Lateral flow sleeve valve

Abstract

A lateral flow sleeve valve for regulating flow in fluid control and drinking water supply systems. It has a tubular main pipe 1, internally coupled 2 to a slotted pipe 3 with lateral slots 5. The dow

Description

This invention relates to a lateral flow sleeve valve, which would be suitable for regulating flow in fluid control and drinking water supply systems. With increasing population and growing demand for potable water, water supply companies and related government agencies are finding it harder to satisfy supply requirements within the available budget. This is partly because water resources are scarcer per capita served and located increasingly far from the supply center and partly because many existing water sources are becoming polluted and require expensive treatment before use. There is also an ongoing attempt to supply larger percentage of the population with potable water, but this additional served area and population may frequently be located further from the sources. Much of the cost of developing supply systems lies in the cost of main transmission and distribution pipework. There is also a substantial cost component in many systems related to water storage, which is provided in part to allow for fluctuation in water demand throughout the day. Thus, at some times during the day when demand is high, such as when most people are getting up in the morning and washing, before they go to work, water is drained from the full reservoirs. At other times such as m the late night and early morning hours, the demand from users is low, so that extra available water can be used to refill the empty reservoirs. Many systems rely on treated water being pumped up from low lying water sources such as rivers, wells and lakes or ponds to reservoirs and storage tanks at higher elevations, so that water can be distributed at good pressure to households in the service areas. Very often the distance pumped is considerable and communication between the source pumps and receiving reservoir may be achieved by use of mobile networks or for shorter lengths via cable or fiber-optic connections. The pumping end needs to know when the receiving reservoir is full so that the pumps can be switched off to avoid wastage. However, if the communication system fails, or for some reason the message is interrupted, the water will continue to flow causing flooding of the receiving end and wastage of valuable resources. There are of course ways of directly controlling the outflow of pressure pipes into reservoirs, such as by float valves operating check valves, or by altitude valves located in the incoming pipework. However, in the first case the float systems for operation of check valves are relatively bulky and require considerable space above the top water level, so not suitable for covered reservoirs. The check valves also normally need to be mounted in horizontal attitude above the top water level with complicated linkage to the float assembly. In the second case, altitude valves are relatively complex and expensive devices, difficult to maintain and not so accurate especially for large diameter pipework. It may also be noted that the majority of water flushed toilets operate water level control systems using a ball float and lever linked to a plunger type valve. These systems tend to be noisy and fragile and usually fail over time at the valve end. They are also relatively expensive because of the stresses on the lever linkage and require a tank or cistern to be elongated to allow for space of the ballcock and lever arm. An object of the present invention is to provide a simple low-cost valve, which will constitute a more adaptable device suitable for mounting in either horizontal or vertical orientation with very direct linkage to the symmetrical float and not requiring specially designed support structures. The proposed device will also provide gradual flow reduction on closure to avoid water hammer due to rapid closure, which may typically be associated with standard check valves. According to the present invention, there is provided a lateral flow sleeve valve comprising a substantially straight hollow open ended cylindrical tubular enclosure, or main pipe made of any regularly available pipe material, such as Steel, Ductile Iron, Cast Iron, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), unplasticized Poly-Vinyl-Chloride (uPVC), Copper, Galvanized Iron, GRP, FRP, etc. with pipe wall thickness and material strength sufficient to resist the internal pressure of contained fluid, the upstream end of said main pipe being attached via an internal coupling to a slotted pipe, said slotted pipe being typically a straight pipe of similar material and internal and external diameter to the main pipe, with downstream end typically being fitted with an integrally welded orthogonal plate flange, so that the slotted pipe is closed to longitudinal flow at its downstream end, however said slotted pipe is provided with lateral opening slots along