IL80096A - Fluid flow control device including multiple valve units - Google Patents

Description

FLUID FLOW CONTROL DEVICE INCLUDING MULTIPLE VALVE UNITS pinokv im»n> ba » Wian o>" >_i bio nant niom i n .

FLUID FLOW CONTROL DEVICE INCLUDING MULTIPLE VALVE UNITS The present invention relates to fluid control valves, and more particularly to hydraulically controlled valves* Still more specifically the invention concerns an improved mode of. installation- and application of valves assembled in and. operating as. a group withi a common,, integral, housing, all as will, become evident from, the detailed description . hereinbelow..

While the device according to the present invention .nay be ' operated using most any type of known valves, it is most advantageous to employ — and the invention will be exemplified, with specific reference to — valves as disclosed in our co-pending Israel Patent NO* 7.5895 filed Jul 24, 1985., In the art of fluid flow control - in particular with regard to water irrigation: installations - there arises the need for larger diameter control valves, sa of 4" or more.

Valves of such sizes are rather expensive, since even under normal network pressures, the forces that the valve parts and components must withstand are great, sometimes beyond the mechanical strength of synthetic materials such as plastic, from which they are usually made.

Furthermore, from the reliability point of view, if a failure occurs in a single, large-size valve and it becomes inoperative - the entire line is put out of service.

These considerations have led to the approach, lying at the base of the present invention, to substitute singular large-3ize valves by a combination or a battery of small-size valves that v;ill yield a less expensive article of manufacture and of a more reliable operation, and - not less important - will achieve a series of further goals, as follows.

It sometimes happens that a single, main line is feeding a number of consumers, say different plots of the same piece of land. In such cases, it is customary to provide the main line with a common manifold and tap-off a number of branches leading to the different plots, each with its individual control valve.

The multiple-valve unit proposed according to one aspect of the present invention will save the extra piping by serving the number of plots through a single branch via the proposed control device.

An even more striking example of the unique advantage of the invention is found in the field of irrigation filter installations. As known, filters with back-flow rinsing facilities must include at least one forward-flow feeding control valve, and one reverse-flow, flushing valve.

Thus the multiple-valve device according to another aspect of the invention provides a most convenient, effective and inexpensive solution where the individual valves of the device are installed in combinations of forward- and backward-oriented operative directions, as will become clear in the light of the following description.

Hence, according to a broad aspect to the invention there is provided a fluid flow control device comprising a housing, an inlet at one side of the housing and an outlet at its other side, and externally-controlled valve means installed within the housing for controlling the flow of the fluid therethrough, characterised in that the interior of the housing is divided into at least. two compartments, each having an inlet port and an externally-controlled valve within the compartment for controlling the passage of fluid through the respective inlet port, at least one of the said valves being adapted to control the fluid flow through the housing in the direction from the inlet to the outlet thereof ("the forward flow regulating valve").

The other of the valve(s) may be adapted to control fluid flow through the housing from the outlet to the inlet thereof ("the reverse flow regulating valve"), the housing inlet being divided into an inlet section communicating with the forward flow regulating valve compartment(s), and an outlet section communicating with the the reverse flow regulating valve, all the compartments communicating with the said housing outlet.

Alternatively, the housing outlet may be divided into an outlet section communicating with the forward flow regulating valve compartment, and an inlet section communicating with the reverse flow regulating valve.

Further details of construction and advantages of the invention v/ill become more clearly-understood in light of the description below of a few preferred embodiments of the invention, given by wa of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings^ whereinr- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-section of the flow-control device comprising four valve units, in the closed position; Fig. 2 is a view taken along line II—II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 1 with the valve units in an open position; Fig. 4 shows the device of Fig. 1 with one of the valve units in a closed position and one in an open position; Fig. 5 is a view taken along line V--V of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the control device with one valve unit operating in the forward flow-direction and one in a reverse flow-direction Fig. 7 is a section along line VII—VII of Fig. 6; Fig. 3 is a section along line VII— II of Fig. 5; Fig. 9 illustrates the use of the control device of Figs. 6-8 in the operation of a double-sided water irrigation di3C filter; Fig.. 10 is a cross-section similar to Fig. 6,- but with a common undivided outlet; Fig. 11 is a view taken along line XI— I of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a section taken along line XII— I of Fig. 10; and Fig. 13 illustrates the use of the device of Figs. 10-12 in. the operation of a battery of irrigation disc filters.

