A three-way valve (11) is formed from three identical casing parts (13), between which is inserted a one-piece sealing cage (15). The flap-like valve body has a closure face (31) displaced eccentrically with respect to the axis or spindle (20) and whose marginal areas cooperate with the webs (24) of the seal (15). The valve creates an almost unconstricted passage in all three deflection directions and has only narrow, clearly defined sealing areas and can be completely washed round in a cleaning position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a valve, particularly a multiway valve. 
2. Prior Art 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,725 discloses a flap or leaf valve, whose symmetrical 
flap passes through the valve passage or port in transverse manner. The 
outer circumference of the flap cooperates with a seal surrounding the 
valve channel. These valves are particularly advantageous for the food 
industry, because they can easily be cleaned e.g. by washing. However, 
they can only be used as stop or throttle valves. 
DE-A-3 612 672 discloses a multiway operating fitting, which has a 
pivotable flap in a cylindrical casing into which issue four connecting 
passages. The symmetrical flap can, as desired, connect each connecting 
passage to the passages adjacent thereto. However, this operating fitting 
is not usable in a general manner, because it does not have a clearly 
defined closed position. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the invention is to provide a valve, which avoids the 
disadvantages of the prior art and in particular allows more universal 
use, manufacture at low cost and easy cleaning. 
In the present invention; the advantages of the flap valve, its easy 
operation and cleaning are retained and the possible uses considerably 
extended. As a result of the flap arranged eccentrically with respect to 
the axis, it is possible to provide a multiway and in particular a 
three-way valve, which interconnects the connecting passages in a random 
manner by pivoting the valve body and which can serve as a stop valve for 
at least one passage. It is also possible to set a throttle position and 
preferably the valve body can be brought into a cleaning position in which 
the entire valve body, to the extent that it is located in the valve 
chamber, can be rinsed around from all sides. The valve body can be 
adjusted in such a way that the rinsing or washing liquid can also flow 
through a passage portion not located in the washing liquid flow. 
The valve body is preferably constructed in such a way that it only 
cooperates with its outer marginal area on the valve body side remote from 
the flap axis with sealing means, which are located on the valve chamber 
circumference and need not restrict the same. This leads to a clearly 
defined sealing mating surface, while the remaining closure portion of the 
flap can be shaped in accordance with the particular requirements. 
Although the flap is preferably somewhat curved, it is flatter than would 
correspond to a rotating body about the axis, so that in the case of valve 
actuation it runs free from the seal and does not have to sweep over the 
seal. Thus, no special precision and surface quality requirements are 
required with respect to this closure portion surface. As a result, it is 
also ensured that in an intermediate position, both the sealing faces of 
the seal and also the complete valve body are freely exposed for cleaning 
purposes. 
The sealing medium or means is preferably constituted by a cohesive ring 
cage-like sealing body, which has the same number of webs as connecting 
passages which emanate from two central crossing points, through which the 
valve flap spindle passes in sealed manner. Variants are possible as a 
function of the particular requirements. For example, on one side the flap 
spindle need not pass through the seal and could optionally be mounted 
therein. It would also be possible to use separate sealing rings for each 
passage and the flap spindle, although the unitary sealing body has 
constructional and operational advantages. Seals on the valve body are 
also possible. However, the seal arrangement on the casing offers the 
advantage that it also reciprocally seals the casing parts. 
It is particularly advantageous to construct the valve casing from 
identical parts, whose number corresponds to the number of connecting 
passages and whereof each contains such a passage. The seal can be 
positioned at the parting lines and can be fixed there by clamping so as 
to seal the same. Thus, a three-way valve can be manufactured from only 
five main parts, namely three casing segments, a valve body and a sealing 
element. 
Although the construction as a multiway valve is preferred, the valve can 
also be used for other purposes, e.g. as a stop valve. In this case the 
eccentrically arranged valve body, with the valve in the open position, 
would be pivoted in front of a wall portion. This would retain the 
advantage achieved in all constructions that, in the open state, the valve 
body does not pass through the passage cross-section of the valve so as to 
constrict the same. This passage cross-section is completely free and 
scarcely needs any variation with regards to its cross-sectional shape. 
This ensures an extremely low flow resistance and advantages in cleaning 
and conveying heavy products, e.g. fibrous suspensions, etc., which tend 
to stick to the valve body.

A three-way valve 11 comprises a valve casing 12, which is formed by three 
identical, segmental parts 13, a flap-like valve body 14 forming a closure 
means and a seal 15. The valve casing 12 is a polygonal, but fundamentally 
almost spherical block, which has three connections 17, which can e.g. 
have welding webs 18, on three flattened portions 16 reciprocally 
displaced in each case by 120.degree.. The connecting passages 19 
connected to each connection are circular, very short and run centrally 
with respect to the valve central axis 20, where they pass into one 
another in a common valve chamber 21. The three casing parts 13 of the 
valve body engage with one another along joint faces 22, in whose vicinity 
are provided undercut recesses 23, in which are fixed webs 24 of the seal 
15 with a T-shaped cross-section. 
The seal 15 is shaped like a cage formed from three webs 24 bent in a 
substantially semicircular or semielliptical manner and reciprocally 
displaced by 120.degree.. The webs 24 meet in two crossing areas 25, where 
there are through holes 26. The insides 27 of the webs 24 are convexly 
curved and form a sealing face cooperating with the valve body 14. 
