MXPA97007580A - Combined set of pressure regulator and valve to control the combustible gas flow to various burned - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a combination of manual shut-off valve, pressure regulator and several electrically operated burner control valves for gas cooking appliances. The regulator body is received in a sealed housing bushing with a cover plate that seals the diaphragm of the regulator in the valve cavity in the regulator body. The electrically heated bimetal valve operators are attached to the lower surface of the cover to control the flow to separate outlet gates in the deck a third outlet in the cover has no valve. The inlet outlet is formed in the housing bushing and is connected to a passage in the regulating block that feeds the manual closing valve, which has an actuator that extends outwardly of the cover. The shut-off valve feeds a transfer passage that is connected to the regulator pipette seat to supply the regulator chamber having a diaphragm that responds to the pressure. The regulator chamber is open at the end of the bushing to supply the valve outlet flaps

Description

COMBINED SET OF PRESSURE REGULATOR AND VALVE TO CONTROL THE COMBUSTIBLE GAS FLOW A VARIOUS OUI BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to controlling the flow of fuel gas to a plurality of burners, and particularly to fuel gas burners used for kitchen appliances. The present invention relates to controlling the flow of combustible gas to grate burners and furnace burners used in domestic kitchen appliances. So far, in the design and manufacture of domestic kitchen appliances, such as stoves and grills, the practice has been to provide a gas pressure regulator in the gas line connection to the household appliance with a manual upstream shut-off valve. for redundancy. In a typical domestic stove or grill, individual electrically operated valves have been employed to control the flow of gas to each of the burners along with an ignitor to ignite the fuel / air mixture emanating from the burner. However, the complexity of the fuel line arrangement and the number of line connections required to install the shut-off valve, the regulator and the individual valves for the burners in the household appliance have proven to be cumbersome and quite expensive to produce. high volumes of household appliances in the competitive market of such appliances. In this way, it has been desired to find a way or means of simplifying the tubing or conduit connections between the various valves and the burners and reducing the cost of installing burners in a kitchen appliance. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a single unitary controller that includes the functions of the manual shut-off valve, the pressure regulator and the electrically operated control valves to control the flow of combustible gas from one source to several. outputs adapted for connection to individual fuel gas burners. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a single fuel gas controller that combines the functions of the manual shut-off valve, the pressure regulator and the individual valves for the "burners, electrically operated, and that is simple, easy construction. to assemble during manufacturing and at minimum cost. The present invention provides a unitary controller including a pressure regulator, a manual shut-off valve and several electrically operated control valves to control the flow of combustible gas from an inlet adapted for connection to a fuel gas source and several individually adapted outputs. for connection to separate fuel gas burners. The controller of the present invention has a housing bushing with an inlet adapted for connection to a fuel gas source with a regulator body received in the bushing and having a sealed passage over the bushing inlet with a manual shut-off valve disposed in the passage, which communicates with a valve chamber to which the flow is controlled by a regulating pipette connected to a diaphragm that responds to the pressure to regulate the flow of fuel to the valve chamber. The valve chamber and the pressure-responsive member are sealed by the housing cap; and the valve chamber has an outlet communicating with the interior of the housing bushing. Several electrically operated valve actuators are attached to the bottom surface of the cover plate and are operative, each, when electrical energization occurs to move a pipette relative to an individual output gate of the controller to allow the flow of combustible gas to the one burner selected. The present invention thus provides a single controller that combines the functions of a manual shut-off valve, a pressure regulator and a plurality of individual, electrically operated burner control valves, in an arrangement that is simple in construction, easy to operate, and easy to operate. assemble and low cost of manufacturing.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of the controller of the present invention; Figure 2 is an axonometric view of the assembled controller of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the section indicator line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the section indicator line 4-4 of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the section line 5-5 of Figure 1; and Figure 6 is an exploded view of the controller of Figure 1.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 6, the controller assembly indicated generally at 10 has a housing bushing 12 which is covered by a cover plate 14, which is sealed by a resilient gasket or resilient seal 16 received in a flange with cup 18 formed around the periphery of the bushing 12; and the cover 14 is retained by bending the edges of the flange 18 as shown in dotted profile in Figures 3, 4 and 5. An inlet gate 20 is formed in the side wall of the bushing 12; and a suitable inlet fitting 22 is attached to its exterior by any suitable means, such as welding or strong welding, and may have internal threads 24 for connection to a fuel gas supply conduit (not shown). A pressure regulating body 26 is received inside the bushing 12 and has an inlet 28 there formed, which has an annular resilient seal 31 disposed over the inlet to seal it around the damper 20 on the inner surface of the wall of the cap 12. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the inlet 28 communicates with a first valve chamber 30 formed in the body 26, which has an outlet gate 32 formed in its lower para, which communicates with a transfer ticket 34 formed in the lower part of the body 26. The transfer passage 34 communicates with a second damper or damper 38 formed in the lower part of a register valve chamber or regulator or cavity 40, which has a plurality of outlets. 