CN117514948A

CN117514948A - Vehicle, hydraulic suspension system, energy accumulator and operation method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN117514948A
Application number: CN202311565613.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 单振东; 董开群; 胡韬
Original assignee: Anhui Weiyuan New Energy Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Anhui Weiyuan New Energy Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-11-22
Filing date: 2023-11-22
Publication date: 2024-02-06

Abstract

The application discloses a vehicle, a hydraulic suspension system, an energy accumulator and an operation method thereof, and belongs to the field of energy accumulators. The accumulator includes a housing and a metal expansion member that cooperate with each other, and the metal expansion member is within the housing. The shell is provided with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet for pulse pressure to act on the metal telescopic piece; the metal expansion piece can exchange heat through the heat exchange medium channel, so that heat accumulation generated in the process of buffering pressure through expansion movement of the metal expansion piece is avoided, thermal fatigue is relieved, and the service life of the energy accumulator is prevented from being shortened.

Description

Vehicle, hydraulic suspension system, energy accumulator and operation method thereof

Technical Field

The present application is in the field of energy storage devices, and in particular relates to a vehicle, a hydraulic suspension system, an energy storage device and a method of operating the same.

Background

An accumulator is a commonly used hydraulic energy storage device. The accumulator may be used to absorb pressure pulsations of a hydraulic system, such as a hydraulic pump, or may also be used to absorb hydraulic impact forces generated in the hydraulic system.

The accumulator may comprise, for example, a cylinder and a bellows built into the cylinder. The internal space of the cylinder body is divided into an oil cavity and an air cavity by a corrugated pipe. When the accumulator is used, the bellows can extend and compress along with the charging and discharging of liquid. One typical accumulator is a bellows accumulator. It has large volume change and good effect of absorbing pressure pulsation. However, accumulators in the form of rubber bellows have a short service life.

Disclosure of Invention

Examples of the present application provide a vehicle, a hydraulic suspension system, an accumulator, and methods of operating the same. The accumulator is capable of providing space for the heat exchange medium and its internal telescopic components. In the process of using the energy accumulator, when the telescopic state of the telescopic component is switched, the heat exchange medium can be controlled to enter and exit, so that heat generated when the energy accumulator is in service can be timely taken away. In this way, thermal fatigue of the accumulator due to heat accumulation during service is avoided because heat is removed, so that the service life of the accumulator is effectively prolonged.

The scheme exemplified by the application is implemented as follows.

In a first aspect, examples of the present application provide an accumulator. It comprises the following steps:

a housing having an interior cavity defined by a housing wall, the housing wall being provided with a fluid inlet and outlet communicating with the interior cavity;

the metal telescopic piece is formed by extending the first end to the second end along the axial direction and is provided with a pipe wall and a pipe cavity which is limited by the pipe wall and is used for filling and preserving gas;

the metal telescopic piece is arranged in the internal cavity, and a gap is formed between the pipe wall and the shell wall;

the first end is fixedly connected with the shell wall, and is provided with a heat exchange medium channel communicated with the gap;

wherein the second end is movably engaged with the housing wall to selectively close or expose the fluid access opening by axial expansion and contraction of the metal expansion and contraction member.

According to some examples of the present application, the housing is provided with external threads, and the external threads are located near the fluid inlet and outlet;

and/or at least one heat exchange medium channel, or the heat exchange medium channel comprises an independent medium inlet and a medium outlet;

and/or, the shell wall is also provided with a notch communicated with the internal cavity, and the first end is fixedly connected with the shell wall and seals the notch;

and/or the first end is welded with the shell wall.

According to some examples of the present application, the metal bellows includes a metal bellows and front and rear flanges closing both ends of the bellows;

optionally, the metal telescopic piece is fixedly connected with the shell wall through a rear flange;

optionally, the metal telescoping member selectively closes or exposes the fluid access opening through the front flange;

optionally, the heat exchange medium channel is disposed on the rear flange.

According to some examples of the present application, the accumulator further comprises a telescopic metal additional wall connected with the metal telescopic member and coaxially and synchronously telescopic;

the telescopic metal additional wall is positioned in the gap and divides the gap into an inter-shell cavity and an inter-wall cavity;

wherein the inter-shell cavity is defined by a shell wall and a retractable metal attachment wall;

the inter-wall cavity is defined by the pipe wall and the telescopic metal additional wall, and the gap is communicated with the heat exchange medium channel through the inter-wall cavity.

