Locking hood assembly for flow control device

Abstract

Locking hood assembly for mounting on a gas service head valve of the lubricated plug type to prevent unauthorized opening of the valve. Locking hood assembly comprises a generally cylindrical main body or hood which covers the valve stem and stop collar when it is mounted on the valve thus preventing valve operation, the hood being attached to the valve using the removable buttonhead grease fitting which is conventionally an element of the valve itself. Assembly further comprises a cover cap which conceals the grease fitting after the hood is mounted on the valve; and a barrel lock which locks the cover cap to the main body or hood. The main body further has an enlarged, generally oval-shaped, peripherally extending skirt portion which fits over the oval-shaped gland seal cover plate of the valve when the hood is in place and prevents access to the gland seal cover bolts and to the normal spacing between the gland seal cover and the valve housing.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A flow control device having a fixed portion and an operating member which is movable with respect to said fixed portion; a locking hood assembly mounted on said flow control device for preventing said movement of its said operating member, said locking hood assembly comprising a main body having an interior configuration fitting on and substantially surrounding said operating member; and releasable means retaining said main body in its said fitting relation with respect to said operating member; said locking hood assembly further comprising a removable cover cap on said main body covering and thereby preventing access to said releasable retaining means, and removable lock means for locking said cover cap in said position on said main body. 
     
     
       2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said flow control device is a fluid flow control valve whose said operating member is a pivotable valve stem which projects outwardly from said fixed portion of the valve, and said main body of the locking hood assembly has centrally apertured configuration and surrounds at least the projecting portion of said valve stem, said centrally apertured configuration of the main body including an end portion which is disposed closely adjacent to said fixed portion of the valve. 
     
     
       3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein said fluid flow control valve includes a valve housing, said fixed portion of the valve is a generally oval-shaped gland seal cover plate attached to said valve housing, said main body of the locking hood assembly housing substantially cylindrical shape and further having a correspondingly oval-shaped depending peripheral skirt fitting on and substantially surrounding the periphery of said gland seal cover-plate whereby pivotal movement of said main body with respect to said valve is prevented, said main body further comprising a surface portion extending between the outer peripheries of said main body end portion and said skirt. 
     
     
       4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein said gland seal cover-plate is spaced away from said valve housing and is attached to said valve housing by a pair of gland cover bolts which extend across the spacing between said gland sead cover-plate and said housing, and said main body skirt has depending height whereby said skirt spans across said spacing between said gland seal cover-plate and said housing, thereby preventing access to said gland cover bolts. 
     
     
       5. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said releasable means comprises a removable element of said control device itself. 
     
     
       6. The combination according to claim 2 wherein said fluid flow control valve is a lubricated plug valve, and said releasable means retaining said locking hood main body on said operating member is a removable buttonhead grease fitting mounted on the outwardly projecting end of said valve stem, said buttonhead grease fitting including a head portion for receiving a grease gun and a smaller diameter attachment stem depending from said head portion, said centrally apertured configuration of said locking hood main body including a top closure portion covering the outwardly projecting end of said valve stem, said top closure portion having means defining a central aperture thereof having diameter only slightly larger than said grease fitting attachment stem but smaller than the width dimension of said grease fitting head portion, said grease fitting attachment stem passing through said top closure aperture and being connected to said end of the valve stem. 
     
     
       7. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said head portion of the buttonhead grease fitting has a downwardly facing bevelled peripheral portion, and said means defining a central aperture of said top closure portion provides an upwardly facing bevelled periphery of said aperture receiving said bevelled periphery of said grease fitting head portion. 
     
     
       8. The combination according to claim 6 wherein said main body configuration further includes a cap-receiving portion projecting upwardly substantially from said top closure portion and having means defining a generally cylindrical central opening thereof which is axially aligned with said central aperture of said main body top closure portion, the height of said cap-receiving portion above said main body top closure portion being greater than the height of said grease fitting head portion, said cover cap being mounted on said cap-receiving portion and said lock means locking said cover cap thereon. 
     
     
       9. The combination according to claim 8 wherein said outwardly projecting end of said valve stem has means defining a threaded aperture for receiving said grease fitting attachment stem, said grease fitting attachment stem is in threaded engagement with said threaded aperture of the valve stem, and said grease fitting head portion is polygonal-shaped, said cylindrical central opening of the cap-receiving portion having diameter which is substantially larger than the lateral width dimension of said grease fitting head portion, said cover cap has a generally cylindrical body portion whose outer diameter is only slightly smaller than said inside diameter of the cap-receiving portion opening and is pivotably received in the latter, said cover cap cylindrical body portion having means defining a polygonal-shaped aperture extending inwardly from that end thereof which is received in said cap-receiving portion opening and engaging said polygonal-shaped grease fitting head portion, and said cover cap further has a grip portion disposed exteriorly of said main body cap-receiving portion whereby, when said lock means is removed and said cover cap grip portion is pivoted, said grease fitting can be removed from its said threaded engagement with said valve stem. 
     
