Valve

A water control valve particularly suited for use with poultry watering apparatus having a deformable rubber sleeve lining the interior of the valve housing. A pair of piston members are arranged to pinch the sleeve and thus cut off the flow through the valve in response to a cross member attached to a control lever alternately urging each of the pistons into the housing.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to water valves and particularly to automatic 
valves for use in poultry watering apparatus. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In the raising of poultry it is common to use elongated watering troughs 
which are fed by automatic water feed valves. Generally a watering trough 
for poultry will be an elongated channel pivotally attached at one end to 
a wall or other rigid support and having a second end attached to a 
control lever for an automatic valve. The valve attached to the control 
lever is responsive to the weight of the water in the trough and will 
automatically replenish the supply as it is lost through drinking by the 
poultry or evaporation into the air. When a sufficient amount of water is 
in the trough, the weight of the trough as applied to the control lever of 
the valve will cause the valve to shut off the supply of water. 
As is known to those skilled in the art, it is also desirable to have the 
control valve cut off to flow when the trough is removed so that removal 
of the trough will not cause water to be spilled onto the floor of the 
poultry house. 
The general arrangement for valves for poultry watering troughs is well 
known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,917 to Hoffmeister, 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,755 to Hobbs, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,399 to Godshalk 
all show species of control valve for poultry watering apparatus. The 
valves described in these patents all include a spring biased lever which 
will bias a valve operating mechanism shut when the weight of the water 
trough is removed from the control lever. Each of the biasing springs may 
be adjusted to control the total force applied by the watering trough 
which will shut off the valve when the lever is urged downward by the 
weight of the trough and the water. 
Prior art water control valves of the type shown in the above-referenced 
patents all include a pair of weighted members attached to each other by a 
pin passing through a bore in the interior of the valve housing. The pin 
is longer than the length of the bore. Therefore the basic arrangement 
takes on the appearance of a barbell having the bar passing through a 
bored out portion in the interior of the valve housing. On both the upper 
and lower sides of the bore a valve seat is provided so that when the 
upper weight is seated on top of the bore, flow of water through the valve 
housing is terminated. Similarly when the lower weight is urged upward 
against the lower valve seat, the water flow is also terminated. 
When the force urging the weights upward which comes from the weight of the 
trough at a support location working against the spring bias on a lever 
arm is substantially cancelled by the force of the water pressure in a 
feed line, neither weight will be seated in one of the valve seats and 
water will flow through the valve. 
There are two main disadvantages to prior art watering valves of the type 
described above. The first disadvantage is that construction of such 
valves requires a relatively large number of machined metal parts, 
particularly the valve seats and the arrangement of weights and the pin or 
bar passing through the bore running between the seats. 
The second main disadvantage of prior art watering valves, as will be 
appreciated from inspection of the above-referenced patents, is that it is 
relatively common for particulate matter to collect between the walls of 
the bore and the pin joining the valve weights which tends to clog the 
valve and prevent its proper operation. Adequate cleaning of a valve so 
clogged generally requires the removal thereof and a somewhat tedious 
cleaning process. It may require disassembly of the valve. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes the above-referenced limitations of the 
prior art by providing a much simpler cut-off mechanism than the 
mechanisms of the prior art. Generally the present invention comprises a 
conventional valve housing which is bored out along its entire length and 
lined with a resilient deformable sleeve. 
The control of the valve is provided through a basically conventional 
control lever having a support location for accepting a supporting member 
for the watering trough. 
However, instead of having a dual seat valve for accepting a pair of valves 
spaced longitudinally along the longitudinal axis of the valve housing, 
the present invention simply provides apparatus for deforming and pinching 
off the flexible sleeve when the control lever is in the appropriate 
position. Preferably the sleeve comprises a section of synthetic rubber 
tubing with sufficient elasticity to resume its normal shape when not 
disturbed by the cut-off mechanism of the present invention. Of course any 
appropriately elastic material may be used for the sleeve. 
A preferred form of the present invention uses a pair of piston members 
extending radially from the longitudinal axis of the valve housing. When 
the weight of the watering trough as applied at the support location is 
counterbalanced by the force provided by the biasing spring, the valve 
will be open since neither of the pistons will be in a position to close 
the flexible sleeve. When the force is removed from the support location, 
such as when the watering trough is removed for cleaning, the conventional 
spring bias on the control lever will cause one of the pistons to be 
forced into the valve housing pinching off the flexible sleeve and thus 
cutting off flow of water through the valve. 
When the support location of the control lever has sufficient force applied 
thereto against the biasing spring, the other piston member will be urged 
against the sleeve with sufficient force to pinch off the flow of water 
and thus close the valve. 
