JP2968450B2 - Valve device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a valve device configured to open and close a liquid supply port by moving a valve up and down.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 shows a conventional structure of a valve device for a water supply tank in an automatic ice making device mounted on a refrigerator. In the figure, a cylindrical tubular portion 2 is provided at a lower portion of a tank 1.
, And a cap 3 is detachably screwed to the cylindrical portion 2. At the center of the cap 3, a valve seat 5 having a circular water supply port 4 is provided. And
The cap 3 has a valve shaft 6 movably provided in the vertical direction with respect to the valve seat 5, and a circular valve attached to the lower end of the valve shaft 6 for opening and closing the water supply port 4 from above. And a compression coil spring 9 for urging the valve body 8 in the closing direction (downward).

In the above construction, the lower end of the valve shaft 6 is pushed up, the valve body 8 is pressed and moved relatively upward with respect to the valve seat 5, and the valve 7 is separated from the peripheral edge of the water supply port 4 to supply water. The mouth 4 is opened (see a two-dot chain line). When the water supply port 4 is opened, the water stored in the tank 1 is released.
Through the gap between the peripheral edge of the valve and the valve 7 to flow downward from the water supply port 4.

[0004]

By the way, in such a construction, when the valve 7 moves in the opening direction with respect to the water supply port 4, as shown in FIG. A film A is formed between the upper surface of the seat 5 and the surface tension of water. While the film A is being formed, the water in the tank 1 is prevented from flowing out of the water supply port 4 by the film A,
When the film A is broken, the water in the tank 1 flows out from the water supply port 4.

However, in the conventional structure described above, the shape of the valve 7 and the valve seat 5 is symmetrical with respect to the center of the water supply port 4, and when the valve 7 is opened, the peripheral portion of the water supply port 4 and the valve are closed. 7 is substantially constant over the entire circumference.
For this reason, the film A formed between the lower surface of the valve 7 and the upper surface of the valve seat 5 is formed concentrically around the center of the water supply port 4, and has a substantially constant strength over the entire circumference. The water supply port 4
Was difficult to leak from Therefore, conventionally, it is necessary to secure a large moving stroke of the valve 7 in order to easily break the membrane A, and therefore, a large space is required for installing the valve element 8.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a valve device in which a liquid can easily flow out of a liquid supply port without increasing a moving stroke of the valve.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, a first means of the present invention is to provide a valve seat provided at a lower portion of a tank for storing a liquid and having a liquid supply port formed therein. It is provided movably in the vertical direction with respect to the valve seat, and closes the liquid supply port by contacting the periphery of the liquid supply port from above,
A valve device having a valve for opening a liquid supply port by separating upward from a peripheral portion of the liquid supply port, wherein the valve seat is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane.

To achieve a similar object, a second means of the present invention is provided at a lower portion of a tank for storing a liquid,
A valve seat having a liquid supply port formed therein, the valve seat being provided movably in the up-down direction with respect to the valve seat, and closing the liquid supply port by contacting a peripheral portion of the liquid supply port from above; A valve that opens the liquid supply port by being separated upward from the peripheral edge of the valve, the valve device being located below the valve, being located inside the liquid supply port in a closed state of the valve, and A projection is provided at a position eccentric from the center of the liquid supply port.

In this case, the protruding portion may be constituted by a rib having a hanging shape, or may have an outer surface having a slope inclined downward toward the center of the liquid supply port.

[0010]

According to the first means, since the valve seat is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the liquid film formed between the lower surface of the valve and the upper surface of the valve seat when the valve is opened can be removed. The lower and upper sides of the seat have an asymmetric shape. Also, in this case, there is a difference in the liquid depth between the lower side and the upper side of the valve seat, and the pressure of the liquid applied to the membrane is larger on the lower side of the valve seat than on the upper side, and furthermore, on the membrane. Is smaller in the film formed on the lower side of the valve seat than in the film formed on the upper side.
For this reason, the film formed on the lower side of the valve seat is more easily broken than the film formed on the upper side, and the balance of the entire film is lost, and the film is easily broken from a weak portion.

[0011] When the valve is opened, the film of liquid formed between the valve and the valve seat tends to form a circle with the smallest radius between the valve and the valve seat. Therefore, in the second means,
The size of the gap between the valve and the valve seat changes depending on the side of the valve where the protrusion is provided and the side where the protrusion is not provided. That is, with the opening of the valve, the gap between the outer surface of the projection and the valve seat is smaller on the side where the projection is located than the gap between the outer surface of the valve and the valve seat. On one side, a film is formed between the outer surface of the projection and the valve seat. Therefore, the membrane is formed between the outer surface of the valve and the valve seat on the side without the projection, but is formed between the outer surface of the projection and the valve seat on the side with the projection. As a result, the balance of the film as a whole is lost, and the film is easily broken from a weak point.

