Solenoid coil positioning assembly

A solenoid coil positioning assembly, for providing relative movement between a coil and the coil's housing so that the coil is attachable to a circuit board prior to being assembled to a mating valve, comprising:

• a first subassembly including the coil's housing with a cover, a circuit board carried by the cover, and the coil which is wound on a bobbin and is attached to the circuit board in a substantially rigid manner by at least one terminal pin, wherein the coil's housing has a case with an open end, a radially directed face wall and an axially directed annular extension extending from the face wall, wherein the case is disposed about the coil and is locked thereon by being engaged with an end plate at the case's open end, wherein the case is movable in an axial direction and a transverse direction relative to the coil, with a bias spring disposed between the face wall and the bobbin which biases the end plate toward the coil and biases the face wall away from the coil;
• and
• a second subassembly including a valve block carrying the valve wherein the valve has a body with an annular shoulder, wherein a sleeve engages the body, wherein an armature is slidably carried in the sleeve and wherein the sleeve projects away from the valve block;
• wherein when the first and second subassemblies are mated together the case and end plate are self positionable on the coil to align with the sleeve and valve body wherein the axially directed annular extension engages the valve body and bears against the annular shoulder providing a positive stop causing the face wall to compress the bias spring and exert a load between the case and the bobbin to inhibit relative movement therebetween to reduce various transmission loads, wherein the end plate is positioned about the sleeve with a minimum of clearance space in-between the end plate and the sleeve and wherein the cover is secured to the valve block;
• whereby relative movement between the circuit board and the coil is minimized by the load exerted by the bias spring so that a terminal pin connection between the terminal pin and the circuit board is not stressed and magnetic flux transfer between the valve body and the case and between the end plate and the armature is maximized.

A solenoid coil positioning assembly, for providing relative movement between a coil and the coil's housing so that the coil is attachable to a circuit board prior to being assembled to a mating valve, comprising:

• a first subassembly including the coil's housing with a cover, a circuit board carried by the cover, and the coil which is wound on a bobbin that includes an overmold extension surrounding a terminal pin and a stop separate from the terminal pin wherein the stop includes an extension that extends into an opening in the circuit board to position the bobbin relative to the circuit board and wherein the coil is attached to the circuit board in a substantially rigid manner by the terminal pin, wherein the coil's housing has a case with an open end, a radially directed face wall and an axially directed annular extension extending from the face wall, wherein the case is disposed about the coil and is locked thereon by being engaged with an end plate at the case's open end, wherein the case is movable in an axial direction and a transverse direction relative to the coil, with a bias spring disposed between the face wall and the bobbin which biases the end plate toward the coil and biases the face wall away from the coil and wherein the end plate includes an axially extending wall that extends into the coil and radially inside individual windings of the coil;
• and
• a second subassembly including a valve block carrying the valve wherein the valve has a body with an annular shoulder, wherein a sleeve engages the body, wherein an armature is slidably carried in the sleeve and wherein the sleeve projects away from the valve block;
• wherein when the first and second subassemblies are mated together the case and end plate are self positionable on the coil to align with the sleeve and valve body wherein the axially directed annular extension engages the valve body and bears against the annular shoulder providing a positive stop causing the face wall to compress the bias spring and exert a load between the case and the bobbin to inhibit relative movement therebetween to reduce various transmission loads, wherein the end plate is positioned about the sleeve with a minimum of clearance space in-between the end plate and the sleeve and wherein the cover is secured to the valve block;
• whereby relative movement between the circuit board and the coil is minimized by the load exerted by the bias spring so that a terminal pin connection between the terminal pin and the circuit board is not stressed and magnetic flux transfer between the valve body and the case and between the end plate and the armature is maximized.