Abstract:
Disclosed is a balanced water-intake control valve, comprising an adjusting mechanism of water-level between two linkage rods. The adjusting mechanism includes a first pivot guide, a second pivot guide, a lead screw and an adjusting nut. The first pivot guide is pivoted at the first linkage rod for driving a valve rod. The second pivot guide is pivoted at the second linkage rod connecting to a float body. The first and second pivot guides are connected by the lead screw at opposite ends. At the middle of the lead screw, an adjusting nut is placed. By rotating the lead screw, the length between the first and second pivot guides can change. Therefore, the water-level upper limit can be adjusted by the user&#39;s demand after installing of the control valve.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a device for water collection, storage, and distribution, especially for a balanced water-intake control valve. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    For conventional water or liquid storage devices such as water towers for industrial or civil purposes, reservoirs for breeding, or stools, a water-intake control valve is needed to install inside a storage device for automatically supplying water as the water level is low. One kind of conventional water-intake control valves is revealed by Hwang in U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,890 B1. A float body such as a hollow float ball is used to maintain the water level by connecting with a water-intake control valve which opens or closes depending on the water level. When the water level in a storage device is low, the valve/valve stopper of a conventional water-intake control valve will open to supply water flowing into the storage device. On the other hand, when the water level reaches a certain height, the valve/valve stopper will close to stop water flowing into the storage device. Unfortunately, the conventional water-intake control valve cannot adjust the water level by the user&#39;s demand since the rotational angle of the float ball is fixed. Therefore, it becomes inconvenient to the users and inefficient in water storage for being unable to change the maximum capacity of a storage device. If a user need to change the water-level upper limit, he has to change the water-intake control valve with a linkage rod of a different length or a different bending angle, which costs money and wastes time. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a balanced water-intake control valve which can adjust the water level in the storage device by the user&#39;s demand. 
         [0004]    The present invention is a balanced water-intake control valve, primarily comprising a valve, a valve rod, a first linkage rod, a second linkage rod, a float body, and an adjusting mechanism of water-level. The valve rod freely moving inside the valve has a valve stopper for sealing a water channel of the valve. The first linkage rod is pivoted at one end of the valve for driving the valve rod. The second linkage rod is pivoted at the other end of the valve in connection with the float body. The adjusting mechanism of water-level comprises a first pivot guide, a second pivot guide, a lead screw, and an adjusting nut. The first pivot guide is pivoted at the first linkage rod and the second pivot guide is pivoted at the second linkage rod. The first and second pivot guides are connected by the lead screw at opposite ends. A adjusting nut is located at the middle of the lead screw. When the lead screw is rotated through the adjusting nut, the distance between the first pivot guide and the second pivot guide can be changed to adjust the water-level upper limit. 
         [0005]    The balanced water-intake control valve in the present invention has the following advantages and functions: 
         [0006]    1. An adjusting mechanism is introduced to adjust the water-level depending on the user&#39;s need: by screwing both ends of the lead screw to change the screwing length of lead screw, the height of the float body changes and then the water-level of the storage device will change. 
         [0007]    2. A cap ring is used to fasten the upper valve base and the lower valve base of the valve; therefore, it is easy to assemble or disassemble without any external tool. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a 3D disassembled component view of a balanced water-intake control valve according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a side view illustrating the balanced water-intake control valve at low water level according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a side view illustrating the balanced water-intake control valve at a water-level upper limit of H 1  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a side view illustrating the balanced water-intake control valve at another water-level upper limit of H 2  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a 3D disassembled component view of a balanced water-intake control valve according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a side view illustrating the balanced water-intake control valve at low water level according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a side view illustrating the balanced water-intake control valve at water-level upper limit of H 1  according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a 3D disassembled component view of a balanced water-intake control valve according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a partial side view of the balanced water-intake control valve according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    With reference to the attached drawings, the present invention is described by means of the embodiment(s) below where the attached drawings are simplified for illustration purposes only to illustrate the structures or methods of the present invention by describing the relationships between the components and assembly in the present invention. Therefore, the components shown in the figures are not expressed with the actual numbers, actual shapes, actual dimensions, nor with the actual ratio. Some of the dimensions or dimension ratios have been enlarged or simplified to provide a better illustration. The actual numbers, actual shapes, or actual dimension ratios can be selectively designed and disposed and the detail component layouts may be more complicated. 