its perimeter, which are typically rectangular or oblong m cross section of length approximately 50% to 80% of length of the slotted pipe and equally spaced around the perimeter of the slotted pipe having combined total cross sectional area of opening typically in the same order of magnitude as the open end internal cross section of said pipe, so that under normal internal pipe pressure fluid would effuse laterally through the slots with control of this fluid flow provided by an external sleeve, said sleeve being of open ended cylindrical pipe typically fabricated from similar material to the main pipe with similar thickness to the main pipe but with slightly larger diameter to allow free passage over the outside of the main pipe and the slotted pipe, but with gap between the outer perimeter of the main pipe and inner surface of the sleeve pipe of approximately 1 mm or less to allow free longitudinal movement, said sleeve pipe typically having a length greater than the length of slots and similar to the length of the slotted pipe, the downstream end of said sleeve being with smooth surfaced wedge shape, allowing it to seal cleanly with typically rubber circular liner end seal embedded in a circular sunken groove on the upstream face of the slotted pipe end flange and of similar internal and external perimeter as the sleeve pipe , said sleeve pipe being acted upon by an externally applied longitudinal closing force, which may be acquired from an external mechanically linked device, such as a float or solenoid, in this basic configuration main and slotted pipes and sleeve pipe may be horizontally or vertically aligned, while in operation, fluid enters via upstream main pipe and flows through its downstream end to the slotted pipe then out laterally through openings in slots with the sleeve pipe in open position so that the slots are unobstructed, while when a longitudinal force acts on the sleeve it will move it longitudinally towards the slotted pipe end flange and progressively reduce the open cross sectional area of the slots, thus restricting the outflow, until the downstream wedge end of the sleeve mates with the sunken groove on the slotted pipe end flange substantially stopping the fluid outflow. Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Sheet 1 / 10 Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section view of a lateral flow sleeve valve, with inset cross-section A-A of downstream sleeve pipe and cross section B-B of upstream main pipe and sliding sleeve; Sheet 1 / 10 Figure 1 also shows Detail X of typical screwed end pipe joint with internal screw threaded coupling sleeve and Detail Y of typical sleeve end closure Sheet 2 / 10 Figures 2 and 3 show longitudinal section views of a vertically aligned lateral flow sleeve valve with float in fully open and intermediate valve opening positions, respectively; Sheet 3 / 10 Figure 4 shows a longitudinal section view of a vertically aligned lateral flow sleeve valve with float in fully closed valve position with cross sections D-D and EE showing float and sleeve in open and closed positions respectively; Sheet 4 / 10 Figures 5, 6 and 7 show longitudinal section views of a vertically aligned lateral flow sleeve valve in-tank mounting with float in fully open and intermediate valve opening as well as fully closed positions, respectively; Sheet 5 / 10 Alt Z shows a longitudinal section of large diameter internally bolted pipe joint for lateral flow sleeve valve with Detail Z and Cross Sections ZI and Z2 with upstream end and mid-couplmg views respectively; Sheet 6 / 10 Alt W shows a longitudinal section of medium diameter internally ratchet connected pipe joint for lateral flow sleeve valve with Detail W and Cross Sections W1 and W2 with upstream end and mid-coupling views respectively; Sheet 7 / 10 Sectional Plans SI and S2 show separate upstream and downstream views of internal ratchet coupling details and Sectional Plan S3 shows view of upstream and downstream pipes joined; Sheet 7 / 10 Section S4 shows cross section of ratchet next to pipe wall, while Section S5 shows detailed cross section of single ratchet pawl and Section S6 shows cross section of ratchet pawl and curved ratchet plate interconnection; Sheet 8 / 10 Figures 8, 9 and 10 show longitudinal section views of a vertically aligned alternative slotted pipe configuration lateral flow sleeve valve with float in fully open and intermediate valve opening as well as fully closed positions, respectively; Sheet 9 / 10 Figures 11, 12 and 13 show longitudinal section views of a vertically aligned alternative slotted pipe configuration lateral flow sleeve valve with outflow conical deflector with float in fully open and intermediate valve opening as well as fully closed positions, respectively; Sheet 10 / 10 Figure 14 show a longitudinal section view of a sleeve valve and Details Z1 and Z2 with sleeve pipe modified to include seals that restrict flow (leakage) of fluid between main pipe, slotted pipe, and sleeve. Referring to Sheet 1 / 10 Figure 