Variable flow digital gas valve

Abstract

A variable flow rate gas control valve for use in consumer and commercial appliances is presented. The valve utilizes two or more solenoids to control the operating position of two different valve members whose orifices are sized in an exponential relationship with one another. By opening one or more of the valving members in various combinations, a variable flow rate of gaseous fuel may be controlled in integer multiple steps from full off to full on. The solenoid configurations may be in line, opposing, or symmetrical about an axis of the valve. The number of unique flow rates (F) is related to the number of solenoids (N) as F=2.sup.N. The relationship between the size (S) of the individual gas control orifices for each of the solenoids is related to N by the relationship S=2.sup.n1 for each individual gas control orifice (n) numbered 1 to N.

Claims

1. A variable flow digital gas valve, comprising: a housing defining an inlet and an outlet; at least two gas control orifices positioned in the housing between the inlet and the outlet to control fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet, each of the at least two gas control orifices being sized differently to allow a different flow therethrough; a solenoid coil assembly associated with each of the at least two gas control orifices, the solenoid coil assembly controlling a position of a valve seal to control fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet through its associated gas control orifice; and wherein each solenoid coil assembly is independently controllable such that 2.sup.N different flow rates are provided, where N is a total number of gas control orifices provided in the housing; wherein the at least two solenoid coil assemblies are mounted to the housing in an opposing configuration; and wherein at least one of the gas control orifices is formed as a stamped orifice cup, the stamped orifice cup being affixed in the housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional illustration of an embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention utilizing an opposing configuration;

(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional illustration of the embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve shown in FIG. 1 illustrating an operating mode thereof;

(4) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional illustration of the embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a further operating mode thereof;

(5) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional illustration of the embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve shown in FIG. 1 illustrating a still further operating mode thereof;

(6) FIG. 5 is cross-sectional illustration of an alternate embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention utilizing an in-line configuration;

(7) FIG. 6 is cross-sectional illustration of an alternate embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention utilizing three solenoid coil assemblies arranged in an in-line configuration;

(8) FIG. 7 is cross-sectional illustration of an alternate embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention utilizing three solenoid coil assemblies arranged in an opposing configuration;

(9) FIG. 8 is cross-sectional illustration of an alternate embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention utilizing four solenoid coil assemblies arranged in an opposing configuration; and

(10) FIG. 9 is cross-sectional illustration of an alternate embodiment of a variable flow digital gas control valve constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention utilizing four solenoid coil assemblies arranged in a symmetrical configuration.

(11) While the invention will be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(12) Turning now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a cross-sectional illustration of one embodiment of a variable flow digital gas valve 100 constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. As discussed above, such a variable flow digital gas valve 100 may find particular applicability in consumer and commercial appliances such as oven, clothes dryers, hot water heaters, fireplaces, etc. It should be noted, however, that while such operating environments aid in the understanding of the function and construction of such a valve, particular embodiments of the present invention are not so limited to that particular operating environment as will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description. As such, such descriptions should be taken by way of example and not by way of limitation.

(13) As may be seen from the cross-sectional illustration of FIG. 1, the variable flow digital gas valve 100 of this embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 102 to which are affixed multiple solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1 . . . N, where N is the total number of solenoid coil assemblies. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 includes two solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2. In the following description, the subscript for the constituent elements of the solenoid coil assemblies will not be used when the description pertains to each of such elements for all of the assemblies. When different operation requires, the subscripts will again be used to specifically identify which elements are being discussed.

(14) Each of the solenoid assemblies 104 control the position of a valve seal 108 relative to a valve seat 106 to control the flow of gaseous fuel through the valve 100. In the illustrated embodiment, a valve washer 110 is used to carry a valve spring 112, which positions the plunger 114 such that the valve seal 108 is seated against the valve seat 106 in a quiescent or un-energized position. In this embodiment, the quiescent state is off such that no gaseous fuel flows. Other embodiments may be configured to have the quiescent state be on such that the solenoid coil assembly 104 must be energized to close the valve seal 108 against the valve seat 106.

