Valve

Claim 2

A valve for controlling the flow of fluent material comprising a valve body having an opening that is to be opened and closed, said valve body being adapted to have said material flow therethrough when said opening is open; valve seat means on said body surrounding said opening; gate closure means in said valve body adapted to close said opening; movable supporting means for said closure means pivotally mounted in said valve body about an axis parallel to a plane in which said valve seat means lies, said supporting means being adapted to move said closure means bodily through an arcuate path between a valve closed position in which said closure means extends across said opening to close said opening and a valve open position in which said closure means is away from said opening so said opening is unobstructed; and means tiltably mounting said closure means on said supporting means so that said closure means contacts said valve seat means in sealing relation even though said supporting member is not in its maximum valve closed position, said means tiltably mounting said closure means on said supporting means comprising a plurality of pins located substantially equiangularly and equidistantly around the center of said closure means with two of said pins equidistant from the axis about which said supporting means is pivoted, and a plurality of springs operating between said supporting means and said closure means for urging said closure means into contact with said valve seat means when said supporting means is in its valve closed position, said springs being located to exert balanced forces on said closure means by beaRing against said closure means along an axis that passes through the center of said closure means and is parallel to the axis about which said supporting means is pivoted.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said pins are fixed to said closure means and extend away from said opening in said valve body, which pins extend into corresponding openings in said supporting means, said openings being large enough to permit said pins to tilt in said openings.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 in which said pins and their corresponding openings are so related that the axes of the pins substantially intersect the axes of said openings in said supporting means when said pins tilt in said openings.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3 in which said pins and their corresponding openings in said supporting means are located to support said closure means in balanced relation on said supporting means.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said springs are coil springs spaced from said pins.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said means tiltably mounting said closure means on said supporting means supports said closure means so that it contacts said valve seat means entirely around said valve seat means with substantially no relative lateral movement between said closure means and valve seat means as said supporting means moves toward and away from its valve closed position.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said valve body opening and said closure means are of circular cross sections.

Claim 9

A valve for controlling the flow of fluent material comprising a valve body of metal having an opening that is to be opened and closed and adapted to have material flow therethrough when said valve is open, said opening being surrounded by a metal auxiliary valve sleeve seat on said valve body; a gasket on said valve surrounding said opening and forming a primary valve seat, said gasket being formed of resilient material subject to deterioration and projecting beyond said auxiliary valve seat; movable gate closure means in said valve body adapted to close said opening and to overlap both said primary and said auxiliary valve seats; movable supporting means for said closure means pivotally mounted in said valve body about an axis for moving said closure means bodily through an arcuate path between a valve closed position in which said closure means extends across said opening to close said opening and a valve open position in which said closure means is located away from said opening to open said opening; means tiltably supporting said closure means on said supporting means so said closure means contacts one of said valve seats in sealing relation even though said supporting means is not in its maximum valve closed position, comprising at least three pins fixed to said closure means and extending into oversize recesses in said supporting means to permit tilting, said pins being arranged equiangularly and equidistantly around the center of said closure means and symmetrically with respect to the axis about which said supporting means is pivoted, and resilient means operating between said supporting means and said closure means when said supporting means is in valve closed position to urge said closure means into contact with said gasket when said gasket is present and into contact with said auxiliary valve seat when said gasket is not present, said resilient means comprising a plurality of springs symmetrically arranged with respect to the pivot axis about which the supporting means is pivoted and with respect to the center of the closure means; and means for moving said supporting means between its valve closed and valve open positions comprising a link member pivotally connected at one end to said supporting means about an axis parallel to the axis about which said supporting means is pivotally supported, a second link member pivotally connected to said first mentioned link member about an axis parallel to said first mentioned axis, and means pivotally supporting said second link member about an axis spAced from said connecting axis and parallel to said first mentioned axis.

Claim 10

A valve for controlling the flow of fluent material comprising a valve body of metal having an opening that is to be opened and closed and adapted to have material flow therethrough when said valve is open, said opening being surrounded by a metal auxiliary valve sleeve seat on said valve body; a gasket on said valve surrounding said opening and forming a primary valve seat, said gasket being formed of resilient material subject to deterioration and projecting beyond said auxiliary valve seat; movable gate closure means in said valve body adapted to close said opening and to overlap both said primary and said auxiliary valve seats; movable supporting means for said closure means pivotally mounted in said valve body about an axis for moving said closure means bodily through an arcuate path between a valve closed position in which said closure means extends across said opening to close said opening and a valve open position in which said closure means is located away from said opening to open said opening; means tiltably supporting said closure means on said supporting means so said closure means contacts one of said valve seats in sealing relation even though said supporting means is not in its maximum valve closed position, comprising at least three pins fixed to said closure means and extending into oversize recesses in said supporting means to permit tilting, said pins being arranged equiangularly and equidistantly around the center of said closure means and symmetrically with respect to the axis about which said supporting means is pivoted, and resilient means operating between said supporting means and said closure means when said supporting means is in valve closed position to urge said closure means into contact with said gasket when said gasket is present and into contact with said auxiliary valve seat when said gasket is not present, said resilient means comprising a plurality of springs symmetrically arranged with respect to the pivot axis about which the supporting means is pivoted and with respect to the center of the closure means; and means for moving said supporting means between its valve closed and valve open positions comprising a link member pivotally connected at one end to said supporting means about an axis parallel to the axis about which said supporting means is pivotally supported, a second link member pivotally connected to said first mentioned link member about an axis parallel to said first mentioned axis, and means pivotally supporting said second link member about an axis spAced from said connecting axis and parallel to said first mentioned axis.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 8 in which said link members are arranged in an over-the-center position when said supporting means is in its maximum valve closed position.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 9 comprising actuating means for pivotally moving said second link member to move said supporting means between valve open and valve closed positions, and means for limiting movement of said link members beyond a preset over-the-center position to prevent said link members from moving said supporting means to valve opening position when said actuating means is not actuated.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 8 in which said springs are coil springs spaced from said pins.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 8 in which said means tiltably mounting said closure means on said supporting means supports said closure means so that it contacts said gasket entirely around said gasket with substantially no relative lateral movement between said closure means and said gasket as said supporting means moves toward and away from its valve closed position.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 8 in which said valve body opening and said closure means are circular in cross sections.