Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1077C)V9
The invention relates generally to valves and more
specifically to pivoted valves and valves adapted for use in
automatic dishwashers.
A prime operational requirement of the drain valves
used by the automatic dishwasher industry is that they be
contaminant tolerant in that their use requires that they be
able to pass elongated foreign objects entrained in the fluid
from the dishwasher such as toothpicks, fish and animal bones,
etc.
Prior art valves used to perform the named function
have been deficient in meeting this operating requirement.
Many had required flow through the valve to pass through one
or more 90 bends. None have provided straight through flow
path and many have been unduly complex and expensive. A recent
example of such an unsuccessful response to the dishwasher
operating requirement may be seen in U.S. Patent 3,812,398 to
Kozel et al issued May 21, 197~.
Responsive to the defects of prior art valves it is
an object of the present invention to provide a drain valve for
an automatic dishwasher which includes a straight through,
substantially unrestricted flow path for the drain water.
According to the present invention there is provided
a drain valve for use in dishwashing machines, the valve including
a housing providing a substantially continuous extending flow
chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage and a
valve seat disposed in the flow chamber intermediate the inlet
and outlet in the flow stream therebetween. Means define a
valve chamber communicating with the flow chamber in a direction
transverse with respect to flow therethrough, and there is
provided valve means including a pivot member disposed within
the valve chamber, and the valve means includes a poppet mounted
on the pivot member. The member is movable between a closed
position in which the pivot mem~er extends into the flow
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-hamber and the poppet sealingly engages the valve seat to
prevent the flow of fluid therethrough and an open position in
which the pivot member and the poppet are substantially within
the valve chamber whereby the flow chamber is substantially
unrestricted. Means is provided for biasing the pivot member
ànd the poppet to the closed position, and solenoid means is
mounted on the housing and includes a movable armature. An
actuator member has portions thereon connected to the armature.
The pivot member includes a crank section extending exteriorly
of the flow chamber, the actuator member having other portions
thereof rotatably connected to the crank section near the free
end thereof for translating movement of the actuator member to
rotational movement of the pivot member. Spacer means is received
on the crank section near the free end thereof, the spacer
means being an annular member defining a transversely extending
abutment surface which registers against portions of the crank
section thereby limiting movement of the annular member on the
crank section. The spacer means is effective for positioning
the actuator member on the crank section such that a pre-
determined amount of lateral movement of the actuator member is
permitted toward and away from the spacer means at the point of
connection to the crank portion. The lateral movement of the
actuator member is effective for permitting alignment of the
armature within the solenoid for minimizing chatter and
vibration therein. The solenoid is operable upon activation
to overcome the force of the biasing means to move the actuator
member and the crank member thereby moving the poppet member
to the open position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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These and other objects and features will become
obvious to those skilled in the valve art upon reference to the
accompanying specifica-tion and drawings in which ~IGURE 1 is a
side elevation view of the drain valve of the present invention.
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FIGURE 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the
drain valve of the present invention, and
FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of
the valve taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.
DESCRIPTION OF T~IE PREFERRED EMBODIr~lENTS
The drain valve 10 of the present invention is
illustrated as including a valve body 12 and a solenoid 13. The
valve body 12 includes a molded inlet housing 14 and molded
outlet housing 16. The interface between the inlet and outlet
housings 14, 16 is sealed by an elastomeric static sealing
member 18 and the outlet housing 16 is secured to the inlet
housing 14 by a plurality of screws 20 passing through apertures
22 formed in a retainer plate 24 to threadedly engage apertures
26 formed in the inlet housing 14.
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The inlet housing 14 defines an inlet passage 28 including
a straight portion 28a and a converging portion 28b terminating
in a valve orifice 30 as may best be seen in FIGURE 2. The
orifice 30 terminates at flat seat 32 immediately inward there-
from as viewed in FIG. 2. A flow cavity 34 of substantially
circular cross-section is formed in the inlet housing 14. The
cavity 34 is intersected by a valve cavity 36 which may be seen
in cross-section FIGURE 3.
outlet housing 16 includes an outlet flow passage 38
including a straight portion 38a and a converging portion 38b
fluidly communicating with the flow chamber 34 U~ ~ //L7
Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3 a poppet/member 40 is
pivotally mounted in the valve chamber 36 for movement between
this chamber and the flow chamber 34. The poppet member 40
~ lt1lla or member
includes an elastomeric sealing member 42~nd/flapper plate/44. ~1
'~ tl1L ~ ~ /~ ~,lj?