(15) As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the solenoid assembly 104 also includes a coil 116 and ferromagnetic frame 118. When the coil 116 is energized, the magnetic field generated thereby causes the plunger 114 to move against the force of the valve spring 112 to lift the valve seal 108 from the valve seat 106. This allows gaseous fuel to flow through the gas control orifice 120, which provides a flow of the gaseous fuel from the inlet 122 to the outlet 124 via the inlet gas manifold 126. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, a solenoid mounting seal 128 is used to close the inlet gas manifold 126 when the solenoid assembly 104 is connected to the housing 102. Embodiments of the present invention may use a single solenoid mounting seal 128 for each solenoid coil assembly 104, or may use a single solenoid mounting seal 128 for groups or sets of solenoid coil assemblies 104 as will be made apparent from the following description.

(16) As will be discussed in greater detail below, the amount of gas flowing from the inlet 122 to the outlet 124 is controlled by the number and configuration of the solenoid coil assemblies 104 that are energized and the relative size of the individual gas control orifices 120 associated therewith. Indeed, the size of the gas control orifice 120 of the valve seat 106 may be formed by machining the valve seat 106 as part of the housing 102 and drilling the gas control orifice 120 therethrough. In another embodiment the valve seat 106 including the gas control orifice 120 can be formed as a separate element or cup that may be installed into the housing 102 during the assembly process of the valve 100. In still another embodiment the valve seat 106 can be machined into the housing 102 and only the gas control orifice 120 can be formed as a separate element or cup that may be installed into the housing 102 during the assembly process of the valve 100. In these later embodiments, different operating characteristics may be achieved with a single housing 102 by simply changing the cups to have different sized gas control orifices 120 installed therein.

(17) Unique to the embodiments of the variable flow digital gas valve 100 of the present invention is the relationship between the number of solenoid assemblies 104 and the size of each of the gas control orifices 120 associated therewith. Specifically, each gas control orifice 120 associated with each solenoid coil assembly 104 is exponentially related to provide an expedientially increasing number of distinct flow rates available through the valve 100.

(18) Specifically, the number of unique flow rates (F) is related to the number of individual solenoid coil assemblies 104 (N) by the equation F=2.sup.N. This relationship holds so long as each of the gas control orifices 120 for each of the individual solenoid coil assemblies 104 is uniquely sized. In one embodiment, the relationship between the size (S) of the individual gas control orifices 120 for each of the individual solenoid coil assemblies 104 is also related to the number (N) of the solenoid coil assemblies 104 by the relationship S=2.sup.n1 for each gas control orifice numbered 1 to N.

(19) With these two relationships in mind, it can be seen that the embodiment of the valve 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 having two solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2 allows for four unique flow rates (including off) to be controlled through the valve 100. When the individual gas control orifices 120 are controlled based upon the above described relationship, the size of orifice 120.sub.1 may be described as 1, while the size of the orifice for the gas control orifice 120.sub.2 will be 2. Such a configuration uses the relative size or normalized size of the gas control orifice 120 as the relative or normalized flow rate. In such an embodiment the four flow rates of 0, 1, 2, and 3 are available and will be described below in relation to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

(20) Specifically, when both solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2 are deenergized or in their quiescent state as illustrated in FIG. 1, no gaseous fuel may flow from the inlet 122 to the outlet 124 because each of the valve seals 108.sub.1, 108.sub.2 are held against their associated valve seats 106.sub.1, 106.sub.2 by the force of their individual valve springs 112.sub.1, 112.sub.2.

(21) To change from a flow rate of 0 (off) to the minimum flow rate of 1, the coil 116.sub.1 is energized to retract the plunger 114.sub.1 against the force of the valve spring 112.sub.1, thereby removing the valve seal 108.sub.1 from the valve seat 106.sub.1. This allows gaseous fuel to flow from the inlet gas manifold 126 through the gas control orifice 120.sub.1, to the outlet 124. Since the gas control orifice 120.sub.1 is sized at a relative size of 1, the flow rate from the inlet 122 to the outlet 124 can be thought of as a flow rate of 1.

(22) To provide the next flow rate of 2, the solenoid coil 116.sub.1 is deenergized and the solenoid coil 116.sub.2 of the solenoid coil assembly 104.sub.2 is energized. This results in the valve seal 108.sub.1 being reseated on the valve seat 106.sub.1 under the force of the valve spring 112.sub.1 since the coil 116.sub.1 is no longer energized and producing a magnetic field. Conversely, the energization of the coil 116.sub.2 will generate a magnetic field that will withdraw the plunger 114.sub.2 such that the valve seal 108.sub.2 is withdrawn from the valve seat 106.sub.2. This allows gaseous fuel to flow from the inlet gas manifold 126 through the gas control orifice 120.sub.2 to the outlet 124 as illustrated in FIG. 3.