According to some examples of the present application, the accumulator further comprises a sensor configured to detect that the second end is in a corresponding closed state or an exposed state closing or exposing the fluid inlet and outlet, the state being used to determine to perform either one of a first operation comprising injecting the heat exchange medium through the heat exchange medium channel into the gap and a second operation comprising draining the heat exchange medium from the gap through the heat exchange medium channel;

optionally, the sensor comprises a pressure sensor or an air pressure sensor; the pressure sensor is used for detecting whether the second end is in contact with the shell wall, and the air pressure sensor is used for detecting whether the pressure value in the fluid inlet and outlet is normal pressure.

In a second aspect, examples of the present application provide an accumulator comprising:

a columnar housing having a hollow passage, the columnar housing having a body and a protrusion extending from one end of the body;

the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is positioned in the body and is provided with an inner pipe wall and an outer pipe wall wrapping the inner pipe wall, an interlayer cavity is formed between the inner pipe wall and the outer pipe wall, the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is provided with a heat exchange medium flow passage communicated with the interlayer cavity, and the inner pipe wall is provided with an inner wall cavity for filling gas;

one end of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is fixedly connected with the shell to close the first part of the hollow channel, and the other end of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is abutted against or far away from the convex part through telescopic movement of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe so as to correspondingly close or expose the second part of the hollow channel.

According to some examples of the present application, a heat exchange medium flow passage includes a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;

and/or the male portion has external threads;

and/or the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is composed of a front flange, a rear flange, an inner pipe wall and an outer pipe wall, wherein the inner pipe wall and the outer pipe wall are connected between the front flange and the rear flange, the heat exchange medium flow channel is arranged on the rear flange, the rear flange is fixedly connected with the shell to seal the first part of the hollow channel, and the front flange is abutted against or far away from the convex part through the telescopic movement of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe so as to correspondingly seal or expose the second part of the hollow channel.

In a third aspect, examples of the present application provide a hydraulic suspension system comprising the aforementioned accumulator.

In a fourth aspect, examples of the present application provide a vehicle comprising the aforementioned accumulator or hydraulic suspension system.

In a fifth aspect, examples of the present application provide a method of operating an accumulator, the method of operating comprising:

providing an accumulator having a cylinder and a metal bellows in the cylinder and filled with a gas, one end of the metal bellows being fixedly connected to the cylinder and the other end being telescopically slidably fitted to the cylinder, the accumulator having an interface for switching on a pulsed fluid and further having a heat exchange chamber provided by an interlayer of the metal bellows or defined jointly by the cylinder and the metal bellows and capable of exchanging heat with the filled gas;

connecting an accumulator into the pulse fluid generating system and the heat exchange medium supply system such that pulse fluid can enter the accumulator from the cylinder to push the metal bellows to compress and allow the metal bellows to elongate to close the cylinder as pulse fluid exits the accumulator, while the controlled heat exchange medium supply system can optionally cause the heat exchange medium to correspondingly exit or enter the heat exchange chamber from or into the heat exchange chamber;

according to the action of the pulse fluid generating system on the metal corrugated pipe, the heat exchange medium supplying system is adjusted to inject or pump out the heat exchange medium, so that the pulse pressure of the pulse fluid generating system is buffered by the metal corrugated pipe, and heat generated by expansion and contraction of the metal corrugated pipe is subjected to heat exchange with filling gas through the heat exchange medium entering the heat exchange cavity, and then is transferred from the metal corrugated pipe and leaves the heat exchange cavity along with the heat exchange medium to be conducted away.

The beneficial effects are that:

compared with the leather bag accumulator in the prior art, the leather bag accumulator has the advantages that the metal telescopic piece is used, higher structural strength can be provided, and accordingly the leather bag accumulator can work and be in service for a longer time when being subjected to repeated action of mechanical acting force. Meanwhile, the heat exchange medium channel is arranged through the metal telescopic piece, so that heat generated during service can be transferred in time without accumulation. Therefore, the metal expansion member is not subjected to serious thermal damage, so that the service life thereof is also effectively prolonged.

Drawings

For a clearer description, the drawings that are required to be used in the description will be briefly introduced below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional structural view of a housing in an accumulator of an example of the present application at a first perspective;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional structural view of a housing in an accumulator of an example of the present application at a second perspective;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a single-wall bellows (front and rear flanges not shown) in an accumulator exemplified by the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a front flange in a single-wall corrugated pipe as exemplified herein;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the top plate mated with the front flange in the example of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a rear flange in a single-wall corrugated pipe as exemplified herein;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the overall appearance of a housing in an accumulator of an example of the present application;

FIG. 8 depicts a schematic cross-sectional frequency structure of the metal bellows in the accumulator of FIG. 7 in a non-compressed state;

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional frequency structure of the metal bellows in the accumulator of FIG. 7 in a compressed state;

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional structural view of an accumulator with a double-walled bellows as exemplified herein;

fig. 11 discloses a schematic flow diagram of an operational accumulator in the example of the present application.