         [0018]    According to the first embodiment of the present invention, a water-intake control valve is illustrated in  FIG. 1  for a 3D disassembled component view, in  FIG. 2  for a side view at low water level, in  FIG. 3  for a side view at high water level H 1 , and in  FIG. 4  for a side view at high water level H 2 . The balanced water-intake control valve  100  primarily comprises a valve  110 , a valve rod  120 , a first linkage rod  130 , a second linkage rod  140 , a float body  150 , and an adjusting mechanism  160  for water-level upper limit where the valve  110  has a water channel  111  as shown in  FIG. 2  for controlling water to flow through and out of the valve  110 . In one of the embodiment, the valve  110  is composed of an upper valve base  112  and a lower valve base  113  to assemble and accommodate the valve rod  120 . The upper valve base  112  has a water-intake opening  117  for water to flow into the water channel  111 . The lower valve base  113  has a plurality of water outlets (as shown in arrow locations of  FIG. 2 ) for water to flow out of the valve  110 . Normally, the material of the valve  110  is plastic to reduce the manufacture cost and weight. To be more specific, as shown in  FIG. 1 , a plurality of first through holes  114  are disposed at the peripheries of the edge ring of the upper valve base  112  and a plurality of second through holes  115  are disposed on the peripheries of the edge ring of the lower valve base  113 . The balanced water-intake control valve  100  further comprises a plurality of screw bolts  181  inserting through the first through holes  114  and the second through holes  115  for mechanically jointing the upper valve base  112  and the lower valve base  113 . To be more specific, a plurality of fixing nuts  182  are screwed to the corresponding screw bolts  181  to tightly joint the upper valve base  112  and the lower valve base  113  together as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the valve rod  120  can freely move inside the valve  110  where the valve rod  120  has a valve stopper  121  for sealing the water channel  111  of the valve  110  to effectively stop water flowing into a storage device. Preferably, the valve stopper  121  is made of flexible rubber which can tightly seal the water channel  111  to stop the water flow. When the valve rod  120  moves downward, an annular gap will be formed between the valve stopper  121  and the water channel  111  so that water will flow through the gap and flow out of the lower valve base  113  to achieve water intake as shown by the arrows in  FIG. 2 . Therefore, the moving up and down of the valve rod  120  is able to supply water or stop water flowing into a storage device. 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the first linkage rod  130  is pivoted at the valve  110  for driving the valve rod  120 . As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  again, the first linkage rod  130  has a first pivot point  131  where a joint bolt  133  is inserted at the first pivot point  131  and through the pivot hole  116  to make the first linkage rod  130  to be pivoted at the valve  110 . In the present embodiment, the pivot hole  116  is disposed at the lower valve base  113  so that the first linkage rod  130  is pivoted to the lower valve base  113 . The first linkage rod  130  further has a second pivot point  132  to make the first linkage rod  130  to be pivoted at the lower end of the adjusting mechanism  160  through another joint bolt (not shown in the figure). The first pivot point  131  and the second pivot point  132  are individually located at two ends of the first linkage rod  130  so that the first linkage rod  130  is rotatable. 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the second linkage rod  140  is pivoted at the valve  110 . In the present embodiment, the second linkage rod  140  has a third pivot point  141  to make the second linkage rod  140  to be pivoted at the upper valve  112  of the valve  110  by a joint bolt (not shown in the figure). As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the second linkage rod  140  further has a fourth pivot point  142  to make the second linkage rod  140  to be pivoted at the top end of the adjusting mechanism  160  by inserting a joint bolt  144  at the fourth pivot point  142  and through the pivot hole  163  of the adjusting mechanism  160 . To be more specific, the second linkage rod  140  further has a connecting end  143  connecting to the float body  150  through the float body connecting rod  151 . The fourth pivot point  142  is located between the third pivot point  141  and the connecting end  143  to create an effort-saving lever. In the present embodiment, the second linkage rod  140  can be a flat strip rod in the shape of “I”. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the float body  150  is connected with the second linkage rod  140 . The float body  150  is connected and fixed to a float body connecting rod  151  where the float body connecting rod  151  is screwed to the connecting end  143  of the second linkage rod  140  to create a module for easy assembly and disassembly. In the present embodiment, the float body  150  can be a float ball. 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , both ends of the adjusting mechanism  160  are individually pivoted to the first linkage rod  130  and the second linkage rod  140  so that the second linkage rod  140  can drive the first linkage rod  130  through the adjusting mechanism  160 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the water level is low, the float body  150  exerts a downward force at the connecting end  143  of the second linkage rod  140  caused by the weight of the float body  150 . The first linkage rod  130  driven by the adjusting mechanism  160  will rotate correspondingly to lower the valve rod  120  of the balanced water-intake control valve  100  to supply water flowing into a storage device. As shown in  FIG. 3 , when the water level reaches the upper limit H 1 , the float body  150  exerts an upward force at the connecting end  143  of the second linkage rod  140  caused by the buoyancy of the float body  150 . The first linkage rod  130  driven by the adjusting mechanism  160  will push the valve stopper  121  for sealing the water channel  111  in the balanced water-level control valve  100  to stop water flowing into a storage device. 