(23) To increase the flow rate through the valve 100 to its maximum relative flow of 3, both coils 116.sub.1, 116.sub.2 are energized to move the valve seals 108.sub.1, 108.sub.2 off of their associated valve seat 106.sub.1, 106.sub.2 as illustrated in FIG. 4. This allows gaseous fuel to flow from the inlet gas manifold 126 through both of the gas control orifices 120.sub.1, 120.sub.2 to the outlet 124.

(24) While the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 utilize an opposing mounting configuration of the solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 utilizes an inline configuration. While providing identical flow rate control as discussed above, this inline configuration only utilizes a single solenoid mounting seal 128. It should be noted, however, that other inline configurations may provide individual mountings for each individual solenoid coil assembly 104, each of which would then be sealed by an individual solenoid mounting seal 128 to prevent the inadvertent escape of gaseous fuel therethrough.

(25) The embodiment of the variable flow digital gas valve 100 illustrated in FIG. 6 utilizes three solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2, 104.sub.3, and provides a total of eight distinct flow rates (including off) in accordance with the relationship F=2.sup.3. The relative sizes of the gas control orifices 120.sub.1, 120.sub.2, 120.sub.3 are 1, 2, 4 in accordance with the relationship S=2.sup.n1 discussed above. As will now be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description, control of each of the individual solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2, 104.sub.3 can provide flow rates of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 as illustrated by Table 1, below:

(26) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Flow Rate Solenoid #1 Solenoid #2 Solenoid #3 0 OFF OFF OFF 1 ON OFF OFF 2 OFF ON OFF 3 ON ON OFF 4 OFF OFF ON 5 ON OFF ON 6 OFF ON ON 7 ON ON ON

(27) As illustrated in FIG. 7, a three solenoid coil assembly embodiment may also utilize an opposing mounting configuration as opposed to the inline configuration shown in FIG. 6. Such an embodiment as shown in FIG. 7 is shorter than the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, due to the opposition mounting of the solenoid coil assemblies 104, and may be beneficial to certain installations that would not accommodate a longer valve.

(28) In installations that require finer control or more total individual flow rates, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 utilizing four solenoid coil assemblies 104.sub.1, 104.sub.2,104.sub.3, 104.sub.4 may be utilized. The control and operation of this embodiment is similar as that described above and provides a total of 16 different flow rates (including off). When the size of the individual gas control orifices 120 are controlled based on the relationship described above, i.e. relative sizes of 1, 2, 4, and 8, this embodiment provides flow rates of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 when the individual solenoid coil assemblies 104 are energized in accordance with Table 2, below:

(29) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Flow Rate Solenoid #1 Solenoid #2 Solenoid #3 Solenoid #4 0 OFF OFF OFF OFF 1 ON OFF OFF OFF 2 OFF ON OFF OFF 3 ON ON OFF OFF 4 OFF OFF ON OFF 5 ON OFF ON OFF 6 OFF ON ON OFF 7 ON ON ON OFF 8 OFF OFF OFF ON 9 ON OFF OFF ON 10 OFF ON OFF ON 11 ON ON OFF ON 12 OFF OFF ON ON 13 ON OFF ON ON 14 OFF ON ON ON 15 ON ON ON ON

(30) While the illustration of FIG. 8 shows the solenoid coil assemblies 104 configured in an opposing relationship, and while a four solenoid coil assembly can also be configured in an inline relationship similar to those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, FIG. 9 illustrates a further embodiment utilizing a symmetrical solenoid coil assembly mounting configuration. In this embodiment, the inlet and outlet lie upon an axis extending through the page through the center of the valve assembly. Such a solenoid coil assembly mounting configuration, which is available for any number of solenoid coil assemblies, may be particularly useful in installations that only provide a length between the inlet and outlet mounting plumbing that will only accommodate the width of a single solenoid coil assembly 104, but which is not constrained in terms of the overall width of the valve. Indeed, in such an installation, the four solenoid coil assembly, sixteen individual flow rate embodiment of FIG. 9 may be installed in the same length as the two solenoid four flow rate embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

(31) All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.

(32) The use of the terms a and an and the and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms comprising, having, including, and containing are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning including, but not limited to,) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., such as) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.

(33) Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.