US3098505A - Fluid pressure timer mechanism - Google Patents

Description

July 23, 1963 A. zAPPlA FLUID PRESSURE: TIMER MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 14. 1951 O m \\n,Mv It/ S af |1525 .l!! ..I| hw 1 @v Q w LR 1 .Q Nm, M f \QQ\ 0 lL .IJ 1L r1 |r lJ 1.. NN\\ \N\\ INVENTOR. ANTHONY ZAPPlA BY Il il lJwL ATTORNEY July 23, 1963 A. ZAPPlA FLUID PRESSURE TIMER MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 14, 1961 FIG. 6

INVENTOR. ANTHONY ZA PPIA /07 FIG. 9 /05 BY M 2- M ATTORNEY July 23, 1963 A. zAPPlA FLUID PRESSURE TIMER MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed sept. 14, 1961 Nar i.

INVENTOR.

ANTHONY ZAPPA www 2M,

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,098,505 FLUID PRESSURE TIMER MECHANISM Anthony Zappia, 3960 Southeastern Ave., Indianapolis, Ind. Filed Sept. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 138,050 13 Claims. (Cl. IS7-624.15)

The present invention relates to a fluid pressure timer mechanism, and is primarily concerned with the provision of a system whereby a plurality of fluid motors arranged for controlling the individual eiernents of a relatively cornplicated machine, may be controlled, with a wide range of independent adjustability, through mechanism which is of such character that the individual elements thereof may be readily and independently deactivated and may be removed, installed or replaced with a minimum of labor and with a minimum requirement for skill.

A `further object of the invention is to provide novel valve structure including a driven, rotatable plug arranged in a housing for cooperation with a plurality of ports to be controlled, said ports being arranged for independent positional adjustment relative to each other and to said plug.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a system of the character under consideration, a reservoir for Huid under pressure, said reservoir having wall means provided with ports so arranged that, when a valve housing of the character above described is properly mounted on said reservoir Wall means, the interior of said valve housing will be continuously open to the pressure huid Within the reservoir and other ports in the reservoir wall means will register with valve housing ports dominated by the rotating plug. A still further object of the invention is to provide, in such an assembly, conduit means connecting such other ports with still further ports formed in the reservoir wall means `whereby a device to be actuated in response to operation of said valve means may be operatively connected to the valve-dominated ports by merely mounting such device on said reservoir Wall means in proper registry with such further ports.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the ap pendcd claims is not violated.

FIG. l is a system diagram of an exemplary embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of a bank of valves arranged in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation, partly in section, taken substantially on the line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FTG. 4 is an exploded perspective, drawn to an enlarged scale, and illustrating an embodiment of the rotary, driven valve means which constitutes a feature of my invention;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section through said rotary valve means, in assembled condition, and showing such valve means mounted upon a wall of a reservoir which is fragmentarily illustrated;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 6 6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a similar section taken substantially on the line 7 7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a similar section taken substantially on the line 8 8 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is a horiozntal section taken substantially on the line 9 9 of FIG. 2 and drawn to an enlarged scale.

The timer mechanism of the present disclosure has been designed primarily for use in the control of the ma- 3,098,505 Patented July 23, 1963 ICC chine for forming glassware disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial Number 132,067, tiled August 17, 1961. That machine includes a plurality of double acting, oscillatory fluid motors 24, 49, 55, 63 and 112, a plurality of double acting, rcciprocatory fiuid motors 29, 32, 45, 51, 60, and 110 and a plurality of single acting, spring return, paired lluid motors 74 and 79, and 85 and 87. Purely for exemplary purposes, FIG. l of the drawings `forming a part of the present disclosure illustrates a source 10 of fluid pressure, a header 11 connecting said source with a plurality of reservoirs 12, 13 and 14 and the above-mentioned motors supply-connected to said reservoirs through a corresponding plurality of individual, driven, rotary valves 17 and a similar number of pressure actuated reciprocatory valves 18 respectively dominated by the valves 17. In FIG. l, the several motors are designated by the same reference numerals which identify them in the said copcnding application Serial Number 132,067.

