US3015963A - Valve mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 9, 1962 c. M. TERRY 3,015,963

VALVE MECHANISM Filed April 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

C. M. TERRY VALVE MECHANISM Jan. 9, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 1959 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,015,963 Patented Jan. 9, 1962 Filed Apr. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 807,688 2 Claims. (Cl. 74-44) This invention relates to a valve mechanism, and more particularly to a remotely controlled motor operated valve.

In a hydronic system, namely a system for heating or cooling with water, it is current practice to use a separate circulator for each zone when the system is arranged to have a plurality of zones. This is a relatively expensive procedure since each zone requires its own piping system, as well as individual pump. By the use of the valve disclosed herein, only a single circulator is required for the whole system, and the remotely controlled valve may fit under a conventional baseboard type radiator to selectively supply fluid to the radiator. The supply of fluid to the radiator thus may be controlled by a thermostat which is connected to operate the motor associated with the valve and a single valve may then be used in each zone rather than a separate circulator for each zone.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved valve mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a motor operated valve in which the mechanism for operating the valve member is a claw device readily connectable to the valve member and said claw device converts a rotary eccentric movement to a linear valve movement. This mechanism also permits the valve member to fully seat to block fluid flow.

Other objects of the invention are to fully insulate the motor and its associated mechanism from the valve and to etfectively seal the valve stem against leakage therealong by the use of an O ring under compression and specifically a pair of concentric rings in which the inner ring engages the stem, and the outer ring is under compression and exerts force on the inner ring and takes up wear in said inner ring.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the motor operated valve mechanism looking toward the left in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 22 in FIG. 1, and with the valve member shown seated;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to FIG. 2, but showing the parts in a position with the valve member raised oflE its seat to permit fluid fiow and parts of the valve casing omitted; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale taken generally along the line 55 in FIG. 2.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many difierent forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

As shown in the drawings, the motor operated valve mechanism comprises a valve casing, indicated generally at 10, and a motor box, indicated generally at 11, which controls the position of a poppet valve member 12 in the valve casing 10.

The valve casing 10 is made up of parts 13, 14, 15 and 16 which are threadably connected together to provide a chamber 17, a fluid inlet 18, and a fluid outlet 19 for the valve. The casing part 13 has an annular seat 20 against which the valve member 12 seats to block fluid communication between the fluid inlet 18 and the fluid outlet 19.

A valve stem 21 is associated with the valve member 12 and extends upwardly through the casing part 16 to have a cap 22 at the upper end of the stem, as well as a reduced diameter section 23 of the stem extend within the motor box 11 for association with a claw device described subsequently.

The valve member 12 is urged toward a closed position by a spring 24 extending between the valve member 12 and a flanged collar 25 surrounding the valve stem and engageable against the valve casing part 16.

The motor box 11 is connected to the valve casing 10 by means of a body bracket 26 which is tightly fitted upon the valve casing part 16 and through which machine screws 27 extend into threaded engagement with the frame 30 at the bottom of the motor box 11. In order to prevent transmission of heat to the motor box, and thus prolong the life of the motor and other components, a heat barrier is positioned between the bracket 26 and the motor box in the form of a sheet 29 of suitable insulating material.

The frame assemby, indicated generally at 30, is mounted within the motor box 11, and mounts a motor 31 which drives a gear 32 meshing with a gear 33 of a larger diameter fixed to a shaft 34 rotatably mountedon the frame assembly 30 by shaft bearings 35, as shown in FIG. 5.

The shaft 34 carries an integral cam and eccentric unit which is rotatable therewith by connection thereof to the shaft by a set screw 36. This unit embodies an eccentric 37, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, and an adjacent cam 38, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The eccentric37 has the two extreme throw positions, as noted by comparison of FIGS. 2 and 4. In FIG. 2, the eccentric has its high directed toward the valve casing 10, and alternatively'has its high directed away from the valve casing, as shown in FIG. 4.

Means are provided for converting the rotary motion of the eccentric 37 to linear movement of the valve stem 21, comprising a claw device mounted on the eccentric 37 and engageable with the valve stem. The claw device embodies a pair of spaced apart plates 40 and 41 which are interconnected by rivets 42 which pass through suitable spacers (not shown) disposed between the plates 40 and 41 for maintaining their spaced apart relation. The plates 40 and 41 each have a downward extension provided with leading edges 43 and 44, respectively, which extend adjacent to the side of the valve stem cap 22. Each plate has an arm 45 and 46, respectively, which extends from the leading edges 43 and 44 to lie alongside the reduced part 23 of the valve stem and under the valve stem cap 22. It will be noted that the claw device plates 40 and 41 are swingable on the eccentric 37 to permit ready assembly and disassembly with the valve stem 21. A spring 50 is connected between the frame assembly, as indicated at 51, and the claw device to maintain the claw device assembled with the valve stem while still permitting manual swinging movement of the claw device to disassemble the device from the valve stem 21.