Reference numerals illustrate: 100-a housing; 101-fluid inlet and outlet; 102-shell wall; 103-an internal cavity; 104-notch; 105-groove; 200-single-wall metal bellows; 201-a first end; 202-a second end; 203-a front flange; 2031-bump members; 2032-a recess; 204-top plate; 205-rear flange; 2051-heat exchange medium channels; 206-gap; 301-an additional wall; 302-interlayer cavity.

Detailed Description

An accumulator is a hydraulic energy storage device that is frequently used in a variety of power plants and devices. For example, in order to make the operation of an automobile or a work machine smoother, an accumulator may be used in such machines as hydraulic systems to absorb or dampen momentary shocks, vibrations, etc.

In general, the accumulator may be provided with a gas chamber and a liquid chamber, respectively. To the best of the inventors' knowledge, many accumulators currently use rubber bladders (bellows) as a gas and liquid barrier. Wherein a gas such as nitrogen with a certain pressure is pre-flushed in the leather bag. Therefore, when hydraulic impact enters the energy accumulator, nitrogen in the leather bag under the action of pressure is compressed, so that impact energy is absorbed, and the purpose of shock absorption is achieved.

But the service life of the bellows accumulator is short. The inventors analyzed this might be due to the following reasons:

on the one hand, due to the problem of the leather bag material. For example, there may be tiny gaps, voids in the bladder, resulting in the bladder having a leakage problem; and as the working time is prolonged, the frequent expansion and contraction can cause the air leakage to be more serious, so that the pressure in the leather bag is slowly reduced and the expected buffering effect cannot be formed. Even the bellows may be at risk of breakage.

On the other hand, the bellows generates a large amount of heat by repeated compression of the gas therein during repeated expansion/contraction. However, the thermal conductivity of the bellows is small, so that the bellows may be easily thermally damaged.

In order to solve the current situation and the problems, the inventor chooses to design a telescopic element with metal materials to replace the leather bag. The metallic telescoping member provides better structural strength and durability than the bellows and is also relatively less prone to air leakage. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity of the metal material is relatively higher, and thus, the heat accumulation phenomenon thereof is less remarkable.

And further, to protect the metal telescoping member from thermal fatigue due to heat buildup (although less than a bladder), and thus avoid its associated life span reduction. In the examples of the present application, the inventors devised such a structure: it is possible to absorb the heat of the metal telescopic element by introducing a heat exchange medium into the accumulator and to conduct the heat out of the accumulator by discharging the heat exchange medium.

More preferably, the inventors have also found that such a design can achieve unexpected effects and actions. By this design, the life of the metal telescopic element is prolonged and the problem of accidental damage is not easy to occur.

In particular, the use of the accumulator is analyzed, and the impulse pressure (e.g., the supply or transfer of fluid transferred in an oil circuit in a hydraulic system) repeatedly and frequently impacts one end face (one of the end faces at both ends in the compression and extension directions) of the metal telescopic element.

In this way, the end face of the metal telescopic element is compressively deformed when being subjected to high pressure, so that the pressure on the end face is concentrated at this position. While at the same time the other end face of the metal telescopic member (the other of the end faces at both ends in the compression, extension direction) is compressed relatively more rearward than the aforementioned end face side.

Due to such momentary or short-time non-uniformities in compression and force, bending and deflection of the metallic compressible element in an off-axis direction may be caused. As such, the metallic compressible element so deformed may rub against the inner wall of the accumulator, which may make noise or even cause the metallic compressible element to wear or even break.

In the scheme of the application example, through the introduction of the heat exchange medium, a certain supporting effect can be generated on the metal compressible element, so that a righting effect is formed, the problems of deflection or bending and the like of the metal compressible element are avoided, and the problems are effectively or reasonably improved. And therefore, such a solution also makes the accumulator less prone to damage, and thus also increases the service life.

The following will explain the application example in more detail with reference to the drawings.

An example of the present application discloses an accumulator. The accumulator comprises a housing 100 and a metal bellows (referred to and exemplified hereinafter as single-walled metal bellows, double-walled metal bellows).

Wherein the metal bellows is configured inside the housing 100 and can be extended and shortened inside the housing 100 (accordingly, it can also be expressed that the metal bellows can be compressed and can also be expanded). When an external compressive force (which may be pulsed or continuously generated) is applied to the metal bellows, the metal bellows compresses, such that the impact effect of the applied force is cushioned. Accordingly, when the compression force is removed, the metal bellows can be restored to a state when not being compressed by the aforementioned compression force (i.e., before compression); and thus the cushioning effect can be continued at the next impact.