The seal 15 comprising a unitary, one-piece shaped body made from rubber or 
an elastic plastics material (cf. particularly FIGS. 4 to 6) is so 
inserted in the vicinity of the joint faces 22 between the casing parts 13 
(FIG. 3), that it is positively held in the recesses 23. The assembled 
casing parts 13 brought into contact with their joint faces 22 and the 
inner sealing faces 27 form connecting portions between the connecting 
passages 19, i.e. wall portions of the valve chamber 21. The seal 
simultaneously seals the casing parts, the valve body spindle and the 
valve body in the closed state. 
The valve body 14 (FIGS. 7 to 10) comprises two journals 28, 29, whereof 
one carries at its end a terminating profiling (e.g. a square). Between 
the journals 28, 29 is located a closure portion 31, which is laterally 
displaced with respect to the axis or spindle 20 and which has a 
spoon-like curved shape, which can be more clearly seen in FIGS. 7 to 8. 
In the view according to FIG. 8 it is symmetrical and circular and is 
arcuately curved in a view at right angles thereto, but has a smaller 
radius of curvature than edge 32 in FIG. 8, so that the back surface 33 in 
its centre has a significant spacing from an imaginary body of revolution 
which would be described by line 32. 
FIG. 7 shows that the back surface 33 is much flatter than the rotation 
circle 34 about the axis 20. 
In the embodiment the valve body has a marginal area 35, which is located 
on an imaginary body of revolution about the axis 20 and in the case of a 
circular construction of the connecting passages on a spherical surface. 
In this area 35 the valve body cooperates with the sealing faces 27 of the 
valve body 15, while all the remaining parts of the closure portion 31 are 
free therefrom. Thus, only the hatched surfaces in FIG. 10 engage on the 
sealing body, namely the journals 28, 29, which are sealingly guided in 
the holes 26, and the marginal areas 35. 
FIGS. 6 and 10 show sections of the seal and valve body guided along bent 
section lines. They show that the sealing web 24 and the marginal areas 35 
in reality have an elliptical shape, because the joint faces 22 intersect 
in sloping manner the circular connecting channels 19 and consequently 
form elliptical sectional surfaces. These conditions differ with the 
number of connecting channels and therefore the angles between the casing 
parts. In the same way the connecting channels centrally traversing each 
casing part in the embodiment can also be asymmetrically arranged or have 
a non-circular shape, if this is more favorable for the connecting 
conditions or the flow guidance. 
The journals 28, 29 traverse the valve casing 12 in the correspondingly 
recessed center 36, where the casing parts 13 meet. The casing parts are 
held together by screws 37, which are inserted in screw holes 38 and which 
are in each case screwed into tapholes 39 of the adjacent part. The two 
screws 37 traversing a parting line 22 are provided above and below the 
plane of the connecting passages. The screws are alternately inserted from 
either side, so that not only is the basic shape of the casing parts 
identical, but in fact all details thereof are identical. 
On its top surface the valve casing carries a ring of holes 41 for locking 
a handle 40. It can be pivoted about an axis 42 in opposition to the 
tension of a spring 43 and connects to said handle a connecting part 44 
located on connecting profile 30. On the handle is provided a detent 45, 
which can enter the holes 41. 
FIG. 3 shows the valve in a position, where it seals the upper connecting 
passage 19, while the two lower connecting passages are interconnected. It 
can be clearly seen that through the curved back surface 33 of the closure 
portion 31, but which is flatter than a rotary body, the valve only 
engages with the marginal areas 35 on the sealing faces 27 and also when 
pivoting the valve body about the axis 20 the back surface need not pass 
along the sealing faces 27. As shown in FIG. 3, the inner face 46 of the 
closure portion 31 can be cross-sectionally substantially flat, but can 
also have a certain curvature. It is clear in this case that the 
through-flow cross-section of the valve is a flat arc without any 
significant constriction or extension, so that the flow resistance is 
extremely small. As a result of a corresponding shape of the valve body 
adaptation to particular requirements is possible. 
As a result of correspondingly curved connecting pieces 47 (FIGS. 12 to 
14), the valve can be organically placed in through lines, as well as line 
bends or branches. The valve spindle is at right angles to the branching 
surface and can be easily operated. Operation takes place by raising the 
lever 40, so that the detent 45 is freed from the holes 41, followed by 
corresponding turning. Apart from the three positions designated, in which 
the closure portion 31 in each case completely closes one of the passages, 
many intermediate positions are possible, where a specific flow 
distribution can be carried out. 
FIG. 15 shows that there can be a free flow from all sides round the 
closure portion 31 of the valve body in an intermediate position, so that 
the valve can be cleaned by washing without disassembly. This can also be 
brought about without interrupting operation in a parallel (in this case 
upper) branch. In the lower part cleaning liquid is supplied from the left 
and flows on either side round the closure portion 31 acting as a 
deflecting member, so that also in the connecting tube portion 48 there 
can be a cleaning flow into and out of the same over and beyond the other 
side of the valve body. This is a very great advantage in food 
enterprises, where the cleaning has to be carried out very frequently, 
usually daily or at even more regular intervals. The valve has no 
inaccessible corners, which could form bacterial concentration points, as 
well as no dead spaces, because the valve chamber 21 is formed by a 
penetration of the valve passages. 
FIG. 11 shows that, if necessary, outside the passage holes 26 through the 
seal 14, it is also possible to have guide bushes 49 for the journals, but 
this is not generally necessary. As a result of the then somewhat elastic 
mounting of the valve body, it can be well adapted to the sealing faces 
27. As a result of the internal pressure in the valve a certain 
self-reinforcement of the valve pressure is obtained.