Valves and valve actuation – Fluid actuated or retarded – Dashpot or fluid controlled retarder or timer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-24
2001-11-06
Shaver, Kevin (Department: 3754)
Valves and valve actuation
Fluid actuated or retarded
Dashpot or fluid controlled retarder or timer
C251S248000, C251S254000, C137S454600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311948
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to fluid valve assemblies. Fluid valves are commonly used in a variety of applications, including public, residential, and commercial fixtures. Metering valves, for example, have been used where the need exists to control and meter a flow of fluid. Typically, the valve is spring biased to a closed state. An operator must manually actuate the valve, causing it to dispense a metered quantity of fluid before automatically shutting off due to the spring bias.
Self-returning valves are known that drive a valve to an open state through opposing cam surfaces. For instance, one such fixture includes a driver stem rotated by a handle at the stem's upper end. A flange extends radially outward from a bottom end of the drive stem immediately below a ring that is rotationally and axially fixed within the fixture housing. The flange defines a sloped cam surface that rides against a correspondingly sloped cam surface on the ring. As the stem rotates, the ring's cam surface drives the drive stem down against a plunger of a metering valve, thereby opening the valve and permitting water flow. A spring seated between the fixture housing and the driver stem flange pushes the drive stem upward when the operator releases the handle. The flange's cam surface rides back up the ring's cam surface so that the stem and handle rotate to their original position as the stem rises. The now-released metering valve then closes according to its metering operation.
The prior art valve includes a rotational stop within the fixture housing that blocks rotation of the drive stem flange beyond the point at which the stem flange pushes the metering valve to its fully open position.
Two examples of metering valves are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,655,748 and 5,451,030. These patents are commonly assigned to the present assignee, and their entire disclosures are incorporated by reference herein.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY
The present invention recognizes and addresses disadvantages of prior art construction and methods. Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to provide an improved fluid valve assembly. Additional objects and advantages of the present invention are set forth in part in the description which follows, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
One or more of these objects may be achieved by a fluid valve assembly that includes a housing having an entrance to permit fluid flow into the housing and an exit to allow fluid flow out of the housing. A valve is disposed in the housing between the entrance and exit of the housing. The valve is configured in an open state to permit fluid flow from the housing entrance to the housing exit and in a closed state to block fluid flow from the housing entrance to the housing exit. A rotatable driver is received in the housing and is in operative communication with the valve so that rotation of the driver from a first rotational position toward a second rotational position moves the valve from the closed state to the open state, and rotation of the driver from the second rotational position toward the third rotational position permits the valve to return to the closed state. An over-center linkage disposed between the housing and the driver is configured so that when the driver is between the first and second rotational positions, the over-center linkage biases the driver toward the first rotational position, and when the driver is between the second and third rotational positions, the over-center linkage biases the driver toward the third rotational position.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4007500 (1977-02-01), Thompson et al.
patent: 4269390 (1981-05-01), Bryne
patent: 4804164 (1989-02-01), Nakazawa et al.
patent: 5451030 (1995-09-01), Regelbrugge et al.
patent: 5478045 (1995-12-01), Ausman et al.
patent: 5655748 (1997-08-01), Regelbrugge et al.
Bonderer David A
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
Shaver Kevin
T&S Brass and Bronze Works, Inc.
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