1 (Long Section) and (Cross) Sections A-A and B-B with Details X and Y, the lateral flow sleeve valve in its simplest form comprises a substantially straight hollow open ended cylindrical tubular enclosure, or main pipe 1 made of any regularly available pipe material, such as Steel, Ductile Iron, Cast Iron, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), unplasticized Poly-Vinyl-Chloride (uPVC), Copper, Galvanized Iron, GRP, FRP, etc. with pipe wall thickness and material strength sufficient to resist the internal pressure of contained fluid, the upstream end of said main pipe 1 being attached via internal coupling 2 to slotted pipe 3, said internal coupling 2 (see Detail X) may typically be an internal sleeve pipe of similar material to pipe 1, with external screw threaded interface (male thread at both ends) which will interlock with the (female) internal screw threads on the conjoined pipes 1 and 3, allowing a strong water-tight seal of the joint with minimum reduction in internal cross sectional area at the joint and, allowing smooth mating of the ends of pipes 1 and 3 with smooth external surface transition between the pipes, but ensuring stable longitudinal connection of pipes 1 and 3 to counteract the effect of internal fluid pressure, said slotted pipe 3 being typically a straight pipe of similar material and internal and external diameter to pipe 1, with downstream end typically being fitted with an integrally welded orthogonal plate flange 4, so that the pipe 3 is closed to longitudinal flow at its downstream end, however said pipe 3 is provided with lateral opening slots 5 along its perimeter, which are typically rectangular or oblong in cross section of length approximately 50% to 80% of length of pipe 3 and equally spaced around the perimeter of pipe 3 having combined total cross sectional area of opening typically in the same order of magnitude as the open end internal cross section of said pipe 1 or 3, so that under normal internal pipe pressure fluid would effuse laterally through the slots with control of this fluid flow provided by external sleeve 6, said sleeve 6 being of open ended cylindrical pipe typically fabricated from similar material to main pipe 1 with similar thickness to pipe 1 but with slightly larger diameter to allow free passage over the outside of pipe 1 and slotted pipe 3, but with gap between outer perimeter of pipe 1 and inner surface of sleeve 6 of approximately 1 mm or less to allow free longitudinal movement, said sleeve 6 typically having a length greater than the length of slots 5 and similar to the length of slotted pipe 3, the downstream end of said sleeve 6 being with smooth surfaced wedge end as 7 in Detail Y, allowing it to seal cleanly with typically rubber circular liner end seal 8 embedded in circular sunken groove 9 on upstream face of flange 4 and of similar internal and external perimeter as sleeve 6, said sleeve being acted upon by externally applied longitudinal closing force F, which may be acquired from external mechanically linked device, such as a float or solenoid, in this basic configuration pipes 1, 3 and sleeve 6 may be horizontally or vertically aligned. In operation, fluid enters via upstream main pipe 1 (shown by horizontal arrow at right hand end on Figi) and flows through its downstream end to slotted pipe 3 then out laterally through openings in slots 5 with sleeve 6 in open position so that slots 5 are unobstructed, while when force F acts on sleeve 6 it will move sleeve 6 longitudinally towards flange 4 and progressively reduce the open cross sectional area of slots 5, thus restricting the outflow, until downstream wedge end 7 of sleeve 6 mates with sunken groove 9 on flange 4 substantially stopping the outflow from the assembly. Referring to Sheet 2 / 10 Figure 2 with float operated sleeve valve in fully open position and Figure 3 in semi-open position and Sheet 3 / 9 Figure 4 with float operated sleeve valve in fully closed position and Figure 3 (Cross) Sections D-D and E-E with open and closed positions respectively, vertical longitudinal section views are shown of a typical in-liquid arrangement for a vertically aligned lateral flow sleeve valve with sleeve float 10, rigidly attached to the outside of sleeve 6, said sleeve float 10 being typically of hollow polyethylene material, or hollow stainless steel, naturally filled with air and sealed, with overall external cylindrical hoop shape, or of other symmetrical horizontal cross section, so that the internal cylindrical face of the float is slightly larger than the external perimeter of the sleeve 6 and the size of sleeve float 10 is big enough to support the self-weight of the sleeve float 10 and the sleeve 6 as well as additional force F to overcome frictional resistance of the sleeve 6 on outside of pipe 1 and slotted pipe 3 due to its buoyancy in the liquid, said float and sleeve being illustrated in various operational positions including Figure 2 where the slots 5 on slotted pipe 3 are fully open