Such valves in general and particularly handwheels are used to move a valve cone between various adjustment positions, an indication of the present position being indicated at the same time.

Known handwheels, used for this purpose, meet the basic functional requirements in said respects.

However, they are impaired by several deficiencies and drawbacks. Thus, the adjustment position is often indicated in an ambiguous way, i. e. it is either not clear what is a whole number or what is a decimal and/or the positions of the numerals present difficulties at least for rapid reading One is of course not used to see these numerals above each other but adjacent each other. Additional text, if any, and other symbols on the handwheel may further complicate the reading, if they are positioned in other (different) directions.

Another problem may consist of the fact, that the indication means may be unintentionally displaced and/or end up in an intermediate position, which may result in misinterpretations, i. e. during a change to an adjacent number. Another drawback may consist of the fact, that the indication only is visual and not audible and/or sensible. Thus, the handwheel may be positioned in mounting positions difficult to access. Finally, different materials are often used for different components and/or too many components are used, which may make the manufacture and the mounting more expensive and may complicate a possible recycling, and the life of the handwheel may be limited as well as its sensitivity as to interruptions of service.

The purpose of the present invention is to, in order to avoid as well as counteract the above- mentioned deficiencies and drawbacks, improve and develop the known valves and handwheels respectively in this field.

This purpose is attained according to the present invention by means of a valve and a handwheel respectively of the type set forth in the introduction, which is characterized by what is set forth in the characterizing clause of claim 1.

Additional characterizing features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which show a few preferred but not limiting embodiments. The drawings show in detail in:

Fig. 1 a diametrical longitudinal section through a valve according to the invention, with a handwheel according to the invention along section line A-A in Fig. 5; Fig. 2 the handwheel according to Fig. 1 to a larger scale; Figs. 3 and 4 perspective views of the handwheel according to Fig. 1 from below and from above; Fig. 5 a planar view from above (from outside) of an upper part of the handwheel; Fig. 6 a diametrical axial cutting along section line A-A through the upper part of the handwheel according to Fig. 5; Fig. 7 a'sectional view along section line B-B in Fig. 5 with a partial magnification; Fig. 8 the upper part of the handwheel according to Fig. 5, seen from below; Figs. 9,10, 11 and 12 a bottom part of the handwheel shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in a diametrical axial section and from above and from below and laterally respectively; and Figs. 13,14 and 15 a full revolution wheel, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in views from left and from right and laterally respectively.

In the drawings a valve 1 according to the invention is shown in its entirety. It comprises a handwheel according to the invention, which in its entirety is designated 2, a spindle 3 and a spacing piece 4, to which parts the handwheel is attached, as well as a top piece 5, in which the spindle is guided, a valve body 6, disposed at one spindle end, and a valve housing 7, which supports all the components and has a seat 8 for said valve body, which seat is disposed in a diaphragm 9 between an inlet 10 and an outlet 11. The fall in pressure and the flow via the valve seat can be measured via seats 12 and 13 for measuring nipples (not shown), which seats are disposed on both sides of said diaphragm and connected to the inlet and the outlet respectively, a measuring equipment (not shown) being connected to said nipples.

The very general function of the valve is such, that a rotary motion of the handwheel allows the spindle with its valve body to approach and retreat from respectively the seat, during which motion entire turns or revolutions and portions of a revolution and consequently the present check position are visually indicated on the handwheel, the distance of which from the seat remaining unchanged.

Wheel 2 according to the invention comprises three main components, i. e. a bottom part 14, a full revolution wheel 15, mounted in said bottom part, and an upper part 16, which surrounds said bottom part and has an integrated dowel 17. Additional components may be a check bolt 18 and an escutcheon plate 19, which superposes the outer side of end wall 41 of said upper part.

Bottom part 14 includes a circular base plate 20, the periphery of which is formed by a short, radial holding flange 21, which preferably at its top is provided with a bevel 33, inside which the base plate all around is angled in an axial direction downwards or in a direction outwards from the wheel to a short neck 22, to which also all around a radially outwardly directed limiting flange 23 is attached, from which flange 23 on a location on the upper side a boss or the like 34 projects.

