JP2001214982A - Disk valve mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disk valve mechanism that ensures a high mechanical strength of sliding contact surfaces and is easy to machine and mass-producible. SOLUTION: The disk valve mechanism places two plate disks into sliding contact to establish and block a passage. The disks are each formed from a synthetic resin member with their sliding contact surface coated with sheet metal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk valve mechanism used in a single lever type hot / water mixer tap or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a single-lever type hot / water mixer tap, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-174114, each disk is moved relative to each other in a state where a fixed disk and a movable disk are in sliding contact with each other. A disk valve mechanism for opening and closing the fluid passage formed in the above-mentioned manner is generally used. For example, while the fixed disk and the movable disk are in contact with each other on their sliding surfaces, by moving the movable disk by lever operation, it is possible to perform control such as opening and closing, switching, adjustment, and mixing of hot and cold water. It has become.

[0003] Further, such a disk is required to be free from water leakage and excellent in corrosion resistance, to be less prone to noise and abrasion even during long-term sliding, and to have smooth sliding characteristics. Because of the demand, discs formed of ceramics that are excellent in corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance and have high dimensional accuracy are generally used today.

However, in general, ceramics often have poor self-lubricating properties, and it is difficult to obtain smooth sliding characteristics when sliding disks made of ceramics. Therefore, a lubricant such as silicone grease is applied between sliding surfaces. Used in state.

[0005]

However, in the case where a lubricant is interposed between the sliding surfaces as in the above-mentioned disk,
The lubricant flows out by several thousand slides, and the operating force of the disk increases with this.
When it becomes even worse, phenomena such as stick-slip causing variation in the sliding resistance and discrimination that the disks are stuck and not moving occur, and there has been a problem that the lever operation becomes impossible.

Therefore, in order to maintain good sliding characteristics with a ceramic disk for a long period of time, there has been proposed a disk in which at least one disk sliding with each other is coated with an amorphous hard carbon film ( 4-108
654).

However, even in such a disk,
Since both disks are made of a high-hardness material, there is a problem that both sliding surfaces are worn.

Moreover, the amorphous hard carbon film is coated in a thin film state because of its poor adhesion to the ceramic disk, and as a result, the amorphous hard carbon film slides on the ceramic disk having high hardness. It was worn away in a short period of time, increasing sliding resistance and causing water leakage.

Furthermore, since both sliding surfaces are finished to be very smooth, there is another problem that the sliding surfaces are scratched, and the scratching causes abnormal noise such as squeaking. For this reason, the above-mentioned problems cannot be satisfied even in a disk valve mechanism including a combination of disks coated with an amorphous hard carbon film.

Therefore, one of the disks that slide with each other is formed of a metal having high mechanical strength, such as stainless steel or brass, or a ceramic such as alumina, zirconia, silicon nitride, or silicon carbide. With an amorphous hard carbon film, and the other disk is PA
I, PI, or PPS, PEEK, PA, PTF
One formed of a thermoplastic resin such as E, POM, and PPO has been proposed (see JP-A-8-159304).

However, the combination of a disk with high mechanical strength and a resin disk with relatively low mechanical strength inevitably causes a problem that the resin disk with low mechanical strength wears out and leaks water. A disc is provided with a passage therethrough, a lapping process for ensuring the smoothness of the sliding contact surface, and a step or lever for mounting a seal member on a surface opposite to the sliding contact surface. Post-processing to provide the engagement part is difficult,
Mass production processing is difficult and costs increase.

An object of the present invention is to provide a disk valve mechanism which solves these inconveniences, increases the mechanical strength of the sliding contact surface, is easy to process, and enables mass production.

[0013]

In order to solve this problem, according to the present invention, there is provided a disk valve mechanism for opening and closing a flow passage by sliding two disks made of a plate-shaped body. The disk is formed of a synthetic resin member whose sliding surface is covered with a thin metal plate.

