CN219529906U - Multi-way valve - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a multi-way valve comprising: a valve body including a plurality of valve ports; and a spool located within the valve body and rotatable relative to the valve body between a plurality of angular positions, the spool including a plurality of regions corresponding to the plurality of angular positions along a circumferential direction thereof, each region including a plurality of sub-regions, wherein the spool includes an inner flow passage and an outer flow passage along a radial direction thereof, in at least one region: at least two adjacent subareas in the valve core are communicated through the outer layer runner so that adjacent valve ports corresponding to the two adjacent subareas are communicated; and/or at least two non-adjacent subareas in the valve core are communicated through the inner layer flow channel, so that non-adjacent valve ports corresponding to the two non-adjacent subareas are communicated. The multi-way valve can be switched among a plurality of working modes through the design, and the multi-way valve is simple in design structure, easy to assemble, low in cost, easy to control, capable of simplifying a pipeline structure, improving product integration level and avoiding runner intersection.

Description

Multi-way valve

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a new energy electric automobile thermal management system, in particular to a multi-way valve in the new energy electric automobile thermal management system.

Background

At present, a conventional new energy automobile thermal management system is generally switched and controlled by adopting a mode of matching a plurality of three-way valves with four-way valves, however, the mode has the advantages of more parts, difficult assembly, high cost, heavy weight, difficult control, space waste, more pipelines for connecting the valves, more risk points for faults, and increased complexity of whole automobile arrangement. Today, light-weight, highly integrated thermal management systems have become an industry trend, and the characteristics of valves as important components in thermal management systems directly affect the performance of the systems. And the flow channel design of the barrel type multi-way valve has high limitation, and complex working modes cannot be generally dealt with. Therefore, how to design a multi-way valve to replace a plurality of three-way valves and a four-way valve to simplify the thermal management system of the new energy automobile, reduce the cost of the whole system, make the assembly simple, easy to control, and more compact and light, and avoid the crossing of the flow channels at the same time, has become a urgent problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The utility model aims at providing a multiport valve, through the runner that designs two-layer each other do not influence in the radial direction of case, avoid the runner to cross to realize the switching of multiport valve between a plurality of operating modes, this kind of design not only can replace the complex structure such as a plurality of three-way valves collocation cross valve among the prior art, and the assembly is simple, and the cost is lower, still easily control and can simplify the pipeline structure, and improve the integrated level of product.

The present disclosure provides a multi-way valve comprising: a valve body including a plurality of valve ports; and a spool located within the valve body and rotatable relative to the valve body between a plurality of angular positions, the spool including a plurality of regions corresponding to the plurality of angular positions along a circumferential direction thereof, each of the regions including a plurality of sub-regions, wherein the spool includes an inner flow passage and an outer flow passage along a radial direction thereof, in at least one region: at least two adjacent subareas in the valve core are communicated through the outer layer runner so that adjacent valve ports corresponding to the two adjacent subareas are communicated; and/or at least two non-adjacent subareas in the valve core are communicated through the inner-layer flow channel, so that non-adjacent valve ports corresponding to the two non-adjacent subareas are communicated.

The multi-way valve can realize the switching among a plurality of working modes through the design of the multi-way valve, and has the advantages of simple design structure, easy assembly, lower cost, easy control, simplified pipeline structure, improved product integration level and no intersection of flow channels.

In one or more embodiments, the plurality of valve ports includes first through seventh valve ports corresponding to sub-regions of a31, a21, a11, a42, a32, a22, a12, respectively, of the regions of the spool.

In one or more embodiments, the plurality of angular positions includes first through fifth angular positions and the plurality of regions includes first through fifth regions.

Through the arrangement of the valve body and the valve core, the multi-way valve can be switched between five working modes, and the complex structure that a plurality of three-way valves are matched with a four-way valve and the like in the prior art can be replaced, so that the integration level of products is improved.

In one or more embodiments, the valve body has a top wall T, a bottom wall L, and a side wall S between the top wall T and the bottom wall L, the plurality of valve ports are located on the side wall S, and the plurality of valve ports are located in the same plane.

Through the arrangement of the valve ports, the valve ports can be directly in butt joint communication with the flow channels on the flow channel plate, so that the pipeline arrangement is simplified, and the system structure is optimized.

In one or more embodiments, at the first angular position: the sub-areas A31 and A32 in the first area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the first valve port is communicated with the fifth valve port; the sub-areas A21 and A22 in the first area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the second valve port is communicated with the sixth valve port; the sub-areas A11 and A12 in the first area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the third valve port is communicated with the seventh valve port, and the fourth valve port is not communicated with other valve ports.

In one or more embodiments, in the second angular position: the sub-areas A31 and A21 in the second area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the first valve port is communicated with the second valve port; the sub-areas A32 and A22 in the second area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the fifth valve port is communicated with the sixth valve port; the sub-areas A11 and A12 in the second area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the third valve port is communicated with the seventh valve port, and the fourth valve port is not communicated with other valve ports.

