EP4621243A1

EP4621243A1 - Valve system

Info

Publication number: EP4621243A1
Application number: EP24164631.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Faruk SOYDAN
Original assignee: Volvo Car Corp
Current assignee: Volvo Car Corp
Priority date: 2024-03-19
Filing date: 2024-03-19
Publication date: 2025-09-24

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a valve system (1), comprising:
- a housing (10) having a housing inlet (11) and at least one housing outlet (12),
- a valve body (20) having a valve body inlet (21) and at least one valve body outlet (22), the valve body (20) being arranged inside the housing (10), and the valve body (20) being moveable relative to the housing (10) between at least one first position (FP) of the valve system (1), in which the at least one housing outlet (12) is aligned with the at least one valve body outlet (22), and at least one second position (SP) of the valve system (1), in which the at least one housing outlet (12) is not aligned with the at least one valve body outlet (22), and
- a pump (30) having a fluid flow acceleration element (31) and an actuator (32), the actuator (32) being configured to actuate the fluid flow acceleration element (31) in the at least one first position (FP) of the valve system (1) for accelerating a fluid inside the valve body (20) to exit the housing (10) through the aligned at least one valve body outlet (22) and at least one housing outlet (12), the fluid flow acceleration element (31) being arranged inside the valve body (20).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a valve system.

BACKGROUND ART

Different applications such as vehicles nowadays use thermal management systems. Therein, typically, a pump is used to transfer heat from one location to another location. Valves are used to control where the heat will be transferred. Since the pump and the valves are different components, they need to be connected to each other by using hoses. The overall design of such pump and valves is bulky, requiring much packaging area, assembly time, many components, especially hoses, and often results in much heat loss between the pump and valves.

SUMMARY

The problem is at least partially solved or alleviated by the subject matter of the independent claims of the present disclosure, wherein further examples are incorporated in the dependent claims.
According to an aspect, there is provided a valve system, comprising:

a housing having a housing inlet and at least one housing outlet,
a valve body having a valve body inlet and at least one valve body outlet, the valve body being arranged inside the housing, and the valve body being moveable relative to the housing between at least one first position of the valve system, in which the at least one housing outlet is aligned with the at least one valve body outlet, and at least one second position of the valve system, in which the at least one housing outlet is not aligned with the at least one valve body outlet, and
a pump having a fluid flow acceleration element and an actuator, the actuator being configured to actuate the fluid flow acceleration element in the at least one first position of the valve system for accelerating a fluid inside the valve body to exit the housing through the aligned at least one valve body outlet and at least one housing outlet, the fluid flow acceleration element being arranged inside the valve body.