All of the valves 17 are identical in construction, and all of the valves 18 are likewise identical. Therefore, only one valve 17 and one valve 18 will be described in detail. As is most clearly shown in FIG. 9, each valve 17 is suitably mounted on a wall 16 of a reservoir such as the reservoir 12 and each valve 18 is suitably mounted on a wall 1S of such a reservoir.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 4 through 8, it will be seen that each valve 17 comprises a block-like housing 19 formed with a straight-through bore 20 opening through the opposite major faces of said block. At each end, the bore 20 is countersunk as at 21. A first passage 22 opens from the interior of the bore 20 through the rear face 26 on the block 19 and a second passage 23, offset from the passage 22 in the direction of the axis of the bore 20, likewise opens from the interior of the bore 20 through the rear face 26 of said block. A third passage 25, located at a level between the levels of the passages 22 and 23, opens from the interior of the bore 20 through the oor 27 of an axially extending channel formed in the block face 26. Botes 28 and 30 extend through the block, opening through the rear face 26 and the front face 39 thereof, for the accommodation of screws 31 and 33 constituting means for mounting the block or housing 19 on the wall 16 of one of the reservoirs 12, 13 or 14.

A slide 34 having a manually-accessible nger piece 35 is movably mounted in the channel formed in the block face 26 and is proportioned and d-esigned to bear with a substantially tluiddight tit upon the floor 27 of said channel and against the wall 16 of the reservoir when the block 19 is so mounted. As shown, said strip 34 is proportioned and designed to be accommodated in the said channels of all of the valve assemblies 17 which are arranged in a common bank; and said slide is formed with a plurality of ports such as 36, 37 and 38 there4 through, the arrangement being such that, in one position of said slide, said slide ports will register with the passages 25 of the several valve assemblies and in another position of said slide, said passages 25 of the several valve assemblies will be closed by imperforate portions of said slide.

The front face 39 of each block or housing 19 is delined by a pair of ears 40 and 41 separated, at least adjacent the opposite major faces of the block, to dene cavities whose iloors 42 intersect the peripherics of the respective countersinks 21. Aligned bores 43 and 44 in said ears accommodate a spindle 47, and a further bore 46 through the ear 40 and an aligned bore (not shown) through the ear 41 similarly accommodate a spindle 48. A Worm 53 is carried upon, and xed to, the spindle 47 between the ears 40 and 41, and a worm 54 is similarly mounted upon the spindle 4S. Knurled knobs 50 and 52 are adapted to be mounted upon the projecting ends of the spindles 47 and 48, respectively, to facilitate manipulation of those spindles.

A first sleeve 56 is proportioned and designed for snug, rotatable reception in one end of the bore 20. Said sleeve is formed with a continuous, peripheral groove 57 in its external surface which, when the sleeve 56 is fully seated in the bore 20, is disposed at the level of the passage 22; and a port 58 leads from the floor of said groove 57 to the interior of said sleeve 56. Adjacent one end, the sleeve 56 is provided with a gear 59 which, when said sleeve is entered in the bore 20, seats upon the oor of `the countersink 21 with a portion of the gear projecting past the surface 42 into meshing engagement with the worm 53. The outer end of the sleeve is formed to provide a peripheral channel 61 for a purpose later to become apparent.

A second sleeve 62 is adapted to be similarly received in the opposite end of the bore 20. The sleeve 62 is Similarly provided with a continuous, peripheral groove 64 and with a port 65 opening from the oor of said groove to the interior of the sleeve. Adjacent its outer end, the sleeve 62 carries a gear 66 which is similarly received in the countersink at said opposite end of the bore and which extends into meshing engagement with the worm 54. The outer end of the sleeve 62 is formed to provide a peripheral channel 67 like the channel 61.

The sleeves are so proportioned and designed that, when they are fully seated in the bore 20, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5, the groove 64 registers with the passage 23 and the inner ends of the two sleeves are axially spaced apart at the level of the passage 25.

Snugly journalled within the two sleeves 56 and 62, and preferably projecting beyond the outer ends of said sleeves is a valve plug 68. Adjacent its opposite ends, said plug is formed with external, peripheral grooves 69 and 70 in which are received split rings 71 and 72 which, respectively, bear against the iloors of the channels 61 and 67 to retain the plug 68 against axial movement and, at the same time, to retain the sleeves 56 and 62 against axial withdrawal from the bore 20.

