| WO/2005/113418 | KEG TAP ADAPTER WITH FLOW RESTRICTION |
| WO/2004/009487 | TAP FOR DRINKS, COMPRISING A ROTARY SLIDE VALVE |
| JP3640693 | VALVE FOR POURING PORTABLE TYPE BEER |
DE BEER, Leon, Le Roux (Arcadia, 0083 Pretoria, ZA)
FOURIE, Eugene (57 Herbert Baker Street, Groenkloof, 0181 Pretoria, ZA)
DE BEER, Leon, Le Roux (Arcadia, 0083 Pretoria, ZA)
Claims
1. A valve seat for a liquid dispensing valve having a valve member which cooperates with the valve seat to regulate fluid flow through the valve, said seat having one or more nick in a sealing portion thereof so that when the valve member is urged against the seat, flow restricting leakage is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion.
2. A valve seat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the nick is in the form of a substantially v-shaped notch.
3. A valve seat as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the valve member is urged progressively against the valve seat so that as the pressure urging the valve member against the valve seat increases and the valve member and/or valve seat are deformed, fluid leakage is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion.
4. A valve seat as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flow rate through the nick is reduces as the pressure urging the valve member against the seat increases and the valve member deforms to reduce the flow area of the nick.
5. A valve seat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nick is sized, shaped, and dimensioned to permit a desired leakage quantity in the range from 5 to 10 litres per hour.
6. A valve seat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the nick is any desired shape. δ
7. A liquid dispensing apparatus which includes:
a valve having a valve member actuated by a diaphragm, and a valve seat having one or more nicks in a sealing portion thereof so that when the valve member is urged progressively against the seat, as line pressure increases, leakage flow is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion; and
a control means which actuates the valve.
8. A liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the control means is linked to a pre-payment system whereby a payment means reader reads a payment means and determines whether the payment means bears any credit and the valve should be actuated to dispense a fluid at normal dispensing pressure or whether the payment means has no credit in which case the valve is closed and dispensing is permitted only at the leakage rate.
9. A liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the control means is linked to a flow meter with which the dispensed liquid is metered.
10. A liquid dispensing apparatus, said apparatus having a self cleaning function for clearing particles therefrom, said apparatus including:
a valve having a valve member actuated by a diaphragm, and a valve seat having one or more nicks in a sealing portion thereof so that when the valve member is urged against the seat it is deformed and leakage is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion;
a flow meter for metering the flow of liquid passing through the valve; and a control means which actuates the valve at predetermined time to normal or full flow condition which is sufficient to flush particles from the valve seat and/or flow control port, however, if no flow is detected then the valve is maintained in the actuated open state until normal or full flow is detected, whereafter the valve is shut when a predetermined time of normal flushing flow has passed.
11. An insert for a fluid dispensing apparatus, said apparatus including:
a valve having a valve member actuated by a diaphragm, and a valve seat against which the valve member seats when the valve is in a shut position thereby to inhibit the flow of fluid through the valve; and
one or more nicks provided on an edge portion of the insert,
wherein the insert is located within a flow port of the valve such that the nicked edge portion of the insert stands proud of the valve seat so that when the valve member is urged towards and against the valve seat, the nicked upper portion causes the valve member to deform at the nick thereby permitting a leakage flowrate therethrough.
12. An insert as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the nick is sized, shaped, and dimensioned to reflect the desired leakage quantity.
13. An insert as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the nick is a V-grooved notch in the valve seat.
14. An insert as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the nick is any desired shape.
15. An insert as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 14, which is in the form of a ring having an outer diameter selected to snugly fit within the inner diameter of a flow port of the liquid dispensing apparatus.
16. An insert as claimed in claim 15, which has a convex inner surface so that the flowport with the insert has a venturi effect tuned to provide a desired flowrate through the flowport.
17. An insert as claimed in claim 15 or claim 16, which is removable thereby restoring normal, single flow against pressure curve, liquid dispensing apparatus operation in which the valve member seats against the valve seat to shut off flow through the valve.
18. A valve seat for a liquid dispensing valve as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described and illustrated.
19. A liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, substantially as herein described and illustrated.
20. An insert for a fluid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , substantially as herein described and illustrated.
21. A liquid dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 10, substantially as herein described and illustrated.
22. A new valve seat for a liquid dispensing valve, a new liquid dispensing apparatus, or a new insert for a liquid dispensing apparatus substantially as herein described. |
LIQUID DISPENSING APPARATUS
Field of the Invention
The invention provides a liquid dispensing apparatus for dispensing a metered quantity of a liquid such as water.
Background to the Invention
In South Africa, it appears from a recent High Court judgment that every person, regardless of their ability to pay is entitled to a supply of at least 50 liters of water per day per person. After this quantity has been dispensed the extra water used must be paid for.
In the event of non-payment the authorities may, after due process, cut off or restrict the flow of water. Cutting off the water supply is seen as (i) unconstitutional as every person has a right to water and (ii) if the water is cut off it may pose a health risk not only to the user but to the community at large.
Thus there exists a need for a meter that will not fully shut off after a set quantity has been dispensed but switch over to adjustable restricted or lifeline flow of water which is metered and must typically be paid for. Furthermore to be equitable i.e. treat all people placed on a restricted flow the same, the restricted flow must virtually not change due to a change in line pressure. It is also known that small particles in the water can gradually block an orifice, thus reducing or even cutting off the flow. Thus, the flow restrictor
should be self cleaning i.e. must from time to time automatically permit obstructions to be flushed out to restore the selected minimum flow.
