Patent Application
20210180711
The present disclosure relates to a lightweight, multifunctional valve assembly.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Various types of valves are known for controlling the flow of fluid (including gases, liquids fluidized solids and slurries) by selectively opening and closing passageways. Within system having multiple fluid flows that need to be opened and closed, each fluid flow may be associated with an individually controlled valve. Alternatively, it is generally known to provide a common valve assembly for controlling multiple fluid flows. Such valve assemblies may be generally referred to as multifunctional valve assemblies.
While known valve assemblies, including common valve assemblies for controlling multiple fluid flows, may have proven to be successful for their intended purposes, known assemblies are associated with disadvantages and limitations. For example, material used in known valve assemblies, including but not limited to electric ball valves, increase the weight of the valve assembly. Additionally, each valve or each multi-functional valve is associated with a motor, again increasing the weight and complexity of systems including multiple valves. Accordingly, a continuous need for improvement remains in the pertinent art to address the noted and additional disadvantages and limitations associated with known valve assemblies.
It is an object of the present teachings to provide a multifunctional valve assembly with reduced weight.
It is another object of the present teachings to provide a multifunctional valve assembly including a first portion for controlling at least two fluid flows and a second portion for controlling at least two fluid flows, the first and second portions operated by a single motor.
It is another object of the present teachings to provide a multifunctional valve assembly associated with reduced operation times for the switching of valve positions.
It is also an object of the present teachings to provide a multifunctional valve assembly incorporating and integrated and replaceable filter.
Still further objects of the present teachings will become apparent below.
In accordance with one particular aspect, the present teachings provide a multifunctional valve assembly includes a first portion with a first 3-way valve functionality for selectively controlling flow of a first fluid and a second portion with a second, 3-way functionality valve functionality for selectively controlling flow a second fluid. The multifunctional valve assembly further includes a common motor associated with the first and second portions and operative to drive both of the first and second portions to operate in first, second and third operational modes.
In accordance with another particular aspect, the present teachings provide a method of operating a multifunctional valve assembly including rotating a first sleeve about an axis of the first sleeve with a common motor to concurrently drive first and second portions of the valve assembly to each operate in first, second and third operational modes.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
Referring generally to the drawings, a lightweight, multifunctional valve assembly in accordance with the present teachings is illustrated and generally identified at reference character 100. As will be further understood below, the valve assembly 100 may include a first portion 100A with a first 3-way valve functionality for selectively controlling flow of a first fluid and a second portion 100B with a second, 3-way valve functionality for selectively controlling flow of a second fluid. The present teachings may be readily adapted for various uses where it is desired to selectively control the flow of a first fluid and second fluid. The first and second fluids may be the same type of fluid or distinct types of fluids.
In one particular application, the valve assembly 100 may be incorporated into a wastewater management system 10 for a recreational vehicle (“RV”). It will be understood that this particular application shown in the drawings and described herein is merely an exemplary application of the present teachings. Before addressing the valve assembly 100 of the present teachings in greater detail, an understanding of such an exemplary use and the general functioning of the valve assembly 100 is warranted. Reference in this regard will be made particularly to the high-level block diagram of
The wastewater management system 10 includes a first holding structure defined by a black water holding tank 12, a second holding structure defined by a grey water holding tank 14, and a third holding structure defined by a fresh water holding tank 16. In general, the grey water tank 14 may hold grey water in the form of kitchen wastewater 18 from a kitchen sink, for example, and bathroom wastewater 20 from a bathroom sink and/or shower, for example. The grey water in the grey water holding tank 14 may be used for flushing of a toilet 22 for purposes of conserving water in the fresh water tank 16, and reduction of grey water in the grey water tank. The black water tank 12, in general, receives black water from a positive pressure or macerator pump 34. The macerator pump 34 is located in a macerator housing 24 associated with the toilet 22.
In addition to the lightweight, multifunctional valve assembly 100, the system 10 is illustrated to include various other valves for controlling flow between the various components. These other valves may be electronically controlled valves 26 or manually controlled valves 28. The valves 26 and 28 may be gate valves or ball valves, for example.
The system 10 includes level sensors 30A, 30B and 30C for sensing the level within the black water tank 12, the grey water tank 14 and the fresh water tank 16, respectively. The level sensors 30A, 30B and 30C may be float assemblies, for example, configured to transmit electronic signals that indicate a fluid level within the corresponding tank 12, 14, and 16.
