Control valve apparatus

Claim 1

Valve apparatus comprising a non-ferrous tube open at both ends, at least one wire coil surrounding said tube, a pair of ferrous metal washers mounted on each side of said coil, a valve member contained in said tube, guided thereby, and spring biased in one direction in the direction of gas flow against a first valve seating surface, second seating surface operatively associated with said valve member upstream of said first valve seating surface, a ferrous metal sleeve surrounding said coil and washers to complete a magnetic path including said valve member and said washers whereby upon energization of said coil said valve member is moved away from said first seating surface against said bias spring to open the valve, a pair of end connector members adapted for connection to pipes, and means including said sleeve for connecting said end members to said tube whereby one of said end connecting members is adapted to be connected to a source of gas under pressure, said valve member is normally spring biased against said first seating surface to provide a normally closed ON/OFF valve and when said coil is energized said second seating surface provides a modulating valve by moving said valve member toward said second seating surface depending upon the amount of energization of said coil, the spring compression pressure and the gas flow pressure.