Bladder valve
AssigneeGoyen Controls Co. Pty Ltd.
InventorAndrew McCausland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bladder valve (10) is disclosed which comprises a valve body (12) having an inlet (16), an outlet (14) and a flow passage (17) connecting the inlet (16) and the outlet (14). The bladder valve (10) also includes a valve seat (45) surrounding the flow passage (17) and an inflatable bladder (22) mounted in the flow passage (17) and being connectable to a source of fluid under pressure in use. The bladder (22) is mounted on a bladder support member (34) which provides support for the bladder when in its deflated condition, and through which inflation passages (42) pass for the inflation and deflation of the bladder. The bladder (22) is designed to collapse or deflate rapidly in order to open the valve, enabling the valve to be used in applications such as reverse pulse cleaning of filter elements.
Claims17
1-16. (canceled)
A bladder valve comprising:
- a valve body having an inlet, an outlet and a flow passage connecting the inlet and outlet the inlet, outlet and flow passage being in axial alignment with each other;
- a valve seat surrounding said flow passage;
- a mounting hub fixed to the body within the flow passage and being axially aligned with the flow passage;
- a bladder support member extending downstream of said hub, said bladder support member being generally cylindrical configuration and being axially aligned with said flow passage;
- a bladder surrounding said bladder support member, said bladder being inflatable from a deflated condition in which the inner surface of the bladder is in contact with and supported by the bladder support member and the flow passage is open and an inflated condition in which the outer surface of the bladder is in contact with the said valve seat and the flow passage is closed;
- an inflation passage extending through said hub and said bladder support member for inflating said bladder;
- wherein in use, said bladder is inflated by fluid under pressure passing through said inflation passage to thereby inflate said bladder and wherein release of said fluid under pressure deflates said bladder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.