JP2003240156A - Opening indicating device of rotary valve - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an opening indicating device of a rotary valve which recognizes full closing and/or full opening of the rotary valve without fail by a simple mechanism, does not disturb piping of the rotary valve and a subsequent operation of the rotary valve, and is easily handled. <P>SOLUTION: In a driving device of the rotary valve, a magnet is fixed to a rotator turning in a 90° range together with a valve shaft of the rotary valve, a switch is disposed adjacently to a passage for passing the magnet on a plane extending in parallel with the rotator, and the switch senses the magnet to open or close a circuit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary valve opening indicating device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an opening degree indicating device for surely notifying that a valve body has reached a predetermined opening degree in a rotary valve such as a butterfly valve or a ball valve.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a rotary valve such as a butterfly valve or a ball valve does not have a torque seal structure, and the more the valve body is tightened, the more complete the seal becomes. In other words, the rotary valve has a position seal structure and is fully closed at one defined position and fully opened at another defined position. Therefore, in handling the rotary valve, it is necessary to accurately know the position where the valve body is fully closed or fully opened.

Generally, rotary valves are opened and closed only within an angular range of about 90 degrees. That is, the valve body of the rotary valve is fully opened when it is rotated by an angle of about 90 degrees from the fully closed position, and can be rotated from the fully closed position to the fully open position, but further beyond the fully closed position. It cannot be tightened or rotated further beyond the fully open position.

In a rotary valve, a drive device is usually attached to rotate the valve body within the above-mentioned angular range. Then, the drive unit is provided with an opening degree indicator for confirming that the valve body has reached full close and full open.

The opening indicator is provided with a disc on the casing of the drive unit, and the disc can be rotated together with the valve disc and the valve shaft supporting the disc. The opening degree of is confirmed. The disc is usually provided with a protrusion that serves as an indicator, and when the valve body is fully opened and fully closed, the indicators indicate the indications of fully opened and fully closed, respectively. Is to confirm.
Such an opening indicator is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3054540.
It is shown in FIG. 1 of the publication.

The rotary valve is often attached to a high place or a complicated place. Therefore, it is often difficult for an operator to approach the rotary valve. Therefore, it is not easy for the opening degree indicator as described above to confirm the opening degree of the valve body when viewed from a distance.

Therefore, a limit switch is attached to the opening indicator so that it can be confirmed without error that the valve body has reached the fully closed position and the fully opened position. There are various drive types of drive devices, and FIG. 1 shows an example of an opening indicator provided with a limit switch when a drive system using a combination of a worm and a worm wheel is used.

In FIG. 1, the opening indicator A includes a disc B, and the disc B is adapted to rotate together with a valve body (not shown). An index C is attached to the disk B, and rotary levers D and E are attached to positions where the tip of the index C touches. In this way, when the disk B rotates and the tip of the index C touches the rotary lever D or E, the limit switch F or G connected to the rotary lever D or E operates to emit a signal. It is possible to confirm whether the signal is fully closed or fully opened by this signal.

If the limit switch is used, the fully closed and fully opened positions can be surely confirmed without error. However, since the limit switch protrudes above the drive device, it hinders piping when installing the rotary valve, hinders operation when using the rotary valve, and makes the entire opening indicator hard to see. Contains problems. Therefore,
The emergence of a valve disc opening confirmation device as an alternative has been required.

[0010]

The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned requirements. That is, this invention is
With a simple mechanism, it is possible to confirm whether the rotary valve is fully closed and / or fully open without error, and there is no hindrance during piping of the rotary valve or during subsequent operations, and it is easy to handle. It is what

[0011]

The present inventor has found that it is suitable to use a combination of a magnet and a switch sensitive to the proximity of the magnet to solve the above-mentioned problems. Further, the present inventor suitably uses, as a place to attach the magnet, a rotating body in the drive device that rotates together with the valve shaft and the valve body within an angle range of 90 degrees. I found that. Further, the inventor has found that the above-described configuration is convenient because the switch can be attached not only to the outer surface of the drive device but also to the inner surface of the drive device. The present invention has been completed based on such knowledge.

The present invention relates to a rotary valve drive device,
A magnet is fixed to a rotating body that rotates together with the valve shaft of the rotary valve within an angle range of 90 degrees, and one or more than two magnets are provided in proximity to a passage through which the magnet passes on a plane extending parallel to the rotating body. A rotary valve opening indicating device characterized in that a switch is attached and the switch is adapted to open and close a circuit in response to the magnet.

In the present invention, in the drive device for the rotary valve, the magnet is fixed to the rotary body which rotates together with the valve shaft of the rotary valve within the angle range of 90 degrees. There are various types of rotary valve drive devices such as a gear type and a worm type, depending on the deceleration method, but the drive device always includes the rotating body as described above. In the present invention, the magnet is fixed to such a rotating body. Therefore, in this case, it is not necessary to prepare a special one for fixing the magnet. For this reason,
Attaching a magnet is easy. However, if such a rotating body does not exist, it is necessary to install the rotating body again.