In one or more embodiments, at the third angular position: the sub-areas A31 and A21 in the third area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the first valve port is communicated with the second valve port; the A32 subarea in the third area of the valve core is not communicated with the fifth valve port, the A42 subarea and the A22 subarea are communicated with the sixth valve port through an outer layer runner, or the A42 subarea and the A22 subarea in the third area of the valve core are communicated with the sixth valve port through an inner layer runner, so that the fourth valve port is communicated with the sixth valve port; the sub-areas A11 and A12 in the third area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the third valve port is communicated with the seventh valve port, and the fifth valve port is not communicated with other valve ports.

In one or more embodiments, at the fourth angular position: the sub-areas A31 and A12 in the fourth area of the valve core are communicated through an inner-layer flow passage so that the first valve port is communicated with the seventh valve port; the sub-areas A21 and A11 in the fourth area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the second valve port is communicated with the third valve port; the sub-areas A32 and A22 in the fourth area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the fifth valve port is communicated with the sixth valve port, and the fourth valve port is not communicated with other valve ports.

In one or more embodiments, at the fifth angular position: the sub-areas A31 and A12 in the fifth area of the valve core are communicated through an inner-layer flow passage so that the first valve port is communicated with the seventh valve port; the sub-areas A21 and A11 in the fifth area of the valve core are communicated through an outer-layer flow channel, so that the second valve port is communicated with the third valve port; the A32 subarea in the fifth area of the valve core is not communicated with the fifth valve port, the A42 subarea and the A22 subarea are communicated with the sixth valve port through an outer layer runner, or the A42 subarea and the A22 subarea in the fifth area of the valve core are communicated with the sixth valve port through an inner layer runner, so that the fourth valve port (V4) is communicated with the sixth valve port; the fifth valve port is not in communication with the other valve ports.

According to the multi-way valve, through the arrangement of the valve core at the first angle position to the fifth angle position, three independent fluid loops which are not crossed with each other can be formed by the multi-way valve when the valve core is at each angle position, and the switching between the five working modes of the multi-way valve can be realized by changing the angle position of the valve core, so that the control is easy, the integration level is improved, and the occupied space is reduced.

In one or more embodiments, the multi-way valve further includes an inner leakage preventing gasket disposed between the valve core and the valve body to realize sealing connection between a plurality of valve ports of the valve body and corresponding flow passages of the valve core, one of the inner leakage preventing gasket and the valve body includes a positioning groove, and the other one includes a positioning protrusion, and the positioning protrusion is located in the positioning groove.

The sealing gasket for preventing internal leakage is arranged, so that the problem of internal leakage caused by series flow of fluid between the valve core and the valve body can be effectively avoided.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a multi-way valve according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a multiway valve in another perspective, showing the arrangement of the first through seventh ports, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of a multi-way valve according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a valve body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of a valve body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of an inner leak-proof gasket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of an inner leak-proof gasket in another view according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of an inner leak-proof gasket according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic view of a spool flow passage in a first mode of operation of a multi-way valve according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic view of a spool flow path for a multi-way valve in a second mode of operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic view of a spool flow passage in a third mode of operation of a multi-way valve according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool of FIG. 11 in a fourth layer, showing the outer flow path of the valve spool in a third angular position;

FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic view of a spool flow passage in a fourth mode of operation of a multi-way valve according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool of FIG. 13 in a third layer, showing the inner flow passage of the valve spool in a fourth angular position;

FIG. 15 illustrates a schematic view of a spool flow path in a fifth mode of operation of a multi-way valve according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool of FIG. 15 in a third layer, showing the inner flow passage of the valve spool in a fifth angular position;

FIG. 17 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool of FIG. 15 in a fourth layer, showing one of the outer flow passages of the valve spool in a fifth angular position.

Detailed Description

Other advantages and efficacy of the present disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from consideration of the specification, given the following description of specific embodiments thereof.

It should be understood that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. shown in the drawings attached hereto are for the purpose of understanding and reading the disclosure only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way, but rather should be construed as limited to the embodiments disclosed herein. Also, the terms "upper" and "a" and the like recited in the present specification are used for descriptive purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in which the present disclosure may be practiced or for modification and adjustment of the relative relationships thereof without materially altering the technical content thereof.

For a clearer understanding of the present disclosure, embodiments of the present disclosure are specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present disclosure provides a multi-way valve 1, referring to fig. 1 to 3, the multi-way valve 1 includes a valve body 10 having a plurality of valve ports, and a valve spool 20 located inside the valve spool 10 and rotatable between a plurality of angular positions with respect to the valve spool 10.

