Valve With Reinforcement Ports And Manually Removable Scrubber

Abstract

There is provided an irrigation valve with embedded rings for reinforcement of valve ports. The valve has a valve body and threaded flow paths, the flow paths including an outlet and an inlet on opposite sides of the valve body. Irrigation piping is attached to the inlet and to the outlet. The reinforcement rings at the inlet and the outlet prevent fracturing of the valve body and/or piping due to overtightening of the piping. Further provided is a scrubber for an irrigation valve. The scrubber and frees debris on a filter. The scrubber may be manually extracted for maintenance or replacement without the need for mechanical tools.

1 . An irrigation valve body comprising:
 an inlet;   an outlet; and   a first reinforcement support at the inlet and a second reinforcement support at the outlet to mitigate stress on the inlet and the outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 1  wherein the inlet has an inlet annular wall and the outlet each has an outlet annular wall and the first reinforcement support is embedded at least partially into the inlet annular wall and the second reinforcement support is embedded at least partially into the outlet annular wall. 
     
     
         3 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 2  wherein the body is made of plastic and the inlet annular wall is over-molded onto the first reinforcement support and the outlet annular wall is over-molded onto the second reinforcement support. 
     
     
         4 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 2  wherein the first and second reinforcement supports include at least one hole filled with the material of the inlet annular wall and the outlet annular wall. 
     
     
         5 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 4  wherein the first and second reinforcement supports are ring-shaped. 
     
     
         6 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 1  wherein the first and second reinforcement supports have a proximal end of a first diameter and a distal end of a second diameter and the first diameter being smaller than the second diameter. 
     
     
         7 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 6  wherein at least the inlet has a first seating face inside of the second diameter of the second distal end. 
     
     
         8 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 7  further comprising a second inlet with a third reinforcement support and wherein the second inlet has a second seating face. 
     
     
         9 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 8  further comprising a removable plug that can be mounted to either of the first inlet and the second inlet. 
     
     
         10 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 9  further comprising a seal, the seal being disposed between the plug and either of the first seating face and the second seating face. 
     
     
         11 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 2  further comprising a first insert attached to the first reinforcement support and a second insert attached to the second reinforcement support. 
     
     
         12 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 11  wherein the first and second inserts are made of a plastic material and the first and second reinforcement supports are made of a metal material. 
     
     
         13 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 11  wherein the first and second inserts include a groove for connection to the first and second the reinforcement rings. 
     
     
         14 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 11  wherein the first and second inserts define at least in part a first continuous groove in the inlet annular wall and a second continuous groove in the outlet annular wall. 
     
     
         15 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 11  wherein the first and second reinforcement supports include magnetic properties. 
     
     
         16 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 15  wherein the magnetic properties enable the first and second reinforcement supports to be held by molding tools with magnets. 
     
     
         17 . The irrigation valve body of  claim 16  wherein the first and second inserts and the first and second reinforcement supports are ring-shaped. 
     
     
         18 . An irrigation valve comprising:
 a body defining an inlet and outlet, and a valve seat between the inlet and the outlet;   a diaphragm mounted at the body to engage the valve seat to prevent flow from the inlet to the outlet and to move away from the valve seat to allow flow between the inlet and the outlet;   a pressure chamber formed by the body and the diaphragm, the chamber controlling movement of the diaphragm depending on the pressure in the pressure chamber;   a solenoid controlling the pressure in the pressure chamber;   a flow path for fluid from the inlet to pass into the pressure chamber;   a filter attached to the diaphragm to filter debris from fluid flowing into the flow path, the filter moving with the diaphragm;   a scrubber fixed to the body that engages the filter to remove debris from the filter as the filter moves with the diaphragm; and   the scrubber having at least one outward biased member, the member being manually movable by a user from a locked position with the body to an unlocked position relative to the body.   
     
     
         19 . The irrigation valve of  claim 18  wherein the body comprises a support to mount the scrubber. 
     
     
         20 . The irrigation valve of  claim 19  wherein the support defines a socket to receive at least a portion of the scrubber. 
     
     
         21 . The irrigation valve of  claim 20  wherein the socket includes a ledge and the at least one outward biased member of the scrubber engages the ledge when installed in the socket. 
     
     
         22 . The irrigation valve of  claim 21  wherein the at least one outward biased member of the scrubber naturally biases toward the ledge. 
     
     
         23 . The irrigation valve of  claim 22  wherein the at least one outward biased member of the scrubber includes a tab to be engaged manually to unlatch the at least one outward biased member from the ledge to enable removal of the scrubber from the socket. 
     
     
         24 . The irrigation valve of  claim 22  wherein the tab is arcuately elongated and longitudinally elongated to provide a prominent surface for a user to manually unlatch the scrubber from the socket. 
     
     
         25 . The irrigation valve of  claim 18  wherein the scrubber includes a protrusion that seats in a complementary shaped channel of the socket, the arrangement orienting the scrubber with the socket. 
     
     
         26 . The irrigation valve of  claim 23  wherein the tab is arcuately elongated and longitudinally elongated to provide a prominent surface for a user to manually unlatch the scrubber from the socket.