Hence, the proposed valve system provides for a system, in which a pump is integrated with a valve body by arranging the fluid flow acceleration element inside the valve body. Such integrated design requires less packaging area in the application, e.g., in a vehicle, requires less assembly time, requires less components, especially hoses, and has the added benefit of no or only little heat loss compared to a solution with separation pump and valve using hoses.
The proposed valve system may be used for any purposes such as but not limited to a thermal management system and in any application such as but not limited to a vehicle, in particular an automotive vehicle, such as a passenger car or truck, for example. In a thermal management system, the valve system may be used to transfer heated or cooled fluid, e.g., water, from one location to another location within the application, e.g., within a vehicle.
The fluid flow acceleration element may accelerate a flow of fluid inside the valve system, in particular the valve body, and/or a flow of fluid coming from the at least one housing inlet and valve body inlet. The thereby accelerated fluid may accordingly flow through the aligned valve body outlet and housing outlet in the first position or, in other words, exit the valve system in its first position after entering it through the valve body inlet and the housing inlet. The fluid may be a gas and/or a liquid, e.g., water or comprising water. For example, the fluid flow acceleration element may be accelerated itself via the actuator and thereby accelerate the fluid flow. For example, the fluid flow acceleration element may be configured such that, by means of its acceleration, the fluid is sucked in into the valve body. The energy, in particular electrical energy, from the actuator may be converted into mechanical energy for acceleration of the fluid flow acceleration element.
The valve system has a first position and a second position. The first position may in particular be referred to as an open position. In the first position, the at least one housing outlet is aligned with the at least one valve body outlet. When aligned with each other, the outlets may be fluidically connected to one another, i.e., a fluid may flow from one outlet to the other outlet or, in other words, through both outlets. The alignment in particular relates to openings or cross-sections of the respective outlets. When aligned, the cross-sections or openings may be facing each other. Thereby, a fluid, e.g., a coolant, may be transferred from the at least one housing outlet to or through the at least one valve body outlet or vice versa. The first position may include partial alignment or full alignment of the at least one valve body outlet and the at least one housing outlet. When the outlets are only partially aligned with each other, the flowable cross-section through both outlets may be smaller or restricted compared to when they are fully aligned, thereby limiting the flow rate of fluid through the partially aligned outlets compared to when the outlets are fully aligned. The second position may in particular be referred to as a closed position. In the second position, the at least one housing outlet is not aligned with the at least one valve body outlet, such that a fluid may not be transferred from the at least one housing outlet to the at least one valve body outlet or vice versa.
As further explained herein exemplary and in more detail, the housing outlet and the valve body outlet may be one or more in number. In particular, there may be several housing outlets, e.g., two, three, four or more, and similarly, there may be several valve body outlets, e.g., two, three, four or more. The number of housing outlets does not need to match the number of valve body outlets, but this is an option depending on the configuration for the application in which the valve system is to be used. Similarly, there may be several first positions and second positions. For the first positions, the respectively aligned housing outlets and/or valve body outlets may be different in each one of the several first positions.
In an example, the pump may be a centrifugal pump. The fluid flow acceleration element may be an impeller. Thereby, a compact centrifugal pump with integrated valve may be provided. Such centrifugal pump may in particular be beneficial for distributing a fluid through multiple valve body outlets and/or housing outlets of the valve system, for which purpose the valve body may be moved relative to the housing to provide different first positions, in which the fluid may be distributed to different locations of the respective application via the different valve body outlets and/or housing outlets. Alternatively, the fluid flow acceleration element may be a piston or any other element configured for accelerating the fluid flow.
In an example, the actuator may be an electric motor. Thereby, the pump may be efficiently run. However, any alternative such as but not limited to a combustion engine may be provided.
In an example, the valve body may be rotatable relative to the housing between the at least one first position and the at least one second position of the valve system. Thereby, a particularly compact integration of the movability of the valve body relative to the housing and in particular relative to the pump may be provided, for example without needing to provide space for linearly extending any component, which may be an alternative.
In an example, the valve system may further comprise a rotation unit configured to rotate the valve body relative to the housing about a rotation axis of the valve body. The valve body may generally comprise a substantially symmetric shape, the symmetric shape including the valve body outlets or not including the valve body outlets, around the rotation axis. In other words, the rotation axis may be a symmetry axis of the valve body, the symmetry optionally applying to the valve body outlets or not.
In an example, the rotation axis of the valve body may be arranged coaxial to a rotation axis of a rotation shaft coupling the fluid flow acceleration element to the actuator. The actuator may, e.g., as electric motor when supplied with electric energy, rotate the rotation shaft, thereby rotating the fluid flow acceleration element, in particular, impeller, and thereby distribute the fluid flowing from the valve body inlet into the valve body through the one or more valve body outlets and one or more housing outlets outside of the housing. Having the rotation axis of the valve body and the rotation axis of the rotation shaft coaxial to one another provides for a yet even more compact design of the valve system.
In an example, the rotation unit may comprise a second actuator and a transmission coupling the second actuator to the valve body for rotating the valve body. The second actuator may for example be an electric motor or any other type of actuator. The transmission may for example be a mechanical transmission, e.g., in the form of a gear. Such gear may be interlinking with a corresponding counterpart, e.g., counter-gear or teeth, on the valve body. Thereby, when the second actuator is actuated, the transmission forwards the motion from the second actuator to the valve body, which is thereby rotated to bring it into either of the at least one first position and the at least one second position depending on the desired flow of fluid inside the valve system.
In an example, the rotation unit may be arranged inside the housing. This further allows for a particularly compact design of the valve system.
In an example, the valve system may comprise a control unit configured to control the rotation unit for rotating the valve body relative to the housing between the at least one first position and the at least one second position of the valve system. The control unit may comprise any type of processing unit, such as a semiconductor chip, for processing a request indicative of a position requested from another system, e.g., an air conditioning system, a battery conditioning system, or similar inside a vehicle.
In an example, the control unit may be configured to control the rotation unit such that the at least one first position is a partially open position, in which the at least one housing outlet is only partially aligned with the at least one valve body outlet. As previously discussed, thereby, the flow rate of the fluid transported through the valve system may be adjusted with the compact valve system and, for example, with little to no heat loss in case of transporting a hot fluid.
In an example, the control unit may be further configured to control the actuator. Thereby, the control unit may also control the pump and the respective operations of controlling the position of the valve system and the pump may be better aligned with one another in terms of functionality and timing. Moreover, the valve system may be kept compact without providing a control unit for every single actuator or operation.
In an example, the actuator of the pump may be arranged inside the housing. For example, the pump may be provided within a first housing part of the housing, while the valve body may be provided within a second housing part of the housing. Still, both housing parts may be physically connected to one another to form the overall housing. For example, the requirements for both housing parts may be different and better addressed by having a separate housing part design. For example, the second housing part for the valve body may be designed as a hydraulic housing part, which may need to be hydraulically sealed.
In an example, the valve system may further comprise sealing elements arranged between the housing and the valve body. In particular, one or more of such sealing elements may be arranged such that the fluid can flow through the housing outlet and valve body outlet aligned with one another in the first position without flowing in between the housing outlet and the valve body outlet.
In an example, the housing may comprise at least two housing outlets, the valve system comprising a first position in which the at least one valve body outlet is aligned with a first one of the at least two housing outlets and a second first position in which the at least one valve body outlet is aligned with a second one of the at least two housing outlets.
In an example, the housing may comprise at least two housing outlets and the valve body may comprise at least two valve body outlets, each one of the at least two housing outlets being aligned with one of the at least two valve body outlets in the first position of the valve system.
These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from and elucidated with reference to the examples described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Examples of the disclosure will be described in the following with reference to the following drawings.

