Pressure sensing valve
AssigneeRobertshaw Controls Company
InventorJames E. Pearson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A water valve having a housing defining an inlet and an outlet and a flow path extending therethrough, a pressure sensor configured to sense a water pressure at the inlet, a valve member situated within the flow path to open and close the flow path, a solenoid actuator, and a controller coupled to the pressure sensor to read the water pressure at the inlet and coupled to the solenoid to open and close the valve is provided. The controller determines an amount of time to hold the valve open in order to dispense an amount of water based on the water pressure. The controller commands the solenoid to open and close the valve to dispense the amount of water regardless of the water pressure. The controller is also configured to open the valve to reduce inlet pressure and prevent failure thereof.
Claims11
A water valve, comprising:
- a housing having an inlet and an outlet and a flow path extending through the housing between the inlet and the outlet;
- a pressure sensor configured to sense a water pressure at the inlet of the housing;
- a valve member assembly situated within the flow path and operable to selective open and close the flow path;
- a solenoid actuator configured to operatively open and close the valve member assembly;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the pressure sensor to read the water pressure at the inlet of the housing, the controller further operably coupled to the solenoid actuator to command the solenoid actuator to open and close the valve member assembly;
- and
- wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of time to hold the valve member assembly open in order to dispense a predetermined amount of water based on the water pressure at the inlet of the housing;
- and
- wherein the controller commands the solenoid actuator to open the valve member assembly and after the determined amount of time commands the solenoid actuator to close the valve member assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.