EP2770267A2

EP2770267A2 - Ventilation assembly, valve therefor and building containing such a ventilation assembly

Info

Publication number: EP2770267A2
Application number: EP14156838.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rudolf Hanewald
Original assignee: Brink Climate Systems BV
Current assignee: Brink Climate Systems BV
Priority date: 2013-02-26
Filing date: 2014-02-26
Publication date: 2014-08-27
Also published as: NL2010363C2; EP2770267A3

Abstract

A ventilation assembly comprises a ventilator (5) for generating an air flow, at least two rooms (6, 6') which can be provided with said air flow, and a valve (1) which is connected to said units for optionally providing the rooms with an air flow generated by the ventilator. The valve (1) comprises a valve housing (9) provided with at least three connecting stubs (11, 12, 13), to each of which is connected a room or the ventilator, respectively, and a valve body (18) which is accommodated in the valve housing. The valve housing (9) comprises a central chamber (14) into which the connecting stubs (11-13) issue. The valve body (18) has concentric concave and convex cylindrical or concentric concave and convex spherical forms (19, 20). The central chamber (14) also has an at least partially cylindrical or spherical concave form, respectively, so that the concave form of the central chamber (14) and the convex form of the valve body (18) are substantially concentric.

Description

The invention relates to a ventilation assembly, comprising an active unit for generating an air flow, at least two passive units which can be provided with said air flow, and valve means which are connected to said units for optionally providing the passive units with an air flow generated by the active unit, which valve means comprise a valve having a valve housing provided with at least three connecting stubs, to each of which is connected in each case one of said active and passive units, and a valve body which is accommodated in the valve housing and can be arranged opposite each connecting stub separately so as to unblock the other connecting stubs, wherein the valve body is supported in the valve housing by means of pivoting members which are aligned with respect to one another.
A ventilation assembly of this type is known from DE-A-3040051 , and can be used to refresh the air in the rooms of the building. By adjusting the valve means in a suitable way, it is possible to serve one or more rooms of a building in the desired manner. This can be effected, for example, on the basis of the demand for ventilation which arises in a certain room.
Furthermore, a ventilation assembly is known in which, on the basis of the measured concentration of CO₂ gas, for example, the valve can be adjusted in such a way that the air is refreshed to a greater degree in said room. This can take the form of supplying air to the rooms via the valve means, but also extracting air from the rooms via the valve. The function can, however, also be regulated in another way, such as on the basis of a preset time programme.
The ventilator is controlled electronically in the usual way, so that the desired flow rate can be maintained. The main concern in this case is that the flow through the duct system and through the valve leads to as little resistance as possible. In addition, it is important that the transverse dimensions of said ducts do not have to be made too large in order to obtain a low resistance.
In a conventional embodiment of the ventilation assembly, the valve means comprise at least two separate valves, one for each room. Each valve also has its own drive which is actuated on the basis of the conditions in the relevant room. The drawback of this embodiment of the ventilation assembly is that the costs are relatively high, owing to the plurality of valves and drives which are required.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a simplified and thus more economical design of a ventilation assembly of the type described above. This object is achieved by virtue of the fact that the valve body comprises a shell-shaped valve part and at least one arm which extends between a pivoting member and the shell-shaped valve part.
With the ventilation assembly according to the invention, it is possible to use one single valve and a single associated valve drive to serve a number of rooms, depending on the number of connecting stubs which the valve has. Preferably, the valve body can also be arranged in a position in which the valve body is not situated opposite any of the connecting stubs, so that all of the connecting stubs are unblocked. In that case, all units can be provided with the air flow generated by a ventilator.
It is preferable for the valve body to be rotatable, such as about a rotation axis at right angles to the connecting stubs. A significant advantage of the ventilation assembly according to the invention is that the valve body requires one and only one drive. This results in a cost advantage, while the operation can be simplified.
Valve means of this type can be configured in many ways. Preferably, the valve housing thereof comprises a central chamber with an at least partially cylindrical or concave form, respectively, into which the connecting stubs issue and the valve body thereof has concentric concave and convex cylindrical forms or concentric concave and convex spherical forms. In this case, the concave form of the central chamber and the convex form of the valve body are substantially concentric and the opening of each connecting stub into the central chamber forms a valve seat which coincides with the concave form of said chamber.
The valve which is used in the ventilation assembly can have the form of a substantially hollow/spherical shell, as a result of which the total thickness of the valve body can still be limited. The advantage of this is that the valve body causes hardly any resistance in relation to the air which flows past it between two more or less aligned connecting stubs. On the other hand, such a shell-shaped valve body can provide a good sealing effect on the duct which is intended to be closed. The valve seats interact with the valve body in such a way that the desired sealing can be ensured. If it is desired to permit a certain constant leakage flow, the forms of the valve body and of the valve seat can be selected so that an air gap is always present between them.
