US5217043A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Control valve
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1992-02-24
•
Granted: 1993-06-08
•
Expires: 2012-02-24
Abstract
Abstract The valve has a casing with inlet and outlet ports, and a valve opening bordered by a valve seat communicating the ports. A flexible diaphragm defines a control chamber and a pressure chamber on opposite sides thereof and moves between an open position clear of the seat, and a closed position against the seat. The valve seat is within the pressure chamber, and the diaphragm is normally urged closed. A flexible bellows extends between and is sealed to the diaphragm and the casing on a side of the diaphragm remote from the seat. The bellows provides a bellows chamber isolated from the control chamber to enclose an effective area of the diaphragm generally equal to the valve opening of the valve seat. The diaphragm has an orifice providing limited communication between the control and pressure chambers and having a size sufficient to reduce fluid flow between the chambers to reduce diaphragm speed and thus chances of hydraulic hammer. The casing has by-pass channels communicating one of the said chambers with the outlet port when the diaphragm is held against the valve seat, optionally the bypass channels can be valved. Another embodiment of the valve for gas applications eliminates the diaphragm, but the bellows similarly isolates a portion of the valve member from inlet pressure, and has an effective bellows area equal to valve seat nominal opening area.
Inventors
- 👤 Milic Novakovic
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 11:04
CPC Classifications
F; F16; F16K; F16K39/00; F16K39/02; F16K39/022; F16K31/00; F16K31/12; F16K31/36; F16K31/38; F16K31/385; F16K31/40; F16K31/402; F16K41/00; F16K41/10; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T137/00; Y10T137/7722; Y10T137/7723; Y10T137/7726; Y10T137/7727
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
325 words
A control valve comprising: (a) casing means having an inlet port, an outlet port and an opening having a nominal opening area bordered by a valve seat and being disposed between the inlet and outlet ports to provide communication therebetween, (b) a flexible diaphragm secured to the casing means to define, together with the casing means, a control chamber and a pressure chamber on opposite sides of the diaphragm, the diaphragm being movable between an open position clear of the valve seat and a closed position against the valve seat, the valve seat being within the pressure chamber, the diaphragm having an orifice to provide limited communication between the control chamber and the pressure chamber, the orifice having a size sufficient to reduce fluid flow between the control chamber and the pressure chamber so as to reduce speed of the diaphragm when opening or closing the valve to reduce chances of hydraulic hammer, (c) a resilient means for urging the diaphragm to the closed position thereof, (d) a flexible bellows extending between the diaphragm and the casing means and being located within the control chamber on a side of the diaphragm remote from the valve seat, the bellows being sealed at opposite ends thereof with respect to the diaphragm and the casing means to provide a bellows chamber isolated from the control chamber, the bellows chamber having an effective bellows area defined by a closed envelope passing approximately midway between inner and outer convolutions of the bellows and enclosing an effective area of the diaphragm generally equal to size of the nominal opening area bordered by the valve seat, so as to isolate a portion of the diaphragm enclosed by the bellows from pressure within the control chamber, (e) the casing means having channel means for communicating one of the said chambers on one side of the diaphragm with the outlet port when the diaphragm is held against the valve seat to close the valve.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
325 words
A control valve comprising: (a) casing means having an inlet port, an outlet port and an opening having a nominal opening area bordered by a valve seat and being disposed between the inlet and outlet ports to provide communication therebetween, (b) a flexible diaphragm secured to the casing means to define, together with the casing means, a control chamber and a pressure chamber on opposite sides of the diaphragm, the diaphragm being movable between an open position clear of the valve seat and a closed position against the valve seat, the valve seat being within the pressure chamber, the diaphragm having an orifice to provide limited communication between the control chamber and the pressure chamber, the orifice having a size sufficient to reduce fluid flow between the control chamber and the pressure chamber so as to reduce speed of the diaphragm when opening or closing the valve to reduce chances of hydraulic hammer, (c) a resilient means for urging the diaphragm to the closed position thereof, (d) a flexible bellows extending between the diaphragm and the casing means and being located within the control chamber on a side of the diaphragm remote from the valve seat, the bellows being sealed at opposite ends thereof with respect to the diaphragm and the casing means to provide a bellows chamber isolated from the control chamber, the bellows chamber having an effective bellows area defined by a closed envelope passing approximately midway between inner and outer convolutions of the bellows and enclosing an effective area of the diaphragm generally equal to size of the nominal opening area bordered by the valve seat, so as to isolate a portion of the diaphragm enclosed by the bellows from pressure within the control chamber, (e) the casing means having channel means for communicating one of the said chambers on one side of the diaphragm with the outlet port when the diaphragm is held against the valve seat to close the valve.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