The base plate has a central circular access opening 24. The material adjacent this opening forms a stop edge 25, designed to limit the insertion movement of said spacing piece 4 between the handwheel and top piece 5. This spacing piece is formed to a bushing, the end of which, which faces the handwheel, comprises an outer flange 27, which is surrounded by a seat 28, which projects from the base plate downwardly or outwardly and concentrically surrounds flange 23, which seat in a few places along its periphery suitably is slotted in an axial direction in order to form tongues 29 having claws 30, which will grasp flange 27 and hold the base plate on said spacing piece. The seat and possibly also the tongues and the claws respectively preferably are provided with an axial inner grooving 31, which matches a corresponding axial outer grooving 32 in flange 27 in order to guarantee a secure and a rotation-proof insertion of the base plate onto the spacing piece. Instead of the spacing piece another valve part, e. g. the upper part, can of course be used, entirely or partly.

Also, the means for securing the base plate to the valve can be designed in another way ; only the bottom part is mounted, in a rotation-proof way, on the valve or on a part of the valve, e. g. the spacing piece or the like.

From the base plate a cylinder 35 extends all the way up to the end wall of the upper part, which cylinder adjacent the end wall is changed into an outwardly directed scale flange 36, free end edge 37 of which suitably is extended somewhat upwards to abut said end side, a scale 38, disposed in the scale flange, e. g. from 0 to 10 with a decimal division between the numbers, bearing on the end side, an abrasion being avoided. At 0 on said scale a spike 39 projects radially inwards from the scale flange. This spike is designed to move full revolution wheel 15, described in more detail below, one number further on in a positive and a negative direction respectively, when the wheel passes the spike. Within the area with spike 39 cylinder 35 may have a wall opening 40, which only is important from a tool technical point of view for the design of the spike.

On the bottom part, designed in this way, said upper part 16 is inserted, which, in addition to end wall 41 and dowel 17, projecting from it, has a grab wall 42, which is peripherally connected to the end wall and is mainly axially directed. Grab-friendly beads or the like 43 may be integrated with the grab wall and/or the end wall. Escutcheon plate 19, suitably made of a transparent plastic

material, may be inserted into a flattened depression 44 in the end wall and superpose/protect various information, e. g. type designations and manufacturer symbols, which can be printed on the end wall or the lower side of the escutcheon plate or on a separate frame. The escutcheon plate has a central opening 45, which superposes a central opening 46 in the end wall with a continuation through the entire dowel 17, where that part of the opening, which is turned away from the end wall, is provided with an inner thread 47, in which said check bolt 18 is guided, which at its end, which is turned towards the end wall, is provided with a matching outer thread 48 and which suitably is designed with a through hole, preferably a hexagon hole 49, designed to allow a tool to be inserted through the escutcheon plate, the end wall and the dowel opening and allow a rotation of the bolt to allow it to, with its stop end, turned away from the end wall, project outwards a desired distance in order to define the maximum opening position of the spindle. On the outer side the free end of dowel 17 is provided with a toothing 50, designed to be inserted into a matching toothing 51 in the spindle end, turned towards the wheel, subsequent to joining the dowel and the spindle to each other, relative movements between these parts being prevented.

The inner side of grab wall 42 is at least in a few locations adjacent the free end provided with barbs 52, to be snapped in below holding flange 21, when the upper part is pressed onto the bottom part.

The barbs form a bevel 53 towards the free end edge of the grab wall. Also, the last-mentioned end edge is provided with a sensor scale 54, which comprises radially directed grooves, which correspond to the fine graduation of scale 38. The grooves suitably do not reach the outer side of the grab wall and cooperate with said boss or the like 34, which is designed, when the upper part is rotated in relation to the bottom part, to noticeably and/or audibly jump into an adjacent groove and to allow a counting of the noticeable and/or audible"clicks"and in this way, e. g. starting from a maximally adjusted opening position or from the closing position, obtain or calculate a new adjustment position for the valve body without seeing the adjustment of the handwheel, which is a distinct advantage for e. g. narrow mounting positions. The described and shown design of the connection between the bottom part and the upper part will result in a advantageous structural elasticity, which guarantees a distinct snap indication. This arrangement can of course also be turned around, the boss or the like being positioned at the free end edge of the grab wall and the sensor scale at limitation flange 23.

From the inner side of end wall 41 a fork-shaped holder 55 projects parallel to dowel 17 and at a short distance from it, which holder is positioned in a plane, which is parallel to the dowel. The holder has two claws 56, the free ends of which are directed toward each other, and which claws consequently jointly with the holder base encircles more than 180°, suitably 200°. Inner side 57 of

the claws has, according to a preferred embodiment, a polygonal shape, the entry to the inner sides comprising diverging sides 58, which facilitate the insertion of full revolution wheel 15 with its spindle 67, which according to the last-mentioned preferred embodiment in profile also has a polygonal shape with an engagement in relation to the inner side of the claws. Thus, the spindle of the full revolution wheel is held after the snap-in between the claws in an engagement position, which only can be overcome with a certain force and which to a high degree prevents a dead center from being occupied and maintained, i. e. a position between two engagements after each other, which latter position is tantamount to an indication position between two full revolution indications after each other. The number of corners on the spindle corresponds to the number of full revolutions to be indicated, e. g. 10.

