Long stroke balanced solenoid

A fluid control valve comprising:

• a housing defining an internal chamber therein;
• an electromagnetic coil coaxially mounted within the housing relative to the internal chamber;
• a movable armature positioned within the internal chamber and having a first end and a second end;
• a valve spring, said valve spring biasing the armature to a first position within the internal chamber and said armature being movable from the first position to a second position against the bias of the spring upon energizing the coil;
• and
• at least one armature stop positioned to be in contact with the armature, said at least one armature stop being a flat planar ring having a plurality of radially extended protrusions that are defined by recessed areas cut out of an edge of the ring so that the radial dimension of the ring is less at the recessed areas than at the protrusions, said armature stop reducing the amount of contact between the armature stop and the armature to reduce the hydraulic tension between the armature stop and the armature.

A fluid control valve for controlling hydraulic pressure in an automatic transmission for a vehicle, said valve comprising:

• a housing defining an internal chamber therein, said internal chamber being in fluid communication with a supply port, a control port and an exhaust port;
• an electromagnetic coil wound on a non-magnetic bobbin and coaxially mounted within the housing relative to the internal chamber;
• a movable armature positioned within the internal chamber and having a first end, a second end, a center channel, and a side aperture extending through the armature and into the center channel;
• an armature spring, said armature spring being positioned on a spring ledge attached to the armature and biasing the armature to a first position within the internal chamber, said armature being movable from the first position to a second position against the bias of the spring upon energizing the coil;
• a valve body disposed in the armature center channel, said valve body including a first tubular portion, a second tubular portion, and a middle portion separating the first and second tubular portions, said first tubular portion including a first opening in fluid communication with the exhaust port and a second opening in fluid communication with the side aperture and the second tubular portion including a third opening in fluid communication with the supply port and a fourth opening in fluid communication with the side aperture, said second opening being in fluid communication with the side aperture and the control port when the armature is in the second position and the fourth opening being in fluid communication with the side aperture and the control port when the armature is in the first position;
• and
• a first armature stop and a second armature stop, both the first and second armature stops being flat planar ring-shaped armature stops including a plurality of radially extended protrusions defined by cut-out sections in an edge of the stops, wherein the first armature stop is in contact with the first end of the armature when the armature is in the second position and the second armature stop is in contact with the second end of the armature when the armature is in the first position.