The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 23, 2018
Filed:
Nov. 13, 2017
Flowserve Management Company, Irving, TX (US);
Kent Woolf, Springville, UT (US);
Kenneth Beatty, Spanish Fork, UT (US);
Brent Andrew Lingwall, Spanish Fork, UT (US);
Michael P. Yost, Santaquin, UT (US);
Flowserve Management Company, Irving, TX (US);
Abstract
A valve positioner monitors a valve stem position by remotely sensing a magnet attached to a coupler shaft that does not penetrate a sealed enclosure surrounding the positioner. A torsion spring, which can be helical or spiral, concentrically surrounds the shaft and is fixed to the shaft and frictionally coupled to a fixed surface by a clutch ring that coaxially surrounds the spring and is vertically pressed against the fixed surface. The torsion spring thereby suppresses backlash, vibration, and chatter by maintaining a torsional force on the shaft. The clutch ring can include a notch or slot cooperative with a key tab rotationally fixed to the coupler shaft so as to limit a range of rotation of the coupler shaft. The positioner is rendered compact by the concentric arrangement of its elements, so that embodiments can be used in place of legacy positioners.