42 communicating with the interior of the bushing 12. Referring to Figures 3, 4 and 5, a diaphragm responsive to the pressure 44 is arranged to close the cavity 40 and form its upper wall. The diaphragm has a peripheral flange or shoulder 46 sealed around the flange or upper periphery 48 of the cavity 40 being compressed by the bottom surface of the cover plate 14. Attached to the upper surface of the diaphragm 44 is a backing plate 50 to which it unites centrally and seals through the diaphragm a valve operator stem 52 that extends downwardly through the regulating valve gate 38 to the transfer passage 34 and has a resilient pipette 54 attached to its lower end. upstream of the diaphragm 44 in a sufficient amount, the pipette 54 is operable to seat on the flange of the gate 38 and block the flow of the transfer passage 34 to the cavity 40. A pre-load spring 129 has a lower end recorded against the backing plate 50 with its upper end registered against the cover 14. A conversion spring 56 has a lower end recorded against the plac a backing 50. The threaded fitting 58, as shown in Figure 5, is covered with a protective cover 59. In operation, the plug 58 is adjusted to provide the desired compressed length of the spring 129 which provides a pre-load that is set enough to move the diaphragm downward to cause it to disengage the pipette 54 at a desired pressure in the cavity 40. Subsequently, variations in pressure and chamber 40 will cause the diaphragm to either reduce the opening between the pipette 54 and the gate 38 with the increase in pressure, or with pressure reduction, allow the diaphragm to fall under the action of the spring 129. The maximum opening of the pipette 54 with respect to the gate 38 is limited by stops 62 provided in the chamber 40 against which it registers the lower surface of the diaphragm when the pressure in the chamber 40 falls below a predetermined minimum. Referring to Figure 5, pipette 64 of the manual shut-off valve is attached to the end of an operation rod 66, which extends upwards through an opening in cover 14 and has its upper end pivotally connected to a lifting-type tongue actuator 68 by means of a pin 70. In operation, when the actuator 68 is raised to the position shown in dotted profile in Figure 2, the pipette 64 is raised in contact with the flange of the gate 32 and the valve It is in the open position. When the actuator is pivoted to the position shown in solid profile in Figure 2, the pipette 64 is lowered to seat against the flange of the gate 32 and the shut-off valve is in the closed or off position shown in Figure 5. reference to figures 1, 2 and 6, the cover plate 14 has at least two and preferably three spaced outlet gates 72, 74, 76 formed therein, attached to each of them with an output fitting denoted respectively 78, 80, 82, which is secured by any suitable means such as welding or welding. In presently preferred practice, the outlet fitting 78 is adapted for connection to a conduit that supplies one or more top burners such as a manifold of top burners. The outlet 80 is preferably connected to an oven roasting burner; while the outlet 82 is adapted for connection to a duct supplying an oven bake burner. Referring to Figure 6, a portion of the diaphragm rim 46 extends outwardly, as denoted by the reference number 47, and is configured to seal over the top of the body cap 30 under the pressure of the bottom surface of the cover plate 14. Referring to Figures 3 and 6, a pair of electrically operated valve actuators, generally indicated at 84, 86, are disposed on the bottom surface of the cover plate 14 to provide a valve function of the outlet gates 74, 76. The valve actuators 84, 86 include a mounting block, respectively 88, 90, which in presently preferred practice is formed of insulating material, such as a ceramic material. The blocks 88, 90 are joined to the cover 14 by conductive rivets such as those typically denoted by the reference numeral 92, which pass through appropriately arranged apertures, respectively 94, 96 and 98, 100, formed on the plate. of cover 1. The rivets extend upwards through insulating pads respectively 102, 104 provided on the outside of the cover plate 14 and through electrical connector terminals 106, 108 and 110, 112 located on the pads 102, 104. It will be understood that each one of the rivets is riveted on one of the connector terminals 106, 108, 110, 112, to retain the assembly of the block, pads and terminals on the cover plate 14. Each of the blocks 88, 90 has attached thereto a bimetal arm respectively 114, 116, around which is wrapped a wire heating coil 118, 120 having its ends connected respectively to one of the rivets 92 by mounting the blocks on the cover plate. In this manner, the coil 118 has its ends electrically connected in a respective manner to the terminals 106, 108 and the coil 120 has its ends connected to the terminals 110, 112. Each of the bimetal arms 114, 116 has a mounted extension at their respective denoted end 122, 124, which extensions may also be of bimetal construction and arranged oppositely with respect to arms 114, 116 for compensation at room temperature in a manner well known in the art. Each of the extensions 122, 124 has a resilient elastomeric pipette attached to the free end thereof, denoted respectively by the reference numerals 126, 128. It will be understood that the valve actuators 84, 86 are disposed so that the pipette 126 closing against the bottom surface of the gate 74 in the cover; and the pipette 128 closes against the lower surface of the gate 76 in the cover plate. In the de-energized state, ie without current flowing through the coils 118, 120, the pipettes 126, 128 are biased to a closed position against their respective output gates. Upon energion of any of the coils 118, 120, the corresponding pipette is moved away from the outlet gate and allowing flow through one of the gates 74, 76. It will be understood that the exit gate 72 on the gate plate the cover is continuously opened with respect to the inside of the cap 12; and the opening of the pipette 64 of the manual shut-off valve results in the flow of fuel gas through the gate 72. Typically, the gate 72 is adapted to be connected to a manifold for top burners, each of which has its own shut-off valve. The present invention thus provides a unique and novel combination of manual shut-off valve pressure regulator and several electrically operated valves to control the flow to selected fuel gas burners. The present invention provides a simplified construction for the controller in combination, where the pressure regulator is partially formed by the cover plate; and the valve outputs and operators are connected to the cover plate as a subset, simplifying manufacturing and thus providing minimal cost. Although the present invention has been described in the foregoing with respect to the illustrated embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is capable of modification and variation and is limited only by the following claims.

