Patent ID: 11946563
Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 0:
1. A valve actuator comprising:
a housing comprising an upper plate and a lower plate that are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction;
a motor disposed at the housing, the motor having a motor shaft;
a driving gear coupled to the motor shaft of the motor;
a transmission gear that is in contact with the driving gear, the transmission gear being configured to, based on rotation of the driving gear, rotate according to a predetermined gear ratio to the driving gear;
an output shaft comprising a main body and a plurality of protrusions, the plurality of protrusion radially protruding from the main body and being spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction of the main body;
an output gear that is coupled to the output shaft and in contact with the transmission gear;
a stopper disposed in the housing and configured to limit a rotation angle of the output gear; and
an elastic member disposed between a lower portion of the plurality of protrusions and the lower plate of the housing, the elastic member being configured to push the main body and the plurality of protrusions through the upper plate of the housing to thereby release the output gear from the transmission gear based on the output shaft rotating by a predetermined angle,
wherein the upper plate of the housing defines:
a first hole configured to receive the main body in the vertical direction based on the output shaft rotating by the predetermined angle, and
a plurality of second holes that extend in a radial direction from the first hole and are configured to receive the plurality of protrusions in the vertical direction based on the output shaft rotating by the predetermined angle.