AU2008200922A1

AU2008200922A1 - Valve unit

Info

Publication number: AU2008200922A1
Application number: AU2008200922A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter John Morris
Original assignee: Australian Valve Group Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Australian Valve Group Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-02-27
Filing date: 2008-02-27
Publication date: 2009-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 2028-02-27
Also published as: AU2008200922B2

Description

Pool Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2)) AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: VALVE UNIT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/ us: P111MAU/1107 1 VALVE UNIT TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to control valves for water supply systems, such as domestic and commercial hot water systems. 5 BACKGROUND Water supply systems, such as hot water storage and supply systems, typically require one or more control valves. These can be in the form of one or more non-return valves, water pressure limiting valves (PLVs), temperature limiting (tempering) valves in hot water supply systems, stop taps for isolating the 10 system, and drain valves for draining down the system. A typical hot water supply system includes a hot water tank, cold water inlet, hot water outlet, and one or more of the aforementioned valves. Often certain valves, such as tempering and/or PLVs are legislated to be provided as a necessary requirement, particularly in new installations. 15 Installation of a hot water storage and supply system includes positioning the hot water reservoir, plumbing to it a cold water inlet supply, a hot water outlet, and connection of the associated heating system, such as plumbing a gas supply for a gas powered hot water system, or wiring an electrical heating element for an electrically heated hot water system, or connection to a solar heated hot water 20 storage and supply system. The installer will plumb in off the shelf individual valves as required. This requires consideration of available plumbing space, which can be very limited for some installations. Also, because of the number of different valves required, the length of associate piping can be considerable, and require multiple bends, which 25 can be difficult for the installer where access space or distance to a wall or other object is limited. Multiple individual valves also require a large number of associated connections for the piping, thereby increasing the likelihood of water leakage. Furthermore, with environmental concerns over saving energy, 30 installations are often required to have the water storage tank and associated valves and plumbing insulated to reduce heat loss, and thereby save energy i.e., by preventing heat loss from heated water and thereby reducing the amount of energy from gas or electricity needed to keep the water hot. Cold water supply 2 pipes and valves often also have to be insulated for cold climates in order to prevent freezing damage, such as burst pipes or frozen valves. Also, it will be appreciated that it is difficult to provided efficient and effective insulation after the valves and pipework have been installed. 5 Having relatively lengthy and/or complex piping, as well as a number of individual valves, requires a large amount of insulation, further increasing the cost of the installation and providing greater opportunity for heat loss if part of that insulation is not maintained. Having individual valves increases the likelihood of heat loss from the system or risk of freezing damage to cold water pipes. 10 Having multiple individual valves also creates a problem in that if one valve needs replacing or repair, multiple sections of piping may need to be disconnected to provide access to that valve. The unit can beneficially pre connected to a heating system during manufacture of the system unit, during installation or afterwards. Present multiple individual valves have to be installed 15 after the heating system unit is installed in order to accommodate the plumbing arrangement required for a particular installation. Also, in a traditional arrangement each valve requires individual servicing, increasing service costs and time. It has been realised that it would be beneficial to provide a valve assembly 20 that alleviates one or more of these problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the aforementioned in view, one form of the present invention provides a valve unit for a water supply system, the unit including a water inlet, a water outlet, and a valve body housing a stop valve and a check valve, the unit 25 providing a water flow path through the stop valve and non-return valve between the inlet and outlet. The valve unit advantageously avoids the need for individual valves and their associated plumbing and connections. Such an arrangement is particularly advantageous where space is restricted for plumbing in multiple valves and 30 associated pipe work and their connections. Also, having valves combined into a single unit reduces the amount of thermal insulation required as only the housing needs insulating.

