JP2019108953A - Valve device and valve seat - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a valve device and a valve seat with high durability which can prevent abrasion of the valve seat and leakage of fluid caused thereby.SOLUTION: A valve device includes a ball valve having a ball surface and a ball opening, and a valve seat having a seat surface and a seat opening, and the ball opening and the seat opening are communicated with each other in the state that the ball surface and the seat surface face with each other, and thereby, flowing of fluid is allowed. The seat surface includes a reference recession seat surface facing the ball surface, and a plurality of lip surfaces protruding toward the ball surface from the reference recession seat surface and capable of storing the fluid between the adjacent lip surfaces.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a valve device and a valve seat.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a valve device using a ball valve for performing flow rate control or distribution control of a fluid such as a motor vehicle engine coolant (radiator fluid). In this valve device, the concave spherical surface of the valve seat is pressed against the convex spherical surface of the ball valve, and the ball valve is rotated to operate the valve opening of the ball valve and the valve seat. Switch between opening and closing of the seat opening.

JP, 2016-53415, A

  However, when the conventional valve device including Patent Document 1 is used for a long time, the sliding is repeated in a state where the ball surface of the ball valve and the seat surface of the valve seat are in pressure contact. There was a risk that the seat surface was worn and the fluid leaked even when the valve was closed.

  The present invention has been made based on the above problem awareness, and an object thereof is to obtain a highly durable valve device and valve seat capable of preventing valve seat wear and fluid leakage resulting therefrom. Do.

  The valve device according to the present embodiment includes a ball valve having a ball surface and a ball opening, and a valve seat having a seat surface and a seat opening, and the ball opening and the ball surface facing each other It is a valve device in which the flow of fluid is permitted by communication with the sheet opening, and the sheet surface is a reference concave sheet surface facing the ball surface, and from the reference concave sheet surface to the ball surface And a plurality of lip surfaces capable of storing the fluid between the protruding and adjacent lip surfaces.

  The radius of curvature of the reference concave sheet surface may be larger than the radius of curvature of the ball surface.

  The plurality of lip surfaces may have different radii of curvature and / or may project toward the ball surface with different amounts of projection.

  The plurality of lip surfaces can increase the radius of curvature and / or the amount of projection as they move away from the communication axis between the ball opening and the sheet opening.

  The plurality of lip surfaces can be composed of three lip surfaces that increase the radius of curvature and the protrusion amount as the distance from the communication shaft is increased.

  The plurality of lip surfaces can be arranged at substantially equal intervals as they move away from the communication axis of the ball opening and the sheet opening.

  The plurality of lip surfaces may be provided continuously or discontinuously concentrically around the communication axis when viewed along the communication axis of the ball opening and the sheet opening.

  The valve seat of this embodiment has a seat surface and a seat opening, and the ball opening of the ball valve and the seat opening communicate with each other in a state where the ball surface of the ball valve and the seat surface are opposed to each other. It is a valve seat that permits flow, and the seat surface is between a reference concave seat surface facing the ball surface and a lip surface that protrudes from the reference concave seat surface toward the ball surface and is adjacent And a plurality of lip faces capable of storing the fluid.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a highly durable valve device and valve seat that can prevent the valve seat from being worn and resulting from fluid leakage.

It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the valve open state of the valve apparatus by 1st Embodiment. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the valve closing state of the valve apparatus by 1st Embodiment. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the structure of the seat surface of the valve seat by 1st Embodiment. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the structure of the seat surface of the valve seat by 2nd Embodiment.

First Embodiment
The valve device 1 and the valve seat 20 according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The valve device 1 is mounted on, for example, an automobile to execute flow control or distribution control of Long Life Coolant (LLC). The application of the valve device 1 has a degree of freedom, and can be used for flow control or distribution control of any fluid other than LLC.

  The valve device 1 has a housing 10 that supports each component of the valve device 1 directly or indirectly. The housing 10 has an inlet to which the LLC (fluid) is introduced, and an outlet from which the LLC whose flow rate is controlled or distributed by the valve device 1 is discharged.

