US 12,546,412 B1Granted

Variable venturi valve

OwnerMichael D. McFettersinventor

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Abstract

Disclosed is an adjustable valve designed to be incorporated within a piping system to control the flow of gases or fluids. It incorporates the following components: the driver flange designed to be housed inside a rotational coupling, an opposite flange, and a cylindrical cage made up of a plurality of elongated rods encased in a flexible rod covering fused into a single cylinder by interconnecting elements. The cylindrical cage connects the driver flange to the opposite flange, facilitating the flow of fluids or gases through the piping system. The rotary actuator is designed to enable controllable rotation of the driver flange, resulting in the narrowing of the cylindrical cage, known as the throat. The opposite flange, which remains stationary during the action of the rotary actuator, can be replaced with another driver flange, creating a valve with two driver flanges, both controllable by either manual force or rotary actuators.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A variable venturi valve, comprising:

(A) a driver flange having:
(a) a driver flange central hub configured to allow flow of pressurized fluids or gases through said driver flange;
(B) an opposite flange positioned parallel to the driver flange having:
(a) an opposite flange central hub configured to allow flow of pressurized fluids or gases through said opposite flange;
(C) a plurality of elongated rods each having:
(a) a rod driver end, and
(b) a rod opposite end;
(D) wherein said plurality of elongated rods are arranged in a substantially parallel configuration to form a cylindrical cage;
said cylindrical cage comprising:
(a) a cage middle section,
(b) a cage driver end section comprising the rod driver ends, and
(c) a cage opposite end section comprising the rod opposite ends;
(E) a plurality of rod holders configured to fixedly fastened the cage driver end section to the driver flange and the cage opposite end section to the opposite flange;
(F) a flexible rod covering configured to individually encase each of said elongated rods;
(G) wherein said flexible rod covering further comprises of a plurality of interconnecting elements configured to join each of said elongated rods encased in said flexible rod covering along their lengths to facilitate flow of pressurized fluids or gases through the cylindrical cage;
(H) wherein said cylindrical cage is sandwiched between the driver flange and the opposite flange and is configured to facilitate flow of pressurized fluids or gases between them;
(I) wherein said driver flange is configured for connection to a rotary actuator;
(J) wherein said rotary actuator is configured to facilitate controllable rotation of the driver flange resulting in narrowing of the cage middle section thereby creating a throat;
and
(K) wherein said throat is configured to controllably constrict flow of pressurized fluids or gases through a piping system incorporating said variable venturi valve.

17 more elements

A method for controllably constricting flow of pressurized fluids or gases through a piping system using a variable venturi valve, comprising:

(A) providing a driver flange having a driver flange central hub configured to allow flow of pressurized fluids or gases through said driver flange;
(B) providing an opposite flange positioned parallel to the driver flange having an opposite flange central hub configured to allow flow of pressurized fluids or gases through said opposite flange;
(C) providing a plurality of elongated rods each having a rod driver end, and a rod opposite end;
(D) arranging said plurality of elongated rods in a substantially parallel configuration to form a cylindrical cage;
said cylindrical cage comprising
(a) a cage middle section,
(b) a cage driver end section made up of the rod driver ends, and
(c) a cage opposite end section made up of the rod opposite ends;
(E) providing a plurality of rod holders configured to fixedly fastened the cage driver end section to the driver flange and the cage opposite end section to the opposite flange;
(F) providing a flexible rod covering configured to individually encase each of said elongated rods which are joined by a plurality of interconnecting elements along their lengths to facilitate flow of pressurized fluids or gases through the cylindrical cage;
(G) positioning said cylindrical cage encased in said flexible rod covering joined by the plurality of interconnecting elements between the driver flange and the opposite flange;
and
(H) providing a rotary actuator configured to facilitate controllable rotation of the driver flange resulting in narrowing of the cage middle section thereby creating a throat;
whereby the cylindrical cage connects the diver flange to the opposite flange forming the variable venturi valve, which is placed within the piping system;
wherein the rotary actuator enables controllable rotation of the driver flange, thereby creating the throat at the cage middle section, which constricts flow of pressurized fluids or gases through the piping system.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.