Housing 100

In the example, the housing 100 is generally configured in a columnar structure. In the construction shown in fig. 1 and 2, the housing 100 has two parts of a unitary structure and is in the shape of two generally hollow cylinders, respectively (the hollow cavities of the two communicating). The two cylinders have collinear axes, with a small diameter cylinder extending from the end of a large diameter cylinder. Furthermore, the two cylinders have different diameters, wherein the large diameter portion is used to accommodate the metal bellows and the small diameter portion is used to connect with external equipment.

As the name implies, the housing 100 has a space to accommodate components; thus, the housing 100 has a housing wall 102, and an interior cavity 103 defined by the housing wall 102. Further, the housing wall 102 is also provided with a fluid inlet 101 communicating with the internal cavity 103. Corresponding to the case where the housing 100 has two cylinders, the internal cavity 103 may be in a large diameter portion, and the fluid inlet and outlet 101 in a small diameter portion; the two are communicated at the boundary of the large diameter part and the small diameter part.

The fluid inlet and outlet 101 can be used as an external impact force transmission material (such as gas or liquid) entering the accumulator and acting on the passage of the metal expansion piece. Thus, in use of the accumulator, the accumulator may be connected to a liquid system or a gas system of an external device (e.g. an automobile, a construction machine, an industrial robot, etc.) by means of a component or structure providing the fluid inlet 101.

The case 100 may have different configurations based on the connection manner of the case 100 with the external device. For example, in the case of screwing, the housing 100 is provided with an external screw thread in the vicinity of the fluid inlet/outlet 101. Accordingly, the external device may be configured with internal threads that mate with external threads; and vice versa. Or in the case of bolting, it is possible to provide a boss on the housing 100, and the boss is provided with a screw hole penetrating or a through hole of a smooth inner wall. Thereby, the external device is bolted with the bolts through the holes on the boss. At these joints, a good air or liquid tight connection is made by arranging rubber or silicone gaskets or the like.

In addition to having the fluid port 101 described above, the housing 100 may have another opening or passage. This opening or channel may be configured based on ease of assembly of the metal telescoping pieces. And in an already manufactured accumulator, the further opening or channel may be closed by a metal bellows (or an accessory part thereof; as later mentioned a rear flange) to avoid leakage of fluid generated by the liquid or gas system of the aforementioned external device from such opening or channel.

Depending on the mode of operation of the accumulator, a structure (e.g., may be described as a top plate 204) that is capable of forming a sealing engagement with the housing 100 may be provided at one end of the metal bellows to prevent externally pressurized fluid from entering an undesired location in the accumulator, such as the portion of the interior cavity of the housing 100 that houses the metal bellows, at an off-design opportunity or condition. Meanwhile, corresponding thereto, the case wall 102 of the internal cavity 103 defined by the case 100 has the groove 105, and the aforementioned top plate 204 is fitted. I.e. the top plate 204 can be inserted into the recess 105 to tightly abut against the housing wall 102 and can close the aforementioned fluid inlet 101.

Metal expansion piece

Similar to the housing 100, the metal telescoping member is also a generally cylindrical tubular structure (see fig. 3). And for convenience of description may be defined that the metal telescoping member is axially extended from a first end 201 to a second end 202. And when installed in the housing 100, the metal telescoping member is capable of being forced to compress/shorten in the direction from the second end 202 to the first end 201 (i.e., axially) and expand/elongate in the opposite direction when the force is partially or completely removed.

Further, the metal telescoping member also has a tube wall and a lumen defined by the tube wall. Wherein the lumen can be used to inflate and conserve gas. After the accumulator is manufactured, gas is trapped within the metal bellows and the metal bellows is inflated. When the metal expansion piece is extruded by external force to shrink, the gas is compressed (volume is reduced and heat is generated) under the action of the pipe wall. After the external force is removed, the gas expands and causes the tube wall to expand.

In order to absorb/buffer external forces, the accumulator takes advantage of the telescopic movement of the metal telescopic member to oppose the external forces. Therefore, stable telescoping of the metal telescoping member would be beneficial. Based on this, the first end 201 of the metal bellows is firmly connected with the wall 102 of the housing 100; the connection is, for example, a welded, fixed connection or a screwed, detachable connection.

The first end 201 of the metal extension piece may be connected to the housing 100 in a corresponding different manner, depending on the implementation of the housing 100. For example, when the interior cavity 103 of the housing 100 is not through the wall 102 thereof, the first end 201 may be connected to the wall 102. Alternatively, when the interior cavity 103 of the housing 100 is through the wall 102 thereof, the wall 102 may define a gap 104 in communication with the interior cavity 103, and then the first end 201 may be coupled to the wall 102 and close the gap 104.