Midway between its ends, the plug 68 is formed with a continuous, peripheral groove 73 which, in the assemblied condition of the parts, is disposed at the level of the passage 25 and is in continuous open communication therewith by reason of the axial separation between the inner ends of the sleeves 56 and 62. At the level of the port 58 in the sleeve 56, said plug is formed with a minor peripheral groove 75 and a major peripheral groove 76 angularly separated from the groove 75. An axially-extending groove 77 communicates with the major groove 76 and opens through the upper end of the plug 68, whereby said major groove 76 is always in open communication with the atmosphere.

At the level of the port 65 in the sleeve 62, the plug 68 is formed with la minor peripheral groove 78 and a major peripheral groove 80 angularly separated from said groove 78. An axially extending groove 81 opens from the groove 80 through the lower end of the plug 68, whereby said major groove 80 is always in open communication with the atmosphere.

A port 82 opens from the floor of the groove 73, a port 83 opens from the oor of the groove 75 and a port 84 opens from the oor of the groove 78, said plug 68 being formed with a passage 86 joining the inner ends of the ports 82, 83 and 84.

At one end, the plug 68 is formed with an axiallyprojecting key 88 and at its opposite end, said plug is formed with a socket 89, the parts being so proportioned and designed that the key 88 of any plug 68 may be received in the socket 89 of an adjacent plug to provide a driving connection therebetween.

As is most clearly shown in FIG. 7, the reservoir wall 16 is formed with tapped bores 90 and 91 for the threaded reception of the inner ends of the screws 31 and 33, whereby the block 19 may be mounted on said reservoir wall with its face 26 in iluid tight engagement with said wall. Said wall 16 is formed with a pont 92 so located as to be in registry with the passage 25 when said block is so mounted, the slide 34 being interposed between said wall 16 and the channel oor 27 to control flow between the port 92 and the passage 25.

When the block is so mounted, its passage 22 registers with a further port 93 (FIG. 6) in said wall 16 and its passage 23 registers with a still further port 94 (FIG. 8) in said Wall. Of course, the wall 16 is formed with a set of ports, as above described, for each valve housing 19 to be mounted thereon.

Each valve 18 comprises a casing 95 (FIG. 9) formed with an inlet port 96 opening through a side wall thereof substantially midway between its ends. A delivery port 97 and a pressure port 99 open through the saine wall of the casing at points progressively spaced from said inlet port toward one end of the casing, and an exhaust port 98 opens through another wall of said casing at a point between the locations of the ports 97 and 99. Similarly, a delivery port 101 and a pressure port 103 open through the rst named Wall of the casing 95 at points propressively spaced from said inlet port through the opposite end of said casing, and an exhaust port 102 opens from another wall of said casing at a point between the locations of the ports 101 and 103. Mounting means 104 and 105, which may be similar to the means 31 and 33, are provided for securing the casing 95 to the reservoir wall 15 with the casing wall in which the ports 96, 97, 99, and 101 and 103 are formed having a fluid-tight lit with said reservoir wall.

Reciprocably mounted in the casing 95 is a piston 106 having axially-separated heads 107 and 108. In one extreme position of the piston 106, as illustrated in solid lines in FIG. 9, the head 107 seals the exhaust port 98 and is positioned between the pressure port 99 and the delivery port 97, while the head 108 is positioned between the inlet port 96 and the delivery port 101, thereby providing open communication between the exhaust port 102 and the pressure port 103 and delivery port 101. In the opposite extreme position of the piston 106, indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 9, the head 108 seals the exhaust port 102 and is positioned between the delivery port 101 and the pressure port 103, while the head 107 is positioned between the inlet port 96 and the delivery port 97, thus providing open communication between the exhaust port 98 and the pressure port 99 and delivery port 97.

Preferably, I provide plungcrs 109 and 111, reciprocably mounted in the opposite ends of the casing 9S, whereby the valve piston 106 may, if desired, be manually moved between its opposite extreme positions.

The reservoir wall 15 is provided with a port 114 which, when the casing 95 is mounted on said wall, registers with the casing inlet port 96. Said reservoir wall is further formed with ports 11S and 116 registering, respectively, with the delivery port 97 and the pressure port 99. Other ports 117 and 118 in the reservoir wall register, respectively, with the delivery port 101 and the pressure port 103 ofthe casing 95.

