Electronic actuated bleed valve

Claim 1

A bleed valve assembly including a housing, a bore disposed in said housing, a valve seat mounted in said housing adjacent to and communicating with said bore, a fluid flow orifice terminating at said valve seat, a substantially planar piezoelectric crystal beam mounted within said bore by contact with said bore solely at spaced peripheral edge portions thereof such that central portions thereof are free to move laterally with respect to said valve seat, a separate valve element disposed between said crystal and said valve seat, said element cooperatively supported in such position by mutual contact with said crystal and said valve seat, means for energizing said crystal so as to laterally bend said central portions so as to move said element respectively into contact with and away from said valve seat to open and close said valve assembly, the planar perimetric configuration of said crystal differing from the cross-sectional configuration of said bore, said bore being cylindrical and said crystal being of generally rectangular configuration, and a ledge inwardly extending from said bore and in contact with planar face surface portions of said crystal opposite from that surface proximal said valve seat, said ledge being circular and said crystal being square, the diagonal dimensions of said crystal being just slightly less than that of the diameter of said bore, and the diameter of said circular ledge being just slightly greater than the length of one of the sides of said crystal, whereby only the corner portions of said crystal are supported by said ledge.