Taking a worm type driving device as an example, the inside of the driving device has a structure as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a state in which a part of the casing of the drive device is removed. In FIG. 2, 1 is a casing, 2 is a worm wheel, 3 is a worm, 4 is a handle shaft, 5 and 5 '.
Is a stopper bolt, 6 is a handle wheel, and 7 is a valve shaft hole. Therefore, the worm wheel 2 passes through the valve shaft hole 7 and rotates together with the valve shaft.

In this drive device, when the handle wheel 6 is rotated, the worm 3 rotates and the worm 3 and the worm wheel 2 mesh with each other, so that the worm wheel 2 rotates. The worm wheel 2 of FIG. 2 cannot rotate further clockwise because the edge surface 21 collides with the stopper bolt 5 ′. Therefore, the worm wheel 2 rotates in the counterclockwise direction. However, when the worm wheel 2 rotates in the counterclockwise direction by 90 degrees, the edge surface 22 collides with the stopper bolt 5 and cannot rotate any further.
Thus, the worm wheel 2 is a rotating body that rotates with the valve shaft by an angle of 90 degrees.

In the present invention, in the case of the drive device shown in FIG. 2, the magnet 8 is fixed on the plane of the worm wheel 2. It is preferable that the fixing position is as close to the outer circumference of the worm wheel 2 as possible. The magnet may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. It is preferable to use an adhesive for fixing the magnet. When the worm wheel 2 is made of an iron-based metal, the magnet 8 is preferably surrounded and fixed by an aluminum-based metal.

In the present invention, the switch is provided on the plane extending parallel to the rotating body. With a worm drive,
The plane is preferably the inner or outer surface of the casing of the drive. That is, in FIG. 2, the inner surface or the outer surface of the removed casing is preferable. The switch is installed at a position close to the path drawn by the magnet when the rotating body rotates.

When the switch is provided on the outer surface of the casing, the casing is preferably made of plastic or aluminum-based metal. The reason is that even if plastic or aluminum-based metal is interposed between the magnet and the switch, it does not weaken the magnetic force from the magnet and reaches the switch.

When the rotor is made of ferrous metal,
The magnet attached to this is preferably fixed on the rotating body by surrounding it with plastic or aluminum-based metal. Also, when the switch is mounted on the casing, the switch is preferably surrounded by plastic or aluminum-based metal.

The switch that is sensitive to the magnet keeps the circuit open while the magnet is far away, but preferably has a structure that closes the circuit when the magnet approaches. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the ends of two lead wires made of a ferromagnetic material are arranged in parallel with a space therebetween, which is sealed with a glass tube, and the tube is filled with an inert gas. Has been.

The switch shown in FIG. 3 has two lead wires X and Y as shown in (a) when there is no magnet nearby.
And are separated at the contact point, and the circuit is open. However, when the magnet 8 approaches the switch, (b)
As shown in FIG. 5, the leads X and Y are magnetized, and the contact portions have different poles. Therefore, the lead wires X and Y come into contact with each other at the contact portion, and the circuit is closed. Thus, the switch is opened and closed. Such switches are commercially available. Such commercially available switches can be used in the present invention.

Although the worm type driving device has been described above, the present invention can be similarly applied to a gear type driving device.

[0023]

According to the present invention, since the magnet is fixed to the rotary body that rotates within the angle range of 90 degrees together with the valve shaft of the rotary valve, the magnet rotates without changing the opening of the rotary valve. Become. Further, since the switch is attached in the vicinity of the passage through which the magnet passes on a plane extending parallel to the rotating body, the magnet always approaches the switch in the process of rotating, and the magnetic force can be effectively transmitted to the switch. it can. Since the switch is designed to open and close the circuit in response to the magnet, the circuit is opened and closed surely by approaching or separating the magnet.

Therefore, if a switch is attached to the position where the magnet comes when the rotary valve is fully closed or fully opened, and an appropriate signal is issued as the switch is opened or closed, the rotary valve can be fully closed or fully opened. You can know exactly what you have reached without error. In particular, when the signal is generated, the light can be blinked, the color of the light can be changed, or a warning sound can be generated, so that the opening degree can be more surely known.

Moreover, since the rotating body as described above is usually present in the driving device, it is not necessary to prepare the rotating body for fixing the magnet, and therefore, the apparatus can be installed easily and easily. can do.

When the drive device is based on the engagement between the worm and the worm wheel, the conventional opening indicator often causes overtightening or undertightening. However, according to the present invention, Overtightening and undertightening can be reliably eliminated. The present invention provides such benefits.

