1 LIQUID CONTROL VALVE This invention relates to liquid control valves and in particular such a valve suitable 5 for use with animal watering troughs and similar watering retaining vessels. Often animal watering troughs fed from a reticulated supply are often sited some considerable distance from their water supply with each watering trough being controlled by a float-arm operated valve which cuts-in when the quantity of water in 10 the trough reduces to a predetermined level. Typical of this situation is the siting of the watering trough(s) in a farm paddock some considerable distance from a water storage reservoir or tank. Also there can be a need to provide several adjacent or nearby watering troughs in one paddock such as when strip gazing is being undertaken. Rather than reticulate the water supply to each individual trough it is 15 envisaged that it would be convenient and cost effective to enable temporary branches or "take-offs" to be connected to a permanently connected "hub" watering trough. It will be appreciated this approach can be repeated in steps, one trough to a next trough, to continue the "take-off' to further troughs. Also, it will be understood that such a "take-off' could be used for other uses such as hosing down animals and 20 hosing out the watering troughs themselves. Further, ideally such a "take-off' should be readily connected into and disconnected from the reticulated supply. A first object of this invention is to provide a float arm controlled valve suitable for use with a watering trough which will enable "take-offs" as aforesaid to be readily connected 2 into and disconnected from such a reticulated supply. It is also envisaged that enabling the valve to be temporarily closed while such a connection or disconnection is made would be desirable. 5 Further, owing to the environment and impurities in the water supply float valves controlling watering troughs are prone to seizing or similar malfunction and regular cleaning is desirable. With many of these valves a float arm or lever engages with a plunger, piston or similarly operated valve mechanism to open and close the valve as the level of water in a trough lowers and rises respectively. It is envisaged that 10 being able to dis-connect the float arm from the plunger mechanism without detaching the float arm from the valve would assist the cleaning operation. Thus a further object of this invention is to provide a float arm engaging an operating plunger valve which will enable this functionality. Also it is considered desirable to provide an efficiently high flow rate through such a valve. Yet a further object of this 15 invention is to provide such a valve or at least provide the public with a useful choice of float operated valves. In this specification unless the contrary is expressly stated, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not 20 an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge; or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.
3 According to a first embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled valve suitable for use in controlling a water supply to a watering trough characterised in that an outlet of the valve incorporates coupling means by which a conduit can be 5 detachably coupled thereto and wherein locking means are provided to maintain the valve in a closed mode while a conduit is connected or disconnected to the valve by utilising the coupling means. In a first aspect the invention resides in a float controlled valve suitable for use in controlling a water supply to a water trough including a valve having a valve body with 10 an inlet and outlet, a float 9 connected to a float support lever arm 3 which is pivotally mounted by a pin 4 to the body of the valve, including the float support lever having an inner end section extending through an opening in a body of the valve with the float support lever being pivotally attached to the body, the inner end section of the flat support lever extending into an aperture formed in the side of a plunger mounted 15 within a cylinder of an opening and closing mechanism of the valve, the plunger including an end disposed bridge section providing for raising of the plunger, with impingement of the inner end of the flat support lever on the bridging section, to open the valve, and the reverse for closing of the valve; a removable cap forming an outlet of the valve and providing a stop for a maximum closing displacement of the plunger and 20 the lever, wherein the bridge section is set-back from the side of the plunger associated with the float support lever receiving aperture whereby with removal of the cap the plunger can be displaced sufficiently clear of 4 the cylinder to provide clearance between the plunger and the end of the float support lever enabling removal of the plunger from the valve without disconnecting the lever from the valve body. 5 According to a second embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled valve as described in the preceding paragraph wherein the coupling means is integrally incorporated into an outlet component of the valve body. According to a third embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled 10 valve as described in either of the two immediately preceding paragraphs wherein the coupling means is incorporated on a detachable outlet forming cap. According to a fourth embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled valve suitable for use in controlling a water supply to a trough as 15 described in any one of the three immediately preceding paragraphs wherein the coupling means is configured to detachably retain a cam-operated conduit line connection fastener. According to a fifth embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled 20 valve as described in any one of the four immediately preceding paragraphs wherein the valve includes a float support lever and the locking means comprises a removable chock insertable into an opening in a body of the valve to lock the lever in a valve closed mode.