3 Preferably the stop valve and/or check valve may be in cartridge form for ease of ready replacement or servicing to/from the housing. The unit may be mounted directly or indirectly to a hot water storage tank or housing, which mounting arrangement reduces the need for lengthy and/or 5 complex plumbing. The unit may further include one of, or a combination of one or more of, a pressure limiting valve, temperature limiting valve (tempering valve), expansion relief valve and one or more additional non-return valves. Thus, a valve unit may be provided which includes all of a required selection of valves in a single unit, 10 preferably all of the valves being within the same housing. In this way, installation becomes a matter of fitting a single valve unit, and servicing one or more of the valves becomes a matter of working on a single unit with associated ease of replacement and reduced number of connections. The valve unit may be provided with a drain down valve to assist in 15 draining the storage reservoir (e.g., storage cylinder). However, the present invention envisages the drain down valve being incorporated with a expansion relief valve (expansion control valve). The valve unit may include a hot water inlet which may be in fluid communication with a tempering valve and tempered hot water outlet and/or an 20 un-tempered hot water outlet which bypasses the tempering valve where fitted. In a preferred arrangement, the valve unit may include a cold water inlet, a cold water outlet to a water heating system, a hot water inlet to receive hot water from the water heating system, and at least one of, preferably both of, a tempered hot water outlet and an un-tempered hot water outlet. 25 The unit may preferably provide fluid communication for water through a strainer, an auto stop valve, a drain valve, the stop valve (stop tap), a pressure limiting valve (PLV) and/or one or more non-return valves, between the cold water inlet supply and the cold water outlet feeding the heating system. However, it is envisaged, and will be appreciated, that one or more of these valves may 30 alternatively or in addition be provided on the hot side of the unit. That is, in a flow path between the hot water inlet and one or more of the tempered and untempered hot water outlets.

4 The pressure limiting valve may be utilised to act as a stop valve (stop tap). The pressure limiting valve may include a seat and seal, which may be operated to seal and shut off water flow until reopened. By manually actuating the pressure limiting valve until it is closed, the pressure limiting valve forms the 5 stop valve. The housing may house substantially all of the components or valves of the unit, with just external hot and cold supply connections, and preferably controls for the stop valve (stop tap) and/or strainer and/or expansion control valve (PLV) and/or drain. 10 Preferably the stop valve may include means to close one or more non return valves such that water is prevented from flowing either way through the non-return valve. This may be controlled, for example, by a control on the exterior of the housing which, when operated, shuts off the non-return valve(s) to prevent normal one way flow operation, and thereby shut off water coming into or 15 going out of the unit at the non-return valve(s). The valves and components within the unit may each be provided as a cartridge for ready replacement, servicing or upgrading/downgrading specification. Thus, the appropriate valve or component for a particular application or water system can be selected or changed without disassembling 20 the entire unit. This may also prevent the need to disconnect pipework from other valves. For example, the filter may be extracted and the auto stop tap seals the unit from water entering. The double check valve and PLV may then be removed for servicing/replacement. The only water loss would thus be the small amount of water downstream of the auto stop tap to the storage system inlet. 25 The valve unit may be provided with a line filter to protect the internal components from water born debris, such as sand. The cold water outlet may include means for fluid connection between the unit and the heating system to mount the unit to the system, either directly or indirectly. This fluid connection may also incorporate an expansion relief valve 30 such that expansion control is conducted as the cold water feed to the heating system leaves the unit. The valve unit may include a pressure limiting valve, wherein the pressure limiting valve incorporates the non-retum valve. Alternatively the valve unit may 5 include a pressure limiting valve, wherein the pressure limiting valve incorporates the stop valve. More preferably the combined pressure limiting valve and stop valves may further include the non-return valve. Such arrangements beneficially reduce the number of individual valve bodies, as well as assist in reducing the 5 likelihood of leakage through multiple connections and valves in traditional installations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a front view of a valve unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10 Figure 2 shows a side view of the embodiment in Figure 1. Figure 3 shows an internal sectional view through A-A of Figure 2. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying Figures. However, the presence or absence of 15 one or more particular features in the following description should not be taken to limit the generality of the invention. Also, any reference within any section of this specification to known devices should not be taken that such known devices form part of the common general knowledge for the relevant art. The valve unit 10 has a housing 12 with a cold water inlet 14 from a cold 20 water supply, a cold water outlet 16 through an expansion relief valve 18, a hot water inlet 20 from a hot water supply, such as a gas or electric hot water system, and tempered 22 and un-tempered 24 hot water outlets. It will be appreciated that the tempered hot water outlet will supply water within a warm to hot range, and therefore tempered hot water is to be taken to encompass warm water. 25 Tempering the hot water within the device is controlled by the tempering valve 26 which mixes hot and cold water in proportion to arrive at a preselected water temperature or prevent the tempered hot water exceeding a maximum temperature i.e., to prevent scalding of users at shower, bath or tap outlets. The un-tempered hot water outlet 24 bypasses the tempering valve such 30 that the hot water flows into the unit at the hot water inlet and follows a hot water flow path 28 straight to the un-tempered hot water outlet. Figure 2 shows a side view of the unit, revealing the cold water outlet 16. In this arrangement, the cold water outlet is used to attach the valve unit to a 6 water heating system (not shown). This is achieved by having the expansion relief valve pass through the front 30 of the housing and through the rear. The expansion relief valve includes a collar 32 used to rotatably connect the valve unit to the heating system and at the same time create a flow path from the expansion 5 relief valve to the heating system. The expansion relief valve includes a manual release 34. Figure 3 shows a sectional view through A-A of Figure 2. This shows the internal components and flow paths within the embodiment of the valve unit. Water enters via the cold water inlet 14, and passes through double non-return 10 valves 42,44. The stop valve (stop tap) 38 can be rotated to close one or both of the non-return valves to shut off water entering the unit beyond that point. Cold water passes through the pressure limiting valve 46, and is then directed to the expansion relief valve and therefrom into the heating system via the cold water outlet at the rear of the unit. Some cold water can be directed via the flow path 15 47 to the tempering valve where it is mixed with incoming hot water for temperature control. Hot water entering the unit at the hot water inlet 20 is directed via the hot water flow path 48 to the hot water outlet 24 and to the tempering valve 26. Temperature controlled hot water exits via outlet 22 via tempered water flow path 50. 20 The valve unit can be considered a valve and flow path manifold, allowing the unit to be pre-fitted to the heating system before installation. Also, any one or more of the valves in the unit can be of the cartridge type for easy maintenance of the unit or changing specifications of a particular valve simply by upgrading or changing a cartridge. The unit avoids the need for costly and time consuming 25 plumbing in of individual valves and their associated multiple connections and lengths of piping from one to the other. All of the flow paths are provided within the unit. Only the cold supply inlet, hot inlet and hot outlet(s) connections are required, with the unit installed on the heating system.

