Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DESCRIPTION
TITLE: VALVE SEAL
.
1 This invention relates to valves, and has particular applicatlon to
valve members for use within valves such as faucets, screw down
valves and the like, ~or liquids or gases.
Hitherto, valves for fluid control have generally utilised replace-
able annular washers of a hard but somewhat resilient material, such
as red fibre nylon, rubber or the like, adapted to seal against a
ridged valve sea-t. Such washers deteriorate in use, and reguire
higher and higher torque to effect a seal, so that the ridged seat
cuts into the ~ace o~ the washer. This is a problem encountered
with conventional domestic faucets. It is also a problem with
larger valves, as valve spanners are often used to exert high torque
to close off the valve as the washer deteriorates. This often
damages the valve stem threads or valve body, as well as seriously
lS damaging the washer~ and often exacerbates the problem.
In seeking to overcome this problem~ many attempts have been made to
mount an "0" ring in a cage, to effect a seal.
Examples of such "0" ring seals are shown in the following patents:
U.S.P. 2,417,494, U.S.P. ~,658,716, U.S L P. 2,678,187,
U.~.P. 2,89~,718, U.~.P. 2,g71,090~ U.S.P. 3,198,481,
U.S.P. 3,612,479, U.S~P 3,996,965, Belglan P.N. 621,664,
U.K.P. 884,529.
U.S.P. 2417494 and U.5.P. 2S78187 teach the use of an "0" ring as the
main sealing element clamped in the face of a valve member by means
of a screw and a clamping member.
Figure 3 o~ the Belgian Patent teaches the use of an "0" ring clamped
within a cavity by a conical headed fastener and provides a relief
passage 8 between the cavity and the rear of the valve member. In
the two U.S. Patents first mentioned~ the "0" ring is allowed to
protrude from the sealing face of the valve member. In U.K. Patent
884529, the "0" ring is held within a cavity, of such a size that
the "O" ring is maintained within the cavity and does not
protrude therefrom. This suffers from the disadvantage that
dirt may be trapped within the cavity crea-ting damage to -the
"O" ring with consequent risk oE loss o seal
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
. . .
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved valve
me~ber which obviates the disadvantages of the conventional flat
washer arrangement.
In one aspect, the invention provides a valve member including
a body having a sealing face, a cavity in said sealing face, a
toroidal resilient sealing member positioned in said cavity and
having a portion protruding from said sealing face, a wedge
member adapted to hold said toroidal sealing memberin place,
said wedge member being connected to said body by internal
securing means, whereby said cavity is closed off by said
toroidal sealing means being squeezed between said body and said
wedge member.
In the specification, -the expression "internal securing means"
as applied to a valve member means any securing means which is
not accessible to the fluid passageway in the valve. Accordingly,
it excludes such arrangements as screws or bolts around which
the fluid must flow, as in U.S. Patent No. 2,6787187 referred
to above, for example, but includes such things as snap-fit or
pop-fit arrangements, internally threaded members, frictionally
held members, glued or welded members.
Other aspects of this invention, which should be considered in
all its novel aspects, will become apparent from the following
description which is given by way of example only, with refer-
ence to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a schematic view of a faucet, and a pre-
ferred valve member.
Figure 2 is a cross section through a first valve member, having
a snap-fit connection between a wedge member and the body of the
valve member.
Figure 3 shows an alternative valve member in which the wedge
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member has a -threaded blind aperture connected to a threaded
spigot protruding through the body of the valve member.
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1 ~5Lure 4 illustrates a valve member suitable ~or connection to a
valve having a non-rising spindle arrangement.
Figure 5 illustrates an alternative snap-fit connection between the
wedge member and body of the valve member.
Turning now to Figure 1, a conventional faucet 10 is illustrated
schematically, and contains a valve member 13 in the form of a
~umper, which rests in the end of a vertically movable spindle 14
to thus close off communication between an inlet 11 and an outlet
12. The valve member 13 has a sealing face 15 adapted to seal
against a flat seat 16.
Protruding from the sealing face of the valve member is a resilient
toroidal sealing member in the form o~ a resilient "0" ring, which
is trapped in the valve member. Th~s "0" ring, is held in place
by a central wedge member 17 in such a fashion that the "0" ring is
squeezed between the psripheral sides of a cavity in the body, and
the edge of the wedge member thereby minimising the risk of liquid
entering the cavity from the sealing face. The wedge member 17
- is attached to the body of the valve member by internal securing
means, for example it may be glued, or welded to the internal face
of the cavity within the body in the case of a plastics material,
or connected thereto by an appropriate snap-fit ~astener, or threaded
fastener as shown in the following drawings.
