FR2480936A1 - FLOW ADJUSTMENT APPARATUS, PARTICULARLY FOR LIQUID PIPING - Google Patents

Abstract

THE CAGE 1, 3, 4 OF THIS APPARATUS INCLUDES A FLOW DUCT 5 FOR LIQUID, INSIDE WHICH, FOR EXAMPLE IN A TRANSPARENT TUBE 7, A PISTON 11 IS ATTACKED ON ITS FRONT SURFACE 13 BY THE LIQUID AGAINST THE ANTAGONIST FORCE OF A SPRING 12. THE GREATER THE FLOW OF LIQUID, THE GREATER THE RESISTANCE EXERCISED BY THE PISTON 11 TO THE FLOW, AND THE MORE THE SPRING 12 IS COMPRESSED. EDGE 13 OF THE PISTON CAN ACT AS AN INDEX WHICH COOPERATES WITH A GRADUATED LADDER ARRANGED ON CAGE 1 OR ON TUBE 7. THROUGH A RECESS 6 OF CAGE 1, THE POSITION OF THE PISTON IN RELATION TO THE SCALE CAN BE READ GRADUATED, INDICATING THE FLOW PER UNIT OF TIME. THE FLOW IS ADJUSTED BY MEANS OF AN ADJUSTING VALVE 15 MODIFYING THE FLOW SECTION.

Description

The invention relates to a flow control device. The devices of

  known flow adjustment are made in the form of adjustment valves, the valve shutter element being actuated by a threaded rod which is provided for example with a hand wheel. With a view to adjusting the flow, the movable rod and a fixed part of the valve cage are equipped with an index and a graduated scale. So when you rotate the rod,

  the index and the graduated scale make a relative movement.

  In this respect there are essentially two types of apparatus: in one of these types, the graduated scale is arranged along the rod, which means that the axial stroke of this rod is a measure of the flow instantaneous. In the other type, the graduated scale extends over the circumference of the rod, the instantaneous angle of rotation of the rod then being a measure of the instantaneous flow. Since in the case of mass production of regulating valves, it is not possible, for cost reasons, to pass each regulating valve through a test station to adjust with constant precision the graduated scale with respect to the index over the whole extent of

  the adjustment range, so that the position of the scale

  it corresponds exactly to the instantaneous flow, there is forced-

  Due to unavoidable manufacturing tolerances, a

  relatively large dispersion of the accuracy of the indicators

  tions. When using such an adjustment valve, one can therefore only trust the position of the index relative to the graduated scale and there is no possibility of checking

  to what extent the effective flow deviates from the prescribed flow.

  Nor can you determine, when you only rotate the valve stem a little, how it works directly

  on increasing or decreasing the flow. Such impro-

  cisions are particularly unfortunate in the case oh there

  there are several pipe sections arranged in parallel

  which must be precisely adapted to each other. Such pipe sections can exist for example in a collective building equipped with different groups consuming hot water, for example for heating

  the south facade, the heating of the noord facade, conditions

  air and drinking water. Each group consumes

  tor (each section of pipeline) must then receive a predetermined quantity of water, for example in liters / min. Known control valves would then be used as

  as adjustment valves for the pipe sections. This is-

  that is, the different pipe sections must

  then be balanced by the adjustment of each valve.

  By this balancing -, the transport of energy to the different

  rents consumer groups is sort of settled. Is

  For example, in heating installations, this balancing of the sections can only be achieved, with known regulating valves, by devoting an extremely long time to it and nevertheless with still significant factors of insecurity. It is extremely rare that the balanced piping network

  with the known adjustment valves corresponds to the distribution

  tion of projected energy. The consequence is uneven heating of rooms and use of heating surfaces which is not optimal. When a consumer station has its own adjustment facilities, these adjustments can

  be disturbed by non-optimal energy transport.

  The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for

  flow adjustment with which the disadvantages can be avoided

mentioned above.

  The flow control device according to the invention is characterized by at least one window located in a flow conduit, a piston which is movable in the flow conduit, can be attacked by a circulating liquid and, in these conditions, is movable along the window, a helical spring which is in the flow conduit and is supported on the piston by one of its ends and on the cage of the device by its other end, thus a graduated scale and an index on fixed parts of the cage and on the movable piston, to indicate the position of the piston

along the graduated scale.

  If then a flow control valve is still provided in the pipe section in which the flow control device is located, one can already follow the slightest movement of the control valve, through the window in the device , the sliding of the piston in the flow conduit along the graduated scale. Since from now on the effects of a displacement of the regulating valve act directly on the increase or the decrease of the flow velocity in the flow duct and, consequently, indirectly on the displacement of the piston along of the graduated scale are made visible, the balancing of the sections, mentioned in the preamble, can be carried out in a much simpler way than before. It is advantageous

  that the aforementioned adjustment valve is integrated in the device

flow adjustment reil.

