High pressure, low flow rate fluid flow control
OwnerSteven H. Grahaminventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adjustable high pressure, low flow metering valve provides a sleeve extending about a restrictor shaft, the sleeve having a narrow helical groove formed in the inside diameter. A restrictor shaft within the sleeve encloses the groove and forms a sealed helical flow channel. The length of the flow channel is varied by withdrawing the restrictor shaft in the sleeve, whereby only a selected axial extent of the groove is enclosed by the sleeve to form a confined flow path. The shaft is provided with a threaded engagement in the body of the metering valve, so that rotation of an adjustment knob provides extremely fine control of the length of the flow path, and thus highly accurate selection of the flow resistance.
Claims23
An adjustable resistance device for high pressure, low flow rate liquids, including:
- a sleeve having an internal surface;
- a groove extending into said internal surface of said sleeve;
- a restrictor shaft disposed within said sleeve, said restrictor shaft having an outer circumferential surface impinging on said internal surface of said sleeve and forming a seal with said groove to define a flow path within said groove;
- means for translating said restrictor shaft within said sleeve to selectively unseal portions of said groove and change the length of said flow path within said groove.
A fluid flow meter arrangement, including:
- a high pressure fluid source connected to first and second parallel flow paths;
- said first flow path having a known fixed flow resistance connected in series to a first pressure sensor and thence to an unknown flow resistance;
- said second flow path having a second fixed flow resistance in series with a second pressure sensor and an adjustable fluid flow resistance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.