GB2244789A - A flow control valve - Google Patents

Abstract

A valve has a housing 1 provided with inlet and outlet pipes 3, 4. A valve closure member 8 mounted in the housing 1 is rotatable between an open position in which a bore 9 in the closure member 8 is aligned with the pipes 3, 4 and a closed position in which flow through the valve is prevented. The closure member 8 is axially displaceable when in the closed position so that a filler 10 or other element, for example a thermostat, pressure gauge or sensor, mounted in the bore 9 is projected downwardly from the housing for convenient inspection and replacement. Axial movement is only possible in the closed position (fig 2) when a handle 11 is aligned with a slot 6 in the housing 1. The valve may be motor driven. In a second embodiment (fig 4) the closure member comprises a sleeve into which a cartridge containing the element is mounted. <IMAGE>

Description

A VALVE The present invention concerns a valve for controlling the flow of a fluid through a passage. In particular the valve is adapted to enable an element, which normally intrudes into the passage, to be conveniently accessed for, for example, maintenance or inspection.

It is commonplace in fluid circuits to require elements such as, filters or, sensors of various types, to intrude into the flow of fluid. Such elements, particularly filters, require frequent inspection and maintenance. To this purpose the elements are commonly mounted in a housing and the housing mounted serially in a conduit within which the fluid flows. To gain access to the element it is necessary to shut off the flow of fluid and, separate the housing from the conduit or, to open an aperture in the housing. To shut off the flow of fluid it is commonplace to install a valve up-stream of the element housing. It will be appreciated that this kind of assembly is bulky and complex to install and access to the element is inconvenient.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a valve whereby an element which normally functions in a fluid flowing in a conduit can readily be accessed and which is of simple inexpensive construction capable of being conveniently installed and maintained in a fluid circuit by unskilled work.

According to the present invention there is provided a valve comprising; a housing, and a closure member displaceably mounted in the housing, the closure member including means to support an element in a passage for fluid flow through the valve and being displaceable in a first direction to prevent the flow of fluid, and in a second direction to project the element support means from the housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention the mounting of the closure member is adapted to constrain the displacement of the closure member between an open position, at which the passage is open and a closed position, at which the passage is closed, and between the closed position and a projected position, at which the element support means is projected. Hence the passage must be closed during projection of the element support means.

In a preferred form of the invention the closure member is rotatably mounted in the housing and provided with a bore which, when the closure member is rotated to the open position, communicates with inlet and outlet bores formed in the housing to provide the passage for fluid flow. The closure member may be rotated in the first direction to close the passage.

The element is supported in the bore within the closure member by means according to the nature of the element. The element may be any device which it is desired to introduce into fluid flowing through a conduit, for example a filter, or sensors such as temperature or pressure sensors. In the case where the element is a filter element this may be a shoulder on the outlet side of the bore. To project the support means from the housing, after closure of the passage, the closure member is projected in the axial direction until the bore projects from the outside of the housing.

In an alternative embodiment of the valve, the closure member may be provided by a cylindrical sleeve which is fitted displaceably into the mounting in the housing. A filter or other element is then received into the sleeve extending parallel to the axis. Opposing apertures formed in the sleeve are arranged to communicate with the inlet and outlet bores in the open position, and the filter element is interposed between the apertures.

Hence, the area of the filter can be increased, so that resistance to fluid flow of the filter may be reduced without increasing the size of the valve. Preferably elements for use in this embodiment are installed in the form of a cartridge slidably or otherwise secured into the sleeve.

The valve may be made in any suitable material including metals, plastics ceramics and combinations of them.

Embodiments of a valve constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which, Fig. 1 is a side sectional elevational view of the valve in the open condition; Fig. 2 is a side sectional elevational view of the valve in the closed condition with the closure member projected, Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the valve; and Fig 4 is a sectional side elevation of a second embodiment of the valve with a cartridge filter element.

The drawings show a valve comprising a housing 1 and a closure member 2.

The housing 1 consists of an inlet pipe 3, an outlet pipe 4 and a mounting 5 for the closure member. The mounting 5 being interposed between the inlet and outlet pipes 3,4. The inlet and outlet pipes 3, 4 are adapted to be sealingly secured to inlet and outlet conduits by conventional junctions.

The mounting 5 consists of a first elongate tubular, cylindrical guide 5a which defines a cylindrical guide bore extending at right angles, to the axis of the inlet and outlet pipes 3, 4 and is co-axial with an opposing tubular, cylindrical guide Sb. The mounting is formed with an L-shaped guide track 6 in the first cylindrical guide 5a. O-ring seals 7 are installed in the portions of the guide bore adjacent the pipe bores.

The closure member 2 consists of an elongate cylinder 8 which is fitted to fit slidably but closely into the guide bore, so that the ends of the cylinder 8 project, one each, from open ends of the first and second cylindrical guides 5a, 5b. The end of the cylinder 8 projecting from the guide 5b is formed with a cap 8a to prevent withdrawal of the end of the cylinder 8 into the guide bore. The O-ring seals engage the cylinder to prevent any leakage of fluid into the cylindrical guides 5a, 5b.

