Existing structures on the market today use these relulating valves in different process industries and energy plants as paper industries, refinery, heat producing plants, steel plants, nuclear plants, for changes between different tanks which contain different process fluids as water, gases and bulk products and so on. Examples of process media can be steem, lye, paper pulp, other chemical substances, and water, which is used in th paper pulp industry. The purpose of the regulating valve is to supply process media during a desired setting position of the regulating valve, so that the regulating valve can be kept closed during longer predetermined periods of time and in an open position during shorter predetermined periods of time or to be open to a certain degree from 1 % up to 100 %. A great regulating valve having a diameter of about 800 mm is exposed to high pressure of about 240 bar, whereby great forces up to 10000 N are needed to regulate the setting position of the regulating valve. This occurs when using forces from e. g. a control means, preferable a pneumatic one, whereby a spindle is actuated so that it turns or otherwise is moved by said control means in order to change the setting position of the regulating valve.

A great number of regulating valves shall be controlled in a process industry, so that all these shall be set in the right position during the right moment. In order to guarantee that nobody changes the right setting position, the regulating valve is manually locked e. g. by a going through pin. This is very much unpractical and time consuming, since the distance between the regulating valves often is great and the location of these is often hard to reach.

Further such a method is not sure, since it is easy to forget to lock one or several regulating valves into the right setting position or in fact to lock or to open the wrong regulating valve. Further unauthorized persons can spoil the regulating valve. If a regulating valve should have the wrong setting position during any moment great wide accidents in said process industries can occur and because of that cause great damage, whereby great economic and material values get lost and also causing a great human suffering.

One object of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the above mentioned structures and to provide a locking adaptor in connection to the regulating valve, so that a locking element of said locking adaptor is capable to lock said spindle.

Thanks to the present invention a locking adaptor has been provided, which can lock and unlock the regulating valve in a predetermined setting position. According to the invention the locking adaptor is arranged at a regulating valve between the control means and the regulating valve. In order to set the regulating valve into the right position, so that the amount of processing media passing through the valve per time unit is the right, a control means transfer a force to the spindle, which is moveably fixed in an adapter housing of the locking adaptor, whereby the spindle is connected in one of its ends to the control means and in its other end to the regulating valve. By actuating a locking element, which is provided in the adaptor housing, so that the locking element fixes the spindle, the locking element can lock thte spindle from a turning movement or be moved, in grasping the spindle and/or actuate into its side part or be pushed in through the same into a recess, so that the locking element locks the spindle in a predetermined setting position in guaranteeing the setting position of the spindle, so that it cannot be turned around its own axis or be moved. This setting position can according to the invention be determined by a computor, which can by aid of a sensor identify each setting position of the regulating valve. In a preferred embodiment example of the present invention the locking adapter is mounted between the regulating valve and the control means, said means con be attached to a support. The spindle is turnably provided around its own axis in apertures in the walls of the adaptorhousing, through which the spindle extends, so that the control means can turn the spindle mainly a quarter of a revolution forwards and backwards in order to actuate the different setting positions of the regulating valve. The locking adaptor, control means and the regulating valve can also according to the present invention be supported on a supporting means. The locking element is moveably attached to the wall of the adaptor housing, so that it can be moved forwards and backwards towards and away from the spindle, preferably through an aperture in the wall of the adapter housing, whereby the locking element can be moved into some kind of a recess in the spindle for locking of the same. In loosening of the locking element the spindle gets movable again, whereby the regulating valve can be set into another setting position and be locked there by aid of said locking element, which in this case can be actuated by a hydraulic moter or pneumatically or in any other way. The locking element comprises according to the invention different designs of locking parts, which correspond to different forms of recesses in the spindle.

The locking parts can be fork formed with one or several extensions, which correspond into corresponding recesses in the spindle. The locking parts can also be square formed, triangle formed, conically formed etc, which also fits into corresponding recesses. The locking parts can also comprise grasping parts, which fasten around the spindle, so that the spindle can be locked into a stepless setting position desired via friction, whereby the side part of the spindle is provided with rills, extensions, etc. in order to increase the friction.

