Ball valve with anti-rotational pressure plate

• US 9,377,120 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2013
• Issued: 06/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schneider Electric Buildings Americas Incorporated (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Schneider Electric Buildings LLC (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Thomas, Kurt R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bastianelli, John
• Application Number:
  US13/782,310
• Publication Number:
  US 20130175465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,215 Days
• Field of Search: 251/118, 251/127, 251/304, 25131501-31516, 251/174, 251208-209, 138 40- 46, 137/625.4, 137/625.41, 137/602
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 27/067 with spherical plugs
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/0642 the spherical plug being insertable from one and only one side of the housing
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/10 Means for additional adjustment of the rate of flow
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 5/201 with the housing or parts of the housing mechanically pressing the seal against the plug
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86823 Rotary valve
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/87571 Multiple inlet with single outlet

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.

Claims

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;

wherein the flow disk has a radially extending key that extends outwardly from a periphery of the flow disk, the radially extending key received by a slot that extends into an interior surface of the valve body causing an interference engagement preventing the angular rotation; and

wherein the slot is elongated in the axial direction of the flow disk a distance greater than the axial thickness of the radially extending key to permit axial movement of the flow disk relative to the valve body.

2. The ball valve of claim 1 wherein the slot has a width that is substantially the same as a width of the radially extending key.

3. The ball valve of claim 2 further comprising a biasing member biasing the flow disk axially towards the valve member, the biasing member directly acting on the flow disk.

4. The ball valve of claim 3 further comprising a valve seal axially interposed between the flow disk and the valve member, the valve seal including a seal member axially contacting an outer surface of the valve member, a valve body seal radially sealing the seal member to the valve body and a flow disk seal axially sealing the flow disk to the seal member, the biasing member axially biasing the flow disk into sealing engagement with the flow disk seal.

5. 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;

further comprising a pressure plate carried within the valve body and within the flow passage, the flow disk being axially interposed between the valve member and the pressure plate;

wherein the pressure plate has a radially extending key extending transversely away from a periphery of the pressure plate, the radially extending key received by a slot extending into an interior surface of the valve body preventing relative rotation therebetween; and

wherein the slot is elongated in the axial direction of the flow disk a distance greater than the axial thickness of the radially extending key to permit axial movement of the pressure plate relative to the valve body.

6. The ball valve of claim 5 wherein the slot has a width that is substantially the same as a width of the radially extending key.

7. The ball valve of claim 5 wherein the pressure plate has an axially extending key extending transversely away from an axial face of the pressure plate, the axially extending key being received by a keyway of the flow disk, whereby the receipt of the axially extending key by the keyway prevents the flow disk from rotation about the central axis of the flow disk relative to the pressure plate.

8. The ball valve of claim 7 wherein the pressure plate has an opening therethrough, the opening aligned with a flow characterizing feature of the flow disk, wherein the flow disk and the pressure plate are in axial abutment.

9. The ball valve of claim 8 wherein the pressure plate has an annular pocket extending into an axial face of the pressure plate, and wherein the annular pocket receives at least a portion of a biasing element axially biasing the pressure plate toward the flow disk and into axial abutment with the flow disk.

10. The ball valve of claim 9 wherein the biasing element is a spring having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the spring is received by the annular pocket of the pressure plate, and the second end is in abutted contact with a fitting installed in one of the plurality of ports.

11. The ball valve of claim 10 further comprising a valve seal axially interposed between the flow disk and the valve member, the valve seal including a seal member axially contacting an outer surface of the valve member, a valve body seal radially sealing the seal member to the valve body and a flow disk seal axially sealing the flow disk to the seal member, the biasing member axially biasing the flow disk, via the pressure plate, into sealing engagement with the flow disk seal.

12. The ball valve of claim 5 having cooperating anti-rotation structures formed between the flow disk and the valve body.

13. The ball valve of claim 12 wherein the anti-rotation structures include a first interlocking key and slot set.

14. The ball valve of claim 13 wherein the anti-rotatation structures further include a pressure plate and a second interlocking key and slot set directly angularly interlocking the pressure plate to the flow disk and the first interlocking key and slot set directly angularly interlocking the pressure plate to the valve body.