Patent ID: 7938383

Claim:
A solenoid valve having a valve body with an inlet, an outlet and a valve chamber therebetween, a valve member selectively engagable with the valve chamber for controlling flow of fluid from the inlet to the outlet, and a solenoid assembly mounted upon the valve member for moving the valve member to control the flow of fluid from the inlet to the outlet, the solenoid assembly including a solenoid and a frame for holding the solenoid, the valve member extending into the solenoid and movable therein in response to energization and deenergization of the solenoid, the frame having a bottom end plate, a top end plate and a connector plate joining the bottom end plate and the top end plate, the improvement comprising: the solenoid assembly being connected to the valve body such that the frame is slidable by itself away from the valve body and the solenoid to permit full access to and slidable separate removal of the solenoid from the valve member, wherein the bottom end plate and the top end plate are formed with U-shaped slots defined by a pair of spaced apart bottom arms and a pair of spaced apart top arms, and wherein the frame and the solenoid have cooperating structure continuously preventing any rotation of the solenoid relative to the frame so that the frame is always rotatable together with the solenoid, the cooperating structure being defined by constant engagement of the top arms with a pair of spaced apart stop elements formed on a ledge on an upper end of the solenoid and projecting inwardly towards the top arms.