Driving device for opening and closing a valve

A driving device for opening and closing a valve comprising:

• a cylindrical body having a cylindrical inner surface provided with at least one axially extending slender slot therein, the cylindrical body being adapted to be mounted on the upper portion of a valve body;
• an actuating cylinder rotatably housed within said cylindrical body and having an outer surface having a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the inner surface of the cylindrical body, the actuating cylinder being provided with at least one substantially helical guide groove in the circumferential wall thereof, and adapted to be connected to a valve stem;
• a spindle having an upper portion rotatably supported by said cylindrical body and a lower end portion rotatably supported by a bearing in said actuating cylinder, the spindle including a threaded portion and being aligned coaxially with the valve stem, said cylindrical body and said actuating cylinder;
• a piston member within the actuating cylinder and having an internal screw thread engaged with said threaded portion of the spindle and at least one rod-shaped projection extending radially outwardly through said guide groove of the actuating cylinder and into said slender slot of the cylindrical body, rotation of the projection and the piston member being prevented by the slender slot;
• and
• a transparent plate mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical body for sealing said slender slot of the cylindrical body while permitting visual observation of the position of the rod-shaped projection;
• and
• stop means for controlling the rotation of the spindle mounted on the upper portion of the cylindrical body and comprising a ring gear mounted on said spindle, each tooth of the ring gear having two franks symmetrically arranged with respect to the plane formed by connecting the center of the spindle and the center of a tooth crest of the ring gear, a stop bar supported so as to be moveable radially relative to the cylindrical body and having a wedge-shaped head engageable with said ring gear, and a spring biasing said stop bar radially inwardly relative to the ring gear, the wedge head having a pair of surfaces forming an included angle which is bisected by the axis of the stop bar such that rotation of the spindle by fluid pressure on the valve is prevented but manual rotation of the spindle in either direction is permitted, and manual rotation of the spindle to open the valve can be effected by applying sufficient torque to one frank of each tooth of the ring gear through the spindle to urge one of the surfaces of the wedge-shaped head out of engagement with the one frank of the tooth of the ring gear against the bias of the spring and manual rotation of the spindle to close the valve can be effected by applying sufficient torque to the other frank of each tooth of the ring gear through the spindle to urge the other of the surfaces of the wedge-shaped head out of engagement with the other frank of the tooth of the ring gear against the bias of the spring.