Specifically, in an embodiment, the valve body 10 may have a substantially cylindrical shape and has a top wall T, a bottom wall L, and a side wall S between the top wall T and the bottom wall L, and a plurality of valve ports may be all located on the side wall S, preferably, the valve ports may be located in the same plane of the side wall S, as shown in fig. 2, so that the valve ports are directly in abutting communication with the flow channels on the flow channel plate (not shown), simplifying the piping arrangement, and optimizing the system structure. In this embodiment, the valve body 10 may include seven valve ports, namely, a first valve port V1, a second valve port V2, a third valve port V3, a fourth valve port V4, a fifth valve port V5, a sixth valve port V6 and a seventh valve port V7, which are arranged in two longitudinal rows (as shown in fig. 2), wherein at least two of the valve ports may be communicated through the flow passage of the valve core 20, so as to form a fluid passage. The valve body 10 is provided with an opening in the top wall T for the insertion of the valve cartridge 20. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to the position of the opening, and for example, the opening may be provided in the bottom wall L of the valve body 10 as long as the valve body 20 can be placed inside the valve body 10.

Referring to fig. 3 and 9-15, the valve core 20 may have a substantially cylindrical shape, and may include a plurality of regions along its circumference (i.e., in the circumferential direction), where the plurality of regions respectively correspond to a plurality of angular positions of the valve core 20, and the plurality of angular positions respectively correspond to a plurality of operation modes of the multi-way valve 1. In the present embodiment, the spool 20 includes five regions corresponding to five angular positions, respectively. Specifically, as shown in fig. 9, the first angular position of the valve spool 20 corresponds to a first region of the valve spool 20, and the flow passages in the first region may be communicated with a plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 (the disclosure is illustrated as communicating three pairs of valve ports, but not limited thereto) to form a plurality of (e.g., three) fluid passages. The second angular position of the valve spool 20 is shown in fig. 10 and corresponds to a second region of the valve spool 20, and the flow passages in the second region may communicate with the plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 to form a plurality of fluid passages. The third angular position of the valve spool 20 is shown in fig. 11 and corresponds to a third region of the valve spool 20, and the flow passages in the third region may also communicate with the plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 to form a plurality of fluid passages. The fourth angular position of the valve spool 20 is shown in fig. 13, which corresponds to the fourth region of the valve spool 20, and the flow passages in the fourth region may also communicate with the plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 to form a plurality of fluid passages. The fifth angular position of the valve spool 20 is shown in fig. 15 and corresponds to the fifth region of the valve spool 20, and the flow passages in the fifth region may also communicate with the plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 to form a plurality of fluid passages.

Referring back to FIG. 9, each of the first through fifth regions of the spool 20 includes a sub-region Amn arranged in a substantially m n-type matrix, where m is counted in the axial direction (i.e., the direction of the central axis) and m is equal to or greater than 2, n is counted in the circumferential direction and n is equal to or greater than 2. Specifically, in this embodiment, m is equal to 4, n is equal to 2, that is, each region is approximately in a4×2 matrix, and m of the lowermost layer as shown in fig. 9 takes a value of 1 and increases to 4 sequentially in the axial direction; and n in the left column in this area takes a value of 1 and increases to 2 in the circumferential direction. The sub-region amb represents a sub-region located at the mth column of the mth layer in the matrix, for example, a11 represents a sub-region located at the 1 st column (i.e., n=1) of the 1 st layer (i.e., m=1) in the matrix, and so on.

Referring to fig. 12, the valve core 20 may further include an inner flow channel I and an outer flow channel O along a radial direction thereof. In at least one region of the valve core 20, at least two adjacent subregions can communicate via the outer layer flow channel O and/or at least two non-adjacent subregions can communicate via the inner layer flow channel I, so that a flow channel crossover can be avoided in the case of a complex operating mode of the multi-way valve. Specifically, in at least one region, the spool 20 may include an inner and an outer layer in the radial direction. The communication between the various sub-regions of the valve core 20 (e.g., no partition wall exists between the sub-regions) may form a flow path (or may also be referred to as the various sub-regions being communicated via a flow path), the flow path at the outer layer of the valve core 20 being referred to as the outer layer flow path O, and the flow path at the inner layer being referred to as the inner layer flow path I. When the spool 20 is only one layer in the radial direction (i.e., the inner and outer layers are in communication, e.g., no dividing wall exists between the two layers), the flow passages formed between the different subregions are collectively referred to as the outer layer passages.

Referring to fig. 2 and 9, the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh ports V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7 of the valve body 10 respectively correspond to sub-areas a31, a21, a11, a42, a32, a22, a12 of the respective areas of the valve body 20 to realize fluid passages.