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a water 
control valve of much simpler construction than prior art water control 
valves used in poultry watering apparatus. 
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a water control 
valve which is not susceptible to clogging due to particulate matter in 
the water. 
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a water 
control valve for poultry watering apparatus or the like which will 
continually flush particulates and dirt from the flow path and thus 
prevent clogging of the valve. 
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a water 
control valve of simple construction which is less expensive than prior 
art valves and has fewer parts requiring close tolerance machining. 
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from 
the detailed description of the preferred embodiment below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The best mode of constructing and using the present invention presently 
known to the inventors is set forth in the specification and may be 
understood by reference to the figures in which like numerals reference 
like parts. Turning first to FIG. 1, it may be seen that the preferred 
embodiment comprises a valve housing 10 having a threaded portion 11 at 
the upper end thereof. 
Attached to the valve housing is a control lever bracket 12, a pictorial 
view of which may be seen in FIG. 4. It may be seen that bracket 12 is a 
unitary element including a control lever support tab 17 having a role 18 
provided therethrough. Spring holding tab 15 having a hole 16 for 
accepting one end of a spring also forms a part of bracket 12. 
As shown in FIG. 1, bracket 12 is disposed around valve housing 10 by means 
of pins 24 and holes 14 which may accept screw, rivets or any other means 
for attaching bracket 12 to valve housing 10. It is to be understood that 
the particular arrangement of bracket 12 as a separate element of the 
entire improved valve of the present invention preferred and in no way 
limits the scope of the present invention to apparatus having unitary 
brackets such as bracket 12 shown in FIG. 4. 
At the upper end of the valve a compressed flexible sleeve 30 is visible. 
The sleeve is held in place by a sleeve retaining member 32 having an 
annular orifice 35 therein. 
A control lever 20 is pivotally attached to control lever support tab 17 by 
means of a screw 21 which also provides a fulcrum for lever 20. A bracket 
26 for retaining one end of spring 27 is selectively adjustable by means 
of a knob 29 having a threaded member (not shown) through the bracket. It 
is to be understood that the threaded member attached to knob 29 may be 
selectively lodged in any of notches 23 disposed on the lower side of 
lever 20. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the 
particular adjustment arrangement for bracket 26 is conventional in 
nature. In order to reduce cost it may be desirable to eliminate bracket 
26 and directly place the lower end of spring 27 into one of notches 23 
without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
At the distal end of lever 20 is a notch 42 which comprises a support 
location for accepting a conventional hook 51 shown in FIG. 2 attached to 
a conventional watering trough 50 (shown in phantom in FIG. 2). It will be 
appreciated that trough 50 comprises a discharge container for accepting 
water or some other fluid passed through the valve of the present 
invention and therefore that notch 42 comprises a support location for 
supporting a discharge container. 
Also visible in FIG. 2 are a pair of piston members 40a and 40b which 
extend through valve housing 10 into the interior of the preferred 
embodiment of the present invention. 
It will be appreciated from FIG. 2 that attaching discharge container 50 to 
the distal end of lever 20 at support location 42 will cause a force in 
the direction of arrow 47 to be applied to lever 20 which tends to rotate 
lever 20 in the direction of arrow 46 around pivot screw 21. It will 
similarly be appreciated that spring 27 exerts an upward force on bracket 
26 which tends to rotate lever 20 in the direction of arrow 45 about pivot 
screw 21. It will thus be appreciated that provision of downward force in 
the direction of arrow 47 from the weight of trough 50 and the water 
therein will act as a second class lever against the force provided by 
spring 27 to bracket 26. It will further be appreciated that this 
arrangement is conventional in nature. 
Among the novel features of the preferred embodiment are piston members 40a 
and 40b which are visible in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 3A and 3B. The operation of 
the preferred embodiment may be best appreciated from FIGS. 3A and 3B. 
In FIG. 3A it may be seen that the interior of valve housing 10 is lined 
with a selectively deformable cylindrically shaped sleeve 30 which, in the 
preferred embodiment, consists of a piece of synthetic rubber tubing. It 
will be appreciated that the preferred embodiment uses rubber tubing which 
is not only selectively deformable but which has sufficient elasticity to 
tend to resume its cylindrical shape in the absence of external pressures 
thereon. 
At the top of valve housing 10 a seat 36 is provided into which annular 
retaining member 32 is forced compressing the upper portion of sleeve 30. 
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention annular retaining 
member 32 is constructed of Teflon brand synthetic resin polymers but any 
material of sufficient strength to compress sleeve 30 against seat 36 and 
the interior of valve housing 10 may be used. Annular retaining member 32 
has an orifice 35 through the center thereof for allowing water to pass 
into the interior of valve housing 10. 
