Harper-wyman Company

Charles J Schmitz

A proportional flow control valve includes an electromagnetic actuator which controls the displacement of an elongate member such as a leaf spring with respect to two or more fluid conveying apertures aligned with the member to achieve a fluid flow proportional to the current applied to the actuator. One portion of the member is displaced with respect to another portion of the member by the electromagnetic actuator in order to selectively open an outlet aperture and one or more of the inlet apertures occluded by the member, achieving a desired fluid flow. A firm-off stopper for occluding the output aperture may be attached near the point of connection between the actuator and the member to assure that the flow through the valve is completely terminated when the valve is in the 'off' position. The member may be fixed at one end or it may be free at two ends with a selectively positionable intermediate weight arranged to adjust the rate of displacement of the ends of the member with respect to the apertures. In one embodiment, a tapered variable flow valve stem, attached to the member between the stopper and the pivot point of the member, is arranged to variably occlude an inlet aperture according to the position of the member.

Proportional flow control valve

A control arrangement is provided for a self-cleaning oven or similar thermostatically controlled apparatus. The self-cleaning oven in one arrangement is of the type that includes a manual latching arrangement operated by a handle for latching a pivotally mounted front door of the oven. The self-cleaning oven also includes a temperature control circuit having a sensing element arranged to sense the temperature of the oven cavity. The oven temperature control circuit is responsive to manually operable selector arrangements of the oven including oven temperature and oven mode selection arrangements. In one arrangement, the oven controls are provided by a rotatable selector control. The control arrangement includes a locking arrangement for the door latch to automatically lock the door latch arrangement whenever the oven door latch is closed and to unlock the door latch predetermined operating modes when the oven temperature is below a predetermined temperature. The oven thermostat control circuitry controls operation of both the locking arrangement and the heat generating apparatus of the oven such as heating elements or gas burners. In other arrangements, the control arrangement is utilized with apparatus having a basic process function controller to provide locking control for a closure device.

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Rolling Meadows, IL, United States of America

Charles J Schmitz