Patent ID: 7503203

Claim:
A rotary valve comprising: a stator having a stator interface and a plurality of fluid open-ports, each of said ports having an opening lying at said stator interface; a rotor coaxial to said stator and rotatable about an axis with respect to said stator between each of a plurality of rotor positions, said rotor having a rotor interface lying against said stator interface and at least one fluid channel provided with an opening extending in said rotor interface for operatively interacting with the fluid open-ports of the stator; and a fluid circulation line comprising: a looped recessed fluid circuit extending in said rotor interface, said looped fluid circuit comprising an outer annular recess and an inner recess, each extending in said rotor interface, said fluid circuit further comprising a plurality of separation recesses radially extending in said rotor interface, each of said separation recesses being connected to each of said inner and outer recesses for defining a plurality of rotor interface portions isolated from each others, each of said rotor interface portions enclosing at the most one of the fluid channels, said plurality of separation recesses extending at a predetermined position so that at most one of said ports is in fluid communication with said looped fluid circuit for any relative orientation of the rotor with respect to the stator; and a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, each having an opening lying at said stator interface, each of said inlet and outlet being in continuous fluid communication with a respective one of said inner and outer recesses for providing a continuous fluid flow in said looped recessed fluid circuit.