5 According to a sixth embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled valve as described in any one of the five immediately preceding paragraphs including a float support lever having an inner end section extending through an 5 opening in a body of the valve with the float support lever being pivotally attached to the body, the inner end section of the float support lever extending into an aperture formed in the side of a plunger mounted within a cylinder of an opening and closing mechanism of the valve, the plunger including an end disposed bridge section providing for raising of the plunger, with impingement of the inner end of the lever on 10 the bridging section, to open the valve, and the reverse for closing of the valve; a removable cap forming an outlet of the valve and providing a stop for a maximum closing displacement of the plunger and the lever, wherein the bridge section is set back from the side of the plunger associated with the lever receiving aperture whereby with removal of the cap the plunger can be displaced sufficiently clear of 15 the cylinder to provide clearance between the plunger and the end of the lever enabling removal of the plunger from the valve without disconnecting the lever from the valve body. According to a seventh embodiment of this invention there is provided a float 20 controlled valve as described in the preceding paragraph wherein the aperture in the plunger extends completely therethrough and the bridging section is set back from both aperture associated sides of the plunger.
6 According to an eighth embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled valve as described in any one of the seven immediately preceding paragraphs further characterised in that a bore of the outlet thereof is of a substantially circular cross-sectional and includes an inner section of constant 5 diameter and an outer divergent section being of a marginally increasing diameter. According to a ninth embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled valve as described in any one of the first to seventh embodiments further characterised in that a bore of an outlet thereof is of a substantially circular cross 10 sectional with a middle section between an inner converging section being of a diameter that decreases marginally toward the middle section and an outer diverging section being of a diameter that increases away from the middle section. According to a tenth embodiment of this invention there is provided a float controlled 15 valve as described in the preceding paragraph wherein the inner and outer sections are substantially mirror replicas of one another. In further describing the invention reference is made to a preferred embodiment being a float lever operated valve suitable for use in an animal watering trough and 20 to the accompanying drawings thereof wherein: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section view of a preferred form of the valve depicting the valve in a closed mode and with a locking means in place to retain the valve in that 7 closed mode. Fig. I also includes (in cross-section and expanded view) a typical detachable coupling suitable for use with the valve. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section view of the preferred form of valve but with the outlet 5 cap removed to enable removal of a sealing plunger of the valve, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view from above of the plunger, and Fig. 4 is a further longitudinal section view of a preferred form of the valve depicting 10 the valve in a closed mode and with a locking means in place to retain the valve in that closed mode but depicting an alternative outlet cap. In known manner, a float 9 is connected to a lever arm 3 pivotally mounted such as by pin 4 to a body section 1 of the valve. The arm 3 is mounted through an aperture 15 lb in the body section 1 and an inner end section 3a of the arm 3 engages with a valve mechanism plunger 5 having a valve sealing rim 5a at one end thereof. (Aperture lb is preferably "oversized" relative to the size required to merely provide clearance for operational movement of the float arm 3 to further adapt the valve to characterising features of this invention as described in detail below.) Plunger 5 is 20 slidably mounted, and sealed such as by "0" ring 6, within an associated cylinder section formed in an interior chamber of the valve body 1. Body I incorporates an inlet 1a into the interior thereof and a preferably removable outlet cap 8 incorporates a bore 11 therethrough which forms an outlet as described in more detail below. A 8 washer 7 is preferably formed on an inner face of outlet cap 8, the rim 5a sealing against washer 7 to close the valve. Lowering of the float 9, such as in situ would be the case with the level of water in a trough lowering, causes the inner end 3a of the lever 3 to rise and lift the plunger valve rim 5a clear of the associated seating washer 5 7 to open the valve. The valve will close with the reverse action of the lever 3, the lever 3 displacing the plunger 5 downward for rim 5a to seat on washer 7. By being removable outlet cap 8 provides access to the interior chamber of the valve body 1 and, to that end, outlet cap 8 preferably includes an internal screw-thread at an inner end to engage on an associated external screw-thread provided on the valve body 1. 