         [0024]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the adjusting mechanism  160  comprises a first pivot guide  161 , a second pivot guide  162 , a lead screw  170 , and an adjusting nut  171 . The first pivot guide  161  is pivoted at the first linkage rod  130  and the second pivot guide  162  is pivoted at the second linkage rod  140 . In the present embodiment, the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  are U-shaped plates disposed and connected to the first linkage rod  130  and the second linkage rod  140  respectively. Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the first linkage rod  130  is pivoted at the lower valve base  113  and the second linkage rod  140  is pivoted at the upper valve base  112 , wherein the valve rod  120  has a linkage hole  122  in which the first linkage rod  130  is inserted to linearly move the valve rod  120  to supply water or to stop water flowing into a storage device as shown in  FIG. 2 . The first linkage rod  130  is inserted between the first pivot point  131  with the lower valve base  113  and the second pivot point  132  with the first pivot guide  161  to form an effort-saving lever for sealing the water channel  111  by the valve stopper  121 . 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , both ends of the lead screw  170  are individually screwed to the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162 . To be more specific, the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  have small sections of internal screws (not shown in the figure) to screw to the lead screw  170 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the adjusting nut  171  is located at the middle of the lead screw  170 . The lead screw  170  can be rotated by the adjusting nut  171 . When rotating the lead screw  170 , the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  is changed. In other words, the adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  can be adjusted by rotating the lead screw  170 . 
         [0026]    The lead screw  170  has a clockwise screw portion  172  and a counterclockwise screw portion  173  to individually screw to the internal screws of the first pivot guide  161  and to the internal screws of the second pivot guide  162  so that both ends of the lead screw  170  are simultaneously screwed to the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162 . By adjusting the adjusting nut  171  to rotate the lead screw  170 , the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  can be changed, i.e., to move the first pivot guide  161  close to or away from the second pivot guide  162 , so that the adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  can be increased or shortened. Preferably, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the adjusting mechanism  160  further comprises a first constraining nut  174  and a second constraining nut  175  where the first constraining nut  174  is screwed to the clockwise screw portion  172  of the lead screw  170  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ) which can be rotated and moved between the first pivot guide  161  and the adjusting nut  171 . The second constraining nut  175  is screwed to the counterclockwise screw portion  173  of the lead screw  170  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ) which also can be rotated and moved between the second pivot guide  162  and the adjusting nut  171 . When the first constraining nut  174  is tightly jointed to the first pivot guide  161  and the second constraining nut  175  is tightly jointed to the second pivot guide  162 , the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  can be firmly constrained without any clearance. 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the user can easily change the water-level upper limit from H 1  to H 2  by adjusting the adjusting nut  171  to increase the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  so as to increase the upper limit height of the float body  150  so that the desired water level can be raised from the original water-level upper limit H 1  to the final water-level upper limit H 2  to achieve the maximum capacity of a storage device. On the contrary, the user also can easily reduce the water-level upper limit by adjusting the adjusting nut  171  to shorten the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  so as to decrease the upper limit height of the float body  150  so that the water level can be reduced to decrease the maximum capacity of a storage device. Therefore, through screwing both ends of the lead screw  170  to the first pivot guide  161  and to the second pivot guide  162 , the adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  can be increased or shortened so that the second linkage rod  140  connected to the float body  150  can show different angles at different water-level upper limits to achieve the maximum capacity of a storage device by rotating the lead screw  170  according to the needs of the user after installation. 
         [0028]    The specific operation mechanism of the balanced water-intake control valve  100  is described in detail as follows. 