  Two exemplary embodiments of the subject of the invention

  are shown in the accompanying drawings.

  Fig. 1 shows, in a longitudinal sectional view, a first embodiment of the flow control device. Fig. 2 shows, in a longitudinal section view, a second embodiment of the adjustment device

debit.

  Fig. 3 is a top view, partially in section,

  of the apparatus shown in fig. 2.

  The apparatus shown in fig. 1 comprises a cage 1 which is made for example of stamped brass and at the cylindrical middle part 2 of which are connected, at one end, a hexagon head 3 and, at the other end, an external thread 4 In the hexagon head 3 an internal thread is formed, in order to be able to connect the device to

  pipes (not shown). cage 1 contains a

  flow duit 5. the cage 1 is provided with two recesses 6 diametrically opposite one another, which extend to the flow conduit and thus form windows in the flow conduit. Inside the drain 5

  is placed a piece of tube 7 made of a transparent material.

  This can for example be a synthetic material. the piece of tube 7 is mounted in leaktight manner in the cage 1 by means of two O-rings 8 and 9. In the flow duct 5 is also placed a disc 10, also made for example of brass too, a disc which is forced into the flow conduit 5 and which exerts against the piece of tube 7 a pressure such that the latter is maintained in the cage

  1 without possibility of axial displacement. The edge of a hollow

  ment 6 is provided with a graduated scale 6 'which extends from 1 to in the present example. Inside the piece of tube 7, a piston 11 produced in the form of a sleeve is guided in its axial displacement. the piston is made of a material which has as much as possible the same specific weight as the fluid

expected flow.

  Between the cage 1 and the piston 11 is placed a helical spring

  pressure coldal 12, one end of which bears on the cage 1 and the other end of which is fixed by a turn on the piston 11. Thus, in FIG. 1, the piston 11 is movable to the right inside the piece of tube 7 against the opposing force of the spring. The piston 11 has a front surface 13. The device shown in FIG. 1 can be crossed in the direction of arrow 14 by a flow liquid, so that the flow liquid strikes

  therefore the front surface 13 of the piston 11. The piston 11 represents

  feels, through its front surface 13, a resistance to flow-

  ment inside the liquid which runs through the piece of tube 7. The piston 11 of fig. 1 is moved to the right, with compression of the spring 12, all the more strongly as the flow speed is greater. The quantity of liquid flowing per unit of time is regulated by a flow control valve 15. The latter is constructed in a manner known per se and uses, as a rotating key, a ball valve body 16 which is provided with a flow duct 17. This valve body 16 is mounted in a sealed manner in the cage and can be rotated by hand by means of an adjusting stud 18 so as to more or less open the section of the flow conduit 17 relative to the fixed flow conduit of the cage which surrounds it. With the adjustment valve 15, therefore, the cross-section of the flow duct is checked. Since by such known modifications of the cross-section of the flow duct, it

  occurs at the control edges of the flow duct

  Lement 17, irregular flow velocities and, consequently, vortices and turbulence, that is to say that there appears an irregular form of flow of the fluid threads, this control of the section is arranged downstream piston 11 considering the direction of passage through the device. In this way, the piston 11 is therefore attacked by an undisturbed current. The piece of transparent tube 7 is visible through the recess 6 provided with a graduated scale 6 'and we see, through this piece of transparent tube, the edge of the piston 11 on the side of the front surface 13. This rear edge of the piston,

  considering the direction of passage through the device, represented

  feel the index of the device which cooperates with the graduated scale 6 'on one of the recesses 6. In the example of FIG. 1, the front surface 13 is approximately at the level of the value 1.1 of the graduated scale. The body 16 of the adjustment valve 15 will then be in a position producing a significant reduction in the flow conduit, which has not been indicated in FIG. 1 for reasons of clarity of the drawing. On the other hand, when the valve body 16 is in the position where it completely disengages the flow duct, which position is that of the adjustment valve 15 in FIG. 1, the piston 11 could occupy a position in which its front surface 13 is for example opposite the

graduation 5 of the scale.

  In practice, the example of execution of the apparatus which appears in FIG. 1-was made for example for a 1/2 "pipe. This flow control device is then dimensioned for a flow range between 0 and liters / min and it can be used in hot water heating installations , for example with radiators, or for underfloor heating and in

solar collector.

