US-12624786-B2 - Quick disconnect coupling systems and related methods

Abstract

Quick disconnect devices for high pressure fluid transfer, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A representative quick disconnect system includes a first connector and a second connector. The second connector can have an opening sized and shaped to receive a first end of the first connector. The second connector can include a poppet positioned to open the first connector when the first connector is connected to the second connector. The second connector can include an inner sleeve moveable between a first position wherein the poppet head forms a fluid-tight seal with the annular seat of the inner sleeve, and a second position wherein the second end portion is open to permit fluid flow through the end portion of the inner sleeve. In some embodiments, the inner sleeve is pressure balanced in every direction.

Inventors

• Randall J. Strauss
• William Goettler

Assignees

• Blue Origin Manufacturing, LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231212

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method of connecting a first fluid vessel and a second fluid vessel, the method comprising: providing a first connector associated with the first fluid vessel and a second connector associated with the second fluid vessel; engaging a piston mating face of a piston within a piston chamber of the first connector with a poppet mating face of a poppet of the second connector, wherein the piston mating face is configured to contact the poppet mating face; enabling the piston to be pushed toward the first fluid vessel with the poppet; and enabling an inner sleeve of the second connector to be pushed toward the second fluid vessel to separate the inner sleeve from the poppet and to permit fluid flow, around a perimeter of the poppet and between the first fluid vessel and the second fluid vessel, wherein the piston is entirely within the piston chamber, and wherein the poppet mating face and a longitudinal side surface of the poppet are also within the piston chamber to be isolated from the fluid flow.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: venting a side of the piston opposite the piston mating face as the poppet pushes the piston toward the first fluid vessel.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the piston is isolated from the fluid by being entirely within the piston chamber of the first connector.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid vessel is a fuel tank of a rocket.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the inner sleeve of the second connector is exposed to fluid pressure forces along a longitudinal axis of the second connector.
6. 6 . A method for a quick disconnect (QD) coupling, the method comprising: associating a first connector and a second connector in a quick disconnect coupling; enabling a poppet head of the second connector to mate against a piston within a piston chamber of the first connector; and establishing the quick disconnect coupling for a fluid flow between the first connector and the second connector, wherein the piston of the first connector is within the piston chamber to be isolated from fluid after the quick disconnect coupling is established, and wherein a mating face and a longitudinal side surface of the poppet head is also within the piston chamber to be isolated from the fluid after the quick disconnect coupling is established.
7. 7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: providing a piston housing of the first connector, the piston housing comprising the piston chamber; and enabling, using the piston chamber, the piston to be entirely isolated from the fluid by the piston being entirely within the piston chamber after the quick disconnect coupling is established.
8. 8 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: providing a piston housing of the first connector, the piston housing comprising the piston chamber; and enabling the mating face and the longitudinal side surface of the poppet head to also be isolated from the fluid by the mating face and the longitudinal side surface being within the piston chamber after the quick disconnect coupling is established.
9. 9 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: stopping the piston from further movement within a piston chamber by a wall of the piston chamber, with the longitudinal side surface of the poppet head being within the piston chamber.
10. 10 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: supporting movement of the piston within the first connector by an inner sleeve, the piston being around the inner sleeve; receiving part of a piston retainer into an indentation of the poppet head during a stroke of the piston; and venting at least air from a piston chamber during the stroke of the piston using a vent of a piston housing having the piston.
11. 11 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: enabling, using an outer sleeve of the first connector, a fluid path around a poppet stem and around a piston housing having the piston, the fluid path for the fluid to flow between the first connector and the second connector after the quick disconnect coupling is established.
12. 12 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: enabling a fluid path for the fluid to flow between the first connector and the second connector, the fluid path comprising an outside of a piston housing having the piston of the first connector and comprising an outside of a poppet stem associated with the poppet head of the second connector.
13. 13 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising: enabling an inner sleeve of the second connector to be biased against the poppet head by a biasing spring, wherein a fluid path between the poppet and the inner sleeve is closed by the inner sleeve being biased against the poppet head.
14. 14 . A method for a flight-side connector to be used with a ground-side connector for a launch vehicle, the method comprising: engaging a piston mating face, of a piston within a piston chamber of the flight-side connector, with a poppet mating face of a poppet head of the ground-side connector to isolate both a piston and the piston chamber of the flight-side connector from a fluid, after a fluid coupling is established between the flight-side connector and the ground-side connector; and using the piston chamber to further isolate at least a mating surface and a longitudinal side surface of the poppet head of the ground-side connector from the fluid after the fluid coupling is established.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising: causing a piston housing, which comprises the piston chamber of the flight-side connector, to entirely comprise the piston within the piston chamber after the fluid coupling is established, wherein the piston being within the piston chamber is entirely isolated from the fluid.
