Rotary filling and emptying valve
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorJohn J. Jaeger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotary valve assembly is disclosed for regulating the flow through two ts to control the filling and emptying of a lock. The valve assembly includes a plurality of planar elements, rotatable about a vertical axis within a cylindrical housing, and disposed at predefined angles as viewed in a horizontal plane, determined by the angles of intersection with the housing of a plurality of fluid conduits. Controlled rotation of the valve positions the planar elements relative to the fluid conduits, to direct flow from a source conduit into a lock chamber to fill it with water, to direct flow from the chamber to empty the lock, or to prevent flow altogether.
Claims22
A rotary valve for controlling fluid flow between at least three valve ports, comprising:
- a. a substantially cylindrical housing having at least three ports;
- b. a plurality of planar valve elements disposed for rotation about a vertical axis within said housing, at least one of said elements being disposed along a diametric locus of said housing and at least two elements being disposed along a radius locus of said housing and being oriented at predetermined angles with respect to each other and said diametrically-disposed element, as viewed in a horizontal plane, said angles being determined by the angles of intersection of said ports with said housing;
- and
- c. means for rotating said valve elements to position selected ones relative to said ports, said elements forming flow-directing surfaces to selectively provide a flow path through said housing between two selected ports.
In combination with a lock chamber for holding a quantity of water, an intake conduit coupled to a water source, a chamber conduit coupled to said lock chamber, and a discharge conduit coupled to a discharge passage, a rotary valve for controlling water flow between said intake conduit, said chamber conduit, and said discharge conduit to regulate the filling and emptying of said lock chamber, said rotary valve comprising:
- a. a substantially cylindrical housing having an inlet port and first and second ports coupled, respectively, to said intake, said chamber, and said discharge conduits, said ports intersecting with said housing at predetermined angles;
- b. a plurality of planar valve elements disposed for rotation about a vertical axis within said housing, at least one of said elements being disposed along a diametric locus of said housing and at least two elements being disposed along a radius locus of said housing and being oriented at predetermined angles with respect to each other and said diametrically-disposed element, as viewed in a horizontal plane, said angles being determined by the angles of intersection of said ports with said housing;
- and
- c. means for rotating said valve elements to position selected ones relative to said ports, said elements forming flow-directing surfaces to selectively provide a flow path through said housing between two selected ports.
A rotary valve for controlling fluid flow between at least three valve ports, comprising:
- a. a substantially cylindrical housing having at least three ports;
- b. a plurality of planar valve elements disposed for rotation about a vertical axis within said housing, at least one of said elements being disposed along a diametric locus of said housing and at least two elements being disposed along at least two radius locus of said housing and being oriented at angles of less than ninety degrees with respect to each other and said diametrically-disposed element, as viewed in a horizontal plane, said angles being determined by the angles of intersection of said ports with said housing;
- and
- c. means for rotating said valve elements to position selected ones relative to said ports, said elements forming flowdirecting surfaces to selectively provide a flow path through said housing between two selected ports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.