A conduit 119 has one end permanently mounted in the reservoir wall port 93, extends interiorly through the reservoir 12 and has its opposite end permanently mounted in the reservoir wall port 116. Thus, the conduit 119 operatively connects the passage 22 of the valve assembly 17 with the pressure port 99 of the valve assembly 18. A similar conduit 120 has one end permanently mounted in the reservoir wall port 94, extends interiorly through the reservoir and has its opposite end permanently mounted in the reservoir wal] port 118. Thus, the conduit 120 operatively connects the passage 23 of the valve assembly 17 with the pressure port 103 of the valve assembly 18.

A conduit 121 has one end permanently mounted in the reservoir wall port and a conduit 122 has one end permanently mounted in the reservoir wall port 117, said conduits 121 and 122 extending, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, through the reservoir 12, emerging from the opposite wall and extending to a point of use such as, for instance, one of the motors illustrated in FIG. 1.

Shaft means 124 which, in the machine of said cepending application Serial Number 132,067, may be continuously driven at a rate constantly proportional to the rate of operation of the feeder mechanism, extends past the several reservoirs 12, 13 and 14 and, adjacent each bank of valve assemblies, is journalied in a housing 125 and carries, therewithin, a worm or helical gear 126 operatively meshing with a gear 127 xed to a stub shaft 128 suitably supporte-d in bearings within the housing 125. One end of the stub shaft 128 is socketed, as at 129, to receive the key 83 of the adjacent valve plug 63, whereby all of the valve plugs of each bank of assemblies 17 are continuously driven at a constant rate.

Operation It will immediately be apparent that, when the groove 7S of any Valve plug 68 comes into registry with the port S of its associated sleeve 56, fluid under pressure will l'low from the reservoir through the port 92, the port 38, the passage 25, between the adjacent ends of the sleeves 56 and 62, through the groove 73 and port 82, the passage 86, the port 83, the groove 75, the port 53, the groove 57, the passage 22, the port 93, the conduit 119 and the port 99 to exert pressure upon the piston head 107 to shift the piston 106 to its dotted line position of FIG. 9. Only a short puii of fluid will thus be delivered to the casing 95, since the groove 75 is of relatively short peripheral length and will soon move out of registry with the port 58. Since the piston 106 is unrestrained, however, against leftward movement, that short pui will be sufcient to shift said piston to its leftward position.

Thus. the delivery conduit 121 is place din open communication with the exhaust port 98; and. at the same time, the exhaust port 102 is closed and the delivery conduit 122 is placed in open communication with the fluid Linder pressure in the reservoir 12 through the ports 114, 96, 101 and 117.

As the valve plug 68 continues to rotate, the groove 76 will come into registry with the port 58, thus providing a further exhaust path for the conduit 121 through the groove 77.

Whenever the groove 7S comes into regis-try with the port 65 in its sleeve 62, Huid will flow from the reservoir through port 92, port 38, passage 25, between the adiacent ends of the sleeves 56 and 62, through groove 73 and port 82, passage 86, port S4, groove 78, port 65, groove `64, passage 23, port 94, conduit 120, port 118 and pressure port 103 to `shift the piston 106 to its solid line position in FIG. 9. Thereby, conduit 122 is opened to exhaust port 102 and conduit 121 is opened for the flow of fluid under pressure from the reservoir 12 through ports 114 and 96 and ports 97 and 115. When groove 80 comes into registry with port 65, an exhaust path is provided through groove 81.

It will also be apparent that, by manipulation of knobs 50 and 52, the sleeves 56 and 62 may be turned relative to each other and to the plug 68, thus infinitely varying the timing of the system. Because of this adjustability of the sleeves, the plugs 68 of the several valve assemblies 17 may be identical in construction and yet each of the several motors may be timed independently. It will be clear that the adjustment of the two sleeves of each assembly 17 may be made during machine operation so that the desired adjustment in the timing of any motor may be accomplished without shutting down the machine.

It will also be seen that, because the several conduits 119, 120, 121 and 122 may be permanently installed with each reservoir, operative connection of any unit 17 or 18 into the system, or removal thereof from the system, may be accomplished without disturbinng any conduit coupling.

Instead, all that is necessary, if any unit 17 or 1S is to be replaced, is to dismount that unit from its position on the reservoir wall and replace it with a new unit, the whole operation being accomplished by manipulation of the mounting means 31 and 33 or 104 and 105.

Any set `of motors dominated through any selected bank of units 17 may be temporarily thrown out of operation merely by shifting the appropriate slide 34; and, if desired, of course each unit 17 could be provided with its individual slide corresponding to the slide 34, whereby a single motor might be individually thrown out of operation.