The connecting stubs can be configured in many ways; in particular they can have a circular or cylindrical cross section. In that case, the radius of the concave form of the central chamber and optionally the radius of the convex form of the valve body may be greater than the radius of the connecting stubs. A simple embodiment is obtained if the axes of the connecting stubs define a common point of intersection and the centre of the concave and convex spherical forms of the valve body coincides with the point of intersection of the axes of the connecting stubs.
A valve having minimal dimensions is obtained if the pivoting suspensions thereof form the outermost boundary of the valve body, as viewed in cross section of the valve body through the suspensions and at right angles to the rotation axes of the pivoting suspensions. In that case, the valve body extends over approximately 180°, as viewed in the peripheral direction along its hollow/spherical form. The imaginary plane on which the coinciding rotation axes of the pivoting suspensions lie therefore intersects the valve body over an arc of substantially 180°.
The valve body has pivoting members which are aligned with respect to one another and are supported in the valve housing. It is not necessary for the entire valve body to have a hollow/spherical shell form. The valve body comprises a shell-shaped valve part and at least one arm which extends between a pivoting member and the shell-shaped valve part. In particular, the valve body may comprise two arms which are situated at opposite ends of the shell-shaped valve part. These arms may be configured to be straight, although curved arms are also possible. Preferably, the valve part, more preferably the valve body, has a uniform thickness. This is understood to mean a curved element, such as a panel-shaped element, which has a uniform thickness, but with local reinforcements, such as thickened portions, being possible at the location of the pivoting suspensions. Reinforcing ribs may also optionally be present on the material of uniform thickness. However, it is also possible to configure the valve body to have a thickness which is generally non-uniform, with areas having a relatively high thickness and areas having a relatively low thickness.
The valve body can be arranged in a number of rotational positions which is equal to the number of pipe stubs plus one, at least three of which rotational positions relate to respectively restricting and/or blocking the flow through in each case one of the at least three connecting stubs so as to unblock the other two connecting stubs, and the other rotational position of which relates to providing a free communication between all of the connecting stubs. In particular, three and only three connecting stubs may be provided, with two of the connecting stubs being aligned with respect to one another and the third connecting stub being at right angles with respect to the mutually aligned connecting stubs, and the four rotational positions of the valve body being rotated in each case in pairs at right angles with respect to one another.
A particularly beneficial configuration for promoting an unimpaired air flow can be obtained in the embodiment in which the shell-shaped valve body is formed in such a way that, if the valve body is in the fourth position, said valve body is situated entirely outside the internal contour of the passage defined by the two connecting stubs which are aligned with respect to one another.
A stop is preferably provided for limiting the rotating travel of the valve body. This stop may, for example, determine the rotational position which relates to providing the free communication between all of the connecting stubs. The valve housing may also comprise a readout from which the rotational position of the valve body can be identified. The stop can determine the zero position or starting position of the valve body. The associated control mechanism of the valve body can use this zero position to move the valve body into the desired position with respect to the connecting stubs.
The invention further relates to a valve for the ventilation assembly as described above, comprising a valve housing provided with at least three connecting stubs and a valve body which is accommodated in the valve housing and is rotatable about a rotation axis transverse to the connecting stubs in such a way that the valve body can be arranged opposite in each case one of the connecting stubs in order to restrict and/or block the flow through said connecting stub, wherein the valve housing comprises a central chamber into which the connecting stubs issue. Said valve is characterized by the fact that the valve body comprises a shell-shaped valve part and at least one arm which extends between a pivoting member and the shell-shaped valve part. Preferably, the valve body comprises concentric concave and convex cylindrical forms or concentric concave and convex spherical forms, the central chamber has an at least partially cylindrical or spherical concave form, respectively, the concave form of the central chamber and the convex form of the valve body are substantially concentric and the opening of each connecting stub into the central chamber forms a valve seat which coincides with the concave form of said chamber.
The invention also relates to a building, comprising a plurality of rooms and a ventilation assembly as described above, wherein at least two of the rooms are connected to a respective connecting stub by means of an air duct and another connecting stub is connected to a ventilator. In this case, this can be both an extracting ventilator which extracts air from the rooms and a blowing ventilator which supplies air to the rooms. As an alternative, the ventilation assembly can also comprise a heat-recovery unit.
The invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the figures.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the valve of the ventilation assembly.
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the interior of the valve, with half of the valve housing having been removed.
Figure 3 shows the cross section through the valve along III-III in Figure 1.
Figure 4 shows a schematic view of a building containing the ventilation assembly.

