Patent ID: 8398070

Claim:
A valve unit which switches an opened state where a first flow path is connected to a second flow path and a closed state where the connection of the first flow path and the second flow path is blocked, the valve unit comprising: a first member having a first facing surface which faces the second flow path, and a first hole provided with one end connected to the first flow path and the other end exposed to the first facing surface; a second member having a second facing surface which faces the first facing surface via a space, and a second hole provided with one end connected to the second flow path and the other end facing the first hole and exposed to the second facing surface; a shield plate rotatably disposed in the space along the first and second facing surfaces, having a plurality of connection holes away from the rotation center thereof each of which are configured to connect the first hole to the second hole during rotation and to connect the first hole to the second hole and block the connection thereof; and a rotator which rotates the shield plate between the opened state where the connection holes coincide with the first and second holes and the closed state where the connection of the first and second holes is blocked, wherein a plurality of sets of the first and second flow paths are provided, the first and second members having a plurality of sets of the first and second holes corresponding to the plurality of the sets of the first and second flow paths, each set of first and second holes is provided at a position with different distances from the rotational center of the shield plate, wherein the plurality of connection holes of the shielding plate are configured such that each of the plurality of connection holes are equidistantly disposed on different circumferences corresponding to each set of the first and second holes.