Generally, device 10 of. Fig. 1 includes three major compartments , namely inlet poet flange generally denoted 12, outlet port flange 14, and valves casing 16 fitting between the two flanges and forming together the complete, self-contained valves housing structure.

In further detail, flange 12 comprises an inlet 18 with a rim 20 for directly installing the device to a fluid pipeline (not shown).

The outlet flange 1 comprises an outlet opening 22, connectabla by rim 23 to the installation downstream of the device (not shown).

The casing 16 is provided with a passageway 24 for introducing pressurized fluid control commands from a hydraulic control device (not shown) into the respective one of valves V1 , V2, V3 and \. A drain passage 26 is provided as shown. The casing 1 S3 further includes - integrally moulded therewith - a partition assembliry which will be described in greater detail below. cs£ Valve V1 (which applies also to valves V2 - V4 ) is the same as ¾£ the in-line valve disclosed in our co-pending patent application as above-mentioned, and therefore identical reference numerals have been used;its main components, are as follows: Valve member 40; a first, slidable piston member 42; a first, fixed cylinder 44 f. which is integrally moulded with the casing 16 a second, slidable piston 46; and a second, fixed cylinder 48 - all being in axial alignment with respect to each other along the flow, direction between the inlet 18 and the outlet 22.

Clamped between the inlet section 12 and the casing 16 is a circular valve seat plate 28 with - in thi3 case - four openings 30Ar 30B, 30C and 30D one for each of valves VT-V4, respectively.. The plate 28 fits into a circular cavity or depression 32 formed in the inlet flange 12.

Valve member 40 is generall cup-shaped having a streamlined, bullet-like end surface 50 facing the incoming fluid flow through the inlet 18. The plate 28 is provided with a valve seat surface 52, configured to fit against a valve ring or gasket 54 of the valve 40, as shown.

Cylindrical wall portion 56 of the valve 40 extends backwards in the downstream direction, defining a hollow space 53 thereinside. Inner surface 60 is slidably guided around an outer portion 62 of the fixed cylinder 44, with a suitable seal in the form of 0-ring 64.

Valve V1 further comprises a central projection 66 defining an abutment surface 63, and an inner hollow space 70.

It is thus noted that valve member 40 is reciprocable between a closed position shown in Fig. 1 and the open position of Fig. 3.

Fixed cylinder mem er 44 defines thereinside a first cylinder portion 72, a second cylinder portion 74, and a cylindrical guide surface 75 with seal 73.

Reciprocabie within the cylinder 44 is the said first piston 42 which includes a first. iston or plunger portion 30 with seal or gasJet 82 co-operating with surface 72 of the cylinder 44; and a 3econd pi3ton portion 8 in sealed sliding contact with the 3aid surface 74 of the cylinder 44, provided with seal 86.

An extended projected portion 88 of the piston 42 reaches through the bore 76 up to an abutment contact with surface 68 of the valve 40..

The piston 42 is hollow, naaely it comprises a space 90 extended by bore 9 which becomes aligned with the bore 70 of the valve member 40.

A coil spring 93 is placed in the hollows of the pistons 42 and 46» It will be thus noted that piston 42 is of the differential type, having three gradually-decreasing cross-sectional active areas defined by the surfaces 72, 74, and 76 of the cylinder 44.

The downstream end portion of the cylinder 44 constitutes a mounting for the second, fixed cylinder 48 with associated piston 46. The piston 46 is bullet-shaped pointed in the downstream direction and comprises a piston surface 94 co-operating with surface 96 of the cylinder 48 intermediate gasket 98. The piston 46 is hollow and provided with a flanged shoulder 100, preferably of a slotted structure as described in detail in our above-mentioned patent "7S"S^5" specification.

