Patent ID: 11920698
Assignee: SMC CORPORATION
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 0:
1. A flow control valve comprising:
a body extending in an axial direction;
a channel formed in the body;
a knob disposed on one side of the body in the axial direction and supported so as to be rotatable around the axis with respect to the body; and
a needle valve that is disposed coaxially with the knob in the body and that adjusts an opening degree of the channel by moving in the axial direction in accordance with a rotating operation amount of the knob, wherein
the flow control valve is capable of controlling a flow rate of fluid flowing through the channel in accordance with the rotating operation amount of the knob,
the flow control valve further comprising:
a scale body supported so as to be rotatable around the axis with respect to the knob and having scale marks that indicate rotating operation amounts of the knob;
a scale reading part that rotates constantly integrally with the knob around the axis and that indicates the scale mark corresponding to the rotating operation amount of the knob;
a shaft portion that is disposed on an other side of the scale body in the axial direction and that rotates constantly integrally with the knob around the axis while being supported so as to be movable in the axial direction with respect to the knob; and
a clutch mechanism that switches the scale mark of the scale body, indicated by the scale reading part, each time the knob is rotated by a predetermined angle by transmitting rotation of the knob to the scale body or interrupting the transmission, wherein
the clutch mechanism includes
an engaging portion and an engaged portion, one of which is provided on the shaft portion and the other one of which is provided on the scale body, and that rotate the scale reading part and the scale body integrally around the axis by transmitting rotation of the knob to the scale body through engagement with each other, and
a clutch drive mechanism that permits the scale reading part to rotate around the axis with respect to the scale body through rotation of the knob by moving the shaft portion to the other side in the axial direction each time the knob is rotated by a predetermined angle to release engagement between the engaging portion and the engaged portion and that, after the scale mark of the scale body, indicated by the scale reading part, is changed through the rotation of the scale reading part with respect to the scale body, re-engages the engaging portion with the engaged portion.