초록 ▼

An instant-on valve assembly with manual override is designed to be connected to a tank containing high pressure gaseous fuel. The valve assembly and manual override allows the tank to be alternately closed off, vented or allows the gas in the tank to bypass the instant-on valve. The instant-on valv

An instant-on valve assembly with manual override is designed to be connected to a tank containing high pressure gaseous fuel. The valve assembly and manual override allows the tank to be alternately closed off, vented or allows the gas in the tank to bypass the instant-on valve. The instant-on valve assembly can be repaired or replaced without venting the tank. The instant-on valve assembly has a main valve and a bleed valve The main valve has a secondary plunger that opens and closes a main orifice. The bleed valve has a bleed valve stem that opens and closes a bleed orifice. The main valve is slidably mounted within a housing and has a chamber at one end and a zone at another end. Both the zone and the chamber have access to high pressure gaseous fuel within the tank. High pressure gaseous fluid within the zone can be drained when the bleed valve stem is fully open. The bleed valve stem is connected to a solenoid and opens upon activation of the solenoid. When the pressure within the zone is sufficiently reduced, the pressure within the chamber will cause the main valve to open by sliding into the zone. A spring moves the main valve towards a closed position when the solenoid is deactivated. Since the volume of the zone is relatively small, the main valve opens within one second after the solenoid is activated.

대표청구항 ▼

[I claim:] [1.](a) an inlet passageway and an outlet passageway;(b) in said valve assembly, a bleed valve and a main valve, said main valve having a secondary piston mounted to open and close a main orifice, said bleed valve having a bleed valve stem mounted to move relative to said secondary piston

[I claim:] [1.](a) an inlet passageway and an outlet passageway;(b) in said valve assembly, a bleed valve and a main valve, said main valve having a secondary piston mounted to open and close a main orifice, said bleed valve having a bleed valve stem mounted to move relative to said secondary piston to open and close a bleed orifice, said main orifice and said bleed orifice providing access to said outlet passageway, an outer portion of said secondary piston being mounted in a zone that has an open access to said tank through said inlet passageway when both of said valves are closed so that said zone has a pressure substantially equal to a pressure of said high pressure gaseous fuel within said tank, said zone being isolated from said access to said tank when said bleed valve opens by a sufficient amount, said zone having a drain to drain pressure from said zone when said zone is isolated from said access, said secondary piston having an inner portion that is mounted in a chamber, said chamber being accessible to said high pressure gaseous fluid in said tank, said main valve opening when said pressure on said inner portion from said chamber is sufficiently greater than a pressure on said outer portion from said zone, said bleed valve being connected to open when a solenoid is activated, said main valve closing when said solenoid is deactivated, said secondary piston being biased towards a closed position by a force external to said secondary piston, said zone having said open access to said gaseous fuel within said tank when said bleed valve is closed, said main valve closing when said pressure in said zone on said outer portion is sufficiently greater than a pressure on said inner portion;(c) said manual override being connected to alternately close off said tank or vent said tank if said instant-on valve assembly is not operating properly,wherein the manual override has an elongated spindle with a head at an outer end thereof, said valve spindle having annular projections thereon, said annular projections being sized to fit within a corresponding screw thread in a housing surrounding said spindle so that said spindle will move inward when turned in one direction and outward when turned in an opposite direction, said manual override having a fully open position when said spindle is turned outward to allow gaseous fuel to flow to said valve assembly, said manual override having a fully closed position when said spindle is turned fully into an inlet passageway to said valve assembly to close said passageway, said manual override having a bypass position to permit gaseous fuel to flow from said tank directly into said outlet passageway, thereby bypassing said valve assembly.