As further described in our said patent Tp^Ti f ^nf1 nn. the valve i3 adapted to assume three modes of operation, namely as a check-valve, as a positively shuttable valve (by a pressure command admitted through control passage 24), and as a safety device against water-hammer effect, in the event of sudden pressure-drops upstream of the line. These details of operation need not be repeated in the context of the present invention and are hereby incorporated by reference.

For completing the structure of the device 10 into an integral, operable device, it is to be noted that the casing 16 is in fact a cylindrical body, except for the inwardly-directed cylinders 44, constituting the housings of the individual valves VI -V4, which are integrally moulded and carried by the inner surface of the cylindrical casing 16, The inlet flange 20 and the outlet flange 14 are fastened to each other at the opposite sides of the casing 16 by tie rods 102 extending around the casing 16, each rod having a screw thread at its ends whereby the flanges 20 and 14 are clamped to each other by nuts 103· As already mentioned, the casing 16 is divided into a number of compartments, one for each valve unit incorporated in the device i.e. four in the present embodiment. This division is attained by providing a unified a partition member 104 as best seen in Fig.2, conveniently — though not necessarity — formed as an integral part of the casing 16 (and the cylinders 44) · The member 104 and the top of the casing 16 are properly sealed against the plate 28 by rubber seal 106 received in slot 108.

It will be noted that the bottom side of the member 104 and casing 16 may be provided with a slot 110 corresponding and opposite to the slot 108 of the seal 106, however no gasket is needed to be placed in the slot 110 since, in the present configuration no counterpart is installed at this, outlet side of the device It will be further noted that the flange 14 is provided at its upper side with a circular cavity 112 similar and symmetrically opposite to the cavity 32 that holds the plate -0 Fig. 1 thus illustrates a first operable position of the flow control device 10, wherein the valves V1 and V3 — as v/ell as valves V2 and V4, which are not shown in Fig. 1 are closed by their respective valve members 40, such position being attained by admitting a suitable pressure command into the fixed cylinder 44 via the control port 24 of each one of the valves.

The other obvious modes of operation are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, namel that all the valves perform as check valves — or forward flow regulating valves — namely, remain open as long as incoming fluid pressure is maintained above an amount which can be set by the force of the coil-springs 93, and a hybrid position where one or more of the valves are positively closed, and one or more of the other valves are open, as shown in Fig. 4.

In the last-mentioned configuration of Fig. 4, and according to a further aspect of the invention, the outlet flange 14 is substituted by a modified outlet fitting designated 414 which, as more clearly seen in Fig. 5, comprises individual outlet openings 422A, 422B, 422C, and 422D, for the valves VI -V4, respectively. The outlets 422 may be provided with screv threads for connecting thereto four individual consumers or, say, pipes leading to four different plots for satisfying the situations as above-described in the preamble of this specification, namely, rather than providing a manifold with four individual valves from every consumer.

It is for this reason that slot 110 was prepared in the 4-partition member 104, namely to enable sealing by a seal 412 against the upper flat surface of the flange 414.

A still further aspect of the invention will now be discussed in conjunction with Figs. 6-9. Hence, this embodiment i3 characterised in that some of the participating valves are mounted in an upside-down position, i.e. performing as reverse flow control valves from the outlet to the inlet sides of the device. In the described embodiment in which two forward (V2 and V3) and two reverse (V1 and V4) flow controlling valves are comprised (for. a purpose to be described in: con unction, with Fig. 9), the inlet flange 612 and the outlet section 61 have to be modified in the following manner: The plate marked 28 in the preceding embodiment is substituted by a kidney-shaped plate 623, having two openings 63OB and 630C, as shown, in Fig. 7» The plate 628 is supported along its circular portion by the cavity 632 which served, in the preceding embodiments, to hold the said plate 28.

The inlets flange 612 is further divided by a partition 601 so that a common inlet 618 is formed for the valves V2 and V3 and a common outlet 603 extended by a drain-pipe section 605 for the valves V4 and VI', all integrally-formed in one plastic-moulded unified body.

