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:
Jul. 24, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 05, 1999
John J. Love, St. Louis, MO (US);
Mike C. Santinanavat, Chesterfield, MO (US);
Emerson Electric Co., St. Louis, MO (US);
Abstract
An improved slow opening gas valve providing for continuous gradual and smooth opening of the gas valve includes an expansible auxiliary chamber connected to an expansible control chamber by a metering orifice. The expansible auxiliary chamber slows expansion of the expansible control chamber, thereby slowing opening of the gas valve and allowing gas to ignite at a lower pressure with a much less audible sound. The gas valve is provided with a normally closed valve member for controlling flow of gas through the gas valve and a diaphragm forms a movable wall of the expansible control chamber that is operable upon expansion of the chamber to move the valve member to an open position. The expansible auxiliary chamber also comprises a movable diaphragm to control the opening of the gas valve and provide gas flow gradually and smoothly. In an alternate embodiment, a gas valve is configured to provide an initial gas flow through a bypass orifice in the closed valve member, which enables ignition of the gas at an optimum gas pressure instantly, followed by a gradual and smooth opening of the valve member. This arrangement provides a “step” function followed by the desired slow opening of the valve member.