Patent ID: 7318577

Claim:
A motor-operated valve assembly comprising: a housing integrally formed as a unitary structure that defines fluid passage, a motor installation chamber, an output gear support portion and a valve support portion therein; a motor installed in the motor installation chamber of the housing, the motor having an output shaft and a pinion fixed to the output shaft; a driving force transmission means that has an output gear rotatably supported by the output gear support portion of the housing to transmit a driving force of the motor from the pinion of the motor to a cog portion engaged therewith; and a valve member supported by the valve support portion of the housing and having the cog portion engaged with the output gear so that the valve member is driven by the driving force of the motor to slide in an axial direction thereof to open and close the fluid passage, wherein: the output gear and the pinion of the motor extend in parallel with each other; the driving force transmission means comprises a gear train disposed in a space of the housing between the output gear and the pinion of the motor to be engaged therewith; and the valve support portion is disposed in a space of the housing between the output gear support portion and the motor installation chamber.