         [0029]    The balanced water-intake control valve  100  is installed inside a water storage device where the balanced water-intake control valve  100  of the present invention is most suitable for shallow water level such as cooling tower or water storage tower. As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the water level of a water storage device is low and the water has not yet touched the float body  150 , the end of the second linkage rod  140  connected to the float body  150  is fallen under gravitation forces to cause the adjusting mechanism  160  moving downward to drive the first linkage rod  130  so as to push the valve rod  120  and the valve stopper  121  linearly moving downward so water will flow from the water intake opening  117  through the water channel  111  into the storage device to make the water level to rise. 
         [0030]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , when the water level reaches the water-level upper limit H 1  the float body  150  connected with the second linkage rod  140  is raised to reach a certain height by buoyancy, the connecting end  143  of the second linkage rod  140  connected to the float body  150  also moves upward to rotate the second linkage rod  140  to cause the adjusting mechanism  160  to move upward so as to drive the first linkage rod  130  where the first linkage rod  130  pushes the valve rod  120  with the valve stopper  121  to linearly move upward until the valve stopper  121  seals the water channel  111  to stop the water flowing into a storage device. 
         [0031]    Especially, as shown in  FIG. 4 , when the water-level upper limit H 2  is assigned by the user, the adjusting mechanism  160  can be implemented to adjust the water-level of upper limit to reach the maximum capacity of a storage device. As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  can be increased to increase the upper limit height of the float body  150  (the water-level upper limit from H 1  to H 2 ) to increase the maximum capacity of a storage device by rotating the adjusting nut  171  along with the clockwise screw portion  172  and the counterclockwise screw portion  173  to move the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  away from the adjusting nut  171 . When the water level has not yet reached the upper limit height H 2  of the float body  150  after adjusting, the second linkage rod  140  through the adjusting mechanism  160  have not yet driven the first linkage rod  130  to close the balanced water-intake control valve  100 . This is because the valve rod  120  and the valve stopper  121  do not raise to the close state by elongating the adjusting mechanism  160 . The water will keep flowing into a storage device if the wafer level is still below the water-level upper limit H 2 . 
         [0032]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the float body  150  reaches the upper limit height through buoyancy after adjusting to the water-level upper limit H 2 , the second linkage rod  140  is driven to move the first linkage rod  130  through the adjusting mechanism  160  to stop the water flowing into the storage device. On the contrary, when the user wants to reduce the maximum capacity of a storage device, the adjusting nut  171  and the lead screw  170  can be rotated to make the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  to move toward the adjusting nut  171  along the clockwise screw portion  172  and the counterclockwise screw portion  173  of the lead screw  170  to shorten the distance between the first pivot guide  161  and the second pivot guide  162  so that the float body  150  can be lowered to a specific height to reduce the water-level upper limit to achieve the desired maximum capacity of a storage device by the user. Therefore, through screwing both ends of the lead screw  170  to the first pivot guide  161  and to the second pivot guide  162 , the adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  can be increased or shortened to set the water-level upper limit so that the second linkage rod  140  connected to the float body  150  can show different angles at different water-level upper limit to achieve the maximum capacity of a storage device by adjusting the upper limit height of the float body  150  so as to further adjust the water-level upper limit between H 1  and H 2  according to the needs of the user after installation. 
         [0033]    According to the second embodiment of the present invention, another balanced water-intake control valve is illustrated in  FIG. 5  for a 3D disassembled component view, in  FIG. 6  for a side view at low water level H 1 , and in  FIG. 7  for a side view at high water level H 1 . The major components with the corresponding numbers showing the same functions are the same as described in the first embodiment which will not further be described in detail. The balanced water-intake control valve  200  primarily comprises a valve  110 , a valve rod  120 , a first linkage rod  130 , a second linkage rod  140 , a float body  150 , and an adjusting mechanism  160  for water-level upper limit where the adjusting mechanism  160  comprises a first pivot guide  161 , a second pivot guide  162 , a lead screw  170 , and an adjusting nut  171 . 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 , the valve rod  120  can freely move inside the valve  110  where the valve rod  120  has a valve stopper  121  for sealing the water channel  111  of the valve  110  to effectively stop water flowing into a storage device. The first pivot point  131  and the second pivot point  132  of the first linkage rod  130  are individually pivoted at the valve  110  and at the adjusting mechanism  160  where the first linkage rod  130  is configured for driving the valve rod  120 . A portion of the second linkage rod  140  is pivoted at the valve  110 . One end of the second linkage rod  140  is pivoted at the adjusting mechanism  160 , the other end  143  of the second linkage rod  140  is connected to the float body  150  where the second linkage rod  140  is driven by the float body  150 . In the present embodiment, the second linkage rod  140  is in a shape of “V” to have a better strength for bending. In the present embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the adjusting mechanism  160  and the water-intake opening  117  are disposed on the same side of the valve  110  where the diameter of the water-intake opening  117  can be enlarged and the volume of the float body  150  can be increased for longer operation ranges according to the needs of the user. