| 摘要 |
The invention relates to a rigid hermetically sealed housing to protect springs in a live load connection from corrosion, such as in the packing box assemblies of valves and pumps used in chemical processing equipment. Live load connectors include an elongate connector such as a bolt with one end securing a fixed member, and another end securing a movable member, such as the flange of a packing box gland. The bolt connector biases a coaxially disposed spring on its shank against the movable flange. The invention relates to preventing corrosion of the spring with an hermetically sealed telescoping housing enveloping the spring with sealed openings through which the connector shank passes. The telescoping components of the housing can be simply constructed in the form of a hollow cup with a bottom wall with one of the sealed openings, and a cap having a top wall with the other sealed opening thus permitting the bolt shank to pass through the housing while retaining the seal to protect the spring. The cap and cup have slidingly sealed surfaces to provide a telescoping sealed connection thus allowing the spring to flex freely while enveloped in a protective housing. For simplicity of manufacture, the preferred cup has a cylindrical side walls and an annular bottom wall, whereas the cap is annular with a sealed sliding fit on the cylindrical cup walls. The cylindrical shape minimizes the size of the housing and permits use of inexpensive O-ring seals between the bolt shank and the housing, as well as between the telescoping cup and cap portions of the housing. To prevent overstressing of the spring, the housing is rigid and capable of bearing the full load applied to the connector since the cap includes outwardly extending flange for engaging the cup top edge thus preventing overstressing of the spring while transferring the full connector load.
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