Multi-way-valve

Claim 2

A multiway valve for control of a pressure medium which has a casing with an inlet and at least two outlets and a control member able to perform a control movement with the aid of which the inlet can be connected selectively with said outlets, said outlets being adapted for connection to a supply line for the pressure medium and with a relief line respectively, wherein means are provided to change the pressure on the control member before starting the control movement whereby the control member is lifted from the contact faces of the casing allotted thereto for sealing contact, wherein fluid pressure means are provided to act on the control member for performing its control movement in the course of which movement it is moved into a new valving position while being in a state of suspension by the medium and wherein the control member upon reaching its new valving position is again pressed against the contact face allotted thereto by again changing the pressure distribution.

Claim 3

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the control member is a flat slide displaceable during the control movement across the inlet and outlets and fItting snugly in the respective valving positions under the influence of the pressure within the casing to perform a sealing effect, said slide standing in its slide case on its one flat side under the influence of the pressure medium coming from the inlet which influence is directed across the direction of the displacing movement, and on the opposite flat side and on its two axial ends under the influence of a pressure medium cushion which in its operative condition sealing presses the slide in its respective valving position against the face portions of the inner face of the casing surrounding the inlet and outlet, and means to change the pressure acting on the ends, whereby the effect of the pressure medium cushion can be neutralized and annulled partly and temporarily, whereby the slide lifts from the inner face of the casing until the full working state of the pressure medium cushion has been restored, and displaces into the valving position coordinated to the side on which the change of pressure has taking place so that the slide is displaceable within the casing to-and-fro in direction of its longitudinal axis between its two valving positions.

Claim 4

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein said valve casing has openings on one side thereof constituting the inlet and outlets, and said control member comprises at least one slide movable within the said casing and having slide channels on one side which interconnect said openings in said casing in different ways in dependence on their relative position with respect to the said openings and at least one auxiliary valve, and wherein the said slide is mounted within said casing with a clearance in a direction perpendicular to the direction of control movement and in a direction towards the side containing the said openings, and said fluid pressure means comprising a supply channel connecting the said clearance to a reservoir of medium the pressure of which within the casing is high enough for sealingly pressing the slide onto the side of the casing containing the said openings against the action of the pressure in the inlet and in the slide channels, and wherein auxiliary valve means are connected to the said clearance, said auxiliary valve means on being opened establishing a connection to a medium the pressure of which within the clearance is not high enough to press the slide sealingly onto the side wall of the casing containing the openings whereby, upon actuation of the auxiliary valve, the slide lifts from the face allotted thereto for sealing contact and occupies an intermediate position under the forces resulting from the openings and the incoming medium on the one hand and from the supply channel for a medium standing under higher pressure on the side of the clearance on the other hand, in which intermediate position it is easily movable in the direction of the control movement, and wherein, finally, upon closing the said auxiliary valve the said slide is again pressed against the openings.

Claim 5

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the pressure effect of the medium to be controlled upon the slide causes the slide to bear against the walls surrounding the channels before and during the control movement without sealing effect, but sealingly presses against the walls surrounding the channels after the end of the control movement and under the influence of the pressure effect, wherein the fluid supply means to the pressure space serving to sealingly press the slide against the coordinated face of the casing includes a throttling means, and auxiliary valve means operative before starting the slide motion to relieve pressure in the pressure space whereby the slide no longer sealingly presses against the coordinated face, closing off the auxiliary valve means causing the pressure space to again be pressurized after the end of the slide motion.

Claim 6

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the control member in its state of suspension is freely movable as a plate in its plane and establishes Connections between the channels under the influence of controlling adjusting operations along several coordinates.

Claim 7

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the said control member is constituted by a round plate changing its position by rotation.

Claim 8

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the said control member in its state of suspension can be displaced by means of inductive electric fields into a new position.

Claim 9

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the said control member can be displaced with the aid of exterior mechanical means, acting through a magnetic power gradient through a wall impermeable to liquids.

Claim 10

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein to the said control member there are coordinated two pressure chambers fed with pressure medium serving to produce the control movement of the said control member said pressure chambers being in connection with at least one of the other chambers containing the pressure medium cushion and in which the pressure medium exerts upon a wall of the said slide a control pressure directed approximately transverse to the direction of the control movement, the control pressures in the said two pressure chambers being directed oppositely to one another, and means for changing the pressure conditions and the pressure distribution includes means for reducing the pressure in one of the said two pressure chambers.