  The valve seat 20 is supported by the housing 10. The valve seat 20 is formed of, for example, a ring body formed by including a rubber such as EPDM or a resin such as PTFE, but the material has freedom. The valve seat 20 has a circular seat opening 21 penetrating the central portion and a concave spherical seat surface 22 located around the seat opening 21. The housing 10 has a small diameter cylindrical portion 11, a large diameter portion 12 whose diameter is increased from the small diameter cylindrical portion 11, and a large diameter cylindrical portion connected to the large diameter portion 12 as supporting means for supporting the valve seat 20. And 13. A spring 30 is supported on the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylindrical portion 11. Further, the valve seat 20 is supported on the upper surface of the enlarged diameter portion 12 and the inner peripheral surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 13. That is, the upper surface of the enlarged diameter portion 12 supports the surface of the valve seat 20 opposite to the seat surface 22, and the large diameter cylindrical portion 13 restrains (limits the position of) the outer peripheral surface of the valve seat 20.

  A ball valve 40 is supported immediately above the valve seat 20. Although illustration is omitted, the ball valve 40 is linked to a shaft that rotatably supports the ball valve 40 and an electric actuator that rotates the shaft. The ball valve 40 is formed of, for example, a cup body formed by containing a resin such as a thermoplastic resin, but the material has a degree of freedom. The ball valve 40 has a cylindrical ball opening 41 penetrating the central portion, and a convex spherical ball surface 42 opposed to the concave spherical seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20.

  With the ball surface 42 of the ball valve 40 and the seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20 facing each other, the ball opening 41 of the ball valve 40 and the valve seat are rotated by rotating the ball valve 40 by the shaft and actuator (not shown). Communication of the 20 sheet | seat opening 21 and non-communication can be switched. In the open state in which the ball opening 41 of the ball valve 40 and the seat opening 21 of the valve seat 20 communicate with each other, the flow of LLC is permitted (FIG. 1), and the ball opening 41 of the ball valve 40 and the seat opening 21 of the valve seat 20 are not In the closed state of communication, the flow of LLC is shut off (FIG. 2). Further, by rotating the ball valve 40 in an open state in which the ball opening 41 and the sheet opening 21 communicate, it is possible to control the degree of communication (flow rate of LLC) of the ball opening 41 and the sheet opening 21. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a common axis of the ball opening 41 and the sheet opening 21 in a state where the degree of communication between the ball opening 41 and the sheet opening 21 (flow rate of LLC) becomes largest is depicted as the communication shaft 50.

  The flow direction of the LLC in the valve device 1 is not particularly limited, but the LLC supplied from the inlet of the housing 10 is supplied to the inside of the ball opening 41 of the ball valve 40, as an example of the understanding aid. Then, when the valve device 1 is switched from the closed state to the open state, the LLC is guided to the outlet of the housing 10 through the ball opening 41 and the seat opening 21.

  The opening diameter of the ball opening 41 of the ball valve 40 is set larger than the opening diameter of the seat opening 21 of the valve seat 20. However, the opening diameter of the ball opening 41 and the opening diameter of the sheet opening 21 may be substantially the same, or the opening diameter of the ball opening 41 may be set smaller than the opening diameter of the sheet opening 21.

  By the way, since the conventional valve apparatus containing patent document 1 repeats sliding in the state by which the ball surface of a ball valve and the seat surface of a valve seat were pressure-welded when used over a long period of time, There was a risk that the seat surface was worn and the fluid leaked even when the valve was closed.

  The present inventor has succeeded in solving the technical problem by treating the above problem as an important technical problem and devising the structure of the seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20.

  FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing the structure of the seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a circled part in FIG. 3A. The seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20 has a reference concave seat surface 22 A that faces the ball surface 42 of the ball valve 40. The reference concave sheet surface 22A constitutes a reference concave surface of the sheet surface 22. The radius of curvature of the reference concave sheet surface 22A is set larger than the radius of curvature of the ball surface 42 of the ball valve 40. Therefore, when the communication shaft 50 between the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41 is used as a reference, the reference concave sheet surface 22A is in contact with the ball surface 42 at a position close to the communication shaft 50. A clearance is formed between the reference concave sheet surface 22A and the ball surface 42 without contact therebetween, and it is possible to store LLC (fluid) in the clearance.

  The reference concave sheet surface 22A is formed with a first lip surface 22B1, a second lip surface 22B2 and a third lip surface 22B3 protruding from the reference concave sheet surface 22A toward the ball surface 42. The first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 are disposed in order from the side closer to the communication shaft 50 of the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41 and the side farther from the side.

  The first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 are provided continuously or discontinuously concentrically around the communication shaft 50 when viewed along the communication shaft 50 between the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41. It is done.

  The first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 are arranged at substantially equal intervals as they are separated from the communication shaft 50 of the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41. That is, when viewed along the direction (left and right direction in the figure) orthogonal to the communication shaft 50, the distance between the first lip surface 22B1 and the second lip surface 22B2 becomes substantially the same, and the second lip The distance between the surface 22B2 and the third lip surface 22B3 is substantially the same.

  As the first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 move away from the communication shaft 50 of the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41, the radius of curvature and the amount of protrusion to the ball surface 42 increase. That is, the radius of curvature and the amount of protrusion to the ball surface 42 are larger for the second lip surface 22B2 than for the first lip surface 22B1, and the curvature for the third lip surface 22B3 is greater than the second lip surface 22B2. The radius and the projecting amount to the ball surface 42 are large.

  The tip of each of the first lip face 22B1 to the third lip face 22B3 contacts (elastically contacts) the ball face 42. FIG. 3B illustrates free states of the first lip face 22B1 to the third lip face 22B3, and the portions that contact (elastically contact) and compress (deform) the ball face 42 are indicated by broken lines. The contact amount (elastic contact amount) between the first lip surface 22B1 and the ball surface 42 is the smallest, and the contact amount (elastic contact amount) between the second lip surface 22B2 and the ball surface 42 is the second smallest, and the third lip The contact amount (elastic contact amount) of the surface 22B3 and the ball surface 42 is the largest.

  When observing the opposing portion of the seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20 and the ball surface 42 of the ball valve 40 microscopically, the reference concave seat surface 22A and the ball surface 42 are hardly in contact (even if there is a portion in contact The first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 are in contact (elastically in contact) with the ball surface 42. As described above, the contact (elastic contact) site of the ball valve 40 with the ball surface 42 is dispersed to the first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 to wear the seat surface 22 of the valve seat 20 and the same. It is possible to realize a highly durable valve device 1 that can prevent a leak of LLC (fluid) resulting from it and can withstand long-term use.

  In addition, when the communication between the ball opening 41 of the ball valve 40 and the seat opening 21 of the valve seat 20 is switched by rotating the ball valve 40, the adjacent first lip surface 22B1 and the second lip The LLC (fluid) is scraped and stored between the surface 22B2 and between the adjacent second lip surface 22B2 and the adjacent third lip surface 22B3. Then, wear (friction) applied to the first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3 while maintaining the contact (elastic contact) with the ball surface 42 of the ball valve 40 by the floating (surface tension) effect of the LLC Can be effectively reduced to achieve excellent followability and slidability.

Second Embodiment
The first embodiment is provided with three lip surfaces of the first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3. However, as long as there are a plurality of lip surfaces, various design changes are possible. FIG. 4A exemplifies the case where two lip surfaces of the first lip surface 22C1 and the second lip surface 22C2 are provided. As the first lip surface 22C1 to the second lip surface 22C2 move away from the communication shaft 50 of the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41, the radius of curvature and the amount of projection on the ball surface 42 (contact amount, elastic contact amount) Make the) larger. FIG. 4B exemplifies a case where four lip surfaces, that is, the first lip surface 22D1, the second lip surface 22D2, the third lip surface 22D3, and the fourth lip surface 22D4 are provided. As the first lip face 22D1 to the fourth lip face 22D4 move away from the communication shaft 50 of the seat opening 21 and the ball opening 41, the radius of curvature and the amount of projection on the ball surface 42 (contact amount, elastic contact amount) Make the) larger.

