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:
May. 24, 1994
Filed:
Sep. 24, 1992
Gerald A Garwood, Jr, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Scott M Taylor, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Santa Barbara Research Center, Goleta, CA (US);
Abstract
A supply valve includes a first valve member formed with a plurality of ports which communicate with containers of different fluids, and a second valve member having a single port which communicates with an inlet of a chamber into which the fluids are selectively supplied. The second valve member sealingly and slidingly engages with the first valve member, and is movable by a computer-controlled motor drive relative thereto in two directions to positions in which the port of the second valve member communicates with the ports of the first valve member respectively. Each position has unique coordinates in the two directions such that the fluids can be selected in any sequence. In one embodiment, the first valve member is a cylinder having a bore with an axis and the second valve member is a piston which is coaxially received in the bore, and the two directions are rotation above the axis and translation along the axis respectively. In another embodiment, the first and second valve members are blocks having flat mating surfaces, and the two directions are translation parallel to the mating surfaces in two orthogonal directions respectively. Additional elongated parts may be provided into which cleaning fluid is supplied to clean the surfaces of the valve members during movement between the positions.