Abstract:
A valve arrangement with at least two connecting regions and with an actuating device is proposed, the valve body having a lead-through region for guiding a spindle and a receiving housing which encloses at least the lead-through region of the valve body being provided for receiving the means for sensing the valve position. The receiving housing, which can be easily adapted to the respective field of use, can be integrated in a simple manner in existing valve arrangements and the compact and flexible arrangement of the means for sensing the valve position in the receiving housing ensures to an increased extent that the valve position will be correctly indicated.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a valve arrangement comprising a valve body with at least two connecting regions for connection to the matching pipelines and with a shut-off element for shutting off or opening the pipeline, the valve body having a lead-through region for guiding a spindle, which is arranged such that it can be connected effectively at a first end to the shut-off member and at the second end to an actuating device, and with at least one means for sensing the respective valve position being provided. 
     EP 0 872 676 A2 discloses a valve arrangement of the generic type with an electronic means for continuously sensing and controlling the valve position. The valve arrangement has a spindle between the valve body and the manual actuating wheel. The spindle is connected to the shut-off element by means of a pin. The spindle is connected at its upper end to a bushing, which surrounds the spindle over an extended region. In a middle region of the bushing, a gearwheel is connected to the bushing. The electronic means has a further gearwheel, which is in engagement with the gearwheel of the bushing. The arrangement has a relatively large spindle in relation to the pipeline diameter and comprises many individual parts, which have to be connected to one another in order to ensure reliable functioning. 
     In a range of valve arrangements for different diameters, all the parts which are connected directly or indirectly to the spindle have to be adapted in their dimensions to the dimensions and to the media throughput of the pipeline. 
     On the basis of this prior art, it is the object of the invention to specify a valve arrangement in which the valve position can be sensed with as few individual parts as possible, as directly as possible and without the risk of erroneous indications. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This foregoing object is achieved by a valve arrangement comprising a valve body with at least two connecting regions for connection to the matching pipelines and with a shut-off element for shutting off or opening the pipeline, the valve body having a lead-through region for guiding a spindle, which is arranged such that it can be connected effectively at a first end to the shut-off member and at the second end to an actuating device, and with at least one means for sensing the respective valve position being provided, a receiving housing for receiving the means for sensing the respective valve position enclosing at least the lead-through region. 
     It is advantageous that the valve arrangement with the means for sensing the valve position forms a unit which is as compact and stable as possible. This is achieved by the receiving housing enclosing the valve body in the lead-through region of the spindle and having an essentially concavely shaped base and by being arranged in such a way that it can be positively connected to an outer wall region of the valve body. 
     It is also advantageous that the valve arrangement can optionally be used with manual actuation or with motorized actuation. This is achieved by the receiving housing having on the side opposite the base a flange for connection to further flanges. 
     It is also advantageous that the means for sensing the valve position takes up as little space as possible in the valve arrangement. This is achieved by arranging in the receiving housing a control plate with control cams for activating the means for sensing the respective valve position. This is also achieved by providing in the flange a recess for receiving the control plate, the said recess being in the form of an arc of a circle and coinciding with the outside diameter of the control plate. 
     It is also advantageous that, in the valve arrangement, the means for sensing the valve position is connected as directly as possible to the already existing components of the valve arrangement. This is achieved by the control plate having for coupling with the rotary movement of the spindle or the actuating device a coupling lug which interacts with a groove in the spindle or with a groove in the actuating device. 
     It is also advantageous that the valve arrangement has a long service life. This is achieved by concavely shaped switching lugs being arranged between the control cams of the circular control plate and the microswitches in such a way that the circular movement of the control cams is converted into a rectilinear switching path of the microswitches. 
     The placement of the receiving housing with the control plate and the means for sensing the valve position directly next to the region of the valve body in which the spindle is led out of the valve body makes it possible on the one hand to utilize the space between the valve body and the actuating element in a meaningful way and on the other hand to obtain a stable and compact arrangement. 
