Bonded seat valve
AssigneeMueller International, LLC
InventorXianhua Feng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A valve seat includes a first end; a second end positioned opposite from the first end; and a body extending from the first end to the second end, the body defining an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface defining a main bore extending through the body from the first end to the second end, the main bore defining a main bore axis, the body defining a shaft bore extending from the inner surface to the outer surface, the shaft bore defining a shaft bore axis positioned perpendicular to the main bore axis, the shaft bore defining an inner shaft opening and an outer shaft opening, the body defining a concave seat bearing surface extending around the inner shaft opening.
Claims15
A valve seat comprising:
- a body comprising a shaft bore extending from an inner seat surface to an outer seat surface and comprising an inner shaft opening defined at the inner seat surface;
- a reinforced boss surrounding the shaft bore and protruding from the outer seat surface;
- and
- a bearing pad extending radially inward from the inner seat surface relative to a main bore axis and defining a nonplanar seat bearing surface extending around the inner shaft opening,
- wherein the nonplanar seat bearing surface is concave and defines a spherical zone which intersects a shaft bore surface of the shaft bore, the nonplanar seat bearing surface having a leak testing performance to contain 700 psi, and the shaft bore defines at least one annular rib located entirely within the reinforced boss, the reinforced boss having a height H and a side-wall thickness T such that 0.5≤H/T≤2.
A method comprising:
- providing a valve body comprising a main bore extending through the valve body from a first end to a second end;
- forming a valve seat defining an inner seat surface defining a concave seat bearing surface extending around an inner shaft opening of the inner seat surface, an outer seat surface defining a cylindrical portion, the concave seat bearing surface having a leak testing performance to contain 700 psi, a reinforced boss surrounding a shaft bore and protruding from the outer seat surface, the reinforced boss having a height H and a side-wall thickness T such that 0.5≤H/T≤2, and at least one annular rib in the shaft bore located entirely within the reinforced boss;
- and
- assembling a valve member defining an end engaging the concave seat bearing surface and an end surface defining a convex shape.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.