At the outlet side of the device 6 0, namely the flange 614, the following changes are made,, as better seen, in Fig. 8. An insert member 607 is placed between the flange 614 and the casing 16, fitting into the cavity 12. It compries two triangular openings 609, 61 in direct extension of the valves V3 and V4 compartments. At it3 other half, inlet ports 63OA and 630B are made for the govoroo flaw valves V1 and V2. A central, diametrically-extending rib 611 divides the outlet of the flange 614 into halves marked 5223-C and 622A-0. A seal 613 is provided all along the bottom and opposite sides of the rib 611.

Now this particular configuration becomes most useful in the situation schematically 3hown in Fig. 9, namely where the device 610 is coupled and adapted to feed a pair of oppositely arranged disc filters of any known design, advantageously of the type disclosed in our co-pending Patent Applications Nos. 74908 and 76570.

As known, the filters, narked F1 and ?2, need to be rinsed from time to time by back flush flow, namely from their inner surface in the outward direction, as marked by arrows with respect to the filter P2.

As described above, valves V2 and V3 are forward flow-control valves, whereas valves V1 and V4 are reverse flow-control valves. Hence, during normal operation of the filters F1 and F2, supply water to be filtered is admitted from main pipe 615 through valves V2 and V3, while the other two valves V1 and V4 are kept closed. Water will be filtered through both valves in the normal way and discharged through outlet 617.

For effecting a rinsing, back-flow cycle for filter F2, valves V1 and V3 are closed by proper pressure commands. Under these conditions, supply water will still be fed to the fliter F1 , however not to filter F2, which will now be communicated to the drain outlet 605 via the now self-opened valve V4. Valve V1 remains closed. Part of the filtered water will now tend to flow in the reverse direction regarding filter F2 to rinse same, and drain through valve V4 and dralnport 603.

It will be noted that the partition 611 with seal 613 is mounted in a sealed manner on a partition 6 9 (also shown, in broken lines, in Fig. 6) which is provided at the opening of the double filter structure, separating both the inlet and the discharge of water from the inlet side of the filter system.

For rinsing the other filter F1 , the same procedure will be applied with respect to different valves, namely closing valves V2 and V4, and allowing the opening of valve V1 under the pressure of the rinsing water.

In the further embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 10-13, there is provided one valve in the reverse flow-controlling direction — namely valve V1 — while the three other valves V2-V4 are in the normal, forward flow-control direction. The inlet side of the device 710 is similar to that of Fig. 6, namely providing an outlet or drain-opening 705. However, for the three remaninig valves, a kidney-shaped plate 728 is provided with three openings 730B, 730C, and 730D.

At the bottom, outlet side an insert member 707 is included, similarly to the member 607 of the preceding embodiment, but comprising only one inlet port 730A for the reverse flow control valve V1 , and no outlet dividing rib. The device thus provides three forward flow-control paths and one reverse flow-control path, which arrangement is most useful in the operation of filter systems F1 , F2, and F3, connected in parallel between inlet header 711 and outlet header 713. The filters are shown to be of the double-sided type, however the arrangement is equally applicable to other types of filters.

During normal operation, namely filtering of water admitted through the header 711, valves V2, V3, and V4 are open and V1 is closed.

For back-flushing any one of the filters without disturbing the normal operation of the other filters, what is needed is only to close all the forward flow valves V2-V4 of the valve to be treated and allow the self-opening, check-valve function of the valve V1 to become effective. Consequently, a reverse flow will be developed in the respective filter, which will be drained through the valve V1 and outlet 705.

The same procedure will be effected with respect to any one of the filters which is to be periodically rinsed, the process being maintained with minimal disturbance to the overall filtering capacity of the system as a whole.

It has been thus established that a highly versatile flow control device is achieved, employing the basic construction of multiple valves integrally-mounted within a common housing. Especially in the four valve units version as above-described, it is most advantageous and lends itself to various uses that heretofore demanded a series of different control devices and valves to be incorporated in a complicated and costly manner, regarding operation, maintenance, and control.