Figure 1: shows a cross-sectional view through a valve system according to an example of this disclosure;
Figures 2A - 2D: show a cross-sectional view along the line X-X of the valve system of Fig. 1 in different positions of the valve system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Figures are merely schematic representations and serve only to illustrate examples of the disclosure. Identical or equivalent elements are in principle provided with the same reference signs.
Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view through a valve system 1, the cross-section being in a plane extending along a rotation axis Y2 of a rotation shaft 33 of a pump 30 of the valve system 1.
In this example, the valve system 1 comprises a housing 10 having a housing inlet 11 and three housing outlets 12 (note that only two housing outlets 12 are shown in Fig. 1, while Figs. 2A to 2D show all three housing outlets 12). However, alternatively, there may be more than one housing inlet 11 and less or more than the three housing outlets 12. Exemplary, the housing inlet 11 and the housing outlets 12 in this example are provided on a first housing part 13 of the housing 10, which may be configured as a hydraulic housing part.
Further, in this example, a valve body 20 is arranged inside the housing 10, in particular inside the first housing part 13. The valve system 1 further comprises the pump 30, an actuator 32 of which, e.g., configured as an electric motor, may be also arranged in the housing 10, in particular inside a second housing part 14 of the housing 10, which may be attached to the first housing part 13. The pump 30 further comprises a fluid flow acceleration element 31, e.g., in the form of an impeller, such that the pump 30 may be configured as a centrifugal pump. The fluid flow acceleration element 31 and a portion of the rotation shaft 33 of the pump 30, which may be attached to or extend out from the actuator 32, are arranged in a space 23, in particular a hollow space, inside the valve body 20. The rotation shaft 33 has the rotation axis Y2 about which it may be rotated together with the thereto attached fluid flow acceleration element 31 when the actuator 32 is supplied with electrical energy.
The valve body 20 of this example has a valve body inlet 21 and two valve body outlets 22. However, the valve body 20 may alternatively have more than one valve body inlet 21 and more or less than two valve body outlets 22. The valve body inlet 21 is aligned with the housing inlet 11 such that a fluid inflow 2, e.g., of a coolant, may be provided to the valve system 1. The fluid may thereby enter the space 23 inside the valve body 20. For example, the fluid may be drawn in by means of rotation of the fluid flow acceleration element 31 via the actuator 32 when the actuator 32 is supplied with electric current, thereby actuating the fluid flow acceleration element 31.
In the position of the valve system 1 shown in Figs. 1 and 2A, also referred to herein as a first position FP. 1, both valve body outlets 22 are aligned, in particular fully aligned, with two of the housing outlets 12 such that the fluid entering the valve body 20 may be distributed from the valve body inlet 21 to the valve body outlets 22 and housing outlets 12, which may be fluidically coupled, e.g., via hoses, to other locations inside a thermal management system, e.g., of a vehicle, when the fluid flow acceleration element 31 is actuated. This is exemplary indicated by the fluid outflow 3 through both housing outlets 12 shown in Fig. 1.
As schematically shown in Fig. 2A, one of the three housing outlets 12 is not aligned with any one of the two valve body outlets 22 and accordingly not supplied with fluid or, in other words, no fluid is exiting this housing outlet 12. Note that the Figs. 2A to 2D, showing different positions of the valve system 1, are herein illustrated only schematically, e.g., without the sealing means 60 shown in Fig. 1, which are arranged between the housing 10, specifically the first housing part 13, and the valve body 20 to prevent fluid from flowing in between the housing 10 and the valve body 20.
From the first position FP.1 shown in Figs. 1 and 2A or from any other position as exemplary shown in Figs. 2B to 2D, the valve system 1 may be brought into any other position, in which any of the housing outlets 12 may be aligned with any of the valve body outlets 22 or not. For this purpose, the valve body 20 is configured moveable relative to the housing 10. In particular, the valve body 20 may be configured rotatable relative to the housing 10 and about a rotation axis Y1 of the valve body 20, which may be a symmetry axis of the valve body 20. The rotation axis Y1 of the valve body 20 may be coaxially arranged to the rotation axis Y2 of the rotation shaft 33.