Piston members 40a and 40b of the preferred embodiment are inserted through 
a pair of holes in valve housing 10 and the pistons extend radially from 
the longitudinal axis of the valve housing. Each of pistons 40a and 40b is 
urged against a cross member 25 attached to lever 20. In the preferred 
embodiment, cross member 25 and lever 20 are of unitary construction. It 
is to be understood that in the preferred embodiment deformable sleeve 30 
is of sufficient elasticity to urge piston members 40a and 40b in the 
direction of arrow 44 so as to remain in contact with cross member 25. 
in FIG. 3A, it may be seen that under a condition of substantial 
equilibrium between the force supplied by spring 27 and the gravitational 
force supplied in the direction of arrow 47 at support location 42 an open 
passageway exists between orifice 35 and discharge point 33 that will 
allow water to pass through the valve. Assume that a discharge container 
50 is present under discharge opening 33 and that such a discharge 
container comprises a conventional poultry watering trough. As the trough 
fills with water it becomes heavier and a greater force is applied in the 
direction of arrow 47 (FIG. 2) tending to rotate lever 20 about pivot 
screw 21 in the direction of arrow 46 (FIG. 2). 
When a predetermined force is provided at support location 42 in the 
direction of arrow 47 (FIG. 2) lower piston 40b will be forced into the 
interior of valve housing 10 in the direction of arrow 48 a sufficient 
distance to completely pinch off the path which previously existed through 
the interior of the valve. This condition is shown in FIG. 3B wherein 
cross member 25 has urged piston 40b a sufficient distance into the valve 
to deform and close the sleeve thus terminating the flow of water to 
discharge point 33. It will be appreciated that both water pressure from 
water entering orifice 35 and the elasticity of sleeve 30 will tend to 
urge piston 40b in the direction of arrow 44 and thus, when lever 20 is 
rotated in the direction of arrow 45 piston member 40b will tend to move 
out of the interior of the valve housing in the direction of arrow 44. 
It will therefore be appreciated that the present invention comprises a 
selectively deformable sleeve 30 within valve housing 10 and has a lever 
20 extending from valve housing 10 for supporting a discharge container 50 
at a support location 42. It will be appreciated that the present 
invention further comprises a cut-off means coupled to lever 20 via cross 
member 25 for deforming and closing deformable sleeve 30 in response to a 
predetermined force in the direction of arrow 47 being applied at support 
location 42. 
It will further be appreciated that piston 40b, lever 20 and cross member 
25a in combination comprise a cut-off means having a piston member 
extending through valve housing 10 which is substantially perpendicular to 
the longitudinal axis of valve housing 10 and that cross member 25 urges 
piston member 40b into the interior or valve housing 10 in response to 
movement of support location 42 in the direction of arrow 46. 
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that piston 40a will 
similarly deform and close the deformable sleeve 30 when force is removed 
from port location 42 and bias spring 27 pulls lever 20 in the direction 
of arrow 45 tending to urge piston member 40a into the interior of valve 
housing 10 pinching off deformable sleeve 30. 
It will therefore be appreciated that the machined metal parts of the 
preferred embodiment of the present invention are few and that the 
tolerances, most importantly the machining of piston members 40a and 40b 
and the holes in valve housing 10 which receive these members, are 
substantially noncritical. Furthermore there are no complicated machined 
parts in the interior of valve housing 10. It will also be appreciated 
that since seat 36 is designed to accept a compressed portion of sleeve 30 
that the machined dimensions of this seat are noncritical. It will 
therefore be appreciated that the preferred embodiment of the present 
invention accomplishes the object set forth above of providing a simple 
and inexpensive automatic watering valve having a minimum of expensive 
finely machined parts. 
It will also be appreciated particularly from FIGS. 3A and 3B that the 
width of the passage between orifice 35 and discharge point 33 expands and 
contracts as the valve is operated and therefore the valve will tend to 
flush out dirt and other particular matter which may be present in the 
water passing through the valve. This is to be contrasted with the 
constant clearance between the bore of the passageway and the pin holding 
the dual valves of prior art automatic watering valves and therefore tend 
to collect particulate matter of an appropriate size and thus tend to 
become clogged. Therefore the preferred embodiment of the present 
invention accomplishes the object set forth above of having a valve which 
tends to be flushed of dirt and other particulate matter. It will be 
appreciated that the present invention is of simple construction and 
provides an improved inexpensive poultry watering valve which is 
completely compatible with preexisting poultry watering equipment. It will 
further be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention other 
than the preferred embodiment shown herein may be constructed within the 
scope of the claims below.