Claims

1. A valve unit for a water supply system, the unit including a water inlet, a water outlet, and a valve body housing a stop valve and a non-return valve, the unit providing a water flow path through the stop valve and non-return valve 5 between the inlet and outlet.

2. The valve unit according to claim 1, wherein the stop valve non-return valve include cartridge type insert valve bodes.

3. The unit according to any one of the preceding claims, the unit arranged to be mounted directly or indirectly to a hot water storage tank or housing. 10

4. The unit according to any one of the preceding claims, further including one or more of a pressure limiting valve PLV, temperature limiting valve (tempering valve), expansion relief valve and/or one or more additional non-return valves.

5. The valve unit according to claim 4, wherein all of the valves are within the 15 same housing.

6. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, including a hot water inlet and a tempered and/or un-tempered hot water outlet.

7. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, including a cold water inlet, a cold water outlet to a water heating system, a hot water inlet to 20 receive hot water from the water heating system, and at least one of a tempered hot water outlet and un-tempered hot water outlet.

8. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, including a flow path providing fluid communication for water through one or more of a strainer, a drain valve, the stop valve (stop tap), a pressure limiting valve (PLV) 25 and/or one or more non-return valves, between the cold water inlet supply and the cold water outlet feeding the heating system. 8

9. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, including a flow path providing fluid communication between a hot water inlet and a tempered and/or untempered hot water outlet.

10. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the 5 stop valve includes means to close one or more non-return valves such that water is prevented from flowing either way through the non-return valve.

11. The valve unit according to claim 11, wherein the stop valve is manually operated by a control means exterior to the housing.

12. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the 10 cold water outlet provides a flow path to an inlet of a heating system and which is utilised to mount the unit to the heating system either directly or indirectly.

13. The valve unit according to claim 12, wherein the outlet connection is provided by part of an expansion relief valve such that expansion control is conducted as the cold water feed to the heating system leaves the unit. 15

14. The valve unit according to any one of the preceding claims, including a pressure limiting valve, wherein the pressure limiting valve incorporates the non return valve.

15. The valve unit according to any one of claims 1 to 13, including a pressure limiting valve, wherein the pressure limiting valve incorporates the stop valve. 20

16. The valve unit according to claim 15, wherein the combined pressure limiting valve and stop valves further includes the non-return valve. 9

17. A valve unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. PETER JOHN MORRIS 5 WATERMARK PATENT & TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS P299 1 1AUO0