It goes without saying that various other types of valve units, other than the one related to the in-line valves disclosed in our co-pending Patent Application, may be applied without altering in principle the use of the flow-control device. Hence, straightforward hydraulic or electric (solenoid) valves may be accommodated within a signal housing and controlled from outside in well-known manners.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many changes, modifications, and variations may be applied to the above-described preferred embodiments of the invention, without departing from its scope as defined in and by the appended claims.

Claims (11)

80096/2 -13- WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A fluid control device comprising a housing, first and second openings located at diametrically opposite sides of the housing and a plurality of externally-controlled valves, the interior of the housing being divided into at least two compartments, each compartment having an inlet port, at least one of the said externally-controlled valves being installed therein for controlling the passage of the fluid therethrough, characterized in that the said at least one of the said valves of one compartment is selectively adapted to control the fluid flow through the housing in a direction from the first opening to the second opening ("foreward flow" ) , and the said at least one of the said valves of the other compartment is selectively adapted to control the fluid flow through the housing in a direction from the second opening to the first opening ("reverse flow").

2. The device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the first housing opening is divided into first and second sections, the said first section communicating with the compartments containing the valves controlling the flow in the foreward direction, the said second section communicating with the compartments containing the valves controlling the flow in the reverse direction, and all compartments 80096/2 -14- communicating with the said second housing opening.

3. The device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the housing is comprised of an inlet plastic-moulded flange, an outlet plastic-moulded flange, and a cylindrical, plastic-moulded valve casing, tie rods being provided around the valve casing for connecting the inlet and outlet flanges to each other.

4. The device as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the inlet port(s) is provided in a plastic-moulded, at least partly circular plate, received in a circular depression formed in either of the flanges.

5. The device as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the inlet port(s) plate is kidney-shaped.

6. The device as claimed in Claim 4 wherein both of the flanges are provided with the said plate-receiving depressions .

7. The device as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the compartments are defined between a section of the valve casing wall and partitions extending in diametrically-crossing directions within the casing. 80096/2 -15-

8. The device as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the partitions are constituted by a member integrally- moulded within the casing.

9. The device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the valves are identical, each comprising, associated with their respective inlet ports, a freely reciprocable, generally cup-shaped valve member and complementary valve seat provided at the inlet port section for closing the valve against the incoming fluid flow; a first, freely-reciprocable differential piston member provided downstream of the valve member, and having first, second, and third piston portions of gradually decreasing cross-sections, the third portion being extended to project into the hollow of and to abut against an inner portion of the valve member ; a first fixed cylinder member having first, second, and third inner cylinder portions for slidably supporting the first piston member portions, respectively, and an outlet cylinder portion of valve member; a second freely-reciprocable piston member provided downstream of the first piston member and comprising and extended portion upstream thereof adapted to abut against the said first portion member; a second, fixed cylinder member slidably supporting 80096/2 -16- the second piston member; first passage means for introducing the actuating control pressure into the said first cylinder downstream of the first piston portion; and second passage means for relieving pressurized fluid from the first cylinder downstream of the second piston portion, the first fixed cylinder member being integrally moulded with the inside of the valve casing wall and the first and second passage means extend through the wall.

10. The device as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the said third cylinder and piston portions define an enclosed space serving an air-cushion when the first piston member is displaced in the upstream direction.

11. The device as claimed in Claim 10 with the forward flow and two reverse flow regulation valves, wherein the outlet flange is coupled to a double-side liquid filter device provided with reverse-flow, rinsing facilities, the arrangement being such that the two forward-flow regulating valves are connected to independentally control the flow through each part of the filter, and the two reverse-flow regulating valves are connected to independentally control the rinsing flow through each part of the filter device. 80096/2 -17- The device as claimed in Claim 1 with one reverse- flow regulating valve wherein the outlet flange is coupled to a double-side liquid filter device provided with reverse-flow rinsing facilities, the arrangement being such that the said reverse-flow regulating valve controls the reverse, rinsing flow through the filter device. The fluid flow control device substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the Applicants,