Claim 11

The multiway valve set forth in claim 9, wherein the pressure chamber serving to provide the sealing effect is constituted by a fluid pressure cushion, wherein between the throttling means and the chambers serving for the discharge of the medium out from the pressure chamber there is arranged a further throttle the cross section of which is reduced by releasing the sealing contact between the said slide and the said faces allotted thereto, the pressure cushion being situated on one side of the said slide and integral therewith, and being movable with the said slide.

Claim 12

The multiway valve set forth in claim 10, wherein the flat side of the said control member under the influence of the medium issuing from the supply line has a smaller effective surface than the opposite side.

Claim 13

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, in which a said flat slide constitutes the control member and is guided within a groove of rectangular cross section of said casing, the height of which groove is slightly greater than that of the slide and the axial length of which groove is greater than that of the slide by such an amount that the slide is able to execute its movement between its different valving positions within the casing, wherein into the groove of the casing there open lines on the two front sides corresponding to the axial ends of the slide by means of which can be changed the pressure in the groove of the said casing, and on one of the flat sides of the flat slide, the inlet line and the outlet lines.

Claim 14

The multiway valve set forth in claim 12, wherein on the inner faces of the front walls limiting the groove on its two axial ends there are provided abutting cushions of resiliently elastic material.

Claim 15

The multiway valve set forth in claim 1, wherein the said control member comprises a slide in the shape of a longish flat body with rectangular cross section which has in the zone of its two axial ends on the side facing the opening of the inlet as well as on the side opposite thereto sealing projections directed rectangularly in outward direction, wherein the effective surface contained between the sealing projections on the side facing the supply line for the pressure medium is smaller than the effective surface on the side opposite thereto.

Claim 16

The multiway valve set forth in claim 14, wherein through the slide there passes at least one channel of small diameter, and constituting a throttle, which channel leads from the effective face facing the inlet to the effective face opposite thereto, and thereby interconnects the chambers surrounding these faces.

Claim 17

The muLtiway valve set forth in claim 15, wherein the inner face of the said groove is covered on the side facing the inlet by a layer of resiliently elastic material or the slide and the casing have on sides facing one another interengaging teeth, whereby the slide is released for lateral movement only after having performed a defined movement to the direction of control movement perpendicular and is otherwise prevented from displacement.

Claim 18

The multiway valve set forth in claim 16, wherein the said slide casing and slide are so constructed that energy fields in the form of fields of force must be overcome in order to initiate a change of position, that in order to maintain the position of the slide also when the sealing contact between the slide and the face allotted thereto is interrupted due to an interruption of the supply of pressure medium.

Claim 19

The multiway valve set forth in claim 17, wherein the said slide has the shape of a longish prismatic body with rectangular cross section which has on its side turned away from the channels to be interconnected two separated grooves serving to receive pressure cushions and extending in the longitudinal direction of the slide and being in connection with the inlet through channels and being open on their top, to which grooves there are coordinated relief channels extending in the longitudinal direction of the slide and serving to control said slide, of which relief channels one is provided in the middle region of the slide between the two grooves and is open in a direction towards one axial end thereof, whereas two further relief channels contain the two grooves between them and are open in the direction towards the other axial end of the slide.

Claim 20

The multiway valve set forth in claim 17, wherein the said slide is constructed as a disc mounted rotatably about a central axis having on the side of the slide turned away from the openings of the channels to be controlled two grooves for receiving pressure medium cushions which are in connection with the inlet by channels, whereas on the opposite flat side there are provided of shell like shape for establishing the connections between the channels to be controlled.

Claim 21

The multiway valve set forth in claim 15, wherein the said slide when in the end positions of its control movement neutralizes in one valving position in the channel of the relief valve of the pressure medium cushion the relief of the pressure cushion and thereby is pressed against its faces whereby the energy necessary for passing through this valving position can be taken from an accumulator.

Claim 22

The multiway valve set forth in claim 20, wherein the said slide casing and slide are provided with a small auxiliary piston displaceable under the influence of the pressure of the supply medium and against the tension of a spring, whereby upon the pressure of the supply medium sinking below a predetermined level said piston holds the slide in its position determined before the pressure has begun to sink.