  Although, as mentioned above, only one of the recesses 6 is provided with a graduated scale 6 ', which means that only one recess 6 would be necessary in the cage 1 for reading the position of the piston 11, it has nevertheless proved judicious in practice to provide two recesses 6 diametrically opposite one another, because the piece of transparent tube 7 is thus better illuminated by transmission by incident light, which means that the position of

  piston 11 is more clearly visible.

  the coil spring 12 used in the apparatus of the

  fig. 1 has a very flat elasticity characteristic, that is

  that is, it is very soft, the spring 12 having been formed in

  the practice by winding a metal wire which presents

  was 0.2 mm thick. For piston 11, we used-

  a synthetic material which has approximately the same specific weight as water, so that the piston 11 is held

  in practically no buoyant Archimedes water.

  Given that, under these conditions, the self-weight of the

  piston'll with spring 12 is negligible, the device

  feel in fig. 1 can be placed horizontally as well

  only vertically in a pipe section.

  We will now consider the illustrated embodiment

by fig. 2 and 3.

  In the example of figs. 2 and 3, the device cage is made in two parts and consists of a first cage element 19 and a second cage element 20. The first cage element 19 is installed at a fixed station and it is provided to this

  effect of two sleeves 21 and 22 for connection to the pipeline

  tion. The second cage element 20 is located inside the first cage element 19 and it is rotatably mounted therein, with the possibility of describing a rotation angle of 902. The two cage elements 19 and 20 are tightly mounted relative to each other, by means of four O-rings 23, 24, 25 and 26. In the fixed cage element 19 are

  additionally placed two other sealing rings 27 and 28.

  These are made of a relatively hard synthetic material. The sealing ring 27 carries the O-ring 25 and the sealing ring 28 carries the O-ring 26. For holding the second cage element 20 in the first element

  cage 19, there is provided a cover 29 which is fixed to the first

  mier cage element 19 by means of several screws 30. For mounting reasons, the front surfaces of the sealing rings 27 and 28, located opposite one another in the drawing of FIG. 2, converge downwards in this figure. Thus, the second rotary cage element 20 is introduced from the top (considering FIG. 2) into the first cage element 19,

  then the cover 29 is put in place.

  As in the embodiment of FIG. 1,

  the second rotary cage element 20 is provided with two recesses

  31 diametrically opposed to each other. These cons-

  each form a window for the piece of tube 32 placed inside, which is made of a transparent material, for example a synthetic material. It is visible in fig. 3 that a graduated scale 33 is contiguous to the recess 31 located at the top in FIG. 2. This graduated scale extends from the value 2 to the value 22 in the example shown. The piece of transparent tube 32 is held in a sealed manner in a conduit 36 of the second cage element 20, by means of two O-rings 34 and 35. Inside the piece of tube 32 is still arranged, as in the first example of fig. 1, a piston 37 produced in the form of a socket, with a helical pressure spring 38. The piston 37 has a front surface 39. The first fixed cage element 19 is traversed by a flow conduit 40 which is defined by

  the openings of the two sealing rings 27 and 28.

  it is visible in fig. 3 that the first fixed cage element 19 is provided with an extraction opening 41 which is offset by an angle of rotation of 902 relative to the flow conduit 40 of the first cage element 19. This opening extraction 41 is used to extract the piece of tube 32, with the piston 37 and the spring 38 which it contains, after having rotated the second rotary cage element 20 from 902 from its position shown in FIG. 3. In this turned position, the flow conduit 36 of the second rotary cage element 20 is in alignment with the extraction opening 41, so that the elements 32, 37 and 38 can be

  then extracted from the second cage element 20, as well as from the first

  mier cage element 19. In the assembled state of the following device

  fig. 3, the extraction opening 41 is closed by a cover

  circle 42. The flow liquid flows through the device in the direction of arrow 14. Downstream of the piston 37 in the direction of flow, a flow control valve 15 ′ is located,

  here again, in the first fixed cage element 19.

  The rotation of the second cage element 20 with the elements

  ments 32, 37 and 38 to the extraction opening 41 can be produced in different ways. For example, the second cage element 20 is provided with two cavities 43 into which the studs of a known tool can be inserted. The second cage element 20 can then be rotated by 90 in the manner of a rotary drawer by means of this tool. By this rotation of the second cage element 20 with its elements 32, 37 and 39 towards the extraction opening 41, various operations can be carried out. Since the second cage element 20

  thus behaves like a rotary drawer, its duct

  Lement 36 can be blocked relative to the flow conduit of the first cage element 19, that is to say that there is no flow of liquid through the device. Yes

  a discharge screw 44 is then removed, the canal system

  sations connected to the connecting sleeve 22 can be drained. In addition to the stop function by means of the second cage element 20, it

  it is also possible to disassemble the piece of transparent tube

  rent 32, the piston 37 and the spring 38. It can be done for example for cleaning purposes, but also to replace for example the spring 38 by another spring which has a

  another characteristic of elasticity. It then suffices to replace

  cer the graduated scale 33 by another graduated scale. The

  scope of use of the device could thus be extended.