Referring to fig. 5 and 9 together, the valve body 20 is provided at the center of the bottom wall thereof with a mounting boss 201, and correspondingly, the inside of the bottom wall L of the valve body 10 is provided with a mounting groove 104, and the mounting boss 201 is located in the mounting groove 104 to support one end of the valve body 20 and to facilitate smooth rotation of the valve body 20. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described structure, and for example, the valve core 20 may be provided with the mounting groove 104 at the center of the bottom wall thereof, correspondingly the mounting boss 201 used in cooperation with the mounting groove 104 may be provided inside the bottom wall L of the valve body 10, or the mounting boss 201 and the mounting groove 104 may be omitted, as long as the valve core 20 can be positioned and mounted inside the valve body 20.

The bottom wall of the valve core 20 can be further provided with a first limiting part 203, the inside of the bottom wall L of the valve body 10 is correspondingly provided with a second limiting part 107, and the maximum rotation angle of the valve core 20 in the valve body 10 is limited through the abutting action between the side walls of the first limiting part 203 and the second limiting part 107, so that the situation that the multi-way valve cannot realize the required working mode due to the fact that the valve core 20 rotates to be too far is avoided. In the present embodiment, the first limiting portion 203 and the second limiting portion 107 are both limiting protrusions, however, the disclosure is not limited thereto, for example, one of the first limiting portion 203 and the second limiting portion 107 may be limiting protrusions, and the other may be limiting grooves, for example, arc-shaped, wherein the limiting protrusions are located in the limiting grooves, and limit the maximum rotation angle of the valve core 20 inside the valve body 10 by abutting against the end side walls of the limiting grooves.

Referring to fig. 3 and 9, the valve core 20 is provided with a spline 202 at the center of the top wall thereof for spline-connecting the actuator 70 and driving rotation of the valve core 20 between different angular positions by the actuator 70.

With continued reference to fig. 3, the multi-way valve 1 may further include a seal ring 50, a flange 60, an actuator 70, and a locking element 80. The flange 60 may be fixedly attached to a flange mounting surface 106 (shown in fig. 4) of the valve body 10 by, for example, welding to close off an opening of the valve body 10 and fixedly mount the valve core 20 to the inside of the valve body 10. The flange 60 is provided with openings, and the spline 202 of the valve core 20 passes out of the valve body 10 via the openings of the flange 60 and is spline-connected to the actuator 70. The seal ring 50 is sleeved on the bottom (cylindrical shape here) of the spline 202 and is sandwiched between the opening of the flange 60 and the bottom of the spline 202 to prevent the fluid in the valve body 10 from leaking out. The actuator 70 is fixedly coupled to a mounting post 101 (shown in fig. 4 and 5) of the valve body 10 by a locking element 80 (e.g., a screw, etc.). In one embodiment, the actuator may include a stepper motor to facilitate control of the angle of rotation of the spool 20.

With continued reference to fig. 3 and fig. 6 to fig. 8, the multi-way valve 1 may further include an inner leakage preventing gasket 30 disposed between the valve core 20 and the valve body 10, so as to realize sealing connection between a plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 and corresponding flow passages of the valve core 20, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of inner leakage caused by fluid streaming between the valve core 20 and the valve body 10. Specifically, the inner leakage prevention gasket 30 may have a substantially partial annular column shape and include a body 300 and seven holes 301-307 provided on the body 300 corresponding to the first to seventh valve ports V1-V7, so that the flow passage of the valve core 20 can communicate with the valve port of the valve body 10. In a preferred embodiment, the body 300 of the inner leak-proof gasket 30 may be coated with a PTFE coating 309, which is provided to further enhance the wear resistance of the inner leak-proof gasket 30 while ensuring its sealability.

With continued reference to fig. 8, the inner leakage preventing gasket 30 may further be provided with a positioning groove 308, and correspondingly, the valve body 10 is provided with a positioning protrusion 103 (as shown in fig. 5) inside, where the positioning protrusion 103 cooperates with the positioning groove 308 to facilitate positioning and installation of the inner leakage preventing gasket 30. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described structure, and for example, the inner leakage preventing gasket 30 may be provided with the positioning protrusion 103, and correspondingly the valve body 10 may be provided with the positioning groove 308 inside, as long as the positioning and installation of the inner leakage preventing gasket 30 can be facilitated. Of course, the multi-way valve 1 of the present disclosure may also be provided without the inner leakage prevention gasket 30, for example, the sealing between the valve body 10 and the valve core 20 is achieved only by the higher precision of the fit between the two.

Referring back to fig. 3, the multi-way valve 1 may further include an anti-leakage gasket 40 disposed on the sidewall S outside the valve body 10. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the valve body 10 is provided with a mounting groove 105 on a side wall (S) corresponding to the plurality of valve ports, and the leak-proof gasket 40 is partially disposed in the mounting groove 105 to achieve a sealed connection between the plurality of valve ports of the valve body 10 and an external piping (e.g., a flow passage plate).

