Brady has filed a patent for a handle lockout device that can be placed around a valve handle to prevent unauthorized operation. The device includes a housing with an internal cavity, bifurcated into two halves that can be opened or closed. An adjustable slide positioned next to the stem opening can alter the size of the opening. GlobalData’s report on Brady gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on Brady, Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tape was a key innovation area identified from patents. Brady's grant share as of September 2023 was 60%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Handle lockout device for valves to prevent handle rotation
A recently filed patent (Publication Number: US20230304601A1) describes a handle lockout device designed to prevent the operation of a valve handle by rotation. The device consists of a housing with an internal cavity, which is divided into two halves along a parting line. The two halves can be moved relative to each other, allowing access to the internal cavity when in the opened position and closing tightly together in the closed position.
Adjacent to the stem opening on the housing, there is an adjustable slide that can be freely slidable to make the stem opening smaller in a narrowing direction. However, it is not freely slidable to make the stem opening larger in the opposite enlargement direction. The adjustable slide can only be slid in the enlargement direction by operating a release accessible from the interior cavity.
In some embodiments, the handle lockout device includes two adjustable slides positioned on opposing sides of the stem opening. Each of the adjustable slides is located on a respective half of the housing. The housing and the adjustable slide have teeth that permit free sliding of the adjustable slide in the narrowing direction, where the stem opening is made smaller by the edge of the adjustable slide impinging on the stem opening. However, the teeth prevent free sliding of the adjustable slide in the enlargement direction, where the stem opening is made larger by withdrawing the edge of the adjustable slide from the stem opening. The teeth are ratcheting teeth with ramped surfaces on one side and a stop surface on the other side.
The handle lockout device also includes a release that can be depressed only from the inside of the internal cavity of the housing. Depressing the release causes the teeth of the adjustable slide and the housing to separate, allowing the adjustable slide to slide in the enlargement direction. The release is flush or recessed with respect to an adjacent internal surface of the housing.
The housing is hinged at a hinge between the halves, and it includes a lockable structure to maintain the housing in the closed position. The lockable structure consists of alignable lock openings on each half of the housing. When the housing is closed, the alignable lock openings are aligned for the reception of a lock, securing the handle lockout device until the lock is removed.
The handle lockout device can be used to lockout a handle of a valve by placing it in the opened position around the handle, moving it to the closed position, securing it, and sliding the adjustable slide to alter the size of the stem opening to correspond to the stem of the valve handle.
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GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