Claims (13)

1. A controller for flow of fuel gas to multiple burners, comprising: (a) a housing structure including a hollow bushing and a cover that closes said gap and attached thereto in fluid pressure seal attachment; (b) a fuel gas inlet gate formed in one of said bushing and said cover; (c) a pressure regulating body disposed in said recess and having a valve cavity therein formed and a passage communicating said cavity with said inlet gate and an outlet communicating with the recess of said bushing; (d) a manually operated valve, disposed in said passage and operable, upon occurrence of actuation by the user, to block the flow from said inlet to said cavity, said valve having an externally extending actuator of said housing means; (e) first and second gas outlet gates formed in said housing means; (f) a pressure responsive member, disposed in said regulating body cavity and operable in response to changes in pressure in said valve cavity to move a regulating valve member to control flow through said outlet gate. from body to said recess of said bushing, said pressure regulator including means that polarize said member that responds to pressure in one direction; (g) first and second burner supply outlet flaps, formed in said housing means; and (h) an electrically operated valve member disposed adjacent to each of said first and second outlet gates and operable, upon energization and electrical de-energization, to individually open and close said exit gates.

2. The controller defined in claim 1, wherein said cover effects a sealed closure for said regulating body cavity.

The controller defined in claim 1, wherein said pressure responsive member includes a diaphragm with a backing plate; and said polarization means includes a spring having a reaction end registered against said cover and the opposite reaction end registered against said backing plate.

The controller defined in claim 1, wherein said input gate is formed in said bushing and said first and second outputs are formed in said cover.

The controller defined in claim 1, wherein said electrically operated valve member includes an elastomeric pipette mounted on a bimetal arm.

6. The controller defined in claim 1, wherein said manually operated valve and said electrically operated valve members are mounted on said cover as a sub-assembly.

7. An assembly for controlling the flow of fuel gas to multiple burners, comprising: (a) a housing bushing having a cavity there open and a cover sealed thereon, said cavity closing; (b) a fuel gas inlet gate formed in said bushing; (c) a regulating body having an inlet passage communicating like a valve chamber therein formed, said body disposed in said socket cavity and having its inlet passage communicating with said bushing inlet gate, said valve chamber including an outlet gate communicating with said cap cavity and member responsive to the pressure operatively connected to move a movable valve member with respect to said outlet gate to control the flow of fuel through said chamber outlet part , wherein said cover means are operative to seal said member that responds to the pressure around said valve chamber; (d) spaced first and second fuel gas outlet gates formed in said cover; (e) electrically operated valve means, first and second, arranged in said cavity of cas <and which are operable when individual electrical energization occurs to control the flow respectively in said first and second outlet gates.

The assembly defined in claim 7, further comprising a manual shut-off valve disposed in said regulator body passage, said shut-off valve having a movable actuator extending externally through said cover.

The assembly defined in claim 7, further comprising a manually actuated shut-off valve, disposed in said regulator body passage with an actuator member extending through said cover; and wherein said first and second electrically operated valves are mounted on the underside of said cover.

The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein said pressure responsive member comprises a flexible diaphragm sealed around its periphery in said regulating body valve chamber by said cover.

The assembly defined in claim 7, further comprising means biasing said member that responds to the pressure in a direction to effect the opening of said regulating valve member with respect to said regulating body outlet gate.

12. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein said means responsive to pressure comprises a flexible diaphragm; and portions of said diaphragm provide a seal between said regulating body inlet passage and said cover. The assembly defined in claim 7, wherein said first and second electrically operated valve means are mounted within said cover with electrical connector terminals therefor extending externally of said cover for electrical connection external thereto.