Referring to fig. 4, a plurality of mounting holes 102 may be further provided on the sidewall S of the valve body 10, particularly on a plane where a plurality of valve ports are provided, for fixedly mounting the multiway valve 1. Since the valve body 10 is generally made of a plastic material, has low rigidity and strength, the mounting hole 102 is easily damaged when the fastening member (e.g., screw, etc.) is directly locked in the mounting hole 102, and it cannot provide a large locking force to the fastening member. To avoid the above-described problems, the multiway valve 1 of the present disclosure may further comprise a metal sleeve 90 (shown in fig. 3) having a relatively high rigidity and strength, which is interference-fitted into each of the mounting holes 102 of the valve body 10, so as to provide a relatively high locking force for fastening elements (e.g., screws, etc.), and to prevent loss of torque due to breakage of the mounting holes 102.

The five modes of operation of the multiport valve 1 will be described in detail below in connection with fig. 2, 9 to 17.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic view of the flow path of the valve element 20 when the valve element 20 is in the first angular position, in which the multi-way valve 1 is in the first operation mode. Referring to both fig. 2 and 9, in the first angular position of the spool 20: the subareas a31 and a32 in the first area of the valve core 20 are communicated through an outer layer flow channel (such as an arrow positioned at a third layer m=3), the first valve port V1 is communicated with the subarea a31, the fifth valve port V5 is communicated with the subarea a32, and the first valve port V1 and the fifth valve port V5 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a fluid loop; the subareas a21 and a22 in the first area are communicated through another outer layer runner (such as an arrow positioned in a second layer m=2), the second valve port V2 is communicated with the subarea a21, the sixth valve port V6 is communicated with the subarea a22, and the second valve port V2 and the sixth valve port V6 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form another fluid circuit; meanwhile, the subareas a11 and a12 in the first area are communicated via a further outer layer runner (such as an arrow located in the first layer m=1), the third valve port V3 is communicated with the subarea a11, the seventh valve port V7 is communicated with the subarea a12, so that the third valve port V3 and the seventh valve port V7 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a further fluid circuit, and the three fluid circuits are independent from each other, do not cross each other, and are not communicated with the fourth valve port V4 (i.e., the fourth valve port V4 of the valve body 10 is not communicated with other valve ports). It can be seen that when the valve element 20 is in the first angular position, the multi-way valve 1 is in the first operation mode, and three independent fluid circuits are formed, i.e. the first valve port V1 of the valve body 10 is communicated with the fifth valve port V5, the second valve port V2 is communicated with the sixth valve port V6, and the third valve port V3 is communicated with the seventh valve port V7.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic view of the flow path of the valve element 20 when the valve element 20 is in the second angular position, in which the multi-way valve 1 is in the second operating mode. Referring to both fig. 2 and 10, when spool 20 rotates clockwise from the first angular position to the second angular position (e.g., when rotating clockwise from the first angular position by about 64 °): the subareas a31 and a21 in the second area of the valve core 20 are communicated through an outer layer flow passage (such as an arrow positioned in a first row n=1), the first valve port V1 is communicated with the subarea a31, the second valve port V2 is communicated with the subarea a21, and the first valve port V1 and the second valve port V2 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a fluid loop; and the sub-areas a32 and a22 in the second area are communicated via another outer flow channel (e.g., an arrow in the second row n=2), and the fifth valve port V5 is communicated with the sub-area a32, and the sixth valve port V6 is communicated with the sub-area a22, so that the fifth valve port V5 and the sixth valve port V6 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form another fluid circuit; meanwhile, the subareas a11 and a12 in the second area are communicated through a further outer layer runner (such as an arrow located at the first layer m=1), the third valve port V3 is communicated with the subarea a11, the seventh valve port V7 is communicated with the subarea a12, so that the third valve port V3 and the seventh valve port V7 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a further fluid circuit, and the three fluid circuits are independent from each other, do not cross each other, and are not communicated with the fourth valve port V4 (i.e., the fourth valve port V4 of the valve body 10 is not communicated with other valve ports). It can be seen that when the valve element 20 is in the second angular position, the multi-way valve 1 is in the second operation mode, and three independent fluid circuits are formed, i.e., the first valve port V1 of the valve body 10 is communicated with the second valve port V2, the fifth valve port V5 is communicated with the sixth valve port V6, and the third valve port V3 is communicated with the seventh valve port V7.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic view of the flow path of the valve element 20 when the valve element 20 is in the third angular position, in which the multi-way valve 1 is in the third operating mode; fig. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve core 20 in fig. 11 at a fourth layer (i.e., m=4). Referring to fig. 2, 11, and 12, when spool 20 is rotated clockwise from the first or second angular position to the third angular position (e.g., rotated clockwise from the second angular position by about 64 °): the subareas a31 and a21 in the third area of the valve core 20 are communicated through an outer layer flow passage (such as an arrow positioned in a first row n=1), the first valve port V1 is communicated with the subarea a31, the second valve port V2 is communicated with the subarea a21, and the first valve port V1 and the second valve port V2 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a fluid loop; and the sub-areas a42 and a22 in the third area are communicated via another outer layer flow passage (arrow shown in fig. 12), and the fourth valve port V4 is communicated with the sub-area a42, the sixth valve port V6 is communicated with the sub-area a22, so that the fourth valve port V4 and the sixth valve port V6 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form another fluid circuit, wherein it is noted that the sub-area a32 is not communicated with the fifth valve port V5, for example, the sub-area a32 can be blocked by a peripheral wall S1 (shown in fig. 12) to separate the sub-area a32 and the fifth valve port V5; meanwhile, the subareas a11 and a12 in the third area are communicated through a further outer layer runner (such as an arrow located at the first layer m=1), the third valve port V3 is communicated with the subarea a11, the seventh valve port V7 is communicated with the subarea a12, so that the third valve port V3 and the seventh valve port V7 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a further fluid circuit, and the three fluid circuits are independent from each other, do not cross each other, and are not communicated with the fifth valve port V5 (i.e., the fifth valve port V5 of the valve body 10 is not communicated with other valve ports). It can be seen that when the valve element 20 is in the third angular position, the multi-way valve 1 is in the third operation mode, and three independent fluid circuits are formed, i.e., the first valve port V1 of the valve body 10 communicates with the second valve port V2, the fourth valve port V4 communicates with the sixth valve port V6, and the third valve port V3 communicates with the seventh valve port V7.