Sealing member 42 includes a flat sealing surface 46 and a ~U,~
spherical centering surface 48. It further includes a stem
portion 50 having a projection 52 formed thereon to axially
retain the sealing member 42 after insertion of the projection
52 through a bore 54 formed through a flat portion 56 of the
flapper plate 44. The bore 54 is preferably formed through the
flat portion 56 by punching or like process resulting in a
formation of a preferably spherical surface 58 on the outer sur-
face thereof adjacent the centering surface 48 of the sealing
member 42 to enhance the self-alignment of the assembly.
The flapper plate 44 is formed in a generally rectangular
shape including ~wo upstanding flange portions 60 positioned on
each of the longitudinal edges adjacent one end thereof as may
best be seen in FIGURE 2. A pair of generally semi-circular
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107'700~
apertures 62 are formed through the flange portion 60 to drivingly
engage a portion 64 of a crankshaft 66, The crankshaft 66 ls
generally U-shaped and has a circular cross-section except for
that portion 64 passing through the flange portion 60 of the flapper
plate 44. It is received in a bore 68 formed through the inlet
housing 14 passing through a rotary elastomeric seal 70 and a
bearing member 72. Axial retention of the crankshaft 66 is effected
through deforming ~he shaft at 74 and engaging a conventional
mechanical retainer 76 such as a star washer.
Crankshaft 66 is rotatively received an actuator plate or
member 78 which is retained for axial movement with the armature
80 of the solenoid 13. Outward movement (rightward as viewed in
Figure 3) of the actuator plate 78 is limited by a molded spacer
79 which includes a flat surface 81 which can abut an inward
facing surface 67 of the crankshaft 66 to establish a fixed minimum
distance between the surface 67 and the actuator plate 78 if the
spacer 79 and the plate 78 abut during operation, The freedom of
movement of plate 78 to and from the abutting position serves to
make operation relatively quiet. The solenoid 13 is secured to
the housing 12 and supported by a mounting plate 82 through which
are inserted a plurality of screws 84 (two shown), Apertures 85
are also formed through the plate 82 to permit mounting the valve
10 to a dishwasher body, The described mounting arrangement insures
satisfactory alignment of the solenoid 13 and the inlet housing
thereby further reducing noise in operating the solenold. A
conically formed biasing spring 86 is grounded between the
actuator plate 78 and the mounting plate 82.
OPERATION _ THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The valve 10 is illustrated in the drawing Figures 1-3 in
the closed position. During operation of the dishwasher, fluid
is supplied to the inlet passage 28 formed in inlet housing 14
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at a static pressure of approximately 7 psig. The conical spring
86 exerts a force sufficient to maintain the poppet member 40 in
the closed position against this pressure.
To open the valve an electrical potential is supplied across
the leads indicated at 88 of the solenoid 13. This draws the
armature 80 upward as viewed in Figure 1. This in turn moves the
actuator plate 78 upward against the force of the spring 86 and
imparts a clockwise motion to the crankshaft 66 as viewed in
Figure 1. This motion is imparted to the flapper plate 44 through
the drive apertures 62, resulting in counterclockwise movement of
the poppet member 40 as viewed in Figure 2. When the armature 80
attains its full upward position, the poppet member 40 is moved to
a position substantially within the valve chamber 36, permitting
substantially unrestricted flow through the valve. Fluid with
entrained debris then moves through the straight passage 28a and
the converging passage 28b increasing velocity as it passes through
that passage and the orifice 30 to the flow cavity 34. It then
passes through converging pàssage 38b into the straight passage 38a
formed in the outlet housing 16 and passes out of the valve. This
straight through flow with the venturi effect caused by the con-
figuration of the passages tends to permit the straightening of
elongated debris ob~ects such as bones and toothpicks and reduces
the tendency of the valve to clog especially in flow cavity 34 and
valve cavity 36.
To close the valve the electrical potential at 88 is removed
and the conical spring ô6 returns the poppet member 40 to the
closed position through operation of the actuator plate 78, the
crankshaft 66 and the flapper plate 44 in the reverse of the
operation previously described. In closing, the elastomeric sealing
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107700~
element 42 is permitted to self center with respect to the valve
seat 32 by the cooperation of the opposed spherical surfaces 48
and 58 on the sealing element 42 and the flapper plate 44,
respectively.
While the economical contaminant tolerant dishwasher drain
valve of the present invention has been described in only one
embodiment others are possible without departing from the scope of
the attached claims. For example, the use of the invention valve
in a dishwasher environment is described for illustrating purposes
only, in addition the direction of flow described herein from inlet
passage 28 to outlet passage 38 may be reversed without departing
from the scope of the invention.
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