Low torque, high flow and tight sealing tube butterfly valve

• US 9,027,907 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2011
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Woodward Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Woodward Incorporated
• Inventors: Brinks, Barry T., Pollock, Shawn Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): Fristoe, Jr., John K
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rost, Andrew J
• Application Number:
  US13/117,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20120298900A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,446 Days
• Field of Search: 251305-308, 251/314, 251/316, 251/317, 123/337
• US Class Current: 251/305
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 1/222 Shaping of the valve member
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 1/226 Shaping or arrangements of the sealing

Abstract

A butterfly valve including a valve body having a passage, a valve shaft assembly, a valve plate, and a tube that is friction fit inside the passage is provided. The valve shaft assembly includes a first shaft portion and a second shaft portion. The first and second shaft portions are in opposing spaced relation with the valve plate disposed therebetween. The valve plate has a flange such that when the butterfly valve is in the closed position a seal is formed with the tube, which is disposed within the fluid flow passage. The valve plate has lip extending from a portion of the valve plate that is radially outward from the circumference of the tube. The lip acts to reduce flow induced torque experienced while the valve plate is actuated from the closed to the open position.

Claims

1. A butterfly valve having an open position to allow fluid flow therethrough, and a closed position to prevent fluid flow therethrough, the butterfly valve comprising:

a housing having an inlet and an outlet with a flow path extending from the inlet to the outlet;

a valve member having a valve plate to selectively allow and prevent fluid flow from the inlet to the outlet along the flow path;

a tube positioned within the flow path and adjacent the valve member to selectively form a seal therewith;

wherein the valve plate includes a radially-outwardly-projecting lip such that one portion of the valve plate extends radially beyond the outer periphery of the tube, and another portion of the valve plate does not extend radially beyond the outer periphery of the tube; and

wherein the valve plate includes a mounting portion with a step and a gate portion with a pair of ribs that each extend from the step along a portion of the circumference of the valve plate such that the pair of support ribs are separate and in an opposed spaced relationship on a back surface of the valve plate which faces the outlet in the closed position of the butterfly valve.

2. The butterfly valve of claim 1, wherein the tube is made of a compliant material.

3. The butterfly valve of claim 1, wherein the valve plate includes an axially-projecting flange that is normal to the direction of fluid flow when the valve member is in the closed position, the axially projecting flange forming a radial seal with an inner periphery of the tube when the valve is in the closed position thereby preventing fluid flow through the valve.

4. The butterfly valve of claim 1, wherein the valve plate remains entirely in the flow path when the butterfly valve is in the open position.

5. The butterfly valve of claim 4, wherein the valve plate is rotatable about ninety degrees between a fully closed position and a fully open position, and rotatable about ninety degrees between a fully open position and a fully closed position.

6. The butterfly valve of claim 1, wherein the valve plate is a single continuous structure formed from a continuous piece of material.

7. The butterfly valve of claim 1, wherein the valve plate has a variable thickness.

8. The butterfly valve of claim 1, the housing has a pocket projecting radially into an interior wall of the housing to accommodate the radially-outwardly-projecting lip of the valve plate.

9. The butterfly valve of claim 1, wherein the valve member includes a first shaft portion and second shaft portion, with the valve plate interposed between the first and second shaft portions, and wherein the mounting portion connects the valve plate to the first and second shaft portions, an upper gap being formed between the gate portion and the first shaft portion, and a lower gap being formed between the gate portion and the second shaft portion.

10. A butterfly valve having an open position to allow fluid flow therethrough, and a closed position to prevent fluid flow therethrough, the butterfly valve comprising:

a housing having an inlet and an outlet with a flow path extending from the inlet to the outlet;

a tube positioned within the flow path

a valve member having a first and second shaft portions, with a valve plate extending therebetween, the valve plate having a gate portion and a mounting portion extending radially outward from the gate portion, wherein the first and second shafts are connected to the valve plate at the mounting portion, and wherein the mounting portion defines an outer peripheral edge that is radially outward from an outer diameter of the tube and radially outward from an outer diameter of the gate portion; and

wherein a step is formed between the mounting onion and the gate portion on a back surface of the valve plate which faces the outlet in the closed position of the butterfly valve, the step extending parallel to the flow path in the closed position of the butterfly valve, and wherein the mounting portion radially increases in width moving from an outer peripheral edge of the mounting portion to the step.

11. The butterfly valve of claim 10, wherein a radially-outwardly-projecting lip extends from the mounting portion, such that the valve plate is non-circular in shape.

12. The butterfly valve of claim 10, wherein the first and second shaft portions are axially aligned with a gap between the first and second shaft portions and the gate portion.

13. The butterfly valve of claim 10, wherein a portion of the first shaft portion and a portion of the second shaft portion, and the mounting portion are downstream from the tube when the butterfly valve is in the open position.

14. The butterfly valve of claim 13, wherein the flow path increases in diameter downstream of the tube.

15. The butterfly valve of claim 14, wherein the mounting portion is thicker than the gate portion such that the valve plate has a variable thickness.

16. The butterfly valve of claim 10, wherein the tube is fit inside the housing adjacent the inlet.

17. A butterfly valve having an open position to allow fluid flow therethrough, and a closed position to prevent fluid flow therethrough, the butterfly valve comprising:

a housing having an inlet and an outlet with a flow path extending from the inlet to the outlet;

a tube positioned within the flow path;

a valve member having a first and a second shaft, with a valve plate extending therebetween, the valve plate having a mounting portion and a gate portion extending radially outward from the mounting portion, wherein the mounting portion is connected to the first and second shafts at a circumference thereof such that rotation of the first and second shafts results in a like rotation of the gate portion;

a compliant sealing flange extending circumferentially across and axially outward from the mounting portion and the gate portion;

the compliant sealing flange being axially received within an inner diameter of the tube in the closed position; and

wherein the valve plate is mounted between the first and second shafts such that the valve plate is only supported by the first and second shafts and is free of an additional support structure; and

wherein a maximum width of the mounting portion measured parallel to the flow path when the butterfly valve is in the closed position is less than a maximum diameter of the first shaft and a maximum diameter of the second shaft.

18. The butterfly valve of claim 17, wherein the compliant sealing flange forms a seal with the tube when the butterfly valve is in the closed position.

19. The butterfly valve of claim 17, wherein the valve plate is connected to the first and second shafts at the mounting portion, and wherein an upper gap is formed between the gate portion and the first shaft, and a lower gap is formed between the gate portion and the second shaft.

20. The butterfly valve of claim 19, wherein the tube is made of a compliant material, and an end thereof is received in the upper and lower gaps when the valve is in the open position.

21. The butterfly valve of claim 19, wherein the valve plate includes a radially outwardly projecting lip on the mounting portion such that the mounting portion extends radially outward beyond an outer periphery of the tube in the closed position, and the gate portion does not extend radially outward beyond the outer periphery of the tube in the closed position.