     The valve position is not detected from the actuating element or from the motorized actuation but is sensed without interposed parts in the region in which the movement of the spindle is most likely to coincide with the movement of the shut-off element. If there is a defect in the connection between the spindle and the actuating element or if the spindle is ruptured in the upper region, the actual valve position would not be sensed, but instead the position of the actuating element. The receiving housing can be added to existing valve arrangements without modifications. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the figures, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a valve arrangement with three connecting regions and with manual actuation, 
     FIG. 2 shows a side view of a valve arrangement with two connecting regions and with motorized actuation, 
     FIG. 3 shows a perspective and regional exploded representation of a valve arrangement according to the invention, in which the connecting regions have been omitted, and 
     FIG. 4 shows a partially sectioned perspective representation of the valve arrangement according to the invention in one phase of assembly. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In FIG. 1, a valve arrangement  1  with three connecting regions  2  is represented. The connecting regions  2  are represented as union nuts  3 , which can be connected to a valve body  5  by means of a sealing region of the flange bushings  4  fitting in said nut. The valve body  5  essentially comprises a T-shaped tube, with a shut-off element (not represented here) being provided at the crossing point of the T in the interior of the tube for shutting off or opening the pipelines to be connected. The valve arrangement  1  represented in FIG. 1 is produced from plastic. However, other materials, such as metal or glass, are also possible. The shut-off element may be of any known design, for example, as a slide or as a rotary body. Similarly, the design of the connecting regions  2  with sealing regions and union nuts  3  is merely an example and other possible designs may be used. 
     The shut-off element in the interior of the valve body  5  is connected via a spindle ( 15  in FIG. 3) to an actuating device, here a handle  6 . Arranged directly above the crossing point of the T-shaped valve body is a receiving housing  7  with the valve body  5 . The receiving housing  7  encloses the region in which the spindle leads out of the valve body  5  and has a base which is curved in such a way that the receiving housing can be positively connected to an outer wall region  8  of the valve body  5 . The connection between the receiving housing  7  and the valve body  5  may be established by means of welding, screwing or by means of an adhesive. 
     As described in FIG. 3, the spindle  15  of the valve body  5  leads from a first end, which is connected to the shut-off element (not shown) in the valve body  5 , to a second end, which is connected to the actuating device  6 . The spindle is arranged completely or largely inside the receiving housing  7 . 
     On the side remote from the valve body and arranged opposite the curved base, the receiving housing  7  has a flange  9 . In the case of the manually actuated actuating device of FIG. 1, the receiving housing  7  is closed off by a top plate  10  with an opening  11 , through which the handle  6  for fastening to the spindle is led. However, as described below with respect to FIG. 2, further flanges may also be connected to the flange  9 . 
     In FIG. 2, a valve arrangement with an actuating device actuated by a motor  12  is represented. In contrast with FIG. 1, the valve body  5  of FIG. 2 has merely two connecting regions  2 . It can be seen in FIG. 2 how the base  13  of the receiving housing  7  is formed with curvatures  14 . Two curvatures  14 , which are represented in FIG. 2 in side view as wedge-shaped positioning ribs, are formed to coincide with the curvature of the outer wall region  8  of the valve body  5 . A further curvature  14 , which is represented in plan view in FIG. 2, is provided for the valve body of a three-way valve arrangement, as shown in FIG.  1 . This indicates that a single receiving housing  7  can be used for a plurality of valve arrangements  1  for the same pipe diameter. Instead of the top plate  10  of FIG. 1, in the arrangement of FIG. 2 the receiving housing  7  was connected to the motor  12 . By forming the receiving housing  7  with the flange  9 , the same receiving housing  7  can be used both for motorized operation and for manual operation. For this purpose, the dimensions of the flange  9  are fixed to coincide with the known standard dimensions of motorized actuating devices. 
     In FIG. 3, the valve arrangement from FIG. 1 is represented before assembly. For a better overview, the connecting regions  2  have been omitted from the valve body  5 . The receiving housing  7  is positively connected in the region of the curvatures  14  to the outer wall region  8  of the valve body  5 . In the interior of the receiving housing  7 , the spindle  15  is visible. The spindle  15  leads through a lead-through region  16  in the interior of the valve body  5 . Provided in the lead-through region  16  are also the necessary seals for sealing off the pumping medium. The spindle  15  is connected by a first end to the shut-off element. The spindle is connected by the second end  17  to the actuating device  6 . The receiving housing  7  also has screw holes  18  at the base  13 . This indicates that the receiving housing  7  can be connected to the valve body  5  by means of screws in the lead-through region  16  for the spindle  15 . The upper side of the receiving housing  7 , which is facing away from the valve body  5 , is designed as a flange  9 . The flange  9  has further screw holes  19 , which are provided for fastening the top plate  10  or the motor  12 . 
