US Patent 11692463 Oil passage switching valve and valve timing changing apparatus

An oil passage switching valve suitable for a valve timing changing apparatus includes: a valve body, opening or closing an oil passage of operating oil; an urging spring, urging to position the valve body to a position corresponding to the retard position in a pause state; and a switching element, positioning the valve body to a position corresponding to the retard position when a state quantity of the operating oil is in a first range, and switching a position of the valve body in response to the state quantity (pressure or temperature) of the operating oil while resisting an urging force of the urging spring to position the valve body to a position corresponding to the advance position when the state quantity of the operating oil is in a second range greater than the first range.