Metering valve with adjustable floating piston and pin assembly

Abstract

An adjustable metering valve (10) includes an upper housing (12) and lower housing (16) that cooperatively define an internal valve chamber (30) having an inlet end (80) and an outlet end (42). An inlet port (20) opens into the inlet end of the valve chamber, and an outlet port (24) provides for fluid flow exiting the outlet end (42) of the valve chamber. A floating piston (106) is slidably mounted within the valve chamber between the inlet and outlet ports. A seal (114) is provided between the piston and an interior side wall (44) of the valve chamber to prevent fluid flow past the piston except through an internal passage (118) through the piston. A valve seat (38) is mounted in the housing within the outlet end of the valve chamber, upstream of the outlet port. A valve pin (36) is carried by a pin assembly (34) that is threaded into the internal passage of the piston. The career assembly is threadably advanceable within the internal passage of the piston to adjust the position of the valve pin relative to the valve seat to open, close, and adjust the rate of fluid flow through the valve. A rotatable valve shaft (28) having a keyed end (97) that is slidably engaged within a correspondingly keyed passage (140) formed in the pin assembly is provided for advancement of the pin assembly to adjust the rate of fluid flow through the valve chamber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.