The system 10 is shown to further include various pumps 32 for pumping fluid (e.g., fresh water, grey water, and black water and additives) through the system 10. The pumps 32 may be automatically controlled by electronic signals from the controller 38. Alternatively, the pumps 32 may be controlled by user input. The pumps 32 for the grey and black water tanks 14 and 12 may be centrifugal pumps and the pumps 32 for the additives may be piston pumps.
A control sub-system in the form of a control unit 38 and a display unit may be incorporated for controlling the management of wastewater within the system 10 and for emptying of the wastewater tanks 12, among other functions. The control unit 36 may be located anywhere in the vehicle. The control unit 38 may include a controller 38 in communication with the various pumps 32, the macerator pump 34, each of the valves, and each of the level sensors 30A, 30B and 30C.
A display unit 50 may incorporate a user operated keypad 40 or other buttons in communication with the controller 38 for initiating programmed routines of the system 10 and/or for opening/closing selected ones of the valves or pumps. The macerator pump 34 may be controlled at the toilet 22, for example. The grey water pump 32 may be controlled at both the toilet 22 (for flushing) and at a display 50 of the display unit 36 (for instance, for pumping grey water to the black water tank 12, for mixing grey water or as part of an automated cleaning cycle). The controller 38 may be in communication with a display 42. The display may be an LCD touchscreen display 42, for example. The display 42 may have soft touch keys or controls to enable user selection various functions. Such soft touch keys or controls may be in addition to or in lieu of the keypad 40.
As shown in dashed lines in
The system 10 may additionally include an additive sub-system 54. The additive sub-system 54 may include additive dispensers 54A, 54B, and 54C. Each of the additive dispensers 54A, 54B, and 54C may be refillable with specific additives. In one embodiment, the additive dispensers 54A, 54B, and 54C may receive replaceable cartridges containing the specific additives. Each additive cartridge 54A, 54B, and 54C may be associated with an RFID label 56 that communicates with the controller to keep track of the pumped volume of additives from the dispenser. In this manner, the controller 38 can communicate the remaining level of additives to the user on the display. The RFID label 56 may also include, store and communicate other information such as, but not limited to, cartridge lifetime, cartridge type for keying in the wrong receptacle, cartridge producer, relevant usage data, etc.
The additive dispenser 54A may be in fluid communication with the grey water tank 14 through a pump 32 for delivering a grey water additive to the grey water tank 14. Dosing of the grey water additive to the grey water tank 14 may be controlled automatically by the controller 38. For example, the controller 38 may control dosing of the grey water additive to the grey water tank 14 in response to detection of a predetermined volume level of grey water in the grey water tank 14 by the level sensor 30B.
The additive dispenser 54B may be in fluid communication with the housing 24 associated with the toilet 22 through a pump 32 for delivering a black water additive. In this manner, black water additive may be delivered to the macerator housing 34A in response to a flush of the toilet 22. Alternatively, the black water additive may be delivered directly to the black water tank 12 (as shown in
The additive dispenser 54C may be in fluid communication with the flush conduit 65 through a pump 32 for delivering a flush water additive to the toilet bowl which is activated by a flush signal. In certain applications, each of the additive dispensers 54A, 54B, and 54C may also be associated with a sensor to sense the age of the corresponding additive and communicate a corresponding signal to the controller 38 when replacement is needed due to additive expiration.
When an RV equipped with the system 10 begins a trip, the fresh water tank 16 may be substantially or completely full. The black water tank 12 and the grey water tank 14 may be substantially or completely empty. The system 10 may monitor the levels within the tanks 12, 14 and 16 with the sensors 30A, 30B and 30C, respectively. At least the level of the black water tank 12 may be additionally monitored with an acceleration sensor 31 to more accurately assess tank capacity. The sensed levels of the tanks 12, 14, and 16 may be communicated to the controller 38 and in turn displayed for the user on the display 42, or the remote display.
Kitchen wastewater 18 from a kitchen sink, for example, and bathroom wastewater 20 from a bathroom sink and/or shower, for example, may drain to the grey water tank 14 under the force of gravity through a conduit 60. The kitchen wastewater 18 and bathroom wastewater 20 may be collected and stored in the grey water tank 14. The grey water in the grey water tank 14 may be used for flushing of the toilet 22 in response to a user request for flushing. This grey flush water is delivered to a filter 62 through a conduit 64. The filter 62 filters solids from the grey water to create a visually acceptable toilet flush water for the user. Filtered grey flush water is delivered to the toilet 22 for flushing through a conduit 65. The flush water additive discussed below may be introduced at this location. The conduit 65 is associated with a valve 26. Explaining further, the controller 38 may operate to open the electronically actuated valve 26 associated with the conduit 65 and pump grey water to the toilet 22.