The above-mentioned technical solution in which the sub-areas a42 and a22 are communicated via the outer flow channels located in the second row n=2 and the sub-area a32 is blocked by the peripheral wall S1 is only one embodiment in the present disclosure. In another embodiment, where the second row n=2 in the third region of the valve core 20 may also be configured to include an inner and an outer two-layer flow channel, and the sub-regions a42 and a22 may be communicated via the inner flow channel, and the sub-region a32 may no longer be blocked by the peripheral wall S1, so that the fluid circuit in which the fourth valve port V4 of the valve body 10 communicates with the sixth valve port V6 and the fifth valve port V5 does not communicate with other valve ports may be implemented as well.

Fig. 13 shows a schematic view of the flow path of the valve spool 20 when the valve spool 20 is in the fourth angular position, with the multi-way valve 1 in the fourth operational mode; fig. 14 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool 20 in fig. 13 at a third layer (i.e., m=3). Referring to fig. 2, 13 and 14, when spool 20 is rotated clockwise from the first, second or third angular position to the fourth angular position (e.g., rotated clockwise from the third angular position by about 64 °): the sub-areas a31 and a12 in the fourth area of the valve core 20 are communicated via an inner-layer flow passage (arrows shown in fig. 14, i.e., a flow passage surrounded by walls S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6 therein), and the first valve port V1 is communicated with the sub-area a31, and the seventh valve port V7 is communicated with the sub-area a12, so that the first valve port V1 and the seventh valve port V7 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a fluid circuit; the sub-areas a21 and a11 in the fourth area are communicated with each other through an outer layer flow channel (such as an arrow positioned in the first row n=1), the second valve port V2 is communicated with the sub-area a21, the third valve port V3 is communicated with the sub-area a11, and the second valve port V2 and the third valve port V3 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form another fluid circuit; meanwhile, the sub-areas a32 and a22 in the fourth area are communicated with each other through another outer-layer flow channel (such as an arrow positioned in the second row n=2), the fifth valve port V5 is communicated with the sub-area a32, the sixth valve port V6 is communicated with the sub-area a22, the fifth valve port V5 and the sixth valve port V6 of the valve body 10 are communicated, a further fluid circuit is formed, and the three fluid circuits are independent from each other, do not cross each other, and are not communicated with the fourth valve port V4 (i.e., the fourth valve port V4 of the valve body 10 is not communicated with other valve ports). It can be seen that when the valve element 20 is in the fourth angular position, the multi-way valve 1 is in the fourth operating mode and three independent fluid circuits are formed, i.e. the first valve port V1 of the valve body 10 communicates with the seventh valve port V7, the second valve port V2 communicates with the third valve port V3, and the fifth valve port V5 communicates with the sixth valve port V6.