as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at low level due to the L (low liquid level), also in Figure 3 where the slots 5 on slotted pipe 3 are partially open as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at medium level due to M (medium liquid level) and in Figure 4 where the slots 5 on slotted pipe 3 are fully closed as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at high level due to H (high liquid level). Referring to Sheet 4 / 10 Figures 5, 6 and 7, which show longitudinal section views of a typical in-tank mounting arrangement for a vertically aligned lateral flow sleeve valve used in a water system, where pipe 1 is attached at its lower end by bolted flange to flanged 90 degree bend pipe 11 typically of similar material and pressure rating to pipe 1, which is in turn attached by bolted flange to flanged straight pipe 12 through which water enters the tank, being under pressure from a remote source, said flanged straight pipe 12 typically of similar material to pipe 1 includes puddle flange to prevent leakage passing through concrete wall 13, said float 10 and sleeve 6 being illustrated in various operational positions including Figure 5 where the slots on slotted pipe 3 are fully open as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at low level due to the L (low water level), also in Figure 6 where the slots on slotted pipe 3 are partially open as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at medium level due to M (medium water level) and in Figure 7 where the slots on slotted pipe 3 are fully closed as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at high level due to H (high water level). Referring to Sheet 5 / 10 Figure Alt Z, alternatively said internal coupling 2 for larger diameter pipes, where manual access is possible internally, may be a bolted gland joint with rubber or recognized alternative compressible material Z-shaped flexible sealing ring 14 in the joint for the full perimeter between pipes 1 and 3 as shown in Detail Z, said sealing ring 14, being retained in position radially by internal sleeve ring 15, which is a cylindrical sleeve of similar material to slotted pipe 3, monolithically joined (welded or molded) on part of its outer face to cylindrical ring downstream end block 16, itself monolithically joined (welded or molded) to said pipe 3, so that in longitudinal section said components 15 and 16 form an asymmetrical T-shaped block with a downstream lip ring 17, while the upstream end face of sealing ring 14 is retained by cylindrical ring upstream end block 18 monolithically joined to internal face of main pipe 1 at a similar distance from its upstream end to the upstream overlap of sleeve ring 15, said end block 18 being with monolithic upstream pointing internal monolithic cylindrical sleeve 19, so that components 18 and 19 form an L-shaped block with an upstream lip ring, designed to engage with upstream detachable clamping plates 20, which are typically of L-shaped cross section and curved longitudinally to form separated arcs of the upstream restraint of similar material to pipe 1 with arc lengths and numbers depending on the diameter of pipe 1, but typically with numbers according to numbers of bolts for standard flange pressure rating of pipe 1, while individual arc lengths would typically be similar to 4 x the diameter of restraining bolts 21, said bolts being screw threaded at their ends typically made of stainless steel and passing through the internal flange of each clamping plate 20 being secured at their upstream end by upstream washer and nut assembly 22, also typically of stainless steel, with unthreaded center portion of bolts 21 passing through bolt sleeve plates 23, also typically of similar material, numbers and arc length to clamping plates 20, said sleeve plated including a sliding fit tubular sleeve around each bolt and monolithic flat peripheral plate of rectangular plan form to restrain sealing ring 14 and maintain rectilinear orientation of bolts 21, and with threaded downstream end of bolts 21 passing through downstream clamping plate 24 and secured by downstream washer and nut assembly 25, with downstream end of clamping plate 24 engaging with downstream lip 17 of sleeve ring 15, thus allowing slotted pipe 3 to be secured longitudinally to main pipe 1 with minimum of liquid loss at the joint between the two pipes. Referring to Sheet 6 / 10 Figure Alt W and Detail W and Sheet 7 / 9 Sections SI to S6, said internal coupling 2 may alternatively for intermediate diameter pipes be a push on sleeve with rubber or recognized alternative flexible sealing ring 26 of rectangular cross section in the joint for the full perimeter between pipes 1 and 3 as shown in Detail W, said sealing ring 26, being retained in position radially by internal sleeve ring 27, which is a cylindrical sleeve of similar material to slotted pipe 3, monolithically joined (welded or molded) on part of its outer face to cylindrical ring downstream end block 28, itself monolithically joined (welded or molded) to slotted