     
       10. The combination according to claim 9 wherein said grip portion has substantially conical shape. 
     
     
       11. The combination according to claim 9 wherein said lock means is a barrel lock extending in lateral direction through said main body cap-receiving portion and into said cover cap cylindrical body portion at a location above said grease fitting head portion, said cap-receiving portion and said cover cap cylindrical body portion having means defining aligned and laterally extending apertures for receiving said barrel lock. 
     
     
       12. A locking hood assembly for mounting on a flow control device to prevent access to a movable operating member of the latter, said locking hood assembly comprising a main body having substantially cylindrical configuration for mounting on said operating member and means for receiving means to retain said main body in its said mounted relation, a removable cover cap for mounting on said main body to cover and thereby prevent access to said means for receiving said retaining means, and removable lock means for locking said cover cap in said position on said main body. 
     
     
       13. A locking hood assembly according to claim 12 wherein said means for receiving said retaining means comprises a top closure portion of said main body which spans across its cylindrical opening at a location adjacent to one end thereof, said top closure portion having means defining a central aperture thereof having diameter which is substantially smaller than that of said one end of the cylindrical main body. 
     
     
       14. A locking hood assembly according to claim 13 wherein said main body thereof further has an enlarged peripheral skirt depending from the opposite end thereof and a surface portion extending between the outer peripheries of said cylindrical main body end and said enlarged skirt. 
     
     
       15. A locking hood assembly according to claim 13 wherein said main body further comprises a cylindrical cap receiving portion projecting upwardly substantially from said top closure portion and axially aligned with said cylindrical main body, said cover cap being engageable with said cap-receiving portion and said lock means being engageable with said cap-receiving portion and said cover cap to lock the same together. 
     
     
       16. A locking hood assembly according to claim 15 wherein said cover cap includes a generally cylindrical body portion whose outer diameter is only slightly smaller than the inside diameter of said cap-receiving portion for being pivotably received in the latter, said cover cap cylindrical body portion having means defining a polygonal-shaped aperture extending inwardly from that end thereof which is received in aid cap-receiving portion. 
     
     
       17. A locking hood assembly according to claim 16 wherein said cover cap further includes a grip portion which is disposed exteriorly of said main body cap-receiving portion when said cover cap is mounted on said main body, said grip portion having substantially conical shape. 
     
     
       18. A locking hood assembly according to claim 16 wherein said lock means is a barrel lock, and said main body cap-receiving portion and said cover cap have alignable apertures for receiving said barrel lock. .Iadd. 19. Locking means for a gas valve having in combination a body, a rotatable valve member therein, a valve stem for rotating such member and having an axial grease duct, a shroud fitting non-rotatably on the body and having a sleeve portion enclosing the valve stem, screw means engaging in the grease duct and fixing the sleeve portion of the shroud on the end of the valve stem, driving means for the screw means closing the end of the sleeve portion, and a bolt lock extending transversely of the sleeve portion preventing rotation of the driving means. .Iaddend..Iadd. 20. Locking means for a gas valve having a body with a valve seat, a rotatable valve-closing member in the body to engage such seat, a shroud fitting non-rotatably on the body to prevent access to such member, screw means to fix the shroud directly on the valve member with capacity for the shroud's removal to permit rotation of the valve member to control the gas flow, screw actuating means barring access to the screw means, and a bolt type lock adapted to bar relative rotation between the shroud and the screw means. .Iaddend..Iadd. 21. Locking means for a gas valve having a body, a rotatable valve-closing member therein, a shroud fitting non-rotatably on the body, screw means fixing the shroud directly on the valve member, actuating means for the screw means, and a key-operated bolt type lock adapted to bar relative rotation between the shroud and the screw-actuating means. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 22. A service access device in a utility service system, and a locking hood assembly mounted on said device for preventing access thereto, said locking hood assembly comprising a main body having an interior configuration fitting on and substantially covering said device, releasable means retaining said main body in its said fitting relation with respect to said device, removable cover means on said main body covering and thereby preventing access to said releasable retaining means, and removable lock means for locking said cover means in said position on said main body. .Iaddend..Iadd. 23. A locking hood assembly for mounting on a device which is a part of a utility service system to prevent access thereto for tampering with the service, said locking hood assembly comprising a main body for mounting on said device to prevent such access and means for receiving means to retain said main body in its said mounted relation, a removable cover cap for mounting on said main body to cover and thereby prevent access to said means for receiving said retaining means, and removable lock means for locking said cover cap in said position on said main body. .Iaddend.