The present invention relates to pressure vessels such as are used when making a mold of an object.
Prior to the current invention when creating objects from molds, one could purchase very expensive molds such as injection molds or vacuum molds, but this also required expensive machinery to use the molds. Such molds are only economically feasible if hundreds or thousands of objects are being made. On the other hand one could use inexpensive molds such as silicon or rubber, but awkward and time consuming paint pots are needed as pressure vessels for the object to start curing in. The use of these awkward pressure vessels require a great deal of time and effort to make a just a few objects. In general, the making of an object with the less expensive molds is done by pouring a soft material into the mold and then placing the full mold into the paint pot. The paint pot is then sealed by tightening several clamps which secure a lid to the paint pot. The pressure in the paint pot is then increased to minimize bubbles which may be in the soft material until the material has hardened. Once the material hardens sufficiently, the pressure in the paint pot is released, the clamps unscrewed, and then mold and its contents can be removed.
One of the major disadvantages of the prior art pressure vessels is that they take a great deal of time to seal up and to pressurize. The most common sizes of paint pots require an operator to manually tighten from six to twelve clamps before pressurizing the vessel. This meant that the material being poured into the mold had a long enough hardening time to allow it to be mixed, poured, the lid to be set in place, all the clamps to be tightened, and the pot to be pressurized. As a practical matter this ruled out mass production since the time required to fill, seal and pressurize a pot requires a material with such a long hardening time.
The prior art pressure pots are not only time-consuming to use but are also inconvenient and require large work areas. Such prior art pots must be located where an operator can reach all the sealing clamps, which usually means they are placed at floor level where the operator can bend over and reach the clamps. In addition, the operator must lift the heavy lid off the pot and set it somewhere, thus placing additional strength requirements on the operator as well as requiring space for the lid to be placed.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of pressure vessels now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved pressure vessel construction wherein the same can be utilized reliably in those situations where speed, safety and ease of use are desired. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved pressure vessel which has all the advantages of the prior art pressure vessel devices and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a pressurizable container having an opening therein through which items may pass to be placed inside the container. The container may be placed in a frame where an expandable member between the frame and the container can be expanded to cause the container to come in sealable contact with a lid. The container may be hingidly attached to the frame to facilitate the insertion and removal of the container from the frame. In addition, the expandable member and a conduit used to pressurize the container after it is sealed may be connected through valves to a common source of pressurization. In this way a single valve may be used to seal the container and then to pressurize the container""s interior.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in this application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pressure vessel which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pressure vessel which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pressure vessel inexpensive to make, thus making such pressure vessel economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pressure vessel which provides some of the advantages of the prior art, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pressure vessel which provides increased efficiency in respect to both time and space required for use.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pressure vessel which is safer to use than prior art pressure vessels.
These, together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.