Patent Application
20220186852
The present disclosure relates to venting and draining of containers, and more particularly to venting and draining for tank assemblies of beverage makers used in aerospace applications.
Air vent valves are typically used in aircraft beverage makers in conjunction with filling and draining a fresh water tank assembly. While a number of variations of air vent valve systems currently exist, they are all primarily of the float type, some of which are ball-shaped. In these devices, a plastic or metal float is pushed up by liquid filling a tank to shut a vent hole at the end of a filling operation. For example, while the tank is filling, air moves around the float (ball), allowing the tank to fill, when the water level in the tank gets sufficiently high, it then pushed the ball up against a seat (or seal) and prevent the tank from filling further. Conversely, the float drops away from the vent hole to open up the vent during drainage of the liquid from the tank. These valves can sometimes have issues in the field caused by chemical attack, limescale, and oscillating behavior that causes the valve to leak because the body surface of the float is no longer smooth enough to seat properly against the vent hole, leading to removal and replacement.
The conventional techniques have been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is an ever present need for improved systems and methods for valves used in venting and draining liquid from a tank. This disclosure provides a solution for this need.
An air vent valve assembly for a tank assembly of a beverage maker for aircraft includes a valve housing having an interior chamber and an inlet flow passage in fluid communication with the interior chamber, and a valve base that mates with the valve housing. The valve base is configured and adapted to be attached to a tank assembly of a beverage maker. The valve base includes an interior flow chamber in fluid communication with the interior chamber of the valve housing and a flow outlet in fluid communication with the interior flow chamber of the valve base. The air vent valve assembly includes an umbrella valve operatively connected to at least one of the valve housing or the valve base between the flow outlet of the valve base and the inlet flow passage of the valve housing.
In some embodiments, the valve housing includes a receiving aperture having an inner diameter neck portion. The umbrella valve can include a stem and a diaphragm extending outwardly from the stem. The stem of the umbrella valve can rest in the receiving aperture. The inner diameter neck portion can include an inner diameter stepped portion. The stem of the umbrella valve can include an end tip and a neck portion between the end tip and an umbrella base. The stem of the umbrella valve can be tapered. The stem of the umbrella valve can include a conical shaped end tip. The inner diameter stepped portion of the valve housing can be meshed with the neck portion of the stem. An outer diameter of a portion of the stem can be larger than an inner diameter of a portion of the receiving aperture. The valve base can include at least one arm extending into the interior flow chamber of the valve base. The valve base can include a protrusion extending from the at least one arm.
The umbrella valve can include a corresponding mating aperture to receive the protrusion of the valve base. An o-ring seal can be positioned between the valve base and the valve housing. In a first valve seating position, the umbrella valve can seal against the valve housing. In a second seating position, the umbrella valve can permit fluid flow from the inlet flow passage to the flow outlet. For example, in a first valve seating position, a perimeter of the diaphragm of the umbrella valve can abut the valve housing and, in a second seating position, at least a portion of the perimeter portion of the diaphragm can be spaced apart from the valve housing. The umbrella valve can include a silicone material.
These and other features of the systems and methods of the subject disclosure will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings.
So that those skilled in the art to which the subject disclosure appertains will readily understand how to make and use the devices and methods of the subject disclosure without undue experimentation, preferred embodiments thereof will be described in detail herein below with reference to certain figures, wherein:
Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural features or aspects of the subject disclosure. For purposes of explanation and illustration, and not limitation, a partial view of an embodiment of a system in accordance with the disclosure is shown in
As shown in
Traditional valves use a ball which tends to be limited to materials that are buoyant in water and can withstand the high operating temperatures and various disinfection chemicals that are present in service. In view of this, the ball valve can experience issues in the field caused by chemical attack, limescale, and oscillating behavior that causes the valve to leak because the body surface of the float is no longer smooth enough to seat properly against the vent hole, leading to removal and replacement. The use of an umbrella valve design allows for a broader selection of materials that better withstand the exposures that occur in service because buoyancy is not a requirement. This results in the umbrella valve 114 being more reliable than a traditional ball design.
With reference now to
As shown in
The methods and systems of the present disclosure, as described above and shown in the drawings, provide for more reliable air vent valve assemblies that have reduced wear and leakage in the field. While the apparatus and methods of the subject disclosure have been shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure.