With the parts as shown in FIG. 2, the valve member 20 is on its seat, and it will be noted that the arms 45 and 46 of the claw device are spaced beneath the end cap 22 of the valve stem whereby the valve member 12 is free to fully close on the seat 20 under the urging of the spring 24. Upon one-half revolution of the eccentric 37 to the position shown in FIG. 4 by operation of the motor 31, the claw device has been raised and has carried the valve member 12 therewith to open a fluid path between the fluid inlet 18 and the fluid outlet 19. The spring 50 assists in maintaining the claw device in association with the valve stem. ,The position of the valve membe'rlZ is indicated through an opening 54 in the casing of the motor box 11 by a plate 55 carrying suitable indicia which is mounted on the rotatable shaft 34.

The claw device is maintained in lateral alignment on the eccentric 37 by means of a raised flange 56 on the eccentric which lies between the plates 40 and 41. A lubricant is provided for the claw device in the form of an oilerfelt 57 positioned about the eccentric 37 in the space between the claw device plates 40 and 41.

The motor 31 is suitably wired for remote operation, as by a thermostat, and wiring connections from the thermostat to the motor 31 are made through a terminal board 58 carried on the frame assembly 30. Each operation of the motor 31 results in a one-half revolution of the shaft 34 and this operation is effected by the utilization of the cam 38 which, as shown in FIG. 3, is positioned for alternate operation of a pair of limit switches 59 and 60 which are connected in circuit with the motor 31. As shown in FIG. 3, the limit switches have operating arms 61 and 62 respectively, which are alternately engaged by the cam 38. A v v A Means are also disclosed to prevent fluid leakage along a movable member such as the valve stem 21 comprising an Q ring under compression engaging the stern. This is effected by a pair of concentric rings disposed in a groove 63 formed between the casing part 16 and the collar 25 surrounding the valve stem 21. These concentric 0 rings are indicated at 64 and 65, with the inner 0 ring 64 engaging the valve stem and forming the member subjectto wear. The outer 0 ring 65 has a smaller internal diameter than the outer diameter of the inner ring 64 and is under compression in the groove 63 whereby the assembly of the concentric 0 rings results in compressiyeforces in the outer ring acting upon the inner ring 64 to provide a tight seal against the valve stem and take up any wear in the inner ring. The inner O ring 64 may be of a fairly hard wear-resistant material, one example of which is a fluorocarbon elastomer such as Viton, while the outer ring 65 may be of a softer, more compressible material.

I claim: 1. Amechanis'm for operating a longitudinally movable stem of a valve or the like having an abutment thereon comprising, a rotatable shaft, an eccentric on said shaft, a motor operatively connected to said shaft for selectively rotating said shaft, a claw device having an opening receiving the eccentric and mounting the claw device on the eccentric, said claw device including a pair of depending generally L shaped spaced apart fingers defining an open ended slot thcreb'etween for receiving said stem with parts of said fingers disposed beneath the stern abutment, and means for yieldably retaining the claw device and stem in associated relation by urging the claw device rotatively about the ecc'e'nti-ic'to have the fingers engage the edge of the abutment whereby the claw device converts rotary eccentric motion to linear movement of the stem and the claw device can be disassociated from the stem by rotating the claw device in a direction against the force of said yieldable means. l

2. A mechanism for operating a longitudinally movable stem of a valve or the like having an abutment thereon comprising, a rotatable eccentric, a claw device embodying a pair of interconnected spaced apart plates having edges extending to an arm on each plate with the arm at a substantial angle to the edge whereby the edges of the pair of plates engage a side of the abutment and the arms are disposed therebeneath, and spring means engaging the claw device and urging the claw device toward the stein as limited by engagement of the claw device with the abutment side and the eccentric whereby rotation of the eccentric is translated into linear movement of the claw device and stem and the claw devicemay be disas sociated from the stem by pivotal movement of the claw device away from the stem against the action of said spring.

References Cited in the the of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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