pipe 3, so that in longitudinal section said components 27 and 28 form an asymmetrical L-shaped block while the other end of sleeve ring 27 is monolithically joined at circumferentially equidistant intervals to upstream ratchet plate support arms 29 with monolithic lateral curved ratchet plates 30 (as seen in Sectional Plan SI) , said arms and plates being strong enough to resist the longitudinal tensile stresses on the coupling 2 due to internal water pressure, each plate being curved in the lateral direction to follow the inside wall of the pipe and curved in a longitudinal direction on its downstream edge to which a curved tooth array 31 is attached either by monolithic V-shaped grooving or by affixture of more durable material such as stainless steel or nylon designed to engage with upstream pointing pawl tip, located on the upstream end of pawl finger 33 (as seen in Section S5) which pivots freely about typically stainless steel pawl shaft 34 close to downstream end of finger 33, said pawl shaft and finger assembly being strong enough to resist the longitudinal stress resulting from internal water pressure, said pawl shaft being strongly affixed at its outer end to the inner wall of upstream inner end sleeve 32 which is in turn fixed on its outer perimeter to inner wall of upstream main pipe 1, said pawl finger (as seen in Section S 5) being secured radially by circlip 35 in groove at inner end of pawl shaft 34, said pawl finger 33 resting near its mid-point on its downstream side against compressible pawl cushion 36, typically of cylindrical or tubular form and of flexible resilient material such as rubber or other substitute such as nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), etc. with its outer end affixed to inner wall of main pipe 1, said pawl cushion 36 resting on its downstream side against ratchet block 37 typically of rectangular cross section but curved on its outer side to match the inner wall of main pipe 1 to which it is fixed, being of similar material to main pipe, said ratchet block 37 being provided at its end with ratchet end block 38, also typically of rectangular cross section and fixed to the end of ratchet block 37 and the inner wall of main pipe 1, said pawl cushion 36 also being retained in circumferential position by cushion wedges 39 typically of triangular cross section affixed on either side of cushion 36 to the inner face of ratchet block 37, thus when the slotted pipe 3 is rotated relative to the main pipe 1 allowing the slotted pipe 3 to be secured longitudinally to main pipe 1 with minimum of liquid loss at the joint between the two pipes. Referring to Sheet 8 / 10 Figures 8,9 and 10 which show longitudinal section views of a vertically aligned alternative slotted pipe configuration lateral flow sleeve valve with float in fully open and intermediate valve opening as well as fully closed positions, respectively with typical vertical mounting arrangement of alternative slotted pipe 40 with alternating length sleeve slots which allow for graduated reduction of outflow, thus full length rectangular slot 5 is substituted alternately by reduced length slot 41, which is located only in the inlet end of slotted pipe 40, leaving the outlet (upstream) end with reduced outflow area, typically said reduced length slot 41 would be half as long as the full length slot 5, which would result in approximate 25% reduction in total slot area and flow capacity for the same head loss, but would permit more gentle flow reduction at the final stages of valve closure thus reducing effects of water hammer on the pipe system. In this case in Figure 8 where the slots 5 and 41 on slotted pipe 3 are fully open as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at low level due to the L (low liquid level), also in Figure 9 where the slots 5 and 41 on slotted pipe 3 are partially open as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at medium level due to M (medium liquid level) and in Figure 10 where the slots 5 and 41 on slotted pipe 3 are fully closed as the sleeve 6 and sleeve float 10 are at high level due to H (high liquid level). Referring to Sheet 9 / 10 Figures 11,12 and 13 which show longitudinal section views of a vertically aligned alternative slotted pipe configuration lateral flow sleeve valve with outflow conical deflector with float in fully open and intermediate valve opening as well as fully closed positions, respectively showing typical in-tank mounting arrangement of sleeve valve with added outflow conical deflector 42 attached via deflector mounting frame 43 to upper end of float 10, said conical deflector 42, being in the shape of a frustrum of a hollow cone with its downstream (small end) open diameter typically slightly larger than the diameter of flange 4 and with its upstream end open diameter typically of similar diameter to external diameter of float 10 and said frame 43 being typically of stainless steel or aluminum with tubular or angular sloping members arranged symmetrically and fixed rigidly at both