I claim as my invention:

l. in a device of the class described, a housing formed to provide a straight-through, cylindrical bore and further formed to provide a rst passage, a second passage and `a third passage disposed at spaced levels along the asis of said bore and opening from said bore to the exterior of said housing, a rst sleeve mounted in said bore for turning movement relative to said housing about the axis of said bore and extending from one end of said bore past the level of said rst passage but terminating short of the level of said third passage, said first sleeve having a peripheral groove in its external surface registering with said lirst passage and having a port opening from said groove to the interior of said sleeve, a second sleeve mounted in said bore for turning movement relative to said housing and to said rst sleeve about the axis of said bore and extending from the other end of said bore past the level of said second passage but terminating short of the level of said third passage, said second sleeve having a peripheral groove in its external surface registering with said second passage and having a port opening from said groove to the interior of said second sleeve, and a plug journalled in both of said sleeves for Yrotation relative thereto and to said housing upon the airis of Said bore, said plug being formed with a continuous peripheral groove at the level of said third passage, said plug further being formed with a first minor peripheral groove and with a first major peripheral groove anguilarly separated from said first minor groove, said major and minor grooves being disposed at the level of said first passage, said plug further being formed with a second minor peripheral groove and with a second major peripheral groove angularly separated from said second minor groove, said second major and minor grooves being disposed at the level 0f said second passage, one of said first grooves and one of said second grooves being continuously open to the atmosphere, said plug further being formed with duct means connecting the other of said first grooves and the 'other of said second grooves with said continuous peripheral groove, and both ends of said plug being accessible.

2. The device of claim l in which one of said plug is provided with axially-extending key means and the other end of said plug is provided with socket means.

3. The device of claim 1 in which one end of said plug is provided with axially-extending key means and the other end of said plug is provided with socket means designed to receive correspondingly-shaped key means on a duplicate plug.

4. The device of claim 1 including means supported from said housing and cooperatively engaging one of said sleeves, said last-named means having a portion accessible from outside said housing for manipulation to turn said engaged sleeve.

5. The device of claim l including an exteriorly-manipulable element for each sleeve, each such element operatively engaging its corresponding sleeve, and said elements being independently manipulable to adjust their respective sleeves rotationally relative to said housing and to each other.

6. The device of claim l in which each of said sleeves is provided with a series of teeth concentric with the axis of said housing bore, a manually-manipulable shaft journal mounted in said housing for each sleeve adjacent the teeth thereof, and gear means iixed to rotate with each shaft and meshing with the teeth of the corresponding sleeve.

7. In a device of the class described, a housing comprising a block formed with two opposite major faces, a front face, a rear face and two lateral faces, said block being formed with a straightthrough, cylindrical bore opening through said major faces and having an enlarged countersink adjacent each end, said block further being formed with a channel in its rear face extending between and opening through said major faces, said block further being formed with a first passage opening from said bore through said rear face, with a second passage opening from said bore through said rear face and with a third passage opening from said bore through said channel, said passages intersecting said bore at different levels along the axis of said bore and the level of said third passage being intermediate the levels of said first and second passages, a first sleeve having a concentric gear near one end, said sleeve being snugly received in one end of said bore for turning movement relative to said housing and extending from said bore end beyond the level of said first passage but terminating short of the level of said third passage, the gear of said first sleeve being seated in the countersink adjacent said one bore end, said first sleeve having a peripheral groove in its external surface at the level of said first passage and having a port opening from said groove to the interior of said sleeve, a second sleeve having a concentric gear near one end, said second sleeve being snugly received in the other end of said bore for turning movement relative to said housing and to said first sleeve and extending from said other bore end beyond the level of said second passage but terminating short of the level of said third passage, the gear of said second sleeve being seated in the countersink adjacent said other bore end, said second sleeve having a peripheral groove in its external surface at the level of said second passage and having a port opening from said groove to the interior of said second sleeve, a plug journalled in both of said sleeves for rotation relative thereto and to said housing upon the axis of said bore, said plug being formed with a continuous peripheral groove at the level of said third passage, said plug further being formed with a first minor peripheral groove and with a first major peripheral groove angularly separated from said first minor groove, said major and minor grooves being disposed at the level of said first passage, said plug further being formed with a second minor peripheral groove and with a second major peripheral groove angularly separated from said second minor groove, said second major and minor grooves being disposed at the level of said second passage, one of said first grooves and one of said second grooves being continuously operi to the atmosphere, said plug further being formed with duct means connecting the other of said first grooves and the other of said second grooves with said continuous peripheral groove, and both ends of said plug being accessible, a ported slide movably mounted in said channel to open and close said third passage, said blocli further being formed with two bores oppositely offset from said straight-through bore, substantially paralleling said side faces and opening through the front and rear faces of said block, mounting means penetrating said last-named boi'es, said block further being formed to provide pocket means opening through its front face and substantially tangentially intersecting said countersinks, said block further being formed with two transverse bores located, respectively, at the levels of said gears, substantially paralleling said front face, traversing said pocket means and opening through at least one of said lateral faces, a shaft journalled in each of said transverse bores, and a worm mounted on each of said shafts within said pocket means and meshing with the adjacent gear.