As illustrated in Figure 4, a building contains a ventilation assembly which comprises the valves 1, 1', the heat-recovery unit having a ventilator 5 which is connected thereto via a supply line 2 or discharge line 34, respectively, and the rooms 6, 6' connected thereto via pipes 3, 3' or pipes 32, 32', respectively, and nozzles 4, 4' or nozzles 33, 33', respectively. The heat-recovery unit is connected to the environment via the outlet 30 and the inlet 31. The valve is controlled by a regulating unit 7 which receives data relating to the conditions in the rooms as measured by a sensor 8, 8'. In this case, this may relate to the concentrations of certain gases, such as O₂ and/or CO₂ and the like. On the basis of the measured concentration values and a regulating algorithm, the valve is adjusted in such a way that the room where a need for fresh air arises is provided with additional air. The ventilator is also actuated in this manner. By means of the heat-recovery unit, the air extracted from the rooms can be brought into heat exchange with respect to the incoming air. However, the valve 1 can also be used in the case of supply and/or discharge without heat exchange.
As illustrated in Figures 2-4, the valve 1 comprises a valve housing 9 having the two halves 9' and 9" which are connected to one another via the connection surface 10. The valve housing 9 has three pipe stubs 11, 12 and 13, wherein two pipe stubs 11, 13 are aligned with respect to one another and the third pipe stub 12 is at right angles with respect to the aligned pipe stubs 11, 13. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the pipe stubs 11-13 have a circular or cylindrical internal cross section; however, other forms are also possible.
The pipe stubs issue into a central chamber 14 which is partially concave and spherical in this exemplary embodiment. The connecting stubs 11-13 issue into said central chamber 14 by way of valve seat 15, 16 and 17, respectively. The central chamber has a concave spherical form, while the valve seats 15-17 coincide with the imaginary sphere which defines the spherical form of the central chamber.
The valve body 18 has a shell-shaped valve part 21 having concave and convex spherical surfaces 19 and 20, respectively. As the centre of the sphere which defines the convex surface 20 coincides with the centre of the sphere which defines the concave interior of the valve housing 9, the valve can be arranged precisely with respect to the valve seats 15-17. In this case, the radiuses of the spherical forms can be selected such that an air gap remains between the valve body 18 and the valve seats 15-17.
The valve body has arms 23 at opposite ends of the shell-shaped valve part, said arms 23 being suspended in the central chamber 14 of the valve housing 9 by means of pivoting suspensions 24. Said pivoting suspensions 24 are aligned with respect to one another. The valve body 18 can be rotated about said pivoting suspensions into four different positions. In the position illustrated in Figure 2, the valve body 18 is rotated in such a way that the connecting stub 11 is blocked. In this position, the valve body abuts against one side of the stop 25. Alternative rotational positions are those in which the other two connecting stubs 12 and 13 are blocked. Finally, a fourth rotational position is possible in which the valve body abuts against the other side of the stop 25. In that case, the valve body is situated in the cavity of the central chamber 14 which is defined by the closed hollow wall 27 as illustrated in cross section in Figure 3. The contour 26 of the valve body is selected in such a way that in said fourth rotational position the passage between the aligned connecting stubs 11, 13 is entirely free, without being blocked by (part of) the valve body 18.
As illustrated in cross section in Figure 3, a drive 28 is provided for rotating the valve body 18 between the various rotational positions. This may be an electric motor having a control module which is coupled to the regulating device 7. These parts are also connected to the indicator shown in Figure 1, so that the position of the valve body can be read from the outside.
Although the figures illustrate an embodiment in which the valve body and the central chamber are defined by spherical forms, these elements may also be configured to be cylindrical.

List of reference numerals

1., 1'.: Valve
2.: Pipe
3., 3'.: Pipe
4., 4'.: Nozzle
5.: Heat-recovery unit/ventilator
6., 6'.: Room
7.: Regulating unit
8., 8': Sensor
9., 9'., 9".: Valve housing
10.: Connection surface
11., 11'., 11".: Connecting stub
12.. 12'., 12".: Connecting stub
13., 13'., 13".: Connecting stub
14.: Central chamber
15., 16., 17: Valve seat
18.: Valve body
19.: Concave spherical form
21.: Convex spherical form
22.: Shell-shaped valve part
23.: Arm
24.: Pivoting suspension
25.: Stop
26.: Valve body contour
27.: Closed wall of central chamber
28.: Valve body drive
29.: Readout
30.: Outlet
31.: Inlet
32., 32'.: Pipe
33., 33'.: Nozzle
34.: Discharge line

