Honeywell International Inc.

Taco, Inc.

Sparco Inc.

Robert W Castle

Benno Lebkuchner

A valve actuating device is provided for opening and closing a valve of the type having a valve housing, a valve member sealingly engageable with a valve seat formed in the valve housing, and a valve stem attached to the valve member for moving the valve member between a closed position and an open position. The valve actuating device includes a housing which is attachable to the valve housing of the valve, a motor mounted on the housing, a pinion gear which is coupled to the motor by a shaft, the pinion gear being drivable by the motor via the shaft. The device further has a rack including a body having an end portion which is engageable with the valve stem of the valve and a longitudinal cutout along a side of the rack. The rack is moveable between a first position in which the valve is in its open position and a second position in which the end portion of the rack engages the valve stem for maintaining the valve stem in its closed position. The device further includes a rack segment slidably mounted within the longitudinal cutout of the rack, the rack member having a length which is less than a length of the longitudinal cutout, the pinion gear engaging the rack member for slidably moving the rack segment between a top and a bottom of the longitudinal cutout. When the rack segment engages the bottom of the cutout, the rack segment moves the rack to the second position for closing the valve. The device also includes a spring mechanism for biasing the rack in the first position.

Valve actuating device having a reduced impact operating mechanism

A valve actuating device for opening and closing a valve is disclosed. The valve has a valve housing, a valve member sealingly engageable with a valve seat formed in the valve housing and a valve stem attached to the valve member for moving the valve member from an open position to a closed position, the valve member being biased to the open position. The valve actuating device includes a housing which is constructed to be attachable to the valve housing of the valve, a bidirectional motor mounted on the housing and a pinion gear which is coupled to the motor by a shaft, the pinion gear being drivable by the motor via the shaft. The device further includes a rack including a body having an end portion which is engageable with the valve stem of the valve and a side portion having a number of teeth thereon for meshing with teeth of the pinion gear, the rack being moveable, by the motor driving the pinion gear, between a first position in which the valve is in its open position and a second position in which the end portion of the rack engages the valve stem for maintaining the valve stem in its closed position.

Motorized valve actuating device

An automatic flow control valve for maintaining a predetermined output flow rate in response to a varying pressure differential across the valve has an orifice element, an occluding element and a spring each placed at least partially within a valve housing. The orifice element has a fluid port at a fixed and predetermined distance from an alignment end of the orifice element. The occluding element has an occluding region at a fixed and predetermined position relative to an alignment end of the occluding element. The spring extends along a longitudinal axis of the valve housing and the length of the spring in the absence of fluid flow is predetermined. In use, fluid flows longitudinally between the fluid port and the alignment end of the occluding element. This causes the alignment end of the orifice element to be aligned with one end of the compression spring and the alignment end of the occluding element to be aligned with a second end of the spring. This results in a predetermined alignment of the fluid port with the occluding region. In addition, the occluding element and first orifice element are shaped and positioned to move axially relative to one another in response to a pressure differential across the fluid port of the first orifice element, causing the occluding region to move past the fluid port to vary the occlusion of the fluid port. There results a predetermined relationship between pressure differential and occlusion of the fluid port.

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Pawtucket, RI, United States of America

Robert W Castle