8. In combination, the device of claim 7, a fiuid pressure reservoir having a wall, said mounting means engaging said Wall to support said block with its rear face in fluid-tight association with said wall, said wall being formed with a port registering with said third passage and said slide being arranged in huid-tight association with said wall, said wall having a second port registering with said first passage and having a third port registering with said second passage, a double-acting, pressure-actuated valve comprising a casing and a valve member movably mounted in said casing, said casing being provided with an inlet port, a first pressure port, a second pressure port, a first exhaust port and a second exhaust port, and said casing further being provided with a first delivery port and a second delivery port, said casing first exhaust port and first delivery port being spaced in one direction from said casing inlet port and said casing first pressure port being more remotely spaced in the same direction from said `casing inlet port, said casing second exhaust port and second delivery port being spaced in the opposite direction from said casing inlet port and said casing second pressure port being more remotely spaced in said opposite direction from said casing inlet port, said valve member being movable in said casing between a position in which said casing inlet port is in communication with said casing first delivery port, said casing first pressure port and said casing first exhaust port are out of communication with all other casing ports and said casing second delivery port is in communication with said casing second exhaust port, and a position in which said casing inlet port is in communication with said casing second delivery port, said casing second pressure port and said casing second exhaust port are out of communication with all other casing ports and said casing first delivery port is in communication with said casing first exhaust port, means securing said casing to said reservoir wall with said casing inlet port and first and second pressure ports in fiuid-tight association therewith, said last-named wall being formed with a fourth port registering with said casing inlct port, with a fifth port registering with said casing first pressure port and with a sixth port registering with said casing second pressure port, a conduit connecting said second port with said fourth port, a conduit corinecting said third port with said fifth port and separate conduits connecting said casing delivery ports with external points of use.

9. In combination, a iiuid pressure reservoir having wall means provided with a first series of spaced ports, a plurality of valves equal in number to the ports of said first series, each valve comprising a housing having ari inlet port and two outlet ports and a rotary valve plug seated in said housing and arranged to control communication between said inlet port and said outlet ports, means mounting each valve housing on said wall means with its inlet port registering with one of the ports of said first series, means operatively connecting the plugs of all of said valves to rotate together, said wall means being provided with a second series of spaced ports equal in number to the ports of said first series, a plurality of double-acting, pressure-actuated valves equal in number to the ports of said second series, each such pressure-aetuated valve comprising a casing having an inlet port, two pressure ports spaced respectively in opposite directions from said inlet port, two delivery ports spaced respectively in opposite directions from said inlet port and two exhaust ports spaced respectively in opposite directions from said inlet port, and a valve member movable in said casing between a position closing one of said delivery ports from said inlet port and opening said one delivery port to one of said exhaust ports while opening the other delivery port to said inlet port and closing the same from said other exhaust port, and a position opening said one delivery port to said inlet port and closing said one delivery port from said one exhaust port while closing said other delivery port from said inlet port and opening the same to said other exhaust port, means rnounting each casing on said wall means with its inlet port registering with a port of said second series, conduit means connecting one outlet port of each valve housing with one pressure port of the corresponding valve casing, conduit means connecting the other outlet port ol': each valve housing with the other pressure port of the corresponding valve casing, means connecting the delivery ports of each valve casing with a point of use, and means for rotatively driving said valve plugs to control the positions of said valve members.

l0. The combination of claim 9 in which each valve of said first-named plurality includes means for individually varying the effective angular relationship between its valve plug and its respective outlet ports.

l1. The combination of claim 9 in which said means operatively connecting said valve plugs to rotate together comprises key means axially projecting from one end of each valve plug and received in mating socket means in the other end of an adjacent plug.

l2. The combination of claim 9 in which said conduit means respectively connecting said valve housing outlet ports with said valve casing pressure ports are disposed wholly within said reservoir.