Claims

Ventilation assembly, comprising an active unit (5) for generating an air flow, at least two passive units (6, 6') which can be provided with said air flow, and valve means which are connected to said units for optionally providing the passive units with an air flow generated by the active unit, which valve means comprise a valve (1) having a valve housing (9) provided with at least three connecting stubs (11, 12, 13), to each of which is connected in each case one of said active and passive units (6, 6'), and a valve body (18) which is accommodated in the valve housing (9) and can be arranged opposite each connecting stub separately so as to unblock the other connecting stubs, wherein the valve body (18) is supported in the valve housing (9) by means of pivoting members (23) which are aligned with respect to one another, characterized in that the valve body (18) comprises a shell-shaped valve part (21) and at least one arm (22) which extends between a pivoting member (23) and the shell-shaped valve part (21).
Ventilation assembly according to Claim 1, wherein a stop (25) is provided for limiting the travel of the valve body (18), preferably in order to determine a zero position for the valve control mechanism.
Ventilation assembly according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the pivoting suspensions (23) form the outermost boundary of the valve body (18), as viewed in cross section of the valve body through the pivoting suspensions and transverse to the rotation axes of the pivoting suspensions.
Ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve body (18) can be arranged in a position in which the valve body is not situated opposite any of the connecting stubs (11-13), so as to unblock all of the connecting stubs.
Ventilation assembly according to Claims 2 and 4, wherein the stop (25) determines the position in which all of the connecting stubs (11-13) are unblocked.
Ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve body (18) is rotatable about a rotation axis transverse to the connecting stubs (11-13).
Ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve housing (9) comprises a central chamber (14) into which the connecting stubs (11-13) issue, and the valve body (18) comprises concentric concave and convex cylindrical or concentric concave and convex spherical forms (19, 20), the central chamber (14) has an at least partially cylindrical or spherical concave form, respectively, the concave form of the central chamber (14) and the convex form of the valve body (18) are substantially concentric and the opening of each connecting stub into the central chamber forms a valve seat (15, 16, 17) which coincides with the concave form of said chamber.
Ventilation assembly according to Claim 7, wherein an air gap is present between the concave form of the central chamber (14) and the convex form of the valve body (18), preferably having a substantially uniform thickness, in order to allow a leakage flow through said gap.
Ventilation assembly according to Claim 7 or 8, wherein the connecting stubs (11-13) have a circular or cylindrical cross section, and the radius of the concave form of the central chamber (14) and optionally the radius of the convex form of the valve body (18) is greater than the radius of the connecting stubs, and the axes of the connecting stubs (11-13) preferably define a common point of intersection and the radius of the concave and/or convex cylindrical forms of the valve body (18) or the centre of the concave and/or convex spherical forms (19, 20) of the valve body (18), respectively, coincides with the point of intersection of the axes of the connecting stubs (11-13).
Ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve body (18) comprises two arms (23) which are situated at opposite ends of the shell-shaped valve part (21), and preferably the valve part (21), more preferably the valve body (18), has a uniform thickness.
Ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, wherein three and only three connecting stubs (11-13) are provided, two of the connecting stubs are aligned with respect to one another and the third connecting stub is arranged at right angles to the mutually aligned connecting stubs, and the four rotational positions of the valve body are rotated in each case in pairs at right angles with respect to one another, and the valve body (18) is preferably formed in such a way that, if the valve body is in the fourth position, said valve body is situated entirely outside the internal contour of the passage defined by the two connecting stubs (11-13) which are aligned with respect to one another.
Ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve housing (9) comprises an indicator (29) from which the rotational position of the valve body (18) can be identified.
Valve (1) for the ventilation assembly according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a valve housing (9) provided with at least three connecting stubs (11-13) and a valve body (18) which is accommodated in the valve housing and is rotatable about a rotation axistransverse to the connecting stubs in such a way that the valve body can be arranged opposite in each case one of the connecting stubs in order to restrict and/or block the flow through said connecting stub, characterized in that the valve body (18) comprises a shell-shaped valve part (21) and at least one arm (22) which extends between a pivoting member (23) and the shell-shaped valve part (21).
Valve (1) according to Claim 13, wherein the valve body (18) comprises concentric concave and convex cylindrical forms or concentric concave and convex spherical forms (19, 20), the central chamber (14) has an at least partially cylindrical or spherical concave form, respectively, the concave form of the central chamber (14) and the convex form of the valve body (18) are substantially concentric and the opening of each connecting stub into the central chamber forms a valve seat (15-17) which coincides with the concave form of said chamber.
Building, comprising a plurality of rooms and a ventilation assembly according to one of Claims 1-13, wherein at least two of the rooms (6, 6') are connected to a respective connecting stub (11, 13) by means of an air duct (3, 3') and another connecting stub (12) is connected to a ventilator (5).