claim 5

The rupture disk assembly of claim 1 wherein said housing is further characterized to include: the inlet end portion thereof including threads disposed around the outside periphery thereof adapted for threaded connection into a conventional female threaded fitting; and the outlet end thereof including a plurality of flat surfaces formed around the outside periphery thereof for facilitating threadedly connecting said housing into said fitting.

Claim 6

A rupture disk assembly comprising: a cylindrical housing having a top end and a bottom end and having an internal recess at the top end thereof forming a flat upwardly facing annular shoulder therewithin; a concave-convex reverse buckling rupture disk positioned within said housing having an annular flange portion connected to said concave-convex portion by a transition connection, said annular flat flange portion conforming with and being supported by said flat upwardly facing annular shoulder within said housing; a flat annular supporting member having an outwardly extending annular lip portion of predetermined yield strength and having a flat annular supporting surface conforming with said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk, said supporting member being positioned within said housing above said rupture disk so that said flat annular supporting surface thereof lies adjacent said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk; and the top end portion of said cylindrical housing being folded over said outwardly extending annular lip portion of said supporting member so that said lip portion is deformed downwardly past the yield point thereof and said rupture disk and supporting member are rigidly held against said upwardly facing annular shoulder within said housing under a uniform force.

Claim 7

A rupture disk assembly comprising: a cylindrical housing having a top end and a bottom end and having an internal recess at the top end thereof forming a flat upwardly facing annular shoulder therewithin; a concave-convex reverse buckling rupture disk positioned within said housing having an annular flange portion connected to said concave-convex portion by a transition connection, said annular flat flange portion conforming with and being supported by said flat upwardly facing annular shoulder within said housing; a flat annular supporting member having an outwardly extending annular lip portion of predetermined yield strength and having a flat annular supporting surface conforming with said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk, said supporting member being positioned within said housing above said rupture disk so that said flat annular supporting surface thereof lies adjacent said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk; and the top end portion of said cylindrical housing being folded over said outwardly extending annular lip portion of said supporting member so that said lip portion is deformed downwardly past the yield point thereof and said rupture disk and supporting member are rigidly held against said upwardly facing annular shoulder within said housing under a uniform force.

Claim 8

The rupture disk assembly of claim 5 wherein said annular supporting member is further characterized to include a circular outlet opening centrally positioned therein and a cutting edge means attached thereto positioned to cut said rupture disk upon the reversal thereof.

Claim 9

The rupture disk assembly of claim 6 wherein said cutting edge means comprise: said supporting member including an annular recess in the face thereof adjacent said rupture disk, the inside diameter of said recess being greater than the diameter of said circular outlet opening in said supporting member thereby forming a cylindrical protuberance facing said rupture disk; and the leading edges of said cylindrical protuberance being sharpened to form a circular knife blade.

Claim 10

The rupture disk assembly Of claim 7 which is further characterized to include: the outside diameter of said annular recess in the face of said supporting member adjacent said rupture disk being less than the inside diameter of said upwardly facing annular shoulder within said cylindrical housing so that an inwardly extending annular shoulder is provided by said supporting member for supporting the transition connection of said rupture disk; and the transition connection of said rupture disk having a diameter such that said transition connection lies adjacent and is supported by said inwardly extending annular shoulder of said supporting member.

Claim 11

The rupture disk assembly of claim 7 wherein said sharpened cylindrical protuberance is further characterized to include a discontinuity in the sides thereof thereby forming a C-shaped knife blade whereby upon reversal of said rupture disk and the cutting thereof by said knife blade, the cut portion of said rupture disk remains attached to the uncut portion thereof.

Claim 12

The rupture disk assembly of claim 7 wherein said cylindrical protuberance is further characterized to include serrations in the sharpened leading edge thereof.

Claim 13

The rupture disk assembly of claim 7 which is further characterized to include: said upwardly facing annular shoulder within said housing including an annular groove disposed therein facing said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk; and an annular seal ring formed of deformable material disposed in said groove, said seal ring being of a size and shape such that a seal is provided thereby between said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk and the surfaces of said groove.

Claim 14

The rupture disk assembly of claim 11 wherein said annular groove is of rectangular cross-section and said seal ring is of circular cross-section.

Claim 15

The rupture disk assembly of claim 12 wherein said flat annular supporting surface of said supporting member is further characterized to include in the annular recess disposed therein positioned opposite said annular groove in said shoulder of said housing and said seal ring disposed therein so that when said supporting member and said rupture disk are rigidly clamped against said shoulder and seal ring a portion of said annular flat flange portion of said rupture disk is deformed into said recess thereby increasing the holding force applied to said rupture disk.

Claim 16

The rupture disk assembly of claim 10 wherein said housing is further characterized to include: the bottom end portion thereof including threads disposed around the outside periphery thereof and being adapted for threaded connection into a conventional female threaded fitting; and the top end portion thereof including a plurality of flat surfaces formed around the outside periphery thereof for facilitating threadedly connecting the bottom end portion into said fitting.