Sleeve valve with sync cam

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9581269-B2
Application number	US-201615067373-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2016
Priority date	Jan 14, 2013
Publication date	Feb 28, 2017
Grant date	Feb 28, 2017

Abstract

A method of controlling the flow of a fluid in a pipe system includes controlling a sleeve valve in the pipe system, the sleeve valve includes a valve body having an inner surface and an outer surface defining an inlet, an outlet, and a body cavity between the inlet and the outlet, a sleeve disposed at least partially within the body cavity, the sleeve including at least one opening fluidly connecting the inlet to the outlet, a gate proximate to the sleeve, and a drive assembly including a pair of drive lines, each drive line including a drive shaft, a first drive line of the pair of drive lines including a sync cam on the first drive line movably positioned between the front stop and the back stop, and moving the gate to uncover the at least one opening to allow fluid to flow from the inlet to the outlet.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling the flow of a fluid in a pipe system comprising:
controlling a sleeve valve in the pipe system, the sleeve 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 sleeve disposed at least partially within the body cavity, the sleeve including at least one opening fluidly connecting the inlet to the outlet;
a gate proximate to the sleeve, the gate including a front stop and a back stop; and
a drive assembly including a pair of drive lines, each drive line including a drive shaft, a first drive line of the pair of drive lines including a sync cam on the drive shaft of the first drive line, the sync cam of first drive line movably positioned between the front stop and the back stop, a first gap defined between the front stop and the sync cam, a second gap defined between the back stop and the sync cam;

moving the sync cam to a front stop position, wherein the front stop position reduces the first gap; and
moving the gate to uncover the at least one opening to allow fluid to flow from the inlet to the outlet.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising partially obstructing the at least one opening with the gate to partially reduce a flow rate of fluid from the inlet to the outlet.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each drive line of the pair of drive lines is connected to an actuator motor, the method further comprising turning the drive shaft of each drive line at equal speeds.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the front stop is a first front stop, the back stop is a first back stop, and the sync cam is a first sync cam; and
the sleeve valve further includes a second drive line of the pair of drive lines, the second drive line including a second sync cam, the second sync cam movably positioned on the drive shaft of the second drive line and between a second back stop and a second front stop, a third gap defined between the second front stop and the second sync cam, and a fourth gap defined between the second back stop and the second sync cam.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the front stop position is a first front stop position, the method further comprising moving the second sync cam to a second front stop position, wherein the second front stop position reduces the third gap.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first sync cam contacts the first front stop at the first front stop position.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second sync cam contacts the second front stop at the second front stop position simultaneously with the first sync cam contacting the first front stop at the first front stop position.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising syncing the first sync cam and the second sync cam if the second sync cam does not contact the second front stop at the second front stop position simultaneously with the first sync cam contacting the first front stop, wherein syncing causes the first sync cam to contact the first front stop at the first front stop position simultaneously with the second sync cam contacting the second front stop at the second front stop position.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second sync cam further comprises at least one front direction load balancing screw and wherein syncing the first sync cam and the second sync cam comprises adjusting the at least one front direction load balancing screw to cause the second sync cam to contact the second front stop at the second front stop position simultaneously with the first sync cam contacting the first front stop at the first front stop position.

10. The method of claim 4 , further comprising
moving the first sync cam to a first back stop position, wherein the first back stop position reduces the second gap; and
moving the gate to cover the at least one opening to reduce fluid from flowing from the inlet to the outlet.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising moving the second sync cam to a second back stop position, wherein the second back stop position reduces the fourth gap, and wherein the first sync cam contacts the first back stop at the first back stop position.

12. A method of controlling the flow of a fluid in a pipe system comprising:
controlling a sleeve valve in the pipe system, the sleeve 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 sleeve disposed at least partially within the body cavity, the sleeve including at least one opening fluidly connecting the inlet to the outlet;
a gate proximate to the sleeve, the gate including a front stop and a back stop; and
a drive assembly including a pair of drive lines, each drive line including a drive shaft, a first drive line of the pair of drive lines including a sync cam on the drive shaft of the first drive line, the sync cam of first drive line movably positioned between the front stop and the back stop, a first gap defined between the front stop and the sync cam, a second gap defined between the back stop and the sync cam;

moving the sync cam to a back stop position, wherein the back stop position reduces the second gap; and
moving the gate to cover at least one opening to reduce fluid from flowing from the inlet to the outlet.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one opening comprises a plurality of openings, the method further comprising uncovering some of the plurality of openings with the gate to partially increase a flow rate of fluid from the inlet to the outlet.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein each drive line of the pair of drive lines is connected to an actuator motor, the method further comprising turning the drive shaft of each drive line at equal speeds.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the front stop is a first front stop, the back stop is a first back stop, and the sync cam is a first sync cam; and
the sleeve valve further includes a second drive line of the pair of drive lines, the second drive line including a second sync cam, the second sync cam movably positioned on the drive shaft of the second drive line and between a second back stop and a second front stop, a third gap defined between the second front stop and the second sync cam, and a fourth gap defined between the second back stop and the second sync cam.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the back stop position is a first back stop position, the method further comprising moving the second sync cam to a second back stop position, wherein the second back stop position reduces the fourth gap.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first sync cam contacts the first back stop at the first back stop position.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the second sync cam contacts the second back stop at the second back stop position simultaneously with the first sync cam contacting the first back stop at the first back stop position.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising syncing the first sync cam and the second sync cam if the second sync cam does not contact the second back stop at the second back stop position simultaneously with the first sync cam contacting the first back stop, wherein syncing causes the first sync cam to contact the first back stop at the first back stop position simultaneously with the second sync cam contacting the second back stop at the second back stop position.

20.

Assignees

• Mueller Int Llc

Inventors

• Smick Stephen J

Classifications

• Y10T137/0318

  Processes · CPC title

• F16K3/316

  Guiding of the slide · CPC title

• Y10T137/6106

  Screw type · CPC title

• Y10T137/86807

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

• F16K3/314

  Forms or constructions of slides; Attachment of the slide to the spindle · CPC title