To enable the rotation of the valve body 20, one or more guiding elements 70 may be provided, e.g., as exemplary shown to be provided on or attached to the actuator 32. The guiding element 70 may guide the valve body 20, e.g., in this example on the pump 30 or a suface thereof. The valve body 20 may be rotatably mounted by such guiding element 70. For example, the guiding element 70 and/or the valve body 20 may comprise one or more bearings, e.g., roller bearings, tracks or similar such that the valve body 20 may be guided, in particular rotatably guided or rotated about its rotation axis Y1 while being mounted inside the housing 10, e.g., mounted to the actuator 32 as exemplary shown. Alternatively, the guiding element 70 may be provided at any other location or component. For example, the guiding element 70 may mount the valve body 20 rotatably about the rotation axis Y1 at the housing 10, in particular at the first housing part 13.
For rotating the valve body 20 around its rotation axis Y1, the valve system 1 may comprise a rotation unit 40, which may comprise a second actuator 41 and a transmission 42 coupling the second actuator 41 to the valve body 20 for rotating the valve body 20. The second actuator 41 may be an electric motor, for example. In this example, the rotation unit 40 is shown to be arranged inside the housing 10. When the second actuator 41 is actuated, the valve body 20 may accordingly be rotated by the transmission 42. Thereby, any of the positions of the valve system 1 shown in Figs. 2A to 2D, and in particular also any intermediate position between the shown positions, may be assumed by the valve system 1.
A control unit 50 of the valve system 1, which is exemplary shown herein to be located at the bottom of the housing 10 or the actuator 32, may be configured to control both, the actuator 32 of the pump 30 and the second actuator 41 of the rotation unit 40.
For example, the control unit 50 may control the rotation unit 40 such that the valve system 1 assumes the second position SP exemplary shown in Fig. 2B. In the second position SP, none of the valve body outlets 22 is aligned with any one of the housing outlets 12. Thereby, no fluid entering the valve body 20 can exit the valve system 1. In other words, the valve system 1 may be fully closed.
Alternatively, for example, another first position FP.2 may be assumed by the valve system 1, as shown in Fig. 2C, in which the housing outlet 12, which is not aligned with any one of the valve body outlets 22 in the first position FP.1 of Fig. 2A, is aligned with one of the valve body outlets 22, while the other housing outlets 12 are not aligned with any of the valve body outlets 22.
Alternatively, for example, yet another first position FP.3 may be assumed by the valve system 1, as shown in Fig. 2D, in which the same housing outlets 12 as in Fig. 2A are aligned with the same valve body outlets 22 only partially as opposed to fully as shown in Fig. 2A such that a flow rate of the fluid through the housing outlets 12 is limited in the first position FP.3 in Fig. 2D compared to the first position FP.1 in Fig. 2A.
As explained, the arrangement and the number of valve body outlets 22 and housing outlets 12 shown herein is merely exemplary. For example, instead of having three housing outlets 12 and two valve body outlets 22, it is alternatively possible to have exactly one housing outlet 12 and exactly one valve body outlet 22 and it may be switched between a fully open or partially open first position FP and second position SP. Alternatively, there may be two housing outlets 12 and one valve body outlet 22 and it may be switched between two first positions FP in which either of the two housing outlets 12 is aligned with the one valve body outlet 22. As becomes clear from these examples, there are many different possibilities regarding the number and arrangement of the housing outlets 12 and the valve body outlets 22 and the herein disclosed examples of such are purely exemplary and not intended as limitation of the valve system 1.
As used herein, the phrase "at least one," in reference to a list of one or more entities should be understood to mean at least one entity selected from any one or more of the entities in the list of entities, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every entity specifically listed within the list of entities and not excluding any combinations of entities in the list of entities. This definition also allows that entities may optionally be present other than the entities specifically identified within the list of entities to which the phrase "at least one" refers, whether related or unrelated to those entities specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or, equivalently, "at least one of A or B," or, equivalently "at least one of A and/or B") may refer, in one example, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including entities other than B); in another example, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including entities other than A); in yet another example, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other entities). In other words, the phrases "at least one," "one or more," and "and/or" are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions "at least one of A, B, and C," "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, or C," and "A, B, and/or C" may mean A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, A, B, and C together, and optionally any of the above in combination with at least one other entity.
Other variations to the disclosed examples can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed disclosure, from the study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

