VALVE ACTUATING APPARATUS

摘要

A valve actuating apparatus (10, 110, 210, or 310) for control of fluid flow that has a housing (12) having a valve body (24, 124, 224, or 324) with a first port (27a or 127a) and a second port (27b or 127b) that extend through the housing (12). In one feature of the invention valve actuating apparatus (10, 110, 210, or 310) also has a toggle valve assembly (16) that includes an armature (50), at least one sealing surface (70a, 70b) connected to the armature (50), and a spring (54) biasing the armature (50) to a first position where the sealing surface (70a) closes the first port (27a or 127a). The valve actuating apparatus (10) further includes a solenoid assembly (14) with an electromagnetic coil (30) and a pole piece (32) having a first leg (42a) and a second leg (42b). The first leg (42a) is shorter than the second (42b), and the first leg (42a) and the armature (50) define an air gap (82) when the armature (50) is in the first position. The electromagnetic coil (30) creates a magnetic field in the pole piece (32) when it is electrically energized to attract the armature (50) toward the first leg (42a) to a second position where the air gap (82) is reduced.