An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As described above, FIG. 2 shows an example in which the magnet 8 is attached to the worm wheel 2 that is a rotating body in the worm type drive device.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the drive device shown in FIG. 2 is covered with the casing 11 and the switches 9 and 10 according to the present invention are attached to the casing 11. Also,
FIG. 4 also shows a conventional opening indicator A.

When the drive unit is in the state shown in FIG. 2, the worm wheel 2 is in a state in which it cannot be further rotated clockwise as described above. At this time,
The magnet 8 is located at the upper left end of the worm wheel 2.
In FIG. 4, at this time, the magnet 8 is below the switch 9, and the switch 9 closes the circuit because the magnet 8 is close. Therefore, the switch 9 is the switch box 12
Is sending a signal to. From this signal, it can be confirmed that the rotary valve is fully closed. In this state, the index C of the opening indicator A points to the display S in FIG. 4, indicating that the rotary valve is fully closed.

When the handle wheel 6 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 2 and the worm wheel 2 is rotated counterclockwise, the switch 9 opens the circuit because the magnet 8 moves away, and therefore, no signal is emitted. This makes it possible to confirm that the rotary valve is no longer in the fully closed state.

When the worm wheel 2 is further rotated counterclockwise and rotated by 90 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 2, the worm wheel 2 cannot rotate any more and the magnet 8
Comes directly under switch 10 in FIG. Then, the switch 10 is responsive to the magnet 8 to close the circuit and emit a signal to notify that the rotary valve is fully opened. At this time, the index C of the opening degree indicator A points to the display O, indicating that the rotary valve is fully opened.

In this way, the magnet 8 is fixed to the rotating body as shown in FIG. 2 and the switches 9 and 10 are attached to the outer surface of the drive unit as shown in FIG. 4 to fully close the rotary valve. And you can know for sure.

In FIG. 4, the switches 9 and 10 are attached to the outer surface of the casing 11 of the drive unit.
The switches 10 and 10 can be attached to the inner surface of the casing 11 so that the protrusions of the switches 9 and 10 can be completely eliminated.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, another switch 13 is additionally provided in the middle of the switches 9 and 10 so that it can be surely known that the rotary valve has an intermediate opening degree. When the magnet 8 is close to the switch 13, the switch 1
Reference numeral 3 is a circuit that closes the circuit in response to the magnet and issues a signal to reliably notify that the rotary valve has reached an intermediate opening.

In the conventional opening indicator, it was difficult to install the limit switch between the fully closed position and the fully opened position, so that the intermediate opening could not be confirmed. However, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably know the arbitrary intermediate opening degree as described above. In this respect, the present invention provides a great benefit.

In the present invention, as the switch sensitive to the magnet, the switch shown in FIG. 3 in which various kinds of things are further incorporated can be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a switch 9 to which a light emitting diode H and a zener diode (constant voltage diode) J are added can be used. When the switch shown in FIG. 6 is used, the light emitting diode H emits light of red, green, yellow, etc. at the same time when the switch 9 closes the circuit. Therefore, it is possible to more surely know that the rotary valve has reached the predetermined opening degree by this light emission. Note that reference numeral 12 in FIG. 6 indicates a switch box.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a rotary valve driving device provided with a conventional opening indicator.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of a rotary valve drive device provided with an opening degree indicating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a switch that can be used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a rotary valve drive device additionally provided with the opening degree indicating device according to the present invention shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a rotary valve drive device provided with another opening degree indicating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of another switch that can be used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11 Drive device casing 2 Worm wheel 3 Worm 4 Handle shaft 5, 5'Stopper bolt 6 Handle wheel 7 Valve shaft hole 8 Magnet 9, 10, 13 Switch 12 Switch box 21, 22 Edge A Conventional opening instruction Device B Disc C Index D, E Rotating lever F, G Limit switch H Light emitting diode J Zener diode X, Y Lead wire

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A rotary valve drive apparatus, wherein a magnet is fixed to a rotary body that rotates within an angle range of 90 degrees together with a valve axis of the rotary valve, and a passage through which the magnet passes on a plane extending parallel to the rotary body. An opening degree indicating device for a rotary valve, wherein one or two or more switches are attached in close proximity to the switch, and the switches are opened and closed in response to the magnet. 2. A rotary valve opening indicating device according to claim 1, further comprising a switch attached to a position occupied by the magnet when the rotary valve is fully closed. 3. The opening degree indicating device for a rotary valve according to claim 1, wherein a switch is attached to a position occupied by the magnet when the rotary valve is fully opened. 4. The switch according to claim 1, wherein a switch is attached to a position occupied by the magnet when the rotary valve is at a specific opening between fully closed and fully open. The opening degree indicating device for the rotary valve according to. 5. The rotary valve opening indicating device according to claim 1, wherein a switch incorporating a light emitting diode is used.