JP2001193860A - Flow control valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To arrange an inflow pipe and outflow pipe for refrigerant in the straight advancing direction in an ultrasonic motor type flow control valve for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant or the like. SOLUTION: In this flow control valve, an inflow port is provided in the center part of an elastic body to connect the inflow pipe to the inflow port, and the outflow pipe is provided on the valve port of a control valve body, so that the refrigerant passes between a plurality of drive elements from the inflow pipe and flows to the outflow pipe through the valve port.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic motor type flow control valve which is connected to an air conditioner, a refrigerator or the like and controls the flow rate of a refrigerant or the like. And a flow control valve configured as described above. In particular, the present invention relates to a flow control valve capable of separating a piezoelectric element and a lead wire from a working fluid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-33193.
No. 7 filed an application for a flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor that can isolate a piezoelectric element and a lead wire from a working fluid. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor, FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a valve seat, and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a valve mechanism in which the valve seat is developed with a radius r. FIG.

[0003] This conventional flow control valve has a control valve body 25.
, The piezoelectric element 2, the rotor 5 housed in the control valve body 25, the driver 4, and the valve body 12, and the rotor 5 is pressed against the driver 4 by an appropriate urging means. The valve body uses a valve seat 12a. The control valve main body 25 is formed by joining the elastic body 1, the cylinder 7, and the body 9 having the valve port 10 to a hermetically sealed structure by welding or the like. A piezoelectric element 2 or an electrostrictive element is joined to an upper surface of the elastic body 1 to form a vibrator 3, and a driver 4 is provided on a lower surface of the elastic body 1. Further, the valve body 12 is capable of controlling the opening degree of the valve port 2 by rotating together with the rotor 5 urged toward the driver 4 side. In the figure, 6
Is a lead wire for supplying a drive voltage to the piezoelectric element 2. 8 is an inflow pipe attached to the cylinder, 11
Is an outflow pipe connected to the valve port 10.

The control valve applies an electric signal in the ultrasonic range to the piezoelectric element 2 or the electrostrictive element joined to the outside of the elastic body 1, so that the piezoelectric element and the lead wire are exposed to a fluid atmosphere. Therefore, no electrical insulating means is required. Further, since the shape of the vibrator also serves as a cylindrical portion that is a part of the valve structure, the number of parts can be significantly reduced, and the control valve is small and inexpensive.

In the control valve described above, a thrust spring 13 is disposed between the rotor 5 and the valve body 12, and a thrust load by the thrust spring 13 is applied to the driver 4 and the body 9; The spring 13 rotates together with the rotation of the rotor 5 and the valve body 12.

Further, the control valve has an advantage that a thrust load is generated so as to prevent the valve body 12 from floating due to a fluid pressure when a fluid flows from the outflow pipe 11 side.
Further, the thrust spring 13 is connected to the rotor 5 and the valve body 12.
It is designed to rotate with the rotation of. In the figure, 1
4 is a spring, 15 is a ball, 16 is a recess, 17 is
It is a stopper pin for positioning the rotation of the valve seat 12.

The valve seat 12a is, as described above,
It serves as a valve element 12 for changing the amount of inflow into the valve port 10, and on the lower surface of the valve seat 12a, as shown in FIGS. The distance h from the body 9 gradually increases over about 3/4
A flow groove 18 having a constant width W is formed so that the groove becomes deeper, and a final end (S portion) of the flow groove 18 extends to the outer peripheral side surface of the valve seat 12. In addition, the S portion is used to transfer the fluid entering from the inflow pipe 8 to the flow groove 1 of the valve seat 12.
The fluid that has entered the flow groove 18 flows through the valve port 10 to the outflow pipe 11. Also, the valve seat 12
For example, by forming a stepped notch or the like in the opposite direction to each other and fitting the opposed fitting portions of the rotor 5 and the rotor 5, the rotational motion of the rotor 5 is reliably transmitted to the valve seat 12 a. ing.

Next, the operation of the conventional control valve will be described. The drive mechanism of the control valve is a standing wave driven ultrasonic motor in which the driver 4 is vibrated by the piezoelectric element 2 and the rotor 5 is rotated by this. The control valve uses the rotational movement of the rotor 5 to rotate the valve seat 12a, thereby causing the valve port 10 of the body 9 and the flow groove 1 of the valve seat 12a to rotate.
The gap 8 changes to control the flow rate to the valve port 10. A part of the outer peripheral portion of the valve seat 12a has a convex shape outward, and a stopper fixed to the body 9 when the reference position (fully closed state) of the valve seat 12a reaches the valve port 10. The rotation of the rotor 5 is stopped by contacting the pin 17.

[0009]

In the control valve using the conventional ultrasonic motor as described above, since the refrigerant inflow / outflow pipe is generally bent in a right angle direction, a large amount of piping space for an air conditioner, a refrigerator and the like is required. Required, and it was difficult to secure space for the equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flow control valve using a small ultrasonic motor, which allows a refrigerant outflow / inflow pipe to run in a straight line. To provide.

[0011]

A control valve according to the present invention has a control valve body in which an elastic body, a cylinder and a body having a valve port are hermetically sealed by welding or the like, and a control valve body is provided. Providing an electrostrictive element and providing a driver on the lower surface, providing a valve body of an appropriate form that is rotated by the driver in the control valve body, and further arranging a refrigerant inflow pipe and a refrigerant outflow pipe in a straight traveling direction. Thus, this is a means for solving the problem.

