Fluid handling – Systems – Programmer or timer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-05
2001-04-24
Lee, Kevin (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
Systems
Programmer or timer
C137S624120, C137S883000, C239S070000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220293
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Reduction in cost and simplicity in design along with water and energy conservation has long been an objective to produce a valve for use in domestic landscaping and agricultural and environmental irrigation.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of valves and more specifically to a multi-ported irrigation valve having an indexing mechanism which opens each port sequentially after energizing momentarily, a three way solenoid valve controlled by a battery operated programmable timer.
2. Prior Art
Although the present invention may be suitable for use in a variety of applications to process different flowable fluids, it is however, adapted to be used as an automatic irrigation valve to divert water to different branches of an irrigation circuit. It has long been practiced to install an automatic sprinkler system for irrigation of residential, commercial, public and private parks and gulf courses. These sprinkler valves are well-known art, despite differences in their construction, they virtually comprise of two major members called the solenoid operated valves and a programmable timer. Majority of these valves are of diaphragm-actuated type and the driving timers are of crystal display types which normally operate with a 115 V. 60 Hz. Power source. Most diaphragm-actuated valves operate by applying inlet pressure through a restricted orifice into a chamber on one side of the diaphragm which acts against the diaphragm and causes the closure of the valve. When the solenoid is energized, the pressurized chamber is connected to exhaust and the valve opens. In some prior art the use of a latching or double solenoid has been employed for momentary application of power to control the position of the diaphragm thereby making the use of a battery operated timer possible. The disadvantageous features of these conventional approach are presented by the following U.S. patents that are relevant to the present invention:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,126 Hauser
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,955 Gustav
U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,419 Sturman et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,280 The ARO Corporation
U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,126 to Hauser is directed to a diaphragm-actuated valve which operates by energizing a single solenoid. The disadvantages of this valve are it requires power to be maintained during the watering period and that each valve is capable of supplying water to a limited number of sprinkler heads only.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,955 to Gustav is directed to a single valve having two single solenoids, one opens and one closes the valve in tandem. This arrangement eliminates the requirements for continuous power supply and makes the use of battery operated timer possible, however, its disadvantages are that it requires two solenoids per valve and each valve can only supply flow to a limited number of sprinkler heads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,419 to Struman et al is directed to a diaphragm-actuated valve which uses a battery operated controller to operate one or several valves in sequence. The disadvantages of this valve is that a group of similar valves are required to irrigate a large area and each of them must be wired in serial order to the previous valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,280 to The ARO Corporation is directed to a diaphragm-actuated valve which is normally closed due to the action of inlet pressure on one side of the diaphragm. When the solenoid or pilot operated exhaust is actuated, the valve opens and allows the fluid to flow. The disadvantages are that in an irrigation system, several of these valves are required to be assembled and wired to a timer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes all of the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art. The advantageous features of the present inventions can be summarized as follow: This valve incorporate several disk valves inside a single housing located in radial pattern. Each disk valve is independently operable both manually or automatically and can be adjusted for flow rate relative to one another from outside of the housing. Automatic operation is sequential and is controlled by a battery operated programmable timer which generates a square pulse signal in a predetermined time intervals to energize momentarily a three way solenoid valve. When energized, the solenoid valve allows hydraulic pressure to actuate an indexing mechanism which by its interference action with a valve arm causes each disk valve to slide open in sequential order.
The present invention also provides a clearly advantageous unitary irrigation valve using a single solenoid and a built-in programmable timer which eliminates further wiring and manifolding in the field. As a result, this unique valve substantially reduces the costs of installing an irrigation system as compared to prior art system. Furthermore, the present invention uses several of the identical parts and has less total parts count and uses established manufacturing methods to produce, thereby significantly reducing the complexity of the overall system for ease of manufacturing, installation and maintenance.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved multi-ported automatic valve primarily adapted for use in irrigation application which overcomes and significantly reduces the noted disadvantages of the prior art.
It is an additional object of the present invention to house several disk valves located in a radial pattern into a single and common housing with each disk valve being fully independent of one another and operable in both, manual and automatic mode.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to use a 3 way solenoid valve, momentarily energized, to allow fluid to enter the piston end of a cylinder and utilize the main inlet fluid pressure to cause a predetermined linear stroke of the piston rod.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to convert the linear displacement of the piston rod into a predetermined degree of rotational movement of an indexing arm.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to utilize the rotational movement of the indexing arm to cause opening of several disk valves within the fluid housing in sequential order.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide adjustment to control flow rate and manually operate each valve external to valve housing.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to use a spring return mechanism to return the disk valve to its original position and to cover the opening for stoppage of fluid flow through the outlet port.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to provide an integrated, pre-wired, battery operated programmable timer to control the operation of the valve.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4256133 (1981-03-01), Coward et al.
patent: 4492247 (1985-01-01), Lockwood
patent: 5944052 (1999-08-01), Rashidi
Connors John J.
Connors & Associates
Lee Kevin
LandOfFree
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