ends to the upper end of float 10 and lower parts of deflector 42, said frame and its attachments being strong enough to resist the force of expelled water from slotted pipe 40, said conical deflector 42 having the effect of balancing the force of expelled water to reduce downward pressure on the float 10 and preventing expelled water from being sprayed upwards and outwards where it might cause unnecessary increase in humidity. Referring to Sheet 10 / 10 Figure 14 and Details Z-l and Z-2, which show longitudinal section view of typical sleeve valve with sleeve pipe modified to include external seals that restrict flow (leakage) of fluid between main pipe 1, slotted pipe 3 and sleeve 6 once valve is closed and during closure, for which two seals are added, the downstream seal 44 (shown in Detail Z-l) is typically a circular ring seal of trapezoidal cross section typically made of butyl rubber or other durable and flexible material with its larger base monolithic with rectangular cross section base ring 45, which fits snuggly within rectangular cross section slot 46 on the outer perimeter of slotted pipe 3, close to its upstream end, also upstream seal 47 (shown in Detail Z-2) is typically a circular ring seal of trapezoidal cross section typically made of butyl rubber or other durable and flexible material with its larger base monolithic with rectangular cross section base ring 48, which fits snuggly within rectangular cross section slot 49 on the inner perimeter of sleeve 6, close to its upstream end, thus on closure of the slotted valve aperture, the upstream and downstream seals will be adjacent forming a double barrier to the water flow, however the distance between these seals and the seal pipe 6 end 7 must be carefully controlled so that simultaneous closure is obtained with the upstream and downstream seals and the end seal 8.

Claims

1. A lateral flow sleeve valve comprising a substantially straight hollow open ended cylindrical tubular enclosure, or main pipe made of any regularly available pipe material, such as Steel, Ductile Iron, Cast Iron, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), unplasticized Poly-Vinyl-Chloride (uPVC), Copper, Galvanized Iron, GRP, FRP, etc. with pipe wall thickness and material strength sufficient to resist the internal pressure of contained fluid, the upstream end of said main pipe being attached via an internal coupling to a slotted pipe, said slotted pipe being typically a straight pipe of similar material and internal and external diameter to the main pipe, with downstream end typically being fitted with an integrally welded orthogonal plate flange, so that the slotted pipe is closed to longitudinal flow at its downstream end, however said slotted pipe is provided with lateral opening slots along its perimeter, which are typically rectangular or oblong in cross section of length approximately 50% to 80% of length of the slotted pipe and equally spaced around the perimeter of the slotted pipe having combined total cross sectional area of opening typically in the same order of magnitude as the open end internal cross section of said pipe, so that under normal internal pipe pressure fluid would effuse laterally through the slots with control of this fluid flow provided by an external sleeve, said sleeve being of open ended cylindrical pipe typically fabricated from similar material to the main pipe with similar thickness to the main pipe but with slightly larger diameter to allow free passage over the outside of the main pipe and the slotted pipe, but with gap between the outer perimeter of the main pipe and inner surface of the sleeve pipe of approximately 1 mm or less to allow free longitudinal movement, said sleeve pipe typically having a length greater than the length of slots and similar to the length of the slotted pipe, the downstream end of said sleeve being with smooth surfaced wedge shape, allowing it to seal cleanly with typically rubber circular liner end seal embedded in a circular sunken groove on the upstream face of the slotted pipe end flange and of similar internal and external perimeter as the sleeve pipe , said sleeve pipe being acted upon by an externally applied longitudinal closing force, which may be acquired from an external mechanically linked device, such as a float or solenoid, in this basic configuration main and slotted pipes and sleeve pipe may be horizontally or vertically aligned, while in operation, fluid enters via upstream main pipe and flows through its downstream end to the slotted pipe then out laterally through openings in slots with the sleeve pipe in open position so that the slots are unobstructed, while when a longitudinal force acts on the sleeve it will move it longitudinally towards the slotted pipe end flange and progressively reduce the open cross sectional area of the slots, thus restricting the outflow, until the downstream wedge end of the sleeve mates with the sunken groove on the slotted pipe end flange substantially stopping the fluid outflow from the assembly.

2. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claimed in Claim 1 above wherein the main pipe and slotted pipe are vertically aligned in liquid in a tank and a float is linked to the sleeve to provide the necessary force for sleeve closure;3. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claimed in any preceding claim above, wherein the upstream end of said main pipe is attached via internal coupling to the slotted pipe, said internal coupling suitable for small diameter pipes being an internal sleeve pipe of similar material to the main pipe, with external screw threaded interface (male thread at both ends) which will interlock with the (female) internal screw threads on the conjoined main and slotted pipes, allowing a strong water-tight seal of the joint with minimum reduction in internal cross sectional area at the joint and, allowing smooth mating of the ends of the conjoined pipes with smooth external surface transition between the pipes, but ensuring stable longitudinal connection of main and sleeve pipes to counteract the effect of internal fluid pressure;4. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claims 1 to 2 above, wherein the upstream end of said main pipe is attached via internal coupling to the slotted pipe, said internal coupling suitable for intermediate diameter pipes is a push on sleeve assembly with rubber or recognized alternative flexible sealing ring, which with use of ratchet and pawl when the slotted pipe is rotated relative to the main pipe allows the slotted pipe to be secured longitudinally to the main pipe with minimum of liquid loss at the joint between the two pipes, but ensuring stable longitudinal connection of main and sleeve pipes to counteract the effect of internal fluid pressure;5. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claims 1 to 2 above, wherein the upstream end of said main pipe is attached via internal coupling to the slotted pipe, said internal coupling suitable for larger diameter pipes, where manual access is possible internally, using an internally bolted joint with sealing ring of rubber or recognized alternative compressible material and detachable clamping plates, allowing smooth mating of the ends of the conjoined pipes with smooth external surface transition between the pipes, but ensuring stable longitudinal connection of main and sleeve pipes to counteract the effect of internal fluid pressure;6. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claimed in any preceding claim above, wherein the with alternating length sleeve slots which allow for graduated reduction of outflow, thus full length rectangular slot 5 is substituted alternately by reduced length slot 41, which is located only in the inlet end of slotted pipe 40, leaving the outlet (upstream) end with reduced outflow area, typically said reduced length slot 41 would be half as long as the full length slot 5, which would result in approximate 25% reduction in total slot area and flow capacity for the same head loss, but would permit more gentle flow reduction at the final stages of valve closure thus reducing effects of water hammer on the pipe system;7. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claimed in claims 2 to 6 above, wherein with addedoutflow conical deflector attached via deflector mounting frame to upper end of the float, said conical deflector being strong enough to resist the force of expelled water from the slotted pipe, said conical deflector having the effect of balancing the force of expelled water to reduce downward pressure on the float and preventing expelled water from being sprayed upwards and outwards where it might cause unnecessary increase in humidity;8. A lateral flow sleeve valve as claimed in any preceding claim above, wherein the assembly is provided with sleeve pipe modified to include external seals that restrict flow (leakage) of fluid between the outside of the main pipe and slotted pipe assembly and the inside of the sleeve once the valve is closed and during closure, for which two or more seals including upstream seal on the inside of the moving sleeve and downstream seal on the outside of the slotted pipe are added, said seals typically made of butyl rubber or other durable and flexible material, thus on closure of the slotted valve aperture, the upstream and downstream seals will be adjacent forming a double barrier to the water flow, with distance between these seals and the seal pipe end point being controlled so that simultaneous closure is obtained with the upstream and downstream seals and the end seal;9. A lateral flow sleeve valve substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1-14 and Details on the accompanying drawings

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