That is, the control valve according to the present invention comprises the elastic body 1
The cylinder 7 and the body 9 having the valve port 10 are each formed in a sealed structure by welding or the like, and a control valve body 25 is provided. 3, a plurality of drivers 4 are provided on the lower surface of the elastic body 1, and a rotor 5 urged toward the driver by an appropriate urging means is provided in the control valve body 25.
And a valve body 12 co-rotating with the rotor 5, wherein the valve body 12 is rotated by the rotation of the rotor 5 pressed against the driver 4, wherein the elastic body 1 An inlet 26 is provided at the center of the valve, the inflow pipe 8 is connected to the inflow, and an outflow pipe 11 is provided at the valve port 10 of the control valve body 25, and a plurality of refrigerants flowing from the inflow pipe 8 are arranged. Of the outflow pipe 1 through the valve port 10
1 is characterized by flowing out to 1.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A control valve according to the present invention will be described below. In contrast to the conventional control valve shown in FIGS.
In the present invention, only the shape of the elastic body 1 and the mounting state of the inflow pipe 8 are different, and the other components and the basic operation of the control valve are the same. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the drivers. In the control valve of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an inflow port 26 is provided at the center of the elastic body 1, and the inflow pipe 8 is connected to the inflow port 26. As shown in the example of FIG. 2, four drivers 4 provided on the lower surface of the elastic body 1 are provided on concentric circles on the lower surface of the elastic body 1. Therefore, in the control valve of the present invention, since the refrigerant inflow pipe and the refrigerant outflow pipe are arranged in the straight traveling direction, it is possible to reduce the piping space of the equipment. Further, since the inflow pipe is fixed to the node of the vibration, propagation to the valve body can be reduced.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the refrigerant inflow pipe and the refrigerant outflow pipe are arranged in the straight direction, the piping space of the equipment can be reduced. Further, since the inflow pipe is fixed to the node of the vibration, propagation to the valve body can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement state of drivers.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional flow control valve.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a conventional valve seat.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a valve mechanism section in which a conventional valve seat is developed with a radius r.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Elastic body 2 Piezoelectric element 3
Vibrator 4 Driver 5 Rotor 6
Lead wire 7 Cylinder 8 Inflow pipe 9
Body 10 Valve port 11 Outflow pipe
12 Valve body 12a Valve seat 13 Thrust spring
14 Spring 15 Ball 16 Recess
17 Stopper pin 18 Flow groove 19 Valve body
Reference Signs List 20 fixed disk 21 elastic ring 22 rotating disk
23, 24 Opening of fixed disk 25 Control valve body 26 Inflow port

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission Date] March 14, 2000 (200.3.1)
4)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0002

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0002] The present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 10-331937.
Has filed an application for a flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor that enables the piezoelectric element and the lead wire to be isolated from the working fluid.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0003

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG . 3 shows a conventional flow rate control using an ultrasonic motor.
FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the valve, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the valve seat.
FIG. 5 is a vertical view of a valve mechanism in which a valve seat is deployed with a radius r.
It is sectional drawing. This conventional flow control valve has a control valve body 2
5, a piezoelectric element 2, a rotor 5 housed in the control valve main body 25, a driver 4, and a valve body 12. The rotor 5 is pressed against the driver 4 by an appropriate urging means. The valve body uses a valve seat 12a. The control valve main body 25 is formed by joining the elastic body 1, the cylinder 7, and the body 9 having the valve port 10 to a hermetically sealed structure by welding or the like. A piezoelectric element 2 or an electrostrictive element is joined to an upper surface of the elastic body 1 to form a vibrator 3, and a driver 4 is provided on a lower surface of the elastic body 1. Further, the valve element 12 rotates together with the rotor 5 urged toward the driver 4 side to rotate the valve port 2.
Can be controlled. In the figure, 6
Is a lead wire for supplying a drive voltage to the piezoelectric element 2. 8 is an inflow pipe attached to the cylinder, 11
Is an outflow pipe connected to the valve port 10.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Brief description of drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement state of drivers.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional flow control valve.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a conventional valve seat.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a valve mechanism section in which a conventional valve seat is developed with a radius r.

[Description of Signs] 1 Elastic body 2 Piezoelectric element 3
Vibrator 4 Driver 5 Rotor 6
Lead wire 7 Cylinder 8 Inflow pipe 9
Body 10 Valve port 11 Outflow pipe
12 Valve body 12a Valve seat 13 Thrust spring
14 Spring 15 Ball 16 Recess
17 Stopper pin 18 Flow groove 25 Control valve body 2
6 Inlet

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A control valve body is provided by forming an elastic body, a cylinder and a body having a valve port in a sealed structure by welding or the like.
A vibrator is formed by joining a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element to the upper surface of the elastic body, and a plurality of drivers are provided on the lower surface of the elastic body. A flow control valve provided with a rotor biased toward the driver side and a valve body co-rotating therewith, and rotating the valve body by rotation of the rotor pressed against the driver side. An inflow port is provided at the center of the elastic body, an inflow pipe is connected to the inflow port, and an outflow pipe is provided at a valve port of the control valve body, and a plurality of refrigerants flowing from the inflow pipe are arranged. A flow control valve characterized in that it flows between a driver and an outlet pipe through a valve port.