When the valve is set to an open condition the closure member is displaced to the position shown in Fig. 1 so that the cylinder member 8 extends between the pipe bores. In this condition a bore 9 formed in the cylinder 8 is aligned to communicate between the pipe bores and hence provide a communicating passage for the free flow of fluid through the valve.

A filter element 10 is received into the bore 9 and supported by a shoulder (not shown) formed in the bore 9 downstream of the element 10, so that fluid pressure normally urges the element 10 to abut the shoulder.

Preferably the diameter of the bore 9 is slightly greater than that of the pipe bores and the outside diameter of the filter element corresponds to the diameter of the bore 9.

Consequently back pressure of the fluid will not expel the filter element 10 from the bore 9.

In the event that it is desired to inspect the filter element, the closure member is first rotated through 900 so that the closure member shuts off the flow of fluid through the inlet and outlet pipes 3,4. In the case of the present example the rotation is achieved simply by manually displacing a handle 11 mounted to extend radially from one projecting end of the elongate cylinder 8 and which travels in the L-shaped guide track 6. When the closure member 2 has been rotated to shut off the fluid flow it can then be displaced in the axial direction, as shown in Figure 2, so that the end of the cylinder 8, including the bore 9 projects from the exterior of the housing 1. Hence the element 10 within the closure member 2 can be readily inspected and if necessary replaced.

The second embodiment of the valve, shown in figure 4, has a housing 1 which is similar in all respects to that in the first embodiment. However, the closure member 2a comprises a sleeve 8a, with a cylindrical outer surface which slidably engages in the guide bore in exactly the same way as the cylinder 8 in the first embodiment. Opposing circular apertures 9a and 9b are formed in the sleeve 8a and arranged to communicate with the inlet and outlet pipes 3 and 4, when the sleeve 8a is rotated to the open position. An element, which in this case is a filter element iota, is mounted in an enclosure 11 which has a shape configured to be closely received into the sleeve 8a. The enclosure 11 may be formed with ribs (not shown) which engage in complementary guide grooves (not shown) in the inner surface of the sleeve 8a, to ensure that the enclosure 11 is received into the sleeve 8a at an angular and axial disposition at which opposing apertures 12a, 12b, formed in the enclosure, communicate with the apertures 9a, 9b, respectively. The filter element 10a, is mounted within the enclosure 11 to form a barrier between the apertures 12a, and 12b.

This arrangement enables the provision of a very much larger filter element 10a than is possible with the simpler structure of the first embodiment.

The cartridge type element, described with reference to the second embodiment, may be secured by friction, by detents, the effect of seals between the enclosure surface and the sleeve or by caps mounted on the ends of the sleeve 8a.

Operation of the second embodiment of the valve is similar to that of the first except that the whole cartridge is withdrawn and replaced from the projected position as opposed to only the filter.

It will be appreciated that the valve according to the present invention can be made of a variety of materials, including plastics and metals and in a range of sizes according to the duties required. It is proposed that where large size valves are employed the simple handle operated system proposed in'the example may be replaced by a mechanically more advantageous system such as a screw threaded drive or by motor drives.

It will also be appreciated that although the present invention has been described incorporating a filter element, elements such as sensors, particularly thermostats or pressure gauges may benefit from installation by the valve of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. A valve comprising; a housing and a closure member displaceably mounted in the housing, the closure member including means to support an element in a passage for fluid flow through the valve and being displaceable in a first direction to prevent the flow of fluid, and in a second direction to project the element support means from the housing.

2. A valve according to claim 1 comprising a mounting for the closure member adapted to constrain the displacement of the closure member between an open position, at which the passage is open, and a closed position, at which the passage is closed and to further displace the closure member between the closed position and a projected position at which the element support means is projected.

3. A valve according to claim 2 wherein the first direction is a rotation about an axis of the closure member, and the second direction is along the axis of the closure member.

4. A valve according to one of claims 2 to 3 wherein the housing is adapted by a guide track means to constrain the motions of the closure member.

5. A valve according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the housing has an inlet and an outlet pipe and the closure member comprises an elongate cylinder having a passage therethrough with ports arranged to communicate with the inlet and outlet pipes only in the open condition.

6. A valve according to claim 5 wherein the passage comprises a chamber of cross section larger than that of the inlet and outlet pipe bores.

7. A valve according to claim 6 wherein an element comprising a filter of cross section similar to that of the chamber is mounted in the chamber.

8. A valve according to claim 7 wherein the element is provided in the form of a cartridge.

9. A valve according to one of claims 5 to 8 wherein fluid seals are provided in the guide bore to each side of the inlet and outlet pipe bores.

10. A valve according to any one of claims 1 to 9 comprising a motor arranged to displace the closure member.

11. A valve according to any one of claim 1 to 9 comprising a screw threaded drive to displace the closure member.

12. A valve as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.