Third Embodiment
In the first and second embodiments, the plurality of lip surfaces (the first lip surface 22B1 to the third lip surface 22B3, the first lip surface 22C1 to the second lip surface 22C2, the first lip surface 22D1 to The fourth lip surface 22D4) makes both the radius of curvature and the amount of protrusion to the ball surface 42 different. However, the plurality of lip surfaces may be different only in one of the radius of curvature and the amount of protrusion to the ball surface 42. That is, the plurality of lip surfaces may have different radii of curvature and / or may protrude toward the ball surface 42 with different amounts of protrusion. In addition, the radius of curvature and the amount of protrusion to the ball surface 42 may be the same in part of the plurality of lip surfaces. Furthermore, at least one of the radius of curvature and the amount of protrusion to the ball surface 42 becomes smaller (or the same) as the sheet opening 21 and the ball opening 41 move away from the communication shaft 50 in a part of the plurality of lip surfaces. There may be.

  The valve device and the valve seat of the present invention are preferably used, for example, for mounting on a car and performing flow control or distribution control of Long Life Coolant (LLC). In this case, advantages such as early warm-up, combustion improvement, friction reduction, cooling loss reduction, fuel efficiency improvement, emission improvement and the like can be obtained in addition to the above-described effects of the present invention.

Reference Signs List 1 valve device 10 housing 11 small diameter cylindrical portion 12 enlarged diameter portion 13 large diameter cylindrical portion 20 valve seat 21 seat opening 22 seat surface 22A reference concave seat surface 22B1 first lip surface 22B2 second lip surface 22B3 third Lip face 22C1 First lip face 22C2 Second lip face 22D1 First lip face 22D2 Second lip face 22D3 Third lip face 22D4 Fourth lip face 30 Spring 40 Ball valve 41 Ball opening 42 Ball face 50 Communication shaft

Claims (8)

A ball valve having a ball surface and a ball opening;
A valve seat having a seat surface and a seat opening;
Have
A valve device in which the flow of fluid is permitted by communication between the ball opening and the seat opening in a state where the ball surface and the seat surface face each other,
The sheet surface is
A reference concave seat surface facing the ball surface;
A plurality of lip faces which can be stored between the adjacent lip faces projecting from the reference concave sheet face toward the ball face and capable of storing the fluid;
A valve device characterized by having. The radius of curvature of the reference concave sheet surface is larger than the radius of curvature of the ball surface,
The valve device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of lip surfaces have different radii of curvature and / or project toward the ball surface with different amounts of projection.
The valve device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The plurality of lip surfaces increase the radius of curvature and / or the amount of projection as they move away from the communication axis of the ball opening and the sheet opening.
The valve device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The plurality of lip surfaces are composed of three lip surfaces that increase the radius of curvature and the protrusion amount as the distance from the communication shaft is increased.
The valve device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The plurality of lip surfaces are arranged at substantially equal intervals as they move away from the communication axis of the ball opening and the sheet opening.
The valve device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that. The plurality of lip surfaces are provided continuously or discontinuously concentrically around the communication axis when viewed along the communication axis of the ball opening and the sheet opening.
The valve device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: A valve seat which has a seat surface and a seat opening, and in which the ball opening of the ball valve and the seat opening communicate with each other in a state where the ball surface of the ball valve faces the seat surface, There,
The sheet surface is
A reference concave seat surface facing the ball surface;
A plurality of lip faces which can be stored between the adjacent lip faces projecting from the reference concave sheet face toward the ball face and capable of storing the fluid;
A valve seat characterized by having.

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