By doing so, the sliding contact surface can be made smooth when the metal plate is thinned, so that there is no need to dare to wrap it. Or a step for mounting the seal member on the surface opposite to the sliding contact surface, or an engaging portion with the lever, etc., can be mass-produced, and the cost can be reduced.

[0015] TiC, Ti
By dry coating N or DLC thin film,
The slidability and abrasion resistance are improved, and the adhesion strength of these thin films to metal is high, so that the disk valve mechanism can be operated smoothly for a long period of time.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a hot and cold water mixing faucet using a disc valve mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the movable disk, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fixed disk, FIG. 5 is a side view of the fixed disk, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a thin metal plate. FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a method of dry-coating a thin metal plate, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of a disk valve mechanism, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the fixed disk.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a single-lever type hot-water mixing faucet which uses the disc valve mechanism of the present invention and can adjust a hot-water mixing ratio, a flow rate and open / close by operating a lever handle 2. A disk valve mechanism 6 accommodating a movable disk 4 and a fixed disk 5 is attached to the disk drive.

The disk valve mechanism 6 includes a cartridge case 7 having a substantially cylindrical shape, a movable disk 4 housed and arranged in the case 7, a fixed disk 5, and a disk holding plate 8 on which the fixed disk 5 is fixed and held. It is configured.

In the cartridge case 7, a leg 10 is inserted into an engagement groove 9 formed in the center of the movable disk 4.
Is provided so as to be rotatable and swingable in the radial direction, and the operating lever handle 2 of the hot and cold water mixing faucet 1 is connected to the cross joint 11.

The movable disk 4 has a substantially disk shape as shown in FIG. 3, and has a sliding contact surface 12 on the lower surface covered with a thin metal plate 13, PAI, PI, or PPS, PEEK, PA,
It is formed of a thermoplastic synthetic resin member 14 such as PTFE, POM, PPO, etc., and a depression 15 is provided substantially at the center of the lower surface.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fixed disk 5 has a larger diameter than the movable disk 4 and, like the movable disk 4, the sliding surface 12 of the movable disk 4 contacts and slides upward. PA having a sliding surface 16 covered with a thin metal plate 17
I, PI, or PPS, PEEK, PA, PTF
It is formed of a thermoplastic synthetic resin member 18 such as E, POM, PPO or the like, and has a sliding contact surface 16 and a bottom portion 19 formed on the side facing the sliding contact surface 16.

The fixed disk 5 is provided with a water inflow hole 20, a hot water inflow hole 21, and a mixed water outflow hole 22 extending from the bottom surface portion 19 to the sliding surface 16, respectively. A circular packing recess 23 is provided on the bottom surface 19 side of the hole 21 and the mixed water outflow hole 22.

The bottom portion 19 is provided with a circular small-diameter positioning hole 24 on the inner side of the contour line of the bottom portion 19 halfway in the thickness direction.

The side surface 25 of the fixed disk 5 has
The two positioning portions 26 are formed so as to be orthogonal to the sliding contact surface 16 by partially cutting out the side surface portion 25.

The disk holding plate 8 has a substantially flat plate shape having a pair of projections 28 which engage with notches 27 formed at the lower end of the cartridge case 7. 5 water inflow holes 2
A water inlet 29, a hot water inlet 30, and a mixed water outlet 31 are provided at positions corresponding to the hot water inlet hole 21 and the mixed water outlet hole 22, respectively.

The water inlet 29 and the hot water inlet 3
A seal packing 32 is attached to the outlet port 0 and the mixed water outlet 31, and an upper end of the seal packing 32 is fitted into the concave portion 23 of the fixed disk 5.

The disk holding plate 8 is provided with a pair of projections 33 perpendicular to the plane portion of the holding body and facing upward. The distance between the pair of projections 33 is the same as the distance between the two positioning portions 26 provided on the side surface 25 of the fixed disk 5.

The disk holding plate 8 is provided with a small columnar projection 34 perpendicular to the plane part of the holding body and facing upward. The diameter of the projection 34 is substantially the same as the diameter of the positioning hole 24 of the fixed disk 5.