Figure 2 illustrates a valve member 20 having a cavity 21 w~th an
undercut peripheral side wall 22, and a recess 23 adapted to receive
a barbed end 24 of a snap-fit wedging member 25. The body of the
valve member, and the wedging member are preferably formed of a
plastics material e.g, nylon or acetyl, which is sufficiently hard
to form a secure cage for a resilient "0" ring 26, but yet on the
other hand enables the barbed end o~ the wedge member to snap-fit
into the recessed 23.
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1 The wedge member 25 prePerably has sloping sides 28, which slope at
approximately 20 to the central axis oF the rearwardly facing splll
30 of the valve member. By this means, a resillent "0" ring 2G
can be held in place within a cavity 21, with the frus$o-conlcal
wedge member 25 squeezing the "0" ring against the undercut peri-
pheral side wall 22, so tha~ the "0" rlng is squeezed and partly
protrudes from the main sealing ~ace 31 of the valve ~ember. By
suitably shaping the peripheral side wall, it is possible to leave
a relieving portion within the cavity 21 between the "0" ring and
the wedge member 25.
Figure 3 shows an alternative arrangement in wh~ch a valve member
32 has a cage 33, and "0" rlng 34 within a cavity 35 in the cage,
and held in place by a central wedge member 36. Holding the
central wedge member 36 ~n place is a removable spill 379 having
a threaded sp~got 38 extending through an aperture 39 in the rear
of the cage, and into engagèment with a cQrresponding threaded
recess 40 within the wedge member 36. By this means, the spill
37 can be unscrewed ~rom the valve member 36 to replace the "0"
ring if requ7red. In addition, if a different size of spill is
required to fit a particular faucet, then the spill can be removed
and replaced by a spill of a different diameter, enabling economies
to be achieved in stock holding, by forming ~umpers for faucets,
having common cages and wedge members, but forming spllls of
different diameters, to enable ~umpers of the required dimensions
to be assembled when required. For example, different manufact-
urers produce ~" standard ~umpers with either ~" or 3/16"
diameter spllls.
The valve member of Figure 3 is preferably formed of metal, such
as bronze, monel or st~inless steel, whilst the "0" ring can be
formed of a resilient material such as rubber or viton.
Figure 4 shows a valve member 45 having a metal cage 46, a
resilient "0" ring 47, and a wedge member 48 formed of a
relatively hard plastics material such as nylon or acetyl,
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1 adapted to engage with a barbed spigot 49 o~ a non-rising splndle
member 50. By providing the barbed spigot 49 of metal~ it wlll
bite into and engage with the plastics wedye 48. Thus the barbed
spigot 49 ls of a harder material than the wedge 4a, whilst the
wedge 4~ is of a harder material than the resillent "0" ring ~7.
The non-rislng spindle member 40 can be o~ prismatlc shape, e.g.
a hexagon, and adapted to fit within a correspond~ng prismatic
recess in a ~aucet body, so that rotation o~ a threaded spindle
withln the prismatic member 50 will enable the spindle to rotate
without rising, but will a~fect upwards or downwards movement of
the prismatic member 50 thereby moving the valve member towards
or away from a valve seat.
Flgure 5 illustrates an alternative snap-fit arrangement in which
a valve mem~er 54 has a barbed central spigot 55 adapted to inter-
engage wlth a corresponding recess 56 within a central wedgingmember 57. The body 58 of the valve member is conveniently formed
as a Jumper having a central spill 59, integral therewith, and the
body 58 may be formed of metal or plastics with an appropriate
recess 60 in the sealing face thereof.
The central wedging member 57 is conveniently formed of a plastics
material which is harder than the resilient "0" ring 61, yet is
resilient enough to snap over the central barb 55. A suitable
material for the wedging member 57 is acetyl or nylon, or other
plastics material.
Whilst the valve member of this inventlon can he used with a con-
ventional ridged seat, it is preferred that it is used in combina-
tion with a ~lat seat. A flat seat is cheaper to produce than a
ridged seat. Moreover, the protr~ding nature of the resilient "0"
ring ayainst a ~lat seat~ will tend to minimise underwater shock,
when used in marine valves; and will assist in minimising noise of
the valve in operation. This is advantageous in naval use, where
the presence of the proturding resilient "0" ring will tend to
1 minimlse valve chatter, and hence minimise valve nolse from
reciprocating pumping machinery. The valve members of this
invention have been tested over a wide range~f pressures, and it
ls believed that the configuration of the central we~ge member
and the provision o~ internal securlng means, enables the "O"
ring to be securely held in place with mlnimal risk of pressure
build up within the cavity which would otherwise tend to cause
the "O" ring to pop out of the cavity as the valve was opened.
Finally, it will be appreciated that various alterations or modi-
fications may be made to the foregoing withou~ departing from the
scope of this inventlon as exemplified by the ~ollowing claims.
