Large port pressure accumulator

Claim 1

A large port pressure accumulator-pulsation dampener device especially adapted for use in the pumping of liquids having entrained abrasive solids, comprising a rigid casing, a gas port at one end of said casing, a fluid port at the other end of said casing, said fluid port being surrounded by a beveled valve seat which is circular in section, a bladder assembly disposed within said casing and dividing the same into a gas and a liquid chamber, said bladder assembly including a stretchable elastomeric bladder having a relatively small opening at one end and a closed end, a gas inlet fitting molded in the small opening in said bladder and extending through said gas port, retainer means for securing said fitting in fixed position in said gas port, a valve assembly carried by the closed end of said bladder and shiftable between sealing and unsealing positions of said liquid port, said valve assembly including a plug member, said plug member having a flanged inner end molded entirely within said closed end of said bladder without communication with the interior of the bladder, a span of bladder material completely overlying the inner end of said plug, said plug member having a shank portion extending axially outward therefrom and from the closed end of the bladder, a rigid valve member releasably mounted on said axially extending shank portion in opposed relation to said valve seat, said valve member being circular in transverse section and complementally beveled with respect to said seat, said valve member including an upper surface portion directed toward said bladder, and a circular sealing disc clamped between said closed end of said bladder and said upper surface of said valve member, said disc being of greater diameter than said upper surface of said valve member and being formed of resilient elastomeric material of higher durometer than the material of said bladder, said disc in the seated position of said valve assembly being deformed into engagement with beveled portions of said valve seat by said bladder.