     In the flange  9  there can be seen two recesses  20 , which are arranged on opposite sides of the flange and are in the form of arcs of a circle. A control plate  21  fits into these recesses  20 . The diameter of the circle of the arc of the recesses  20  essentially coincides with the outside diameter of the control plate  21  in such a way that the latter is rotatably guided in the recesses  20 . The control plate  21  takes up just enough space in the recesses in the flange  9  for the control plate to be adequately guided during the rotary movement. This does not significantly weaken the flange  9 . The control plate  21  may also be arranged in a lower region of the side walls of the receiving housing  7 . 
     The control plate  21  is flat on the upper side, so that, once it has been placed into the recesses of the flange  9 , it does not project and is not hindered in rotary movement when assembled with a further flange of a motor housing. On the underside, the control plate  21  has control cams  22 . In FIG. 3, two control cams  22  are provided at an arc spacing of 90°, here coinciding with the rotary movement of the spindle of a ball cock and consequently coinciding with the pivoting movement of the handle  6 . Depending on the type of valve arrangement  1 , there may also be a plurality of control cams formed at different arc spacings. The control cams  22  serve for activating a means for sensing the valve position, here represented as a microswitch  23 . The control cam  21  may be produced from a plastic, optionally reinforced with glass fibers, in an injection-molding process or from some other combination of materials. 
     Formed on the inside diameter of the control plate  21  is a coupling lug  24 , which interacts with a groove  25  on the spindle  15  or with a groove on the actuating device  6 , which is connected in this region to the spindle  15 . By the interaction of the groove  25  and the coupling lug  24 , the movement of the spindle  15  is transferred to the control plate  21 . 
     Arranged between the control cams  22  of the circular control plate  21  and the microswitch  23  are switching lugs  26 . The switching lugs  26  have a concavely shaped region  27 . This achieves the effect that the circular movement of the control plate and the radial movement of the control cams  22  are converted into a rectilinear movement of the switching pin of the microswitch  23 . This prevents the switching pin of the microswitch  23  from being subjected to flexural stressing from the side. This achieves the effect that the valve arrangement can be used for longer troublefree operation. The switching lugs  26  may be produced in an injection-molding process from plastic or in a punching process from metal. Instead of the microswitch  23 , an inductive proximity switch may also be used. For this purpose, the switching lug  26  would have to be produced from a suitable material that influences the inductance of the proximity switch. 
     Also represented in FIG. 3 are two universal mounts  28 , with which the microswitches  23  are fastened on the side wall of the receiving housing  7 . Suitable shaping of these universal mounts  28  achieves the effect that the same microswitches  23  can be respectively used for different valve arrangements. One universal mount has, on an outer wall, fastening points for fastening on the inner wall of the receiving housing  7  and, on the inner wall, a multiplicity of further fastening points for fastening the microswitches or the inductive proximity switches which are being used in the valve arrangement as signal converters. The universal mounts  28  are simple-to-produce injection moldings which serve for bridging the distance between the spindle  15  and the side wall of the receiving housing  7 . 
     In a side view of the receiving housing  7 , a passage  29  is provided for leading through the supply lines or signal lines to and from the means  23  for sensing the valve position from the energy supply or to the signal display panel, respectively. Depending on the design of the means  23  for sensing the valve position, the lines may be electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic lines. For connecting these lines, a connecting part  13  is provided on the outer side of the receiving housing  7 . The connecting part  30  serves not only as an interface for the line connections but also ensures, by the relatively large sealing area, good sealing off of the receiving housing  7 . 
     In FIG. 4, a detail from the valve arrangement  1  is represented in one phase of assembly. For a better view of the parts inside the housing, the receiving housing  7  is represented in sectioned form. The spindle  15  is connected at the first end  31  to the shut-off element, for example a ball cock. Arranged in the region of the second end  17  of the spindle is the control plate  21 . Arranged in the region of the side wall of the receiving housing  7  is a universal mount  28  and, in it, a microswitch  23 . The handle  6  has, in the region which is connected to the spindle  15 , a groove  25 , which interacts with the coupling lug  24  of the control plate  21 . The receiving housing  7  with the microswitches  23  and the control plate  21  forms a compact arrangement, which can be easily adapted to existing valve arrangements by exchanging the universal mount  28 . The overall height of the receiving housing  7  corresponds approximately to the length of the spindle  15  and is not higher than the space which is present in any case between the valve body and the actuating device  6 .