BALL VALVE WITH ANTI-ROTATIONAL PRESSURE PLATE
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A ball valve, comprising:
- a valve body having a plurality of ports and a valve chamber therebetween, the plurality of ports and the valve chamber defining a fluid flow passage;
a valve member disposed within the valve chamber and defining a flow aperture therethrough, the valve member selectively movable within the valve chamber to adjust flow along the fluid flow passage by adjusting the orientation of the flow aperture relative to the plurality of ports;
a flow disk carried by the valve body and substantially disposed within the fluid flow passage, wherein the flow disk is operably coupled to the valve body such that the flow disk is prevented from angular rotation about a center axis of the flow disk.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A ball valve having an anti-rotational pressure plate that allows for a balanced pressure load on a valve member is provided. Additionally, the pressure plate can also fix the rotation of an adjacent flow disk, allowing for angular-orientation specific flow characterizing features to be used with the flow disk. By fixing the rotation of the flow disk, the ball valve can characterize flows using a greater variety of flow disk geometries, including angular-orientation dependent and angular-orientation independent flow disks. Further, the pressure plate could also be directly in the form of a flow disk that has anti-rotation features.
70 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A ball valve, comprising:
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a valve body having a plurality of ports and a valve chamber therebetween, the plurality of ports and the valve chamber defining a fluid flow passage; a valve member disposed within the valve chamber and defining a flow aperture therethrough, the valve member selectively movable within the valve chamber to adjust flow along the fluid flow passage by adjusting the orientation of the flow aperture relative to the plurality of ports; a flow disk carried by the valve body and substantially disposed within the fluid flow passage, wherein the flow disk is operably coupled to the valve body such that the flow disk is prevented from angular rotation about a center axis of the flow disk. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A ball valve, comprising:
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a valve body having a plurality of ports and a valve chamber therebetween, the plurality of ports and the valve chamber defining a fluid flow passage between the ports, wherein at least two of the plurality of ports are arranged along an first axis, and at least one of the plurality of ports is arranged along a second axis at a non-zero angle to the first axis; a valve member disposed within the valve chamber and defining a flow aperture therethrough, the valve member selectively rotatable within the valve chamber to adjust flow along the fluid flow passage by adjusting the orientation of the flow aperture relative to the plurality of ports; a first and a second dynamic seal carried by the valve body, wherein the first dynamic seal is biased toward the valve member along the first axis, and the second dynamic seal is biased toward the valve member along the second axis; and a fixed seal arranged along the first axis and in opposed spaced relation to the first dynamic seal, wherein the fixed seal fixes the location of the valve member in a first direction along the first axis and a second direction along the second axis. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A ball valve, comprising:
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a valve body having a plurality of ports and a valve chamber therebetween, the plurality of ports and the valve member defining a fluid flow passage wherein at least two of the plurality of ports are arranged along a first axis, and at least one of the plurality of ports is arranged along a second at a non-zero angle relative to the first axis; a valve member disposed within the valve chamber, the valve member selectively movable within the valve chamber; a first and a second dynamic valve seal carried by the valve body and sealingly engaging the valve member, wherein the first dynamic seal is biased toward the valve member along the inline first, and the second dynamic seal is biased toward the valve member along the second axis, and wherein the first dynamic valve seal includes a compliant valve body seal and a compliant flow disk seal, the compliant valve body seal and compliant flow disk seal carried by a seal member of the first dynamic valve seal; a fixed seal arranged along the first axis and in opposed spaced relation to the first dynamic seal, wherein the fixed seal operably centers the valve member in a first direction along the first axis and a second direction along the second axis; a pressure plate carried by the valve body, the pressure plate extending between first and second axial faces, wherein an annular pocket extends into the first axial face, an axially extending key extends transversely away from the second axial face, and a radially extending key extends radially away from an outer periphery of the flow disk, wherein the radially extending key is received by a slot extending into an interior surface of the valve body, the slot extending a length that is greater than a thickness of the radially extending key and the slot extending a width that is substantially equal to a width of the radially extending key, and wherein the pressure plate has an opening generally at the center of the pressure plate; and a flow disk carried by the valve body and substantially disposed within the fluid flow passage, the flow disk extending between a first axial face and a second axial face and including a flow characterizing feature, the flow characterizing feature aligned with the opening of the pressure plate, wherein a keyway extends into the first axial face and is adapted to receive the axially extending key of the pressure plate, and wherein an annular sealing rib extends transversely away from the second axial face, the annular sealing rib sealingly engaging the compliant flow disk seal of the valve seal, wherein engagements between the slot and radially extending key and axially extending key and keyway combine to prevent angular rotation of the flow disk relative to the valve body.
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Specification