1: valve system
2: fluid inflow
3: fluid outflow
10: housing
11: housing inlet
12: housing outlet
13: first housing part
14: second housing part
20: valve body
21: valve body inlet
22: valve body outlet
23: valve body space
30: pump
31: fluid flow acceleration element
32: actuator
33: rotation shaft
40: rotation unit
41: second actuator
42: transmission
50: control unit
60: sealing element
70: mounting element
FP: first position
SP: second position
Y1: rotation axis of the valve body
Y2: rotation axis of the rotation shaft

Claims

A valve system (1), comprising:
- a housing (10) having a housing inlet (11) and at least one housing outlet (12),

- a valve body (20) having a valve body inlet (21) and at least one valve body outlet (22), the valve body (20) being arranged inside the housing (10), and the valve body (20) being moveable relative to the housing (10) between at least one first position (FP) of the valve system (1), in which the at least one housing outlet (12) is aligned with the at least one valve body outlet (22), and at least one second position (SP) of the valve system (1), in which the at least one housing outlet (12) is not aligned with the at least one valve body outlet (22), and

- a pump (30) having a fluid flow acceleration element (31) and an actuator (32), the actuator (32) being configured to actuate the fluid flow acceleration element (31) in the at least one first position (FP) of the valve system (1) for accelerating a fluid inside the valve body (20) to exit the housing (10) through the aligned at least one valve body outlet (22) and at least one housing outlet (12), the fluid flow acceleration element (31) being arranged inside the valve body (20).
The valve system (1) according to claim 1, the pump (30) being a centrifugal pump and the fluid flow acceleration element (31) being an impeller.
The valve system (1) according to claim 1 or 2, the actuator (32) being an electric motor.
The valve system (1) according to any of the previous claims, the valve body (20) being rotatable relative to the housing (10) between the at least one first position (FP) and the at least one second position (SP) of the valve system (1).
The valve system (1) according to claim 4, the valve system (1) further comprising a rotation unit (40) configured to rotate the valve body (20) relative to the housing (10) about a rotation axis (Y1) of the valve body (20).
The valve system (1) according to claim 5, the rotation axis (Y1) of the valve body (20) being arranged coaxial to a rotation axis (Y2) of a rotation shaft (33) coupling the fluid flow acceleration element (31) to the actuator (32).
The valve system (1) according to any one of claims 5 to 6, the rotation unit (40) comprising a second actuator (41) and a transmission (42) coupling the second actuator (41) to the valve body (20) for rotating the valve body (20).
The valve system (1) according to any one of claims 5 to 7, the rotation unit (40) being arranged inside the housing (10).
The valve system (1) according to any one of claims 5 to 8, the valve system (1) comprising a control unit (50) configured to control the rotation unit (40) for rotating the valve body (20) relative to the housing (10) between the at least one first position (FP) and the at least one second position (SP) of the valve system (1).
The valve system (1) according to claim 9, the control unit (50) being configured to control the rotation unit (40) such that the at least one first position (FP) is a partially open position, in which the at least one housing outlet (12) is only partially aligned with the at least one valve body outlet (22).
The valve system (1) according to claim 9 or 10, the control unit (50) being further configured to control the actuator (32).
The valve system (1) according to any one of the previous claims, the actuator (32) of the pump (30) being arranged inside the housing (20).
The valve system (1) according to any one of the previous claims, wherein the valve system (1) further comprises sealing elements (60) arranged between the housing (10) and the valve body (20).
The valve system (1) according to any one of the previous claims, the housing (20) comprising at least two housing outlets (12), the valve system (1) comprising a first position (FP.1) in which the at least one valve body outlet (22) is aligned with a first one of the at least two housing outlets (12) and another first position (FP.2) in which the at least one valve body outlet (22) is aligned with a second one of the at least two housing outlets (12).
The valve system (1) according to any one of the previous claims, the housing (20) comprising at least two housing outlets (12) and the valve body (20) comprising at least two valve body outlets (22), each one of the at least two housing outlets (12) being aligned with one of the at least two valve body outlets (22) in the first position (FP) of the valve system (1).