The solids collected by the filter 62 may be periodically transported to the black water tank 12 through a conduit 66. In this regard, the controller 38 periodically functions to close the valve 26 associated with the conduit 65, open the portion of the valve assembly 100 associated with the conduit 66 to communicate the filter 62 with the black water tank 12, and pump grey water from the grey water tank 14 through conduit 64 and into the filter 62. These actions clean the inside of the filter 62 and transport the filtered solids through conduit 66 from the filter 62 to the black water tank 12.
The grey water in the grey water tank 14 is treated with automatically dosed additives. The filter 62 also enables a grey water mixing cycle that more evenly distributes grey water additives to treat the grey water and at the same time flushes the filter medium of the filter 62 clean. In this regard, a further conduit 69 extends from the filter 62 to the grey water tank 14. As shown in the embodiment illustrated, the further conduit 69 may be associated with the first portion 100A of the valve assembly 100. Explaining further, the first portion 100A of the valve assembly 100 may be controlled to completely close flow to both conduit 66 and conduit 69, may be opened to flow only to conduit 66 or may be open to flow only to conduit 69.
A hose or conduit 72 may extend between the black water tank 12 and the discharge adapter 74. The conduit 72 may be associated with the second portion 100B of the valve assembly 100 and a pump 32. The second portion 100B of the valve assembly 100 may be connected back to the black water tank 12 through black water mix conduit 71. When the valve assembly 100 is positioned in a mixing mode to allow flow back to the black water tank, the black water gets mixed when the black water pump 32 runs. Mixing of the black water is preferred to avoid sediments of black water in the tank and also to distribute incoming additives from the toilet macerator chamber with the total black water volume in the tank. The second portion 100B of the valve assembly 100 can also be operate to allow flow of black water to the discharge adapter 74.
In the event that the grey water tank 14 does not have sufficient grey water to complete a requested flush cycle of the toilet, the toilet 22 may be flushed with fresh water. Flushing of the toilet 22 with fresh water may be accomplished in two different manners depending on the particular configuration of the system 10. In a first manner, upon sensing of a low level of grey water within the grey water tank 14, the controller 38 opens an electronically actuated valve 26 associated with a conduit 68 between the fresh water tank 16 and the toilet 22. Fresh water is pumped from the fresh water tank 16 to the toilet 22. In a second manner, the controller 38 may open an electronically actuated valve 26 associated with an option conduit 70 between the fresh water tank 16 and the grey water tank 14. Fresh water is pumped from the fresh water tank 16 to the grey water tank 14. The controller then delivers the fresh water residing in the grey water tank 14 to the toilet 22 in the manner discussed above.
The black water tank 12 and the grey water tank 14 may be periodically emptied in response to a user command entered through a control on the discharge adapter 74 or by a remote device. Such emptying of the black water tank 12 may be desired when the black water tank 12 has reached capacity or when an RV trip has been completed, for example. In response to user input, the controller 38 may operate to open the valve 26 associated with the conduit 72 providing fluid communication between the black water tank 12 and a drain 96 or discharge adapter 74. The conduit 72 may also be associated with a first manually actuated valve 28 proximate the discharge adapter 74. Upon opening the valve 28, the controller 38 may pump black water from the black water tank 12 to the discharge adapter 74. After the black water tank 12 is emptied, the grey water pump will pump the grey water into the black water tank 12 to rinse the walls of the black water tank 12 and empty the grey water tank 14. The grey water will then travel from the black water tank 12 to the discharge adapter 74 to clean out the discharge adapter 74 and associated hoses.
Optionally, the discharge adapter 74 may be connected to a further waste holding tank 76. The further waste holding tank 76 may be permanently or removably carried by the RV, may provide further capacity for black water storage, and may to be able to dump waste in a traditional way (i.e., transport of the waste holding tank 76 without moving the vehicle). One suitable type of portable waste holding tank 76 is sold by the assignee of this application under the trademark Cassette®.
The lightweight, multifunctional valve assembly 100 of the present teachings will now be further described. The valve assembly 100 includes a valve housing 101. The valve housing 101 may be unitarily constructed of plastic to thereby reduce the weight of the valve assembly 100. In one application, the valve housing 101 may be injection molded of plastic.