It is with the above in mind that the inventor proposes the following invention.
Summary of the Invention
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a valve seat for a liquid dispensing valve having a valve member which co-operates with the valve seat to regulate fluid flow through the valve, said seat having one or more nick in a sealing portion thereof so that when the valve member is urged against the seat, flow restricting leakage is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion.
The nick may be in the form of a substantially v-shaped notch.
The valve member may be urged progressively against the valve seat so that as the pressure urging the valve member against the valve seat increases and the valve member and/or valve seat are deformed, fluid leakage is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion.
The flow rate through the nick may reduce as the pressure urging the valve member against the seat increases and the valve member deforms to reduce the flow area of the nick.
The nick can be sized, shaped, and dimensioned to reflect the desired leakage quantity, for example, equivalent to 5 or 10 litres per hour.
The nick may be a V-grooved notch in the valve seat.
The nick may be any desired shape.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a liquid dispensing apparatus which includes:
a valve having a valve member actuated by a diaphragm, and a valve seat having one or more nicks in a sealing portion thereof so that when the valve member is urged progressively against the seat, as line pressure increases, leakage flow is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion; and
a control means which actuates the valve.
The control means may be linked to a pre-payment system whereby a payment means reader reads a payment means and determines whether the payment means bears any credit and the valve should be actuated to dispense a fluid at normal dispensing pressure or whether the payment means has no credit in which case the valve is closed and dispensing is permitted only at the leakage rate.
The control means may be linked to a flow meter with which the dispensed liquid is metered.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a liquid dispensing apparatus, said apparatus having a self cleaning function for clearing particles therefrom, said apparatus including:
a valve having a valve member actuated by a diaphragm, and a valve seat having one or more nicks in a sealing portion thereof so that when the valve member is urged against the seat it is deformed and leakage is permitted at the nick in the sealing portion;
a flow meter for metering the flow of liquid passing through the valve; and
a control means which actuates the valve at predetermined time to normal or full flow condition which is sufficient to flush particles from the valve seat and/or flow control port, however, if no flow is detected then the valve is maintained in the actuated open state until normal or full flow is detected, whereafter the valve is shut when a predetermined time of normal flushing flow has passed.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided an insert for a fluid dispensing apparatus, said apparatus including:
a valve having a valve member actuated by a diaphragm, and a valve seat against which the valve member seats when the valve is in a shut position thereby to inhibit the flow of fluid through the valve; and
one or more nicks provided on an edge portion of the insert,
wherein the insert is located within a flow port of the valve such that the nicked edge portion of the insert stands proud of the valve seat so that when the valve member is urged towards and against the valve seat, the nicked upper portion causes the valve member to deform at the nick thereby permitting a leakage flowrate therethrough.
The nick can be sized, shaped, and dimensioned to reflect the desired leakage quantity.
The nick may be a V-grooved notch in the valve seat.
The nick may be any desired shape.
The insert may be in the form of a ring having an outer diameter selected to snugly fit within the inner diameter of the flow port.
The insert may have a convex inner surface so that the flowport with the insert has a venturi effect tuned to provide a desired flowrate through the flowport. The tuning has the result that the amount of water delivered per time interval remains essentially constant over the operating pressure range of the fluid dispensing apparatus.
The insert may be removable thereby restoring normal (a single flow against pressure curve) dispensing apparatus operation in which the valve member seats against the valve seat to shut off flow through the valve.
The invention may be applied to a liquid dispensing apparatus such as that described in International Patent Application WO99/56101. For purposes of understanding the present application reference may be made to this International Patent Application.
Description of Embodiments of the Invention
The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.
In the drawings,
Reference numeral 10 broadly indicates a water dispensing apparatus of the invention.
The apparatus 10 includes a valve seat 12 which has a nick in the form of a notch 14 in a sealing portion 16 thereof so that when a valve member 18 is urged against the seat 12 it is deformed and leakage is permitted at the notch 14.
The notch 14 is a v-notch which is sized and dimensioned to reflect the desired leakage quantity, for example, equivalent to 5 or 10 litres per hour.
In another embodiment, the above is achieved by using an insert 20 located within a flow port 22 of the valve 11 , which insert has a notched upper portion 26 such that the notched edge portion 26 of the insert 20 stands proud of the valve seat 12 so that when the valve member 18 is urged towards the valve seat 12, the notched upper portion 26 maintains a notched 24 opening in the seal between the seat 12 and the valve member 18 thereby permitting a leakage flowrate therethrough.
The insert 20 is in the form of a ring having an outer diameter selected to snugly fit within the inner diameter of the flow port 22. The bore of the insert 20 may be straight or convex (to form a venturi). The insert 20 being removable thereby restoring normal
valve 11 operation in which the valve member 18 seats against the valve seat 12 to shut off flow through the valve 11.
Either of the above two configurations can provide for a self cleaning function, in which the valve 11 has the valve member 18 actuated by a diaphragm and a flow meter 32 meters the flow of liquid passing through the valve 11 and a control means 34 actuates the valve 11 at a predetermined time to normal or full flow condition which is sufficient to flush particles from the valve seat 12 and/or flow control port 22, however, if no flow is detected then the valve 11 is maintained in the actuated open state until normal or full flow is detected, whereafter the valve 11 is shut when a predetermined time of normal flow has passed.
Next Patent: DEVICE FOR THE INDEPENDENT ADJUSTMENT OF A LEAF OF A WINDOW OR OF A DOOR WITH A SPRING-LOAD DEVICE