Rotary Valve

A rotary valve (also called rotary-motion valve) is a type of valve in which the rotation of a passage or passages in a transverse plug regulates the flow of liquid or gas through the attached pipes.^[1] The common stopcock is the simplest form of rotary valve. Rotary valves have been applied in numerous applications, including:

• Changing the pitch of brass instruments.
• Controlling the steam and exhaust ports of steam engines, most notably in the Corliss steam engine.^[2]
• Periodically reversing the flow of air and fuel across the open hearth furnace.
• Loading sample on chromatography columns.
• Certain types of two-stroke and four-stroke engines.
• Most hydraulic automotive power steering control valves.