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , in the present embodiment, the first linkage rod  130  is pivoted at a first position  213 A of the lower valve base  113  and the second linkage rod  140  is pivoted at a second position  213 B of the lower valve base  113 . The second position  213 B is vertically lower than the first position  213 A. The valve rod  120  has a linkage hole  122  in which the first linkage rod  130  is inserted. To be more specific, a pushing head  233  is formed at one end of the first linkage rod  130  opposing to the second pivot point  132  of the first linkage rod  130  with the first pivot guide  161  for driving the valve rod  120  for linear movement to achieve the operation of supply water or stop water flowing into a storage device as shown in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 . The better shape of the pushing head  233  is circular or arc. The diameter of the pushing head  233  is larger than the width of the first linkage rod  130 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , in the present embodiment, the first pivot point  131  of the first linkage rod  130  connected with the lower valve base  113  can be located between the linkage hole  122 , i.e., the pushing head  233 , and the second pivot point  132  of the first linkage rod  130  connected with the first pivot guide  161  as a lever point. The first position  213 A is located above the second position  213 B where the second position  213 B can be located at an extruded edge of the lower valve base  113  extending downward so that the pivot point of the first linkage rod  130  is higher than the pivot point of the second linkage rod  140 . 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , when the water level is at the water-level lower limit L, the float body  150  moves downward to rotate the second linkage rod  140  to make the adjusting mechanism  160  to move upward so as to rotate the first linkage rod  130  so that the valve rod  120  and the valve stopper  121  linearly move downward to enable water flowing through the water channel  111  to continually raise the water level. 
         [0037]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , when the water level reaches the upper limit H 1 , the float body  150  connected with the second linkage rod  140  is raised to a certain height from the water-level upper limit H 1  by buoyancy. The connecting end  143  of the second linkage rod  140  connected to the float body  150  moves upward so as to lower the adjusting mechanism  160  by rotating the second linkage rod  140 . The first linkage rod  130  is driven to linearly move the valve rod  120  and the valve stopper  121  upward until the water channel  111  is sealed by the valve stopper  121  to stop water flowing into a storage device. Using the same adjusting method as mentioned in the first embodiment, when the user wants to increase the maximum capacity of a storage device, the adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  can be changed by rotating the lead screw  170  such as increasing the adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  to raise the water-level upper limit (full water level) to increase the maximum capacity of a storage device. 
         [0038]    According to the third embodiment of the present invention, another balanced water-intake control valve is illustrated in  FIG. 8  for a 3D disassembled component view and in  FIG. 9  for a partial side view. The major components with the corresponding numbers showing the same functions will be the same as described in the first embodiment which will not further be described in detail. The balanced water-intake control valve  300  primarily comprises a valve  110 , a valve rod  120 , a first linkage rod  130 , a second linkage rod  140 , a float body  150 , and an adjusting mechanism  160  for water-level upper limit. 
         [0039]    As shown in  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 , the valve rod  120  can freely move inside the valve  110  for sealing the valve  110  to effectively stop water flowing into a storage device. Both ends of the first linkage rod  130  are pivoted at the valve  110  and at the adjusting mechanism  160 . The second linkage rod  140  is pivoted at the valve  110  where one end of the second linkage rod  140  is connected to the float body  150  and the other end is pivoted at the adjusting mechanism  160 . The adjustable length of the adjusting mechanism  160  can be changed by rotating the lead screw  170  through the adjusting nut  171 . 
         [0040]    In the present embodiment, external screws  318  are disposed at the peripheries of the bottom of the upper valve base  112 . The balanced water-intake control valve  300  further comprises a cap ring  390  covering the peripheries of the lower valve base  113  and screwed to the external screws  318  of the upper valve base  112  to tightly hold on to the lower valve base  113  of the valve  110  make the upper valve base  112  and the lower valve base  113  tightly joint together without external tools such as screw drivers for easy assembly and disassembly. 
         [0041]    The above description of embodiments of this invention is intended to be illustrative but not limited. Other embodiments of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the above disclosure which still will be covered by and within the scope of the present invention even with any modifications, equivalent variations, and adaptations.