The locking part of thte locking element can also be made of a circular bar, which during locking is pushed through the spindle, whereby the recess in this case is an aperture. If the recesses and the locking parts are provided with teeth the locking element is moved in the movement directions when the spindle turns, whereby the locking in this case occurs by locking of the position of the locking means at a predetermined setting position, which can be determined of the position of the locking element itself outside the wall of the adapter housing. The principal advantages of the invention will be the fact that one has provided a sure and time saving arrangement which is easy to handle, so it can be guaranteed that a predetermined setting position of the regulating valve is not without intention is changed by carelessness or sabotage. This saves greats values, since serious accidents can be prevented if different processing media are handled in a wrong way. Further the invention can be arranged to each existing regulating valve without the need of reconstruction or modifying of either the control means nor the regulating valve.

The invention will now be described in more detail below with the aid of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, on which Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view obliquely from above and from the side of a regulating valve and a control means with an adaptor housing located therebetween, which is partly translucent, Figure 2 shows a schematic, vertical section across the longitudinal direction of the spindle in different examples of a locking adaptor in the part views a-e, Figure 3 shows a perspective view obliquely from above of a relulating valve and a control means with an adaptor housing located therebetween, whereby said locking adaptor is mounted onto the regulating valve.

As can be seen from the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig. 1 here is shown a regulating valve 1, which regulates the amount of processing media 23 flowing through the same, by turning a spindle 4 around its axis 21 to a predetermined setting position 7, which is made by aid of a force from a control means 3. The spindle 4 extends in one unit or in connected parts, through the locking adaptor 2 through apertures 14 in walls 16 of an adaptor housing 5. The locking adaptor 2 as well as the regulating valve 1 and the control means 3 rest on a support 13. The predetermined setting position 7 is locked by a locking element 6, by that it moves through an other aperture 14 in a wall 16 in a direction 18 towards a recess 15 in the spindle 4 until a locking occurs. The locking element 6 comprises a locking part 19, which is provided with extensions 20, which fits into the recess 15 for better locking effect. The spindle 4 is loosened by moving the same out and away from the recess 15 in a direction 17. A regulating structure 24, which is built up by bars and joints actuates the locking element 6 by aid of a motor not illustrated in the drawings in the directions 17,18 desired. A sensor 27 can identify the actual setting position 7 and can register the same in a computor, which also confirms that this position is locked or unlocked.

As can be seen from fig. 2 different examples of locking parts 19 of a locking element 6 are illustrated, which can be moved in the directions 17, 18 through the aperture 14, which is located in the locking adaptor 2. In the part view a) the locking element 6 moves when the spindle 4 turns. It depends on that the recesses 15 of the spindle 4 and the locking part 19 of the locking element 6 comprises teeth, which fit into each other. By locking the position of the locking element 6, also the position of the the spindle 4 and because of that also a predetermined setting position 7 of the regulating valve 1. The part view b) illustrates a fork formed locking part 19 and a squared spindle 4, whereby the spindle 4 can be locked into four different setting positions 7 when the locking part 19 grasps the spindle 4. The part view c) illustrates a locking part 19, which is provided with rills or extensions along the side 22 of the spindle 4 in order to increase the friction, whereby the locking part 19 grasps the spindle 4 at an optional position, so that a locking can be made in a step loose setting position 7 by that the locking element 6 is pressed against the spindle 4 in the setting position 7 desired. As can be seen from the part view d) the locking part 19 is provided with extensions 20, which fit into the recesses 15 of the spindle 4, whereby a number of setting positions 7 can be locked. The part view e) illustrates how the locking part 19, which consists of a circular bar 25, totally extends through the spindle 4 in the recess 15 during the locking.

As can be seen from the embodiment example of the invention illustrated in fig. 3 the locking adaptor 2 is mounted at the regulating valve 1. The control means 3 is directly connected to the locking adaptor 2, so that the spindle 4, extending through the adaptor housing 5, is only partly visible. The sensor 27 is provided on the adaptor housing 5. A position sensor 26, which can be used for determining of the actual setting positions 7 desired, is provided on the control means 3.