64 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: (a) s rod having an inner end cooperating with the diaphragm and an outer end having a handle means, the rod cooperating with the casing means to move the diaphragm relative to the seat, (b) the resilient means extending between the casing means and the diaphragm to urge the diaphragm against the valve seat.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
74 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: (a) a valve stem having a central bore and being mounted for movement relative to the casing to cooperate with the diaphragm to close the valve, (a) an indicator passing along the bore of the valve stem and having an inner end secured to the diaphragm and an outer end extending outwardly of the valve stem, so as to indicate position of the diaphragm.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1, in which: (a) the bellows chamber within the bellows is exposed to atmospheric pressure.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
49 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1, in which: (a) an equalizing chamber is disposed between the valve seat and the outlet port, the channel means communicating with the equalizing chamber, (b) the channel means is a self-draining orifice extending between the pressure chamber and the equalizing chamber.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: (a) an equalizing chamber disposed between the valve seat and the outlet port, the channel means communicating with the equalizing chamber, (b) a channel valve member cooperating with the channel means to open and close the channel means as required.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
76 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 6, in which: (a) the channel means extends between the pressure chamber and the equalizing chamber to provide communication between the pressure chamber and outlet port when the diaphragm is held against the valve seat to close the valve, (b) a manually actuated handle cooperates with the channel valve member to move the valve member between open and closed positions, thus opening and closing the channel means as required.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
42 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: (a) an electrical actuator cooperating with the channel valve member so as to move the channel valve member between open and closed positions, thus opening and closing the channel means as required.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
80 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 6, in which: (a) the channel means extends between the control chamber and the equalizing chamber to provide communication between the control chamber and the outlet port when the diaphragm is held against the valve seat to close the valve, (b) an electrical actuator cooperates with the channel valve member so as to move the channel valve member between open and closed positions to open and close the second channel means as required.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
65 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: (a) an additional channel means to provide communication between the bellows chamber within the bellows and the control chamber, (b) a channel valve cooperating with the additional channel means so as to open and close the channel means as required to permit the bellows chamber to be exposed to the control chamber or to atmosphere.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
44 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 10, in which: (a) the channel valve cooperating with the additional channel means is a three-way, two-position valve, the valve having one way connected to atmosphere, and the remaining two ways connected to the third channel means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
43 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1 in which: (a) the orifice in the diaphragm is positioned to be clear of obstructions so as to provide generally equally restricted flow therethrough in either direction between the control chamber and the pressure chamber.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
55 words
A control valve as claimed in claim 1 in which: (a) the diaphragm has a shape to accommodate movement of the diaphragm between open and closed positions of the valve with essentially negligible deformation of the orifice, so as to have a negligible effect on flow through the orifice in any position of the diaphragm.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2388696A
Cited
US2331503A
Cited
US3214134A
Cited
GB1323932A
Cited
US3797803A
Cited
DE3315972A1
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1996-06-07 | 1996-12-07 | 1997-06-08 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2000-06-07 | 2000-12-07 | 2001-06-08 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2004-06-07 | 2004-12-07 | 2005-06-08 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |