Flow control valve having differently configured labyrinths to select closing speed

• US 6,877,714 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2003
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toro Company (Toro)
• Original Assignee: Toro Company (Toro)
• Inventors: Hall, Leslie R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Look, Edward K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fristoe, Jr., John K.
• Application Number:
  US10/434,432
• Publication Number:
  US 20040222394A1
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• Field of Search: 251/30.01, 251/30.02, 251/33, 251/45, 137/270, 138/42, 138/43
• US Class Current: 251/45
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 31/406 acting on a piston
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/5196 Unit orientable in a single location between plural positions

Abstract

A flow control valve having a valve member engageable with a valve seat. The valve opens when the valve member disengages the valve seat as fluid pressure is bled from a pressure chamber on one side of the valve member. The valve closes after the pressure bleed ends when fluid pressure is metered back into the pressure chamber through a metering path. The speed at which the valve member closes is selectable depending upon the degree to which the metering path is tortuous. Two different tortuous configurations of the metering path are provided by two differently shaped labyrinths. The user can select one closing speed or the other by choosing which labyrinth is in the metering path.

Claims

1. A fluid flow control valve, which comprises:

(a) a valve housing having an inlet, an outlet, a flow passageway between the inlet and outlet, a valve seat in the flow passageway, and a valve member which closes the valve by moving into engagement with the valve seat for blocking flow between the inlet and the outlet and which opens the valve by moving out of engagement with the valve seat for permitting flow between the inlet and the outlet;

(b) a pressure chamber in the valve housing, wherein one side of the valve member is exposed to inlet fluid pressure tending to move the valve member away from the valve seat and the other side of the valve member is exposed to fluid pressure in the pressure chamber tending to move the valve member towards the valve seat;

(c) a metering path to meter water into the pressure chamber from upstream of the valve seat to close the valve; and

(d) at least two water flow labyrinths with the labyrinths being differently configured relative to one another such that water flows through the labyrinths at different rates, and wherein one or the other of the labyrinths is selectively installed in the metering path to select a desired closing speed for the valve depending upon which labyrinth is in the metering path.

2. The valve of claim 1, wherein the labyrinths are formed on opposite sides of a single reversible metering member.

3. The valve of claim 1, wherein the labyrinth in the metering path is installed in the valve housing and is removable and replaceable therefrom.

4. The valve of claim 1, wherein the labyrinth in the metering path is carried on a metering plug.

5. The valve of claim 4, wherein the metering plug is threaded into a bore on the valve housing to allow the metering plug and the labyrinth carried by the metering plug to be installed and removed from the valve housing.

6. The valve of claim 4, wherein the labyrinth is retained in place by a filter screen carried on one end of the metering plug.

7. The valve of claim 4, wherein the labyrinths are formed on opposite sides of a metering disc, and wherein the metering disc can be reversed on the metering plug to allow one labyrinth or the other labyrinth to be in the metering path.

8. A flow control valve, which comprises:

(a) a valve member engageable with a valve seat, wherein the valve opens when the valve member disengages the valve seat as fluid pressure is bled from a pressure chamber on one side of the valve member, and wherein the valve closes after the fluid pressure bleed ends when fluid pressure is metered back into the pressure chamber through a metering path;

(b) wherein the metering path is tortuous, and wherein at least two tortuous configurations of the metering path are provided for the metering path with one or the other of the tortuous configurations being selectively used at any one time to provide at least two different closing speeds for the valve member.

9. The valve of claim 8, wherein the two tortuous configurations are provided on a single reversible member, wherein one tortuous configuration is used when the member is installed in a first position and the other tortuous configuration is used when the member is installed in a second position that is reversed relative to the first position.

10. The valve of claim 9, wherein the single reversible member comprises a disk, and wherein the first tortuous configuration is provided by a first labyrinth formed on one side of the disk and the second tortuous configuration is provided by a second labyrinth formed on the other side of the disk.

11. A flow control valve, which comprises:

(a) a valve housing having a valve seat, the valve housing comprising a valve bonnet secured to a valve body;

(b) a valve member for engaging and disengaging the valve seat to close and open the valve, respectively;

(c) a pressure chamber on one side of the valve member and

(d) a metering assembly mounted in the valve housing for metering fluid pressure to the pressure chamber to close the valve, the metering assembly including;

(i) a plug which is selectively insertable into or removable from a bore in the valve housing without disassembling the valve bonnet from the valve body, the plug having a flow passageway therethrough; and

(ii) a labyrinth carried on the plug in fluid communication with the flow passageway in the plug, the labyrinth defining a tortuous water flow path with the valve member having a closing speed that is dependent upon the degree the flow path in the labyrinth is tortuous.

12. The valve of claim 11, wherein the labyrinth is removably carried on the plug.

13. The valve of claim 12, wherein the plug includes a cavity on one end, and wherein the labyrinth is formed on a disk that is removably inserted and retained in the cavity.

14. The valve of claim 13, wherein the disk is retained in the cavity on the one end of the plug by a filter screen removably attached to the one end of the plug.

15. The valve of claim 14, wherein the filter screen has a snap fit with the one end of the plug.

16. The valve of claim 13, wherein the disk has opposite sides, and wherein a different labyrinth is formed on each side of the disk such that the user can select between two different closing speeds for the valve member depending upon which labyrinth in the disk is in fluid communication with the flow passageway in the plug.

17. The valve of claim 11, wherein the plug is cylindrical and at least a portion of the plug is threaded to allow the metering assembly to be screwed into and out of the bore in the valve housing.