  The apparatus of fig. 3, more complicated and therefore more expensive in its production than the example in FIG. 1, can be inserted, for example, in lu or 2 "pipes. Consequently, the device can be dimensioned

  for a flow range of 100 liters / min for example.

  In the two embodiments of the device, the graduated scale can also be placed on the piece of transparent tube 7 or 32. It is thus possible to provide each piece of transparent tube with two different graduated scales, only one of these two scales obviously

  visible when the device is assembled. the two scales gra-

  Duées are therefore offset in the circumferential direction of the piece of transparent tube 7 or 32, so that there is never a single scale to be visible. When a spring exhibiting a different characteristic is then used, it suffices to rotate the piece of transparent tube around its longitudinal axis, until the other graduated scale, corresponding to the new characteristic of the spring, is

  visible in the recess 6 or 31 serving as a window.

  With the devices described, it is possible, by means of the adjustment valves 15 or 15 ′, to continuously adjust the quantity of water desired using the pistons 11 or 37 which move, and to have a very precise optical indication.

Claims (7)

  1. Flow control device in a pipeline   liquid, characterized by at least one window (6, 31) practi-   quée in a flow conduit (5, 40, 36), a piston (11, 37) which is movable in the flow conduit (5, 40, 36), can be attacked by a circulating liquid and, in these conditions, is movable along the window (6, 31), a helical spring (12, 38) which is in the flow duct and bears on the piston (11, 37) by one of its ends and on the cage (1, 20, 19) of the device by its other end, as well as a graduated scale (6 ', 33) and an index (13, 39) on fixed parts (1, 20) of the cage and on the movable piston   (11, 37), to indicate the position of the piston along the scale- the graduated (6 ', 33).   2. Apparatus according to claim 1, 'characterized in that the apparatus cage (1, 19) is equipped with a flow control valve (15, 15'); which is located downstream of the piston (11, 37) considering the direction of flow (14) through the device. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the window is formed by a piece of tube (7, 32) of transparent material, placed in a conduit (5, 36) of the cage (1, 20), the conduit (5, 36) of the cage comprising at least one recess (6, 31) which releases the piece of transparent tube (7, 32). 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the piston (11, 37) is produced in the form of a bushing, one of the front surfaces (13, 39) of which is perpendicular to the flow conduit (5, 40, 36) so as to be attacked the cage relative to the first element (19) of the cage, in alignment with the flow conduit of the second element (20) of the cage (fig. 2, 3).   9. Apparatus according to claim l, characterized in that the rear edge (13, 39) of the piston, considering the direction   flow (14) through the apparatus, serves as an index.   10. Use of the device according to claim 1 or 2 as a valve for adjusting pipe sections in   hot water heating systems. by the circulating liquid.   Device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the piston (11, 37) in the form of a sleeve is guided   in the piece of transparent tube (7, 37).   6. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the cage (1) is tubular, is provided at its two ends with sleeves (3, 4) for connection to the pipe, in that the cage (1) of the apparatus comprises the recess (6) and in that the piece of transparent tube (7) is mounted in a leaktight manner in the cage (1) of the device.   7. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the cage is in two parts, in that the two elements (19, 20) of the cage are mounted one inside the other in a sealed manner and so to be able to rotate relative to each other, the first element (19) of the cage being provided with its   two ends of sleeves (21, 22) connecting to the pipe   reading, while the second element (20) of the cage is located inside the first element (19) of the cage and a conduit (36) of the second element (20) of the cage contains   the piece of tube (32) with the piston (37) and the helical spring   coidal (38), in that the first element (19) of the cage pre-   feels an extraction opening (41) which is offset in the direction of rotation relative to the flow conduit (40) of the first element (19) of the cage, and in that the flow conduit (36) of the second element (20) of the cage can be placed in alignment with the extraction opening (41) to extract from the two elements of the cage (19, 20) the piston (37)   and the coil spring (38) (fig. 2, 3).   8. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the second element (20) of the cage is produced in the form of a rotary drawer which can be brought by rotation into a position, relative to the first element (19) of the cage, in which the flow duct (40) of the first element (19) of the cage is closed by the second element (20) of the cage acting as a rotary drawer, the extraction opening (41) being, in this turned position of the second element (20) of