Low profile, low resistance distribution valve and method for swimming pools

A distribution valve comprising:

• (a) a housing including a high pressure fluid inlet disposed on a side of the housing, an interior volume, a plurality of outlet ports for connection to a plurality of outlet pipes, respectively, a plurality of outlet valves opening or closing the outlet ports from fluid communication with the interior volume, respectively, an impeller, and an impeller-driven gear assembly operative to sequentially open and close each valve, respectively, in response to rotation of the impeller;
• (b) a cover unit having a sealed connection to the housing to provide an upper boundary to the interior volume, the cover including
• i. an open-bottomed impeller chamber having an upper end connected in sealed relation to an underside of the cover unit, with the impeller disposed concentrically in the impeller chamber, including an impeller chamber inlet and an impeller chamber outlet window,
• ii. the impeller having a circular disk base that clears the impeller chamber enough to allow rotation of the impeller and forms a bottom of the impeller chamber to prevent the flow of water from the interior of the impeller chamber through the bottom of the impeller chamber during operation of the distribution valve,
• iii. a guide passage extending from the impeller chamber inlet to the high pressure fluid inlet to shield a stream of water from the high pressure fluid inlet into the impeller chamber against vanes of the impeller causing the impeller to rotate in response to water present in the interior volume, and to smoothly guide any diverging peripheral portion of the stream into the impeller chamber, the impeller guiding the water out of the impeller chamber outlet window into the volume;
• (c) water flowing into the high pressure inlet forcing water through the impeller chamber, into the volume, through gaps in and around the gear assembly, through a presently open valve, and through an outlet pipe connected thereto;
• and
• (d) a pause control mechanism mounted on top of the cover unit and having a pivotal handle forming a lever which, when a free end thereof is raised, slides a rod through a sealed tubular guide to engage a vane of the impeller and prevent rotation thereof.

A distribution valve comprising:

• (a) a housing including a high pressure fluid inlet disposed on a side of the housing, an interior volume, a plurality of outlet ports for connection to a plurality of outlet pipes, respectively, a plurality of outlet valves opening or closing the outlet ports from fluid communication with the interior volume, respectively, an impeller, and an impeller-driven gear assembly operative to sequentially open and close each valve, respectively, in response to rotation of the impeller;
• (b) cover means for providing
• a sealed connection to the housing to provide an upper boundary to the interior volume,
• an open-bottomed impeller chamber having an upper end connected in sealed relation to an underside of the cover means, with the impeller disposed concentrically in the impeller chamber, including an impeller chamber inlet and an impeller chamber outlet window, and
• rotation of the cover means relative to the housing to partially mis-align the guide passage with the stream of water so only part of the stream flows through the guide passage to rotate the impeller and the rest of the stream flows directly into the interior volume, reducing the impeller rotation speed;
• (c) means included in the impeller for forming, in effect, a bottom of the impeller chamber which prevents outflow of water from the open bottom of the impeller chamber during operation of the distribution valve;
• (d) means for extending from the impeller chamber inlet to the high pressure fluid inlet to shield a stream of water from the inlet into the impeller chamber against vanes of the impeller causing it to rotate from water present in the interior volume, and to smoothly guide any diverging peripheral portion of the stream into the impeller chamber, the impeller guiding the water out of the impeller chamber outlet window into the volume;
• water flowing into the high pressure inlet forcing water through the impeller chamber, into the volume, through gaps in the gear assembly, through a presently open valve, and through an outlet pipe connected thereto.