13. The combination of elairn 9 in which said reservoir wall means is provided with further ports with which, when said valve housings and said valve casings are so mounted, said outlet ports, said pressure ports and said delivery ports are respectively in registry, said several conduit means being permanently mounted in appropriate ones of said further ports internally of said reserovir to provide the stated connections, whereby any valve housing or valve casing may be effectively introduced into or removed from the recited assembly merely by removing or applying its mounting means to said reservoir.

No references cited.

Claims (1)

1. IN A DEVICE OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED, A HOUSINGB FORMED TO PROVIDE A STRAIGHT-THROUGH, CYLINDRICAL BORE AND FURTHER FORMED TO PROVIDE A FIRST PASSAGE, A SECOND PASSAGE AND A THIRD PASSAGE DISPOSED AT SPACED LEVELS ALONG THE AXIS OF SAID BORE AND OPENING FROM SAID BORE TO THE EXTERIOR OF SAID HOUSING, A FIRST SLEEVE MOUNTED IN SAID BORE FOR TURNING MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID HOUSING ABOUT THE AXIS OF SAID BORE AND EXTENDING FROM ONE END OF SAID BORE PAST THE LEVEL OF SAID FIRST PASSAGE BUT TERMINATING SHORT OF THE LEVEL OF SAID THIRD PASSAGE, SAID FIRST SLEEVE HAVING A PERIPHERAL GROOVE IN ITS EXTERNAL SURFACE REGISTERING WITH SAID FIRST PASSAGE AND HAVING A PORT OPENING FROM SAID GROOVE TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID SLEEVE, A SECOND SLEEVE MOUNTED IN SAID BORE FOR TURNING MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID HOUSING AND TO SAID FIRST SLEEVE ABOUT THE AXIS OF SAID BORE AND EXTENDING FROM THE OTHER END OF SAID BORE PAST THE LEVEL OF SAID SECOND PASSAGE BUT TERMINATING SHORT OF THE LEVEL OF SAID THIRD PASSAGE, SAID SECOND SLEEVE HAVING A PERIPHERAL GROOVE IN ITS EXTERNAL SURFACE REGISTERING WITH SAID SECOND PASSAGE AND HAVING A PORT OPENING FROM SAID GROOVE TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID SECOND SLEEVE, AND A PLUG JOURNALED IN BOTH OF SAID SLEEVES FOR ROTATION RELATIVE THERETO AND TO SAID HOUSING UPON THE AXIS OF SAID BORE, SAID PLUG BEING FORMED WITH A CONTINUOUS PERIPHERAL GROOVE AT THE LEVEL OF SAID THIRD PASSAGE, SAID PLUG FURTHER BEING FORMED WITH A FIRST MINOR PERIPHERAL GROOVE AND WITH A FIRST MAJOR PERIPHERAL GROOVE ANGULARLY SEPARATED FROM SAID FIRST MINOR GROOVE, SAID MAJOR AND MINOR GROOVES BEING DISPOSED AT THE LEVEL OF SAID FIRST PASSAGE, SAID PLUG FURTHER BEING FORMED WITH A SECOND MINOR PERIPHERAL GROOVE AND WITH A SECOND MAJOR PERIPHERAL GROOVE ANGULARLY SEPARATED FROM SAID SECOND MINOR GROOVE, SAID SECOND MAJOR AND MINOR GROOVES BEING DISPOSED AT THE LEVEL OF SAID SECOND PASSAGE, ONE OF SAID FIRST GROOVES AND ONE OF SAID SECOND GROOVES BEING CONTINUOUSLY OPEN TO THE ATMOSPHERE, SAID PLUG FURTHER BEING FORMED WITH DUCT MEANS CONNECTING THE OTHER OF SAID FIRST GROOVES AND THE OTHER OF SAID SECOND GROOVES WITH SAID CONTINUOUS PERIPHERAL GROOVE, AND BOTH ENDS OF SAID PLUG BEING ACCESSIBLE.

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