As generally shown in the figures, the valve assembly 100 is constructed to be located at a distance from the filter 62 and connected by a hose or conduit 104 (see
Insofar as the present teachings are concerned, the filter housing 102 will be understood to be similar in construction and operation where the filter housing 102 is located remote from the valve assembly 100 and where the filter valve assembly 100 and filter assembly 102 are part of a common, larger assembly. As shown in the alternative embodiment of
The filter assembly 102 may define a cavity 108 open at an upper end of the housing 102. The cavity 108 may receive a filter insert 110. The filter insert 110 is generally cylindrical in shape, including a closed end 112 and an open end 114. A central portion of the filter insert 110 between the closed end 112 and the open end 114 includes a plurality of windows. The windows are covered by the media of the filter 62. The interior of the filter insert 110 is in fluid communication with the conduit 64 though a filter housing input port 116. In this manner, the conduit 64 is in fluid communication with a dirty side of the filter 62. The filter housing 102 further includes a filter housing output port 118. The output port 118 provides fluid communication between the conduit 65 leading to the toilet 22 and the clean side of the filter 62. The filter insert 110 carries one or more sealing members or O-rings 120 that define fluid tight interfaces between the filter insert 110 and the housing 102 to prevent dirt from flowing from the “dirty” side of the filter to the “clean water” side of the filter.
The valve assembly 100 is illustrated to generally include a valve housing 122, a valve subassembly 124, and a drive arrangement 126. The valve housing 122 defines a cylindrical chamber 128. At one end 130, the chamber 128 is in fluid communication with the filter 62. At a second end 132, the chamber 128 is in fluid communication with the black water tank 12 through the conduit 71. The housing 122 includes a first output port 134 for connecting to the conduit 66 leading to the black water tank 12, a second output port 136 for connecting to the conduit 69 leading to the grey water tank 14, a third output port 138 for connecting to the conduit 71 leading to the black water tank 12, and a fourth output port 140 for connecting to the conduit 72 leading to the discharge adapter 74.
The valve subassembly 124 is received within the chamber 128 and rotatable about the axis 106 to control various modes of operation of the valve assembly 100. The valve subassembly 124 generally includes a first sleeve or inner sleeve 142, a second sleeve or outer sleeve 144 and a tubular gasket 146. The outer sleeve 144 is rotationally fixed relative to the housing 122. The tubular gasket 146 is carried on the outside of the outer sleeve 144 and similarly is rotationally fixed relative to the housing 122. The inner sleeve 142 rotates within the outer sleeve 144. The tubular gasket 146 provides a seal between the housing 122 and the outer sleeve 144 and also seals with the inner sleeve 142.
The inner sleeve 142 includes a cylindrical sidewall 147 open at axial opposite ends with a first or upper sleeve portion 148 with a first sidewall opening 150 and a second or lower sleeve portion 152 with a second sidewall opening 154. The first portion 148 is open to receive the first fluid or grey water into a first inner portion of the first sleeve 142. The second portion is open to receive the second fluid or black water into a second inner portion of the first sleeve 142. The first and second inner portions of the first sleeve 142 are separated by a radially extending wall 143. The first and second sidewall openings 150 and 154 are radially offset 180 degrees from each other and correspond with valve open positions. The inner sleeve 142 may be injection molded or otherwise suitably formed of plastic.
The outer sleeve 144 includes a cylindrical sidewall 156 open at axial opposite ends with a first or upper portion 158 and a second or lower portion 160. The first and second portions 158 and 160 both include four openings 162 equally spaced about the circumference of the cylindrical sidewall 156.
The tubular gasket 146 includes a cylindrical sidewall 163 with a first or upper portion 164 and a second or lower portion 166. The first and second portions 164 and 166 are both integrally formed to include four O-rings 168 in a convex portion of the sidewall 163. Two of the O-rings 168 on both the first and second portions 164 and 166 that are radially opposite one another surround open holes 170 in the sidewall 163. The remaining O-rings 168 surround solid portions 172 of the gasket 146. The tubular gasket 146 also integrally defines circumferentially extending O-rings 174 at the first end, second end and an axial center of the gasket 146. The O-rings 174 cooperate to seal against the housing 122.
The inner sleeve 142 is driven for rotation within the housing 122 and about the axis 106 by the drive arrangement 126. The drive arrangement 126 generally includes a housing 176, a drive motor 178, a drive gear 180 and a driven gear 182. The drive motor 178 is a common motor associated with the first and second portions 100A and 100B of the valve assembly 124 and operative to drive both of the first and second portions to operate in first, second and third operational modes.
The housing 176 includes a first housing portion 184 captured between the filter housing 102 and the valve housing 122. The first housing portion 184 defines a tray that rotatably receives the driven gear 180. The driven gear 180 includes a first keyed portion that extends into a central opening of the tray of the first housing portion 184 and engages a second, cooperating keyed portion 186 of the inner sleeve 142. In this manner, the inner sleeve 142 is coupled to the driven gear 182 for rotation about the axis 106.