Fig. 15 shows a schematic view of the flow path of the valve element 20 when the valve element 20 is in the fifth angular position, in which the multi-way valve 1 is in the fifth operation mode; fig. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool 20 in fig. 15 at a third layer (i.e., m=3); fig. 17 shows a cross-sectional view of the valve spool 20 in fig. 15 at a fourth layer (i.e., m=4). Referring to fig. 2, 15-17, when spool 20 is rotated clockwise from the first, second, third, or fourth angular position to the fifth angular position (e.g., rotated clockwise from the fourth angular position by about 64 °): the sub-areas a31 and a12 in the fifth area of the valve element 20 are communicated via an inner-layer flow passage (as shown by the arrow in fig. 16, i.e., a flow passage surrounded by the walls S7, S8, S9, S10 and S11 thereof), and the first valve port V1 is communicated with the sub-area a31, and the seventh valve port V7 is communicated with the sub-area a12, so that the first valve port V1 and the seventh valve port V7 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form a fluid circuit; the subareas a21 and a11 in the fifth area are communicated through an outer layer flow passage (such as an arrow positioned in the first row n=1), the second valve port V2 is communicated with the subarea a21, the third valve port V3 is communicated with the subarea a11, and the second valve port V2 and the third valve port V3 of the valve body 10 are communicated to form another fluid circuit; while the sub-areas a42 and a22 in the fifth area communicate via another outer flow passage (as indicated by the arrow in fig. 17), and the fourth valve port V4 communicates with the sub-area a42, the sixth valve port V6 communicates with the sub-area a22, so that the fourth valve port V4 of the valve body 10 communicates with the sixth valve port V6 to form a further fluid circuit, wherein it should be noted that the sub-area a32 does not communicate with the fifth valve port V5, for example, the sub-area a32 may be blocked by the peripheral wall S12 (as indicated in fig. 17) so as to separate the sub-areas a32 and the fifth valve port V5, and the three fluid circuits are independent of each other, do not intersect each other, and do not communicate with the fifth valve port V5 (i.e., the fifth valve port V5 of the valve body 10 does not communicate with other). It can be seen that when the valve element 20 is in the fifth angular position, the multi-way valve 1 is in the fifth operation mode, and three independent fluid circuits are formed, i.e., the first valve port V1 of the valve body 10 is communicated with the seventh valve port V7, the second valve port V2 is communicated with the third valve port V3, and the fourth valve port V4 is communicated with the sixth valve port V6.

Therefore, the multi-way valve 1 in the present disclosure can realize the switching between different working modes of the multi-way valve by changing the angle position of the valve core 20 (e.g. rotating the valve core 20), is easy to control, and can replace the arrangement of a plurality of three-way valves and four-way valves in the prior art, the assembly is simple, the pipeline structure can be simplified, the integration level is improved, and the occupied space is reduced.

Although the above embodiment of the present disclosure is described with the valve body 10 having seven valve ports and the valve core 20 including five angular positions, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, as long as the valve core 20 can communicate with at least two valve ports in different operation positions, so as to realize switching between different operation modes of the multi-way valve 1.

The above embodiments of the present disclosure are described with the matrix in which each region is substantially 4×2 type, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and for example, a matrix in which each region is substantially 2×4 type, 2×2 type, or other type may be used as long as m is not less than 2 and n is not less than 2. The substantially m×n matrix is a matrix in which a partial sub-region is allowed to be missing in the m×n matrix, and for example, the valve ports V1 to V7 in fig. 2 can be regarded as a matrix lacking an upper left corner sub-region.

In addition, the angles between the first and second angular positions, the second and third angular positions, the third and fourth angular positions, and the fourth and fifth angular positions in the above embodiments of the present disclosure are described with respect to 64 °, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and for example, the angles between the two angular positions may be other suitable angles, so long as the multi-way valve 1 can form different fluid circuits in different angular positions, that is, the multi-way valve 1 has different operation modes.

In addition, the arrows in fig. 9 to 17 of the present disclosure are not used to limit the flow direction of the fluid, but are merely used for convenience of explanation, for example, the fluid may flow in the reverse direction of the arrow, as long as the sub-areas through which the arrows pass are communicated.

In summary, the multi-way valve provided by the present disclosure includes a valve body and is located in the valve body and can rotate between five angular positions relative to the valve body, seven valve ports are disposed on the valve body and five areas are disposed in the axial direction of the valve core, each area includes a plurality of sub-areas, inner-layer and outer-layer runners are disposed in the radial direction of the valve core, and the two-layer runners are not affected by each other, so that the multi-way valve can be switched between five working modes.

While the exemplary implementation of the multiway valve provided by the present disclosure has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations can be made to the specific embodiments described above and that various technical features, structures proposed by the present disclosure can be combined in various ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A multi-way valve (1), characterized in that the multi-way valve (1) comprises:

a valve body (10) comprising a plurality of valve ports; and

a valve core (20) located in the valve body (10) and rotatable between a plurality of angular positions with respect to the valve body (10), the valve core (20) including a plurality of regions corresponding to the plurality of angular positions along a circumferential direction thereof, each of the regions including a plurality of sub-regions,

wherein the valve core (20) comprises an inner layer flow channel (I) and an outer layer flow channel (O) along the radial direction, and at least one area is provided with:

at least two adjacent subareas in the valve core (20) are communicated through the outer layer runner so as to enable adjacent valve ports corresponding to the two adjacent subareas to be communicated; and/or

At least two non-adjacent subareas in the valve core (20) are communicated through the inner-layer flow passage so that non-adjacent valve ports corresponding to the two non-adjacent subareas are communicated.