On the other hand, the second end 202 of the metal telescoping member is movably engaged with the housing wall 102. As such, the second end 202 is movable within the interior cavity 103 of the housing 100, such as near the first end 201 or away from the first end 201.

On this basis, the fluid inlet 101 of the housing 100 can be closed or exposed by the telescopic movement of the metal telescopic member in the axial direction. Thus, when the second end 202 of the metal extension member abuts against the housing 100 (e.g., abuts against the junction between the two portions of the housing 100), the fluid inlet 101 of the housing 100 is closed; conversely, when the second end 202 of the metal extension is away from the housing 100 (e.g., away from the junction of the two portions of the housing 100), the fluid port 101 of the housing 100 is exposed.

When the fluid inlet 101 is closed by the metal bellows, external pulse pressure by, for example, gas transmission can act on the pushing metal bellows to push the metal bellows. While the fluid inlet 101 is not closed by the metal bellows, i.e., is exposed, the external pulse pressure by, for example, gas transmission does not act on the metal bellows; and the fluid inlet 101 is closed by the expansion of the gas in the metal bellows before the next pulse pressure comes.

In order to avoid the situation that the metal telescopic member is scratched or collides with the shell wall 102 of the shell 100 when moving, a gap 206 is formed between the tube wall of the metal telescopic member and the shell wall 102 of the shell 100. At the same time, the gap 206 is not too large, otherwise the metal telescoping member may shake to a greater extent.

In addition, in the examples of the present application, a solution capable of weakening the heat accumulation of the metal bellows is also devised as previously described. That is, the heat exchange medium is introduced into the gap 206, and the heat is transferred from the metal expansion member by the contact heat transfer between the heat exchange medium and the metal expansion member. Accordingly, as a passage for the heat exchange medium into the gap 206, the accumulator is provided with a corresponding structure, in this case, a heat exchange medium passage 2051 provided at the first end 201 in communication with the gap 206.

In various examples, the location of the heat exchange medium passage 2051 may also be suitably adjusted to accommodate installation or use requirements. In addition, the number of heat exchange medium passages 2051 may also be selected. For example, where the heat exchange medium passage 2051 is one, it is understood that it serves as both an inlet and an outlet. When the number of the heat exchange medium passages 2051 is two or more, part of the heat exchange medium passages 2051 may be used as an inlet, and the other ones may be used as an outlet. In a specific alternative example, the heat exchange medium passage 2051 has two and includes a medium inlet and a medium outlet that are independently used. As such, the heat exchange medium enters the gap 206 from the medium inlet and is then discharged from the medium outlet.

In a specific alternative example, the metal bellows may be implemented as a metal bellows, and further have a front flange 203 and a rear flange closing both ends of the bellows. A metal bellows is disclosed as shown in fig. 3. The structure of the front flange 203 and the rear flange is disclosed by fig. 4 and 6.

Wherein the rear flange is connected to the shell wall 102 of the housing 100 directly or through an intermediate structure; when the shell wall 102 has the aforementioned notch 104, the notch 104 may be closed by a rear flange. The heat exchange medium passage 2051 may be provided in the rear flange. And the front flange 203 thereof may be used to move synchronously with the telescopic movement of the metal telescopic member, thereby selectively closing or exposing the fluid inlet and outlet 101 through the front flange 203.

The front flange 203 and the rear flange may take a generally planar circular plate configuration.

Wherein the front flange 203 has a raised part 2031 formed to protrude from the surface of the main body, and a recess 2032 is formed on the other side of the raised part 2031 in the thickness direction of the front flange 203. This recess 2032 can be used for receiving the previously described top plate 204 (shown in fig. 5) -for closing the fluid access 101 of the housing 100. By the movement of the metal bellows, the front flange 203 can be driven, so that the top plate 204 seals the fluid inlet 101. Wherein the rear flange has a medium inlet and a medium outlet as heat exchange medium channels 2051, as shown in fig. 6.

In the example shown in fig. 3, the metal bellows is single-walled, and thus may also be referred to as single-walled metal bellows 200. In such an example, in an apparatus using the accumulator, the cooling heat exchange medium is injected from the liquid system into the gap 206 and prevented from entering the impulse-generating pressure system. Therefore, the injection timing of the liquid is accurately determined. For such a need, a sensor may be configured in the accumulator. A sensor may be used to detect whether the second end 202 of the bellows seals off the fluid port 101. And the filling or discharging of the liquid can be adjusted correspondingly by the blocking state of the fluid inlet 101 determined by the sensor.