A second housing portion 184 of the housing 176 carries the drive motor 126. A shaft 186 driven by the drive motor 126 carries the drive gear 180. Teeth of the drive gear 180 meshingly engage teeth of the driven gear 182. When the controller 38 operates the drive motor 126, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 116 between various operational modes. The amount of rotation the driven gear 182 and resultantly the inner sleeve 142 may be controlled by a limit switch 188.
The first portion 100A of the valve assembly 100 will now be understood to control the flow a first fluid within the system 10, namely grey water from the filter 62. The first portion 100A has three operating conditions. In a first operation condition of the first portion 100A, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 106 such that the outlet port 134 leading to the conduit 66 and the outlet port 136 leading to the conduit 69 are both closed to the flow of grey water from the filter 62. Under this first operating condition, grey water from the filter 62 is available for flushing of the toilet 22. In a second operation condition of the first portion 100A, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 106 such that the outlet port 134 leading to the conduit 66 is closed to the flow of grey water from the filter 62 and the outlet port 136 leading to the conduit 69 is open to the flow of grey water from the filter 62. Under this second operating condition, grey water from the filter 62 is directed back to the grey water tank 14 for mixing within the grey water tank. In a third operation condition of the first portion 100A, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 106 such that the outlet port 134 leading to the conduit 66 is open to the flow of grey water from the filter 62 and the outlet port 136 leading to the conduit 69 is closed to the flow of grey water from the filter 62. Under this third operating condition, grey water from the filter 62 is discharged to the black water tank 12.
The second portion of the valve assembly 100B controls the flow of a second fluid within the system 10, namely black water from the black water tank 12. The second portion 100B similarly has three operating conditions. In a first operation condition of the first portion 1006, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 106 such that the outlet port 138 leading to the conduit 71 and the outlet port 140 leading to the conduit 72 are both closed to the flow of black water from the black water tank 12. Under this first operating condition, there is no flow of black water within the system 10. In a second operation condition of the first portion 1006, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 106 such that the outlet port 138 leading to the conduit 71 is open to the flow of black water and the outlet port 140 leading to the conduit 72 is closed to the flow of black water. Under this second operating condition, black water from the black water tank 12 is returned to the black water tank 12 for mixing within the black water tank 12. In a third operation condition of the first portion 1006, the inner sleeve 142 is rotated about the axis 106 such that the outlet port 138 leading to the conduit 71 is closed to the flow of black water and the outlet port 140 leading to the conduit 72 is open to the flow of black water. Under this third operating condition, black water from the black water tank 12 is discharged to the discharge adapter 74.
Insofar as rotation of the inner sleeve 142 controls the operating conditions of both the first portion 100A and second portion 1006 of the valve assembly 100, it will be understood that the valve assembly 100 can be controlled to operate in three distinct operating modes. In a first operating mode of the valve assembly 100, the first and second portions 100A and 100B are both in their first operating condition. In this first mode, or static mode, there is no flow of grey water from the filter 62 through the valve assembly 100. In a second operating mode of the valve assembly 100, the first and second portions 100A and 100B are both in their second operating conditions. In this second operating mode, or mix mode, grey water from the filter 62 flows back to the grey water tank 14 to mix grey water within the grey water tank 14 and black water from the black water tank 12 flows back to the black water tank 12 for mixing. In a third operating mode of the valve assembly 100, the first and second portions 100A and 1006 are both in their third operating conditions. In this third operating mode, or discharge mode, grey water from the filter 62 flows to the black water tank 12 to flush the filter of captured solids and black water from the black water tank 12 is discharged to the discharge adapter 74.
Accordingly, it will now be appreciated that the present teachings to provide a multifunctional valve assembly with reduced weight. The present teachings additionally provide a multifunctional valve assembly including a first portion for controlling at least two fluid flows and a second portion for controlling at least two fluid flows, the first and second portions operated by a single motor. Further, the present teachings provide a multifunctional valve assembly associated with reduced operation times for the switching of valve positions.
While specific details have been described, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications or variations may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The one or more examples provided herein simply illustrate the various embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. While the valve assembly 100 has been described particularly for a wastewater management system, it will be appreciated that the present teachings may be readily adapted for other applications. The description and any claims should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/947,146 filed 12 Dec. 2019, which application is herein expressly incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62947146 | Dec 2019 | US |