The fixed disk 5 is disposed on the disk holding plate 8 so as to be superimposed thereon, and has two positioning portions 26.
Is fixed in the rotational direction of the fixed disk 5 by being sandwiched between the two projections 33, and the positioning holes 24 are fitted into the projections 34, so that the radial direction of the fixed disk 5 is Positioning is performed. Thus, the fixed disk 5 is accurately and firmly fixed on the disk holding plate 8.

The movable disk 4 is attached to the leg 10 of the cross joint 11 via a cover plate 35.

Subsequently, the disc holding plate 8 is attached to the lower end of the cartridge case 7 by a notch 27 and a projection 28.
The disk valve mechanism 6 is assembled by engaging and assembling.

As shown in FIG. 6, the thin metal plates 13 and 17 of the movable disk 4 and the fixed disk 5 are made of TiC, TiN, or DLC thin film 37 on the surface of a thin plate 36 of stainless steel or the like. It is formed by coating.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a thin plate 36 such as a stainless steel polished steel plate having a thickness of 0.005 to 1 mm wound in a roll shape is placed in a substantially vacuum state chamber 38 filled with an inert gas such as argon gas. An electric field is applied to the inside of the chamber 38 while continuously supplying the inert gas ions to accelerate the inert gas ions, and the inert gas ions collide with the base material 39 such as TiC. And a thin film 37 of 20 μm to 500 μm is continuously formed.

The thickness of the thin film 37 depends on the electric field strength and the thickness of the thin plate 36.
The thickness can be set to an arbitrary value depending on the supply speed and the like.

In the case of a metal foil-like thin plate 36, the engaging groove 9 and the recessed portion 15 are previously formed in the movable disk 4, and the water inflow hole 20 and the hot water inflow hole 21 in the fixed disk 5.
The mixed water outflow holes 22, the positioning holes 24, and the positioning portions 26 were stuck to the synthetic resin members 14 and 18 formed by hot stamping or the like, or similarly formed in advance in the case of a thin plate 36 of 0.2 mm or more. After the synthetic resin members 14 and 18 are caulked or the metal thin plates 13 and 17 are pressed, the synthetic resin is injection-molded. 21, mixed water outlet 2
2, by providing a positioning hole 24 and a positioning portion 26, the sliding contact surface 12 of the movable disk 4 and the fixed disk 5,
16 are formed.

The movable disk 4 thus formed
In the disk valve mechanism 6 assembled using the fixed disk 5 and the fixed disk 5, the fixed disk 5 is accurately and firmly fixed, so that even if the movable disk 4 is brought into contact with the fixed disk 5 and slid, The fixed disk 5 does not rattle, and the sliding surfaces 12 and 16 are provided with a TiC, TiN or DLC thin film 37 to provide good slidability and abrasion resistance. A good discharge action can be obtained.

Of course, in the movable disk 4, the engagement groove 9 and the recessed portion 15 can be formed at the same time when the synthetic resin member 14 is molded. In the fixed disk 5, the water inflow hole 20, the hot water inflow hole 21, the mixed water outflow hole 22, The positioning holes 24 and the positioning portions 26 can be formed at the same time when the synthetic resin member 18 is molded. The metal thin plates 13 and 17 serving as the sliding contact surfaces 12 and 16 of the disks 4 and 5 are also made of TiC, TiN, or DLC. By dry coating the thin film 37 such as, for example, mass production becomes possible.

Next, another embodiment of the disc shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 will be described. In this embodiment, a movable disc 41 and a fixed disc 4 each having a water passage 40 are provided.
The upper movable disk 41 rotates together with the shaft 43 by rotating the shaft 43, but the lower fixed disk 42 is fixed, and opening and closing is performed by changing the degree of overlap with the water passages 40. A disk valve mechanism 44 for adjusting the flow rate.

The movable disk 41 and the fixed disk 42 are composed of the disks 41 and 42 in the same manner as in the above embodiment.
Are formed of synthetic resin members 49 and 50 whose sliding contact surfaces 45 and 46 are covered with thin metal plates 47 and 48.