It will be appreciated that the sensor is intended to detect that the second end 202 of the bellows is in a corresponding closed or exposed state that closes or exposes the fluid port 101. Wherein the state is used to determine to perform either of the first operation and the second operation. The first operation includes injecting heat exchange medium into the gap 206 through the heat exchange medium passage 2051, and the second operation includes discharging heat exchange medium from the gap 206 through the heat exchange medium passage 2051. Therefore, the energy accumulator can be matched with a controller for use, and the controller is matched with the heat exchange medium and the sensor for use. The signals detected by the sensor are processed by the controller and determine how to control the flow direction of the heat exchange medium.

In some alternative examples, the sensor may be a direct detection type sensor, or may also be an indirect detection type sensor; both types of sensors may be used in combination. Wherein the direct detection type sensor is for example a pressure sensor (or contact sensor). Thus, the pressure sensor is used to detect whether the second end 202 of the bellows is in contact with the housing wall 102. The indirect detection type sensor is, for example, a barometric pressure sensor. Thus, the air pressure sensor is used to detect whether the second end 202 of the bellows is in contact with the housing wall 102.

In this way, when the sensor is used, the fluid inlet/outlet 101 (or referred to as a gas port) is in a normal pressure state (an air pressure sensor is provided, and indirect detection is performed). In this state, the front flange 203 abuts against (the first side wall of) the housing 100 (a pressure sensor is provided for direct detection), the gas port is blocked by the front flange 203, the oil hole is in a clear state, the oil is filled into the gap 206, and the oil is discharged after heat exchange with the bellows. Before the bellows is compressed each time, the cavity between the bellows and the housing 100 is filled with oil, and then the oil is discharged through the heat exchange medium passage 2051 (oil hole), so that heat of the bellows is taken away in time.

FIG. 7 discloses a schematic view of the external appearance of an accumulator in the example of the present application; fig. 8 discloses a schematic cross-sectional structure of the accumulator (bellows in non-compressed/expanded state); fig. 9 discloses a schematic cross-sectional structure of the accumulator (bellows in compressed state).

The metal bellows in the above is single-walled and forms a gap 206 between its surface and the housing 100 for receiving the heat exchange medium. While also configuring the sensor to more accurately control the flow of the heat exchange medium. In other examples of the present application, it is also possible to design a metal bellows with two layers of walls, so that a double wall bellows can be described.

Illustratively, the accumulator may further comprise a telescopic metallic additional wall 301 connected to the metallic telescopic member (metallic bellows in this example) and coaxially and synchronously telescopic; as shown in fig. 10. In the example where the retractable metal attachment wall 301 is configured, the retractable metal attachment wall 301 is positioned within the gap 206, thereby separating the gap 206 into an inter-shell cavity and an inter-wall cavity. It will be appreciated that the inter-shell cavity therein is defined by the shell wall 102 and the retractable metal attachment wall 301; and the inter-wall cavity therein is defined by the tube wall and the telescoping metal attachment wall 301. In particular, in such a case, the communication of the gap 206 with the heat exchange medium passage 2051 is achieved by the communication of the inter-wall cavity with the heat exchange medium passage 2051.

As such, the heat exchange medium may not be in communication with the wall 102 of the housing 100 and, therefore, the fluid inlet 101. There is no need to worry about the occurrence of leakage from the fluid inlet and outlet 101. In addition, the injection and discharge of the heat exchange medium may be selected according to the expansion and contraction movement of the double-wall metal bellows, and thus the conveyance timing of the heat exchange medium may be less required, so that it is considered that the desired effect and operation flow can be achieved without using the aforementioned sensor.

In other words, the present application describes such an accumulator:

which includes a cylindrical housing 100 and a double layer metal bellows.

Wherein the cylindrical housing 100 has a hollow passage and includes a body and a protrusion extending from one end of the body, such as the aforementioned two cylindrical structures; wherein the male part may be provided with threads for connection with other devices.

The double-layer metal bellows is located in the body of the cylindrical shell 100. Specifically, in the example, one end of the double-layer metal bellows is fixedly connected to the housing 100 to close a first portion (e.g., referred to as a rear end) of the hollow channel, and the other end of the double-layer metal bellows abuts against or is far away from the protrusion through the telescopic movement of the double-layer metal bellows, so as to correspondingly close or expose a second portion (e.g., a front end) of the hollow channel.

The double-layer metal corrugated pipe is provided with an inner pipe wall and an outer pipe wall wrapping the inner pipe wall. And, a sandwich lumen 302 is formed between the inner tube wall and the outer tube wall. Meanwhile, for heat exchange, a heat exchange medium flow passage (which may be implemented to include a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet that independently operate) communicating with the interlayer cavity 302 is provided in the double-layered metal bellows, and an inner wall cavity for filling gas is provided in the inner wall.