The function of said polygonal design may also be carried out by other handwheel parts, e. g. one of the axial flanges described below and the collars of the dowel and the inner side of the end wall respectively. E. g. a boss or the like on one part may in this case cooperate with a scale of recesses on the other part, if not also in this case one part has a polygonal design.

Spindle 67 of full revolution wheel 15 has a length, which corresponds to the thickness of holder 55, and is mounted in the holder by means of a circular flange 59 between the holder and the dowel with a thickness, which roughly corresponds to the distance between these parts. At the other spindle end a thicker circular scale flange 60 with a scale 61 of e. g. 0-9 is mounted, the numbers on the standing flange being readable. The scale flange can have a cavity 62 on that side, which is turned away from the dowel, in order to form an axial collar, the free edge zone of which in a radial direction is provided with teeth 63 and between these teeth left openings 64, one between each pair of two numbers after each other on scale 61. When spike 39 passes the full revolution wheel, the upper part of which being rotated, the handwheel will with an opening collide with the spike, which will make the handwheel rotate with a division, the next number being fed forward in a positive or negative direction depending on the rotation direction of the upper part. The shaping of said spindle and holder is important in order to complete the change from one revolution indication to the next one as quickly and securely as possible. This is important, because the full revolution wheel will contact the spike only during a negligible part of a revolution. In case this contact and the results thereof respectively is unsatisfactory, the indication of all the remaining large portion of the revolution will be impaired.

The recolution indication takes place in a window 65 in end wall 41, which within the area of the scale flange can be limited by ribs 66, which project upwards from the inner side of the end walls

and which with the same form abut the scale flange or by following the same contour surrounds it at a minimal distance.

Finally, the numbers and the divisions of decimal scale 3 8 appear in a window 26 with larger height, i. e. an extension in a peripheral direction, in the end wall, in a radial direction outside window 65. In this way it is possible to easily and without misunderstanding read whole numbers and division numbers adjacent each other and not above each other, which could result in the problems and risks mentioned in the introduction.

The three main parts of the handwheel, the upper part, the bottom part and the full revolution wheel, can be mass-produced, preferably of plastic materials, in a simple way and at relatively low costs. The full revolution wheel can simply and quickly be mounted in the upper part by means of a fully or semi-automatic equipment, the design of the spindle of the handwheel and the holder, besides an improved change from one indication to an adjacent one, also resulting in a guaranteed and quick snap-in to the functional position in the holder thanks to said shapings. Position securing means, not shown and described in detail, e. g. a groove or the like in flange 59, can be used to make the full revolution indication the desired one, already when the mounting is done. In a corresponding way the upper part and the bottom part can be joined to each other and the spike is available as a possible positioning agent. The snap-in is done automatically and subsequently these parts remain joined. The handwheel obtained in this way, which where appropriate is supplemented with said check bolt and said escutcheon plate, can subsequently simply and securely be fastened e. g. to and above the respective spacing piece of a valve by pressing the hand wheel with a desired rotation position onto said valve parts, the toothing of the dowel being inserted into the toothing of the spindle and finally the seat of the base plate with its tongues, claws and toothing in a rotation- proof way surrounds e. g. the spacing piece with an automatic insertion limitation. It is important to note, that besides the correct rotational position of the parts during the mounting no screwing or turning whatsoever is necessary, which to a high degree simplifies, speeds up and reduces the cost of the mounting of the handwheel and the attachment of it.

When the upper part of the handwheel, attached to the valve, is rotated, it will rotate jointly with the dowel, which moves the spindle and consequently also the valve body into a closing and opening direction respectively. At the same time the upper part of the handwheel is rotating in relation to the bottom part, which shows the present partial revolution position, i. e. tenths and hundredths of a revolution, in window 67, whereas the present full revolution number is visible in window 65. If the

full revolution wheel passes the spike, the full revolution wheel will be moved with one division to the next one and will show the following higher and lower number of revolutions respectively.

Such a handwheel according to the invention is also very advantageous for the environment, since all its main parts are made of plastic materials and consequently a dismounting during scrapping is unnecessary.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the accompanying drawings but can be modified and supplemented in an arbitrary fashion within the scope of the inventive idea and according to the following claims.