Valve with sync cam

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-8944085-B2
Application number	US-201313741329-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 14, 2013
Priority date	Jan 14, 2013
Publication date	Feb 3, 2015
Grant date	Feb 3, 2015

Abstract

Valves include a valve body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface and the outer surface defining an inlet, an outlet, and a body cavity between the inlet and the outlet; a gate movably coupled to the valve body and moveable over a portion of the valve body at least partially between the inlet and the outlet, the gate including a cam stop; and a drive assembly, the drive assembly including a drive shaft and a sync cam, the sync cam of the drive assembly movably positioned on the drive shaft and slidably positioned relative to the cam stop.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A valve comprising:
a valve body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface and the outer surface defining an inlet, an outlet, and a body cavity between the inlet and the outlet;
a gate movably coupled to the valve body and moveable over a portion of the valve body at least partially between the inlet and the outlet, the gate including a cam stop; and
a drive assembly, the drive assembly including a drive shaft and a sync cam, the sync cam of the drive assembly movably positioned on the drive shaft and slidably positioned relative to the cam stop, the sync cam including at least one load balancing mechanism.

2. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the sync cam includes two lobes, each lobe extending from the sync cam a distance longer than a distance between the drive shaft and an outer surface of the gate.

3. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the sync cam includes a front flange and a back flange, a distance between the front flange and the back flange of the sync cam being longer than a thickness of the cam stop.

4. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one load balancing mechanism includes at least one backward direction load balancing mechanism.

5. The valve of claim 4 , wherein the at least one backward direction load balancing mechanism of the drive assembly comprises three backward direction load balancing screws extending through a back flange of the sync cam.

6. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the at least one load balancing mechanism includes at least one forward direction load balancing mechanism.

7. The valve of claim 6 , wherein the at least one forward direction load balancing mechanism comprises two forward direction load balancing screws extending through a front flange of the sync cam.

8. The valve of claim 1 , wherein two cam stops are coupled to the gate and wherein the drive assembly includes a first sync cam coupled to a first drive shaft and a second sync cam coupled to a second drive shaft.

9. The valve of claim 8 , wherein the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are positioned on opposite sides of the gate.

10. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the valve body includes a sleeve positioned within the body cavity between the inlet and the outlet, the sleeve including at least one opening, the gate moveable over a portion of the sleeve including the at least one opening.

11. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the valve body includes a cone positioned at the outlet of the valve body, the gate sealably engageable with the cone.

12. A method of syncing a valve comprising:
accessing a valve including
a valve body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface and the outer surface defining an inlet, an outlet, and a body cavity between the inlet and the outlet;
a gate coupled to the valve body and moveable over a portion of the valve body at least partially between the inlet and the outlet, the gate including a first cam stop and a second cam stop; and
a drive assembly, the drive assembly including a first sync cam movably coupled to a first drive shaft and a second sync cam movably coupled to a second drive shaft, the first sync cam slidably positioned relative to the first cam stop, the second sync cam slidably positioned relative to the second cam stop, the first sync cam including a first front flange and a first back flange, the second sync cam including a second front flange and a second back flange;

moving the gate to a front stop position, wherein the front stop position includes at least one of the first front flange and the second front flange in contact with at least one of the first cam stop and the second cam stop;
aligning the first front flange in the front stop position to contact the first cam stop and the second front flange in the front stop position to contact the second cam stop;
moving the gate to a back stop position, wherein the back stop position includes at least one of the first back flange and the second back flange in contact with at least one of the first cam stop and the second cam stop; and
aligning the first back flange in the back stop position to contact the first cam stop and the second back flange in the back stop position to contact the second cam stop.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the first back flange and the second back flange includes at least one backward direction load balancing mechanism.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one backward direction load balancing mechanism of each of the first back flange and the second back flange is three backward direction load balancing screws, and wherein aligning the first back flange and the second back flange includes turning at least one backward direction load balancing screw of at least one of the first back flange and the second back flange.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein aligning the first back flange and the second back flange includes contacting at least one of the at least one backward direction load balancing mechanism of each of the first back flange and the second back flange with one of the first cam stop and the second cam stop.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of the first front flange and the second front flange includes at least one forward direction load balancing mechanism.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first front flange and the second front flange each include a first lobe and a second lobe, the first lobe and the second lobe each extending from each of the first sync cam and the second sync cam a distance between each of the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft and an outer surface of the gate, and wherein aligning the first back flange and the second back flange includes stopping the first lobe and the second lobe of each of the first front flange and the second front flange against the gate.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein aligning the first back flange and the second back flange includes stopping the first lobe and the second lobe of each of the first front flange and the second front flange against at least one adjustment ledge of the gate.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one forward direction load balancing mechanism of each of the first front flange and the second front flange is two forward direction load balancing screws, and wherein aligning the first front flange and the second front flange includes turning at least one forward direction load balancing screw of at least one of the first front flange and the second front flange.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein turning one of the two forward direction load balancing screws of the first front flange moves the first sync cam in a first direction along the first drive shaft and wherein turning a second of the two forward direction load balancing screws of the first front flange moves the first sync cam in a second direction opposite to the first direction along the first drive shaft.

21. The method of claim 12 , wherein the distance between the front flange and the backflange of the first sync cam is longer than a thickness of the first cam stop, and wherein the distance between the front flange and the back flange of the second sync cam is longer than a thickness of the second cam stop.

22. A method of controlling the flow of a fluid in a pipe system comprising:
controlling a valve in the pipe system, the valve including
a valve body having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface and the outer surface defining an inlet, an outlet,

Assignees

• Mueller Int Llc

Inventors

• Smick Stephen J

Classifications

• Y10T137/6106

  Screw type · CPC title

• Y10T137/86759

  Reciprocating · CPC title

• Y10T137/86807

  Sequential opening or closing of serial ports in single flow line · CPC title

• Y10T137/0491

  Valve or valve element assembling, disassembling, or replacing · CPC title

• F16K31/508 Primary

  the actuating element being rotatable, non-rising, and driving a non-rotatable axially-sliding element · CPC title