US3431933A

US3431933A - Intermittently reversing control valve

Info

Publication number: US3431933A
Application number: US553114A
Authority: US
Inventors: Howard A Tidd
Original assignee: HOWARD A TIDD
Current assignee: HOWARD A TIDD
Priority date: 1966-05-26
Filing date: 1966-05-26
Publication date: 1969-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 1986-03-11

Description

March 11, 1969 H. A. TIDD INTERMITTENTLY REvERsING CONTROL VALVE Filed May 26, 1966 INVENTOR.

HOWARD A. T/DD United States Patent() 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An intermittently reversing control valve having a piston whose vertical motion is transferred and converted into rotary motion of the control member thereby switching the ow from one to another of a plurality of outlets.

My invention is directed toward valves for controlling the flow of water or other liquid supplied thereto in pulsations from a pump or the like to anyone of a plurality of outlet ports, each port being connected to a corresponding outlet line. These valves are known as intermittently reversing control valves.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a new and improved control valve of the character indicated wherein in response to the liquid pulsations, the liquid is fed successively to each of said ports in turn.

Another object is to provide a new and improved control valve of the character indicated which is particularly adapted to supply water from a single source to a plurality of sprinklers or sprinkler systems.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved control valve of the character indicated which is fully automatic, yet contains a minimum of moving parts and is economical to manufacture and maintain.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of my invention will now be explained with reference both to this specification and to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 -is a side view in cross section of my valve;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a valve dish used in my valve;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a piston together with an overlying trigger member as used in my valve;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a nut used with the member FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of a modified trigger member; and

FIG. 6 -is a top view of another modification of the trigger member.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown an upright hollow housing 10 having an upper hollow cylindrical chamber 12 -with rst and

second ports

14 and 16 disposed along the vertical periphery, communicating with the chamber and spaced apart by a 180 arc.

A hollow vertical cylinder 18 open at both ends communicates at its top end with the bottom of the chamber and is adapted for connection at its bottom end to a pump or other source (not shown) of pulsating liquid such as water.

The top of chamber 12 is vented to the atmosphere by vent 20. A vertical rod 22 aligned with the aligned axes of chamber 12 and cylinder 18 extends upward therethrough, having a rst stop 24 secured thereto in the chamber and a second stop 26 secured thereto adjacent the bottom end of the cylinder. The rod is rotatable about its own axis and carries a peripheral spiral portion 28 adapted -to rotate the rod through a 180 arc as explained below.

Cylinder 18 contains two oppositely disposed vertical side rails 30 which engage corresponding slots 32 in a horizontal disc plunger piston 34 having a central opening through which the rod extends. The lower surface of the piston supports secured Ithereto a vertical hollow cylinder 3,431,933 Patented Mar. 11, 1969 ICC 36 mounted about the rod. A trigger member 38 rests on the top surface of the piston, and engages a stop 40 on this top surface. This member is at, narrow, horizontal and elongated and has a central square hole 42 through which the rod extends. A nut 44 disposed about the rod rests on top of member 38.

An inverted hollow cone shaped valve dish 46 open at its bottom end is secured at its vertex to the top of rod 22 and is rotatable therewith, the axis of the dish being aligned with :the rod. Disc 46 has an aperture 48 which is either aligned with port 14 and seals port 16 or is aligned with port 16 and seals port 14 depending upon the rotation of the rod.

When the pressure of the liquid such as water is increased lby the pump the water forces the piston and trigger upwards to the first stop 24, at the same time rotating the rod through 180 by virtue of engagement of the square hole in the trigger member with the spiral portion of the rod. At this point, since ythe rails extend above the top end of the cylinder as shown in FIG. l, the water can flow through chamber 12, aperture 48 and its aligned port. When the pressure drops, the piston drops by gravity to the second stop 26 and the member 38 spins freely down along the rod, Without rotating same to change its position, and drops behind stop 40 to be in position to again rotate the rod when the pressure rises, thus continually producing the desired indexing action.

The above structure can be readily modified for use with three ports spaced 120 apart by using a 120 spiral on the rod and substituting the triangularly shaped at trigger member 38A in FIG. 6 for the member 38 of FIGS. l-4. Also, it can be modi-lied for use with four ports spaced apart by using the square shaped trigger member 38B (FIG. 5) and using a 90 spiral on the rod.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, my protection is to be limited only by the terms of the claims which follow. In particular, the valve may be provided with two or more openings, as may be desired.

Having thus -described my invention, desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An intermittently reversing control valve comprising an upright hollow housing having an enlarged upper chamber With a plurality of ports equidistantly spaced apart along the vertical periphery of the chamber and communicating therewith and a vertical hollow cylinder communictaing at its top open end with the bottom of the chamber and extending downward to a bottom open end adapted for connection to a water pump, a vertical rod rotatable about its own axis and extending upward through said cylinder and said chamber, said rod being coincident with the axis of said chamber and having a spiral peripheral portion adapted for rotating said rod through a predetermined angular arc, said rod having a rst stop secured thereto and disposed in said chamber and a second stop secured thereto adjacent the bottom end of said cylinder, an inverted cone shaped hollow valve `dish sealed at its apex to the top of said rod and rotatable therewith, the axis of said dish being coincident with said rod, said dish having an aperture adapted for indexing registration in time sequence with each of said ports in turn whereby the dish simultaneously seals all other ports, a horizontal disc plunger piston in said cylinder and having a central hole through which said rod passes, means on said piston and on the inside of said cylinder to prevent said piston from rotating about said rod whereby when water is pumped upward into said cylinder pulsatingly by said pump, the plunger piston periodically rises on said rod to a rst level determined by said rst stop and thereafter falls by gravity to a lower second level determined by said second stop, the disc preventing water from ilow- I claim as new and ing through said chamber and through the registered aperture and port except when said piston is at said first level, and second means on said piston adapted to engage said threaded portion of said rod to rotate same and provide the indexing action when said piston is rising from said second level to said first level -and to be disengaged from said spiral portion and thus not rotate said rod when said piston falls from the rst level to the second level.

2. A valve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of ports is equal to two, said ports being separated by a 180 arc, said threaded portion being adapted to rotate said rod through a 180 arc.

3. A valve as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are three ports, each two adjacent ports being separated by a 120 arc, said portion being adapted to rotate said rod through a 120 arc.

U.S. C1. X.R.