As a low cost and convenient implementation, a double layer metal bellows may alternatively be formed by a front flange 203, a rear flange, and inner and outer tube walls connected between the front flange 203 and the rear flange. In this way, the heat exchange medium flow channel can be disposed on the rear flange, and the rear flange is fixedly connected to the housing 100 to close the first portion of the hollow channel, and the front flange 203 abuts against or is far away from the protruding portion through the telescopic movement of the double-layer metal bellows, so as to correspondingly close or expose the second portion of the hollow channel.

In actual use, the inner wall cavity of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is filled with gas such as nitrogen, so that the double-layer metal corrugated pipe can buffer the impact action of the outside through self-contraction (gas compression) and recover to an expanded state when the subsequent impact action is eliminated. In addition, the interlayer cavity 302 can absorb heat by injecting heat exchange medium, and then conduct away the heat by discharging. Thus, as the double-layer metal bellows expands and contracts, oil in the interlayer (interlayer cavity 302) automatically fills (when the interlayer space volume becomes large) and discharges (when the interlayer space volume becomes small), thereby avoiding heat accumulation of the bellows in the housing 100.

For the convenience of those skilled in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments of the present application, an exemplary method of operating an accumulator is also disclosed, as shown in fig. 3.

The method of operation comprises the following steps.

Step S1, providing an accumulator, wherein the accumulator comprises a cylinder barrel and a metal corrugated pipe which is filled with gas in the cylinder barrel, one end of the metal corrugated pipe is fixedly connected with the cylinder barrel, the other end of the metal corrugated pipe is telescopically matched with the cylinder barrel in a sliding way, the accumulator is provided with an interface for connecting pulse fluid, and the accumulator also comprises a heat exchange cavity which is provided by an interlayer of the metal corrugated pipe or is defined by the cylinder barrel and the metal corrugated pipe together and can exchange heat with the filled gas.

In the production of the energy store, the metal bellows may be flushed with gas in advance. Then, it is placed in the cylinder again. Alternatively, it is placed in the cylinder and then inflated (it will be appreciated that there is an inflated bore). In such an example, the hole is closed after the gas injection because the gas cannot leak out when in use, since the gas is injected into the cylinder first and then.

Step S2, connecting the accumulator into the pulsed fluid generation system and the heat exchange medium supply system such that pulsed fluid can enter the accumulator from the cylinder to push the metal bellows to compress and allow the metal bellows to elongate to close the cylinder as pulsed fluid exits the accumulator, while the controlled heat exchange medium supply system can optionally cause the heat exchange medium to correspondingly exit or enter the heat exchange chamber from the heat exchange chamber.

The manner in which the accumulator is connected to the pulsed fluid generation system and the heat exchange medium supply system may vary depending on the particular implementation of the pulsed fluid generation system and the heat exchange medium supply system. But basically by connecting the rear end of the accumulator, i.e. the end of the metal bellows fixedly connected to the cylinder, with the heat exchange medium supply system. More specifically, the heat exchange medium supply system is also in communication with the heat exchange chamber for injecting and, if necessary, discharging the heat exchange medium. And the front end of the energy accumulator, namely one end of the metal corrugated pipe which can stretch and retract is connected with the pulse fluid generating system. More specifically, the pulsed fluid generation system interfaces with the housing 100.

And S3, according to the action of the pulse fluid generating system on the metal corrugated pipe, adjusting the heat exchange medium supply system to inject or pump away the heat exchange medium so that the pulse pressure of the pulse fluid generating system is buffered by the metal corrugated pipe, and the heat generated by expansion and contraction of the metal corrugated pipe exchanges heat with the filling gas through the heat exchange medium entering the heat exchange cavity, and then is transferred from the metal corrugated pipe and leaves the heat exchange cavity along with the heat exchange medium to be conducted away.

In the above process, when the pulse pressure is applied to the metal bellows through the interface, the metal bellows is compressed so that the liquid/oil in the heat exchange chamber whose volume is reduced is discharged and heat is taken away from the metal bellows. When the pulse pressure is eliminated, the metal corrugated pipe is recovered, and the volume of the heat exchange cavity is increased, so that a heat exchange medium can enter the heat exchange cavity for heat exchange.

In this way, the accumulator is able to impact a pulsed pressure (for example a pulsed gas), buffered by the contraction of the metal bellows, and wherein the heat of compression of the gas is transferred through the heat exchange medium avoiding accumulation in the metal bellows. Therefore, through the selection of materials and the structural and functional design of heat transfer, the energy accumulator can generate heat in the process without accumulation, so that the problem of service life reduction of the corrugated pipe caused by thermal fatigue is improved to a great extent.