10 As a first characterising feature of the invention the outlet cap 8 also incorporates coupling means by which an extension conduit 10, hose or similar can be detachably coupled thereto. Preferably the coupling means is integrally incorporated into the outlet cap 8 and preferably comprises an exterior annular groove 8b adapted to 15 receive an over-centre or "Cam-lock" fitting 10a attached to the extension conduit or hose 10. While it may be possible to connect and disconnect fitting 10a to coupling means 8b while the valve is open it is considered that it would be better to be able to readily and conveniently close the valve while making such a connection or disconnection. To that end a "locking closed" means is provided. Preferably the 20 locking closed means comprises a chock-pin 2 that can be inserted into the aperture lb to be located between the bridging section 5c of the plunger 5 and the associated wall of the valve body 1. This forces the plunger 5 downward and to seat rim 5a against washer 7 and thus close the valve. Preferably the chock-pin 2 includes an 9 outer end section 2a incorporating an aperture therethrough enabling the chock-pin 2 to be slidably mounted and captivated on arm 3. Thus with the raising of the arm 3 to a closed position the chock-pin 2 can be slid therealong into aperture 1b to block the plunger 5 as aforesaid and also wedge the arm 3 in that raised closed position. 5 Removal of the chock-pin 2 returns the valve to an operational mode. As described above, the inner end 3a of lever 3 engages with plunger 5. Preferably the inner end 3a locates in a laterally opening aperture 5b in plunger 5. Preferably aperture 5b extends diametrically through plunger 5 adjacent to the upper end 10 thereof, the upper end being the end of the plunger 5 opposite the valve rim 5a, to form an end bridging section 5c. The inner end 3a of arm 3 impinges upwardly against the underside of bridging section 5c to raise the plunger 5. Referring in particular to Fig 3, the bridging section 5c is set-back from the side of the plunger 5 associated with the aperture 5b. Preferably in the case as depicted where the 15 aperture 5b extends completely through the plungers 5 the bridging section 5c is set back from both sides of the plunger 5. Referring in particular to Fig 2, with the outlet cap 8 removed the plunger 5 can be displaced outwardly of its associated cylinder and the set- back of the bridging section 5c provides sufficient clearance between the plunger 5 and arm 3 to enable tilting of the plunger 5. With tilting the plunger 5 20 can be disengage from the inner end 3a of the lever 3 enabling removal of the plunger 5 without the need to disconnect the lever 3 from the body 1.
10 As mentioned in the introductory description the aperture lb is preferably larger (providing more clearance on the upper side of the lever 3) than necessary for the operational function of the valve. This facilitates insertion of the chock-pin 2 thereinto and described above. It also assists disconnection of the plunger 5 from the lever 3 5 by enabling, as depicted in Fig. 2, the lever 3 to be pivoted upwardly beyond its typical near horizontal "valve closed" position. The bore 11 forming the outlet extends centrally through cap 8 and is preferably of circular cross-section and has a section 11 c set-in from the outer end thereof of 10 substantially constant diameter. Referring to Fig. 4, in one configuration the bore 11 also includes an inner section 11 a and an outer section 11 b separated by the set-in section 11 c. The inner section 11 a is of a diameter that decreases or converges marginally toward the set-in section 11c the outer sectionlIb is of a diameter that increases or diverges away from the set-in section 11 c. Preferably the inner section 15 11a and outer section lb are substantially mirror replicas of one another as described in more detail below. Referring to Fig 1, in another configuration the inner section 11 a of the bore is not included. With both configurations of bore 11 the set-in section 11 c forms a throat and it is found the provision of the throat provides both a notable improvement of the through-flow rate of the valve and tends to lessen the 20 operational noise thereof compared to a constant diameter bore. Experiment to date indicates an increase in the through-flow rate of about 15% compared to a similarly sized constant diameter bore. This was achieved with the set-in section 9c being of a length about 2/3rds that of its diameter and with an angular divergence (included 11 angle) of the outer section 11b (and where included also the inner section 11a) of 160. Preferably the length of outer section 1Ib (and again where included also the inner section 11 a) is in the region of 1-1.5 times the diameter of the set-in section 9c. The aforesaid relationships appear to be optimum parameters however it appears 5 the length of either section lb or 11a is not critical other than it is noted that reducing the length of outer section 11 b tends to lessen the through-flow rate. 10 15 20