2. The multi-way valve (1) of claim 1, wherein the plurality of valve ports includes first through seventh valve ports (V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7) corresponding to sub-regions of a31, a21, a11, a42, a32, a22, a12, respectively, of the regions of the spool.

3. The multi-way valve (1) of claim 2, wherein the plurality of angular positions includes first through fifth angular positions and the plurality of regions includes first through fifth regions.

4. The multiway valve (1) of claim 1, wherein the valve body has a top wall (T), a bottom wall (L), and a side wall (S) between the top wall (T) and the bottom wall (L), the plurality of valve ports being located on the side wall (S) and the plurality of valve ports being located in the same plane.

5. A multiport valve (1) according to claim 3, wherein in the first angular position:

the sub-areas A31 and A32 in the first area of the valve core (20) are communicated through an outer-layer flow passage, so that the first valve port (V1) is communicated with the fifth valve port (V5);

the sub-areas A21, A22 in the first region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an outer-layer flow passage so that the second valve port (V2) is communicated with the sixth valve port (V6);

the sub-areas A11, A12 in the first region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an outer-layer flow passage so that the third valve port (V3) is communicated with the seventh valve port (V7),

the fourth valve port (V4) is not communicated with other valve ports.

6. A multiport valve (1) according to claim 3, wherein in the second angular position:

the sub-areas A31, A21 in the second region of the valve spool (20) communicate via an outer flow passage such that the first valve port (V1) communicates with the second valve port (V2);

the sub-areas A32, A22 in the second region of the valve spool (20) communicate via an outer flow passage such that the fifth valve port (V5) communicates with the sixth valve port (V6);

the sub-areas A11, A12 in the second region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an outer-layer flow passage so that the third valve port (V3) is communicated with the seventh valve port (V7),

the fourth valve port (V4) is not communicated with other valve ports.

7. A multiport valve (1) according to claim 3, wherein in the third angular position:

the sub-areas A31, A21 in the third region of the valve spool (20) communicate via an outer flow passage such that the first valve port (V1) communicates with the second valve port (V2);

the a32 sub-region in the third region of the valve spool (20) is not in communication with the fifth valve port, the a42, a22 sub-regions are in communication via an outer layer flow passage so that the fourth valve port (V4) is in communication with the sixth valve port (V6), or the a42, a22 sub-regions in the third region of the valve spool (20) are in communication via an inner layer flow passage so that the fourth valve port (V4) is in communication with the sixth valve port (V6);

the sub-areas A11, A12 in the third region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an outer-layer flow passage so that the third valve port (V3) is communicated with the seventh valve port (V7),

the fifth valve port (V5) is not communicated with other valve ports.

8. A multiport valve (1) according to claim 3, wherein in the fourth angular position:

the sub-areas A31, A12 in the fourth region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an inner-layer flow passage so that the first valve port (V1) is communicated with the seventh valve port (V7);

the sub-areas A21, A11 in the fourth region of the valve spool (20) communicate via an outer flow passage so that the second valve port (V2) communicates with the third valve port (V3);

the sub-areas A32, A22 in the fourth region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an outer-layer flow passage so that the fifth valve port (V5) is communicated with the sixth valve port (V6),

the fourth valve port (V4) is not communicated with other valve ports.

9. A multiport valve (1) according to claim 3, wherein in the fifth angular position:

the sub-areas A31, A12 in the fifth region of the valve spool (20) are communicated via an inner-layer flow passage so that the first valve port (V1) is communicated with the seventh valve port (V7);

the sub-areas A21, A11 in the fifth region of the valve spool (20) communicate via an outer flow passage so that the second valve port (V2) communicates with the third valve port (V3);

the a32 sub-region in the fifth region of the spool (20) is not in communication with the fifth valve port (V5), the a42, a22 sub-regions are in communication via an outer layer flow passage so that the fourth valve port (V4) is in communication with the sixth valve port (V6), or the a42, a22 sub-regions in the fifth region of the spool (20) are in communication via an inner layer flow passage so that the fourth valve port (V4) is in communication with the sixth valve port (V6);

the fifth valve port (V5) is not communicated with other valve ports.

10. The multi-way valve (1) of claim 1, wherein the multi-way valve (1) further comprises an inner leakage-proof gasket (30) disposed between the valve core (20) and the valve body (10) to achieve a sealed connection between a plurality of valve ports of the valve body (10) and corresponding flow passages of the valve core (20);

one of the inner leakage prevention sealing gasket (30) and the valve body (10) comprises a positioning groove (308), the other one comprises a positioning protrusion (103), and the positioning protrusion (103) is positioned in the positioning groove (308).