In addition to the above-described accumulator, in one example of application, a hydraulic suspension system using the accumulator is described. Further, a vehicle is also described. With the accumulator hydraulic suspension system described above.

The embodiments described above by referring to the drawings are exemplary only and are not to be construed as limiting the present application.

For purposes of clarity, technical solutions, and advantages of embodiments of the present application, one or more embodiments have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the description above, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details, and that such embodiments may be incorporated by reference herein without departing from the scope of the claims.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of the present application and the above figures are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that embodiments of the present application described herein may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The foregoing detailed description of the construction, features and advantages of the present application will be presented in terms of embodiments illustrated in the drawings, wherein the foregoing description is merely illustrative of preferred embodiments of the application, and the scope of the application is not limited to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings.

Claims

1. An accumulator, comprising:

a housing having an interior cavity defined by a housing wall, the housing wall being provided with a fluid port in communication with the interior cavity;

the metal telescopic piece is arranged in the inner cavity, and a gap is formed between the pipe wall and the shell wall;

the first end is fixedly connected with the shell wall, and the first end is provided with a heat exchange medium channel communicated with the gap;

wherein said second end is movably engaged with said housing wall to selectively close or expose said fluid access opening by telescoping of said metal telescoping member in said axial direction.

2. The accumulator of claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with external threads and the external threads are located adjacent the fluid port;

and/or, the shell wall is further provided with a notch communicated with the internal cavity, and the first end is fixedly connected with the shell wall and seals the notch;

and/or, the first end is welded with the shell wall.

3. The accumulator of claim 1, wherein the metal bellows comprises a metal bellows and front and rear flanges closing both ends of the bellows;

optionally, the metal expansion piece is fixedly connected with the shell wall through the rear flange;

optionally, the metal telescoping member selectively closes or exposes the fluid inlet and outlet through the front flange;

optionally, the heat exchange medium channel is disposed on the rear flange.

4. An accumulator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it further comprises a telescopic metallic additional wall connected to the metallic telescopic member and coaxially and synchronously telescopic;

the retractable metal additional wall is positioned in the gap and divides the gap into an inter-shell cavity and an inter-wall cavity;

the inter-wall cavity is defined by a pipe wall and a telescopic metal additional wall, and the communication between the gap and the heat exchange medium channel is realized through the inter-wall cavity communicated with the heat exchange medium channel.

5. The accumulator of claim 1, further comprising a sensor configured to detect that the second end is in a corresponding closed state or exposed state that closes or exposes the fluid port, the state being used to determine to perform either of a first operation comprising injecting heat exchange medium through the heat exchange medium channel into the gap and a second operation comprising draining heat exchange medium from the gap through the heat exchange medium channel;

6. An accumulator, comprising:

one end of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is fixedly connected with the shell to close the first part of the hollow channel, and the other end of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is abutted against or far away from the convex part through the telescopic movement of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe so as to correspondingly close or expose the second part of the hollow channel.

7. The accumulator of claim 6, wherein the heat exchange medium flow passage includes a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;

and/or the protrusion has an external thread;

and/or, the double-layer metal corrugated pipe is composed of a front flange, a rear flange and an inner pipe wall and an outer pipe wall which are connected between the front flange and the rear flange, the heat exchange medium flow channel is arranged on the rear flange, the rear flange is fixedly connected with the shell to seal a first part of the hollow channel, and the front flange is abutted against or far away from the convex part through telescopic movement of the double-layer metal corrugated pipe so as to correspondingly seal or expose a second part of the hollow channel.

8. A hydraulic suspension system comprising an accumulator according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or an accumulator according to claim 6 or 7.

9. A vehicle comprising an accumulator according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or an accumulator according to claim 6 or 7 or a hydraulic suspension system according to claim 8.

10. A method of operating an accumulator, the method comprising:

providing an accumulator having a cylinder and a metal bellows in the cylinder and filled with gas, one end of the metal bellows being fixedly connected to the cylinder and the other end being telescopically slidably fitted to the cylinder, the accumulator having an interface for switching on a pulsed fluid and further having a heat exchange chamber provided by an interlayer of the metal bellows or by the cylinder and the metal bellows together and capable of exchanging heat with the filled gas;

and according to the action of the pulse fluid generating system on the metal corrugated pipe, the heat exchange medium supplying system is adjusted to inject or pump away the heat exchange medium, so that the pulse pressure of the pulse fluid generating system is buffered by the metal corrugated pipe, and the heat generated by expansion and contraction of the metal corrugated pipe is subjected to heat exchange with the filling gas through the heat exchange medium entering the heat exchange cavity, and then is transferred from the metal corrugated pipe and leaves the heat exchange cavity along with the heat exchange medium to be conducted away.