# US 5,348,042 A · Ceramic-plate flow-control valve > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 5,348,042 A - Document ID: US5348042A - Status: Granted - Kind: A - Application number: 08/046,005 - Filed: 1993-04-09 - Granted: 1994-09-20 - Earliest claimed: 1992-04-11 - Assignees: Friedrich Grohe AG & Co. KG - Inventors: Friedrich Wagner; Walter Grau - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5348042A ## CPC - F16K 11/0746: {with two or more closure plates comprising a single lever control} - F16K 3/08: with circular plates rotatable around their centres - F16K 3/10: with special arrangements for separating the sealing faces or for pressing them together - Y10T 137/4238: With cleaner, lubrication added to fluid or liquid sealing at valve interface - Y10T 137/7613: Threaded into valve casing - Y10T 137/86743: Rotary - F16K: VALVES; TAPS; COCKS; ACTUATING-FLOATS; DEVICES FOR VENTING OR AERATING {(devices for emptying and evacuating the excess liquid in valves or conduits F16L55/07)} - Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION ## Abstract A flow-control valve has a housing having a chamber into which opens a port, a ceramic valve plate fixed in the chamber over the port, formed with a throughgoing aperture aligned with the port, and having a substantially planar face, and a ceramic control plate having a substantially planar face lying flatly on the valve-plate face and formed with a throughgoing aperture. The control plate can be pivoted relative to the valve plate about an axis substantially perpendicular to and traversing the surfaces between an open position with the control-plate aperture overlapping the valve-plate aperture and a closed position with the control-plate aperture aligned axially with a portion of the valve-plate face and offset angularly from the valve-plate aperture and with the valve-plate aperture aligned axially with a portion of the control-plate face and offset angularly from the control-plate aperture. One of the faces is formed in a region offset from the respective face portion with a shallow recess open toward the other face. The recess is located such that in the open position of the valve it opens parallel to the faces into the aperture of the plate of the other face. ## Claims ### Claim 1 In a flow-control valve comprising: a housing having a chamber into which opens a port; a ceramic valve plate fixed in the chamber over the port, formed with a throughgoing aperture aligned with the port, and having a substantially planar face; a ceramic control plate having a substantially planar face lying flatly on the valve-plate face and formed with a throughgoing aperture; and means for pivoting the control plate relative to the valve plate about an axis substantially perpendicular to and traversing the surfaces between an open position with the control-plate aperture overlapping the valve-plate aperture and a closed position with the control-plate aperture aligned axially with a portion of the valve-plate face and offset angularly from the valve-plate aperture and with the valve-plate aperture aligned axially with a portion of the control-plate face and offset angularly from the control-plate aperture, the improvement wherein one of the faces is formed in a region offset from the respective face portion with a shallow recess open toward the other face, the recess being located such that in the open position of the valve it opens parallel to the faces into the aperture of the plate of the other face and in the closed position of the valve it is axially closed by the face of the other plate. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The flow-control valve defined in claim 1 wherein the one face has an outer edge and the recesses extend to the outer edge. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The flow-control valve defined in claim 2 wherein the aperture of the one face has a periphery and the recess extends to the periphery. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The flow-control valve defined in claim 3 wherein the apertures each lie to one side of a diametral line extending on the face through the axis. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The flow-control valve defined in claim 4 wherein the recess is on the same side of the diametral line as the respective aperture. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The flow-control valve defined in claim 5 wherein the one plate is formed with a plurality of such recesses angularly spaced from one another and all lying on the same side of the line as the respective aperture. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The flow-control valve defined in claim 4 wherein the recess is on the opposite side of the diametral line as the respective aperture. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The flow-control valve defined in claim 7 wherein the one plate is formed with a plurality of such recesses angularly spaced from one another and all lying on the opposite side of the line as the respective aperture. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The flow-control valve defined in claim 1 wherein the apertures are generally semicircular. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The flow-control valve defined in claim 1 wherein the recess is flat bottomed and has a depth below the face of between 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The flow-control valve defined in claim 1 wherein the one face is formed with a plurality of such recesses spaced angularly from one another and shaped generally as segments of a circle.