Thermostatic valve
AssigneeVernet
InventorThierry Hautcoeur
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to valves including housing and a thermostatic element, including a fixed portion and a mobile portion. A first plug is axially movable relative to a first seat in order to control the flow of fluid between first and second paths and is carried by the mobile portion in such a way that it moves the first plug by causing it to remain in the closed configuration when deployed below a predetermined stroke and to move to an open configuration when deployed beyond that stroke. A second plug is axially movable relative to a second seat in order to control the flow of fluid between the first and a third path and is carried by the mobile portion in such a way that it moves the second plug from the closed configuration to the open configuration when deployed below the predetermined stroke.
Claims9
A thermostatic valve, including:
- a housing, which is single-piece and through which a fluid can flow between first, second and third paths,
- a thermostatic element which includes a fixed part, fixedly connected to the housing, and a movable part, movable along an axis with respect to the fixed part, the mobile part deploying axially with respect to the fixed part under the action of an expansion of a thermally expandable material of the thermostatic element,
- a first plug which is:
- axially displaceable relative to a first seat, which is integral with the housing, between a first closed configuration, wherein the first plug is in contact with the first seat so as to prevent fluid from flowing between the first and second paths through the housing, and a first open configuration, wherein the first plug is spaced from the first seat so as to allow fluid to flow between the first and second paths through the housing, and
- supported by the movable part so that, during the expansion of the thermally expandable material, the movable part moves the first plug relative to the housing by making, on the one hand, the first plug stay in the first closed configuration when the movable part is extended relative to the fixed part within a predetermined stroke and, on the other hand, moving the first plug into the first open configuration when the movable part is deployed relative to the fixed part beyond said predetermined stroke, and
- a second plug which is:
- axially displaceable in relation to a second seat, which is integrated into the housing and is axially spaced from the first seat, between a second closed configuration, wherein the second plug contacts the second seat so as to prevent fluid from flowing between the first and third paths through the housing, and a second open configuration, wherein the second plug is spaced from the second seat so as to allow fluid to flow between the first and third paths through the housing, and
- supported by the movable part so that, upon expansion of the thermally expandable material, the movable part moves the second plug relative to the housing by moving the second plug from the second closed configuration to the second open configuration when the movable part is deployed relative to the fixed part within said predetermined stroke,
- and wherein, in orthogonal projection on a geometric plane perpendicular to the axis, the first plug is inscribed inside the second seat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.