In the center of the movable disk 41, a deformed shaft insertion hole 51 is provided so as to pass therethrough.
A circular shaft insertion hole 52 is formed at the center of the synthetic resin member 49,
Established when molding 50.

Similarly, the thin metal plates 47 and 48 are formed by forming a thin film of TiC, TiN or DLC 37 on the surface of a thin plate 36 of stainless steel or the like by dry coating such as sputtering or ion plating.

Therefore, also in the disk valve mechanism 44, the sliding surfaces 45 and 46 between the movable disk 41 and the fixed disk 42 are made of TiC, TiN or DLC thin film 3.
The movable disk 41 can be smoothly rotated, and the opening and closing and flow rate adjustment can be performed lightly.

The present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be used as a disk valve mechanism for a gate valve or the like.

Further, as the material of the thin plate, aluminum,
Copper, iron, or the like may be used.

Further, a thin metal plate may be bonded to a synthetic resin member using an adhesive.

Further, a disk valve mechanism may be used in which one of the fixed disk and the movable disk uses the disk structure of the present invention, and the other uses a disk structure of alumina or the like, and these are combined.

[0047]

The present invention relates to a disk valve mechanism in which two discs made of a plate-like body are slid in contact with each other to open and close a flow path as described above. Is formed of a synthetic resin member covered with a thin metal plate, so that the sliding contact surface can be made smooth when the metal plate is processed into a thin plate. At this time, there are provided inflow and outflow holes that penetrate, a concave portion for mounting a seal member on the surface opposite to the sliding contact surface, an engagement portion with a lever handle, or a notch for positioning on the side surface. Can be processed, mass production processing is possible, and the cost can be reduced.

TiC, Ti
By dry coating N or DLC thin film,
The slidability and abrasion resistance are improved, and the adhesion strength of these thin films to metal is high, so that the disk valve mechanism can be operated smoothly for a long period of time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a hot and cold water mixing faucet using a disc valve mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an assembled state of the disc valve mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the movable disk.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fixed disk.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the fixed disk.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a cross section of a thin metal plate.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a method for dry-coating a thin metal plate.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the disc valve mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the fixed disk.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Mixing faucet 2: Lever handle 3: Main body 4: Movable disc 5: Fixed disc 6: Disc valve mechanism 7: Cartridge case 8: Disc holding plate 9: Engagement groove 10: Leg 11: Cross joint 12: Sliding surface 13: Metal thin plate 14: Synthetic resin member 15: Depressed portion 16: Sliding surface 17: Metal thin plate 18: Synthetic resin member 19: Bottom portion 20: Water inlet 21: Hot water inlet 22: Mixed water Outflow hole 23: concave portion 24: positioning hole 25: side surface portion 26: positioning portion 27: notch portion 28: protrusion 29: water inlet 30: hot water inlet 31: mixed water outlet 32: seal packing 33: protrusion 34: protrusion Part 35: Cover plate 36: Thin plate 37: Thin film 38: Chamber 39: Base material 40: Water passage 41: Movable disk 42: Fixed disk 43: Shaft 44: Disk Kuvalve mechanism 45: Sliding contact surface 46: Sliding contact surface 47: Metallic thin plate 48: Metallic thin plate 49: Synthetic resin member 50: Synthetic resin member

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Oshima 2-1-1 Nakajima, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka F-term (reference) 3T053 AA22 AA23 AA26 BA17 BA19 BA38 BA39 BB18 BB20 BB38 BB39 DA02 3H067 AA15 CC23 CC24 CC33 DD04 DD05 DD12 DD24 EA24 EA26 EA29 EB24 EB26 EB29 FF02 GG13

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A disk valve mechanism in which two discs made of a plate-shaped body are slid in contact with each other to open and close a flow path, wherein the slidable contact surface of the disc is covered with a thin metal plate. A disk valve mechanism formed of a synthetic resin member. 2. The metal thin plate is provided with Ti
2. The disk valve mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a thin film of C, TiN, or DLC is dry-coated.