16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising: causing a piston housing, which comprises the piston chamber of the flight-side connector, to comprise the mating surface and the longitudinal side surface of the poppet head within the piston chamber after the fluid coupling is established, wherein the mating surface and the longitudinal side surface of the poppet head being within the piston chamber is isolated from the fluid.
17. 17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising: causing the piston to stop from further movement within the piston chamber by a piston wall of the piston chamber, with the longitudinal side surface of the poppet head being within the piston chamber.
18. 18 . A method for a ground-side connector to be used with a flight-side connector for a launch vehicle, the method comprising: using a poppet with a poppet head, of the ground-side connector, to engage a piston mating face of a piston within a piston chamber of the flight-side connector with a poppet mating face of the poppet head, wherein the piston is movable relative to the flight-side connector and is to be isolated in the piston chamber from a fluid after a fluid coupling is established between the flight-side connector and the ground-side connector; and using the poppet to further cause a mating surface and a longitudinal side surface of the poppet head to be within the piston chamber, the piston chamber to be isolated from the fluid after the fluid coupling is established.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the ground-side connector comprises an inner sleeve that is biased against the poppet head by a biasing spring, wherein the method further comprises: opening a fluid path between the inner sleeve and the poppet head by a first movement of inner sleeve against the biasing spring; and closing a fluid path between the inner sleeve and the poppet head by a second movement of the inner sleeve, with the biasing spring.
20. 20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the ground-side connector comprises an outer sleeve, an inner sleeve, a biasing spring and a poppet sleeve, and wherein the method further comprises: allowing the biasing spring to bias the inner sleeve against the poppet head to close a fluid path of the fluid coupling, wherein the poppet sleeve is to support the poppet and is to support the biasing spring between the outer sleeve and the inner sleeve.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57. For example, this is a divisional application that is related to and that claims the benefit of priority from allowed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/682,864, filed Feb. 28, 2022, which in turn claims the benefit of priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/898,317, filed Jun. 10, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,262,014 both entitled “QUICK DISCONNECT COUPLING SYSTEMS AND RELATED METHODS,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein and form a part of this specification for all purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure is directed generally to quick disconnect couplings, and associated systems and methods. BACKGROUND Rockets have been used for many years to launch human and non-human payloads into orbit. Such rockets delivered the first humans to space and to the moon, and have launched countless satellites into the Earth's orbit and beyond. Such rockets are used to propel unmanned space probes and more recently to deliver structures, supplies, and personnel to the orbiting international space station. In order to reach orbit, rockets and other launch vehicles must be provided with fuel, hydraulic fluid, coolant, and/or other fluids, many of which are transferred and stored at very high pressures. One challenge associated with transferring high-pressure fluid to the rockets is avoiding fluid leaks at the connections between the rockets and fluid sources (e.g., tanks). Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to addressing this and other challenges. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially schematic, side elevation view of a representative rocket, a fluid source, and a quick disconnect system connecting the rocket to the fluid source. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of a first connector of a quick disconnect system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of a second connector of a quick disconnect system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 4A is an end view of the first connector of FIG. 2 mated with the second connector of FIG. 3. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional side view of the first and second connectors of FIG. 4A, taken along cut-plane A-A of FIG. 4A when a poppet of the second connector first contacts a piston of the first connector. FIG. 4C is the cross-sectional side view of the first and second connectors shown in FIG. 4B, at a point when an abutment sleeve of the second connector first contacts an outer housing of the first connector. FIG. 4D is a close-up cross-sectional side view of the first connector of FIG. 2, taken along the cut-plane B-B of FIG. 4A. FIG. 4E is the cross-sectional side view of the first and second connectors shown in FIG. 4B, when an inner sleeve of the second connector first abuts the abutment sleeve. FIG. 4F is the cross-sectional side view of the first and second connectors shown in FIG. 4B, when the first connector is fully coupled with the second connector. FIG. 5A is an end view of another first connector of a quick disconnect system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional side view of the first connector of FIG. 5A, taken along cut-plane C-C of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional side view of the first connector of FIG. 5A, taken along cut-plane D-D of FIG. 5A. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of another second connector of a quick disconnect system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional side view of the first connector of FIGS. 5A-5C and the second connector of FIG. 6 at a point when a poppet of the second connector first contacts a piston of the first connector. FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional side view of the first and second connectors shown in FIG. 7A, at a point when an outer flange of an inner sleeve of the second connector first contacts an outer housing of the first connector. FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional side view of the first and second connectors shown in FIG. 7A, at a point when the first connector is fully coupled with the second connector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein are directed generally to quick disconnect systems for providing fluid connections between two or more fluid vessels. For example, the quick disconnect systems disclosed herein can be used to fluidly connect fluid systems on and/or in a launch vehicle to an external fluid source. The quick disconnect systems disclosed herein can include both ground-side and flight-side connectors configured to couple and decouple with each other. One or both of the ground-side and flight-side connectors can