In this case, when the protruding portion of the valve is formed by a rib having a drooping shape, it is possible to easily form an imbalanced film. In addition, when the protrusion has a configuration in which the outer surface has a slope that is inclined downward toward the center of the liquid supply port, the film formed on the side where the protrusion is formed surely forms along the slope. As a result, an out-of-balance film can be stably formed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a valve device of a water supply tank in an automatic ice making device mounted on a refrigerator will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, FIG.
1 shows a schematic configuration around an automatic ice making device mounted on the refrigerator main body 11. In FIG. 3, an ice tray 13 is provided in an ice making chamber 12 formed in a refrigerator body 11.
An ice maker 15 having a drive mechanism 14 and the like that rotatably supports the ice tray 13 is provided. This ice machine 15
Is formed by cooling the water stored in the ice tray 13 by the cool air supplied into the ice making chamber 12,
Based on the detection of the ice-making completion temperature by a temperature sensor (not shown) provided on the ice-making tray 13, the driving mechanism 14 inverts the ice-making tray 13 and twists the ice-making tray 13 to separate the ice. The ice thus formed is stored in the ice storage container 16.

A refrigerator 18 is formed above the ice making chamber 12 via a partition wall 17, and a mounting table 19 is provided in the refrigerator 18. A water receiver 20 is provided integrally with the mounting table 19. An outlet 21 is provided at the bottom of the water receiver 20, and the water received by the water receiver 20 is supplied from the outlet 21 to the ice tray 13.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a fixed volume reservoir 22 is detachably mounted inside the water receiver 20. This fixed-quantity water reservoir 22 has a fixed amount, for example, 10
5 cc of water is configured to be able to be stored, and the amount of the stored water is set to the optimum amount of water supplied to the ice tray 13. And
A water outlet 23 is formed at the center of the bottom of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22, and the water outlet 23 is configured to be opened and closed by a water discharge valve mechanism 24.

The water discharge valve mechanism 24 includes a valve rod 26 inserted through the water outlet 23 and supported by a support arm 25 erected on the inner bottom surface of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22 so as to be vertically movable.
6 is supported so as to be able to move up and down, and the water outlet 23 is provided in the fixed amount water reservoir 2.
And a valve element 27 that opens and closes from the outside.
The valve stem 26 is configured by bringing an upper valve stem 28 provided on the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22 side into contact with a lower valve stem 29 provided on the valve body 27 side via a diaphragm 30. Upper valve stem 2
A compression coil spring 31 is provided between the lower end flange 28a of the base 8 and the support arm 25, and the upper valve stem 28 is urged downward by the compression coil spring 31. A compression coil spring 32 is provided between the valve body 27 and the lower end flange 29 a of the lower valve stem 29, and the compression coil spring 32 urges the valve body 27 upward with respect to the lower valve stem 29. Have been. At the opening edge of the water outlet 23, for example, an annular soft rubber packing 33 is attached as a sealing material.

A valve driving device 34 is provided below the water receiver 20. This valve driving device 34
An operating shaft 36 provided in the case 35 below the lower valve stem 29 so as to be vertically movable, a motor (not shown) provided in the case 35, and a cam for converting the rotational movement of this motor into the vertical movement of the operating shaft 36. It has a mechanism. The operating shaft 36 projects upward through a hole 37 formed in the bottom of the water receiver 20. The hole 37 is closed by a packing 38 for preventing water from flowing out.
Is in contact with the lower valve stem 29 via the packing 38. As the operating shaft 36 is moved up and down,
The lower valve stem 29 and the upper valve stem 28 are moved up and down,
The valve body 27 is also moved up and down.

On the other hand, a tank 39 for storing a liquid, in this case, water, is detachably set on the mounting table 19. At the lower part of the tank 39, a cylindrical tube portion 40 is provided so as to protrude downward, and a cap 41 is detachably screwed to the tube portion 40 as shown in FIG. At a substantially central portion of the cap 41, a valve seat 43 in which a water supply port 42 which is a circular liquid supply port is formed is provided so as to be inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, and the water supply port 42 is provided with a valve body 44.
It is configured to be opened and closed by.

The valve body 44 has a valve shaft 47 movably inserted into a shaft insertion portion 46 of a support frame 45 provided on the cap 41 and a water supply port 42 attached to a lower end of the valve shaft 47.
And a valve 48 in the shape of a circular bowl which opens and closes from above. A compression coil spring 49 as a biasing means provided between the shaft insertion portion 46 and the valve 48 is attached to the lower side in the closing direction. It is being rushed. In the closed state of the valve 48, the water supply port 42 is closed by the lower surface of the valve 48 contacting the peripheral edge of the water supply port 42 from above. The valve shaft 47 of the valve body 44 is arranged on the same axis as the valve stem 26 of the water discharge valve mechanism 24.

On the lower surface of the cap 41, a cylindrical portion 41a is protruded downward. The outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 41a is set to be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the upper opening of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22, and the cylindrical portion 41a forms a gap between the inner peripheral surface of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22. It is inserted into the fixed quantity water reservoir 22 in a state.

A water purifier 50 is housed in the tank 39. This water purifier 50 is arranged so as to surround the support frame 45 and has a case 52 in which a water passage port 51 is formed in a peripheral wall portion.
And a cylindrical water purification filter 53 disposed in the case 52. A cylindrical air vent 54 is provided upright on the upper part of the case 52. The water purification filter 53 is made of, for example, fibrous activated carbon in a nonwoven fabric shape, and has a function of purifying water passing through the water purification filter 53.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. In the state shown in FIG. 4, the water supply port 42 on the tank 39 side is closed by the valve 48. The operation shaft 36 of the valve drive mechanism 34 is at the lower limit position, the upper valve stem 28 on the water discharge valve mechanism 24 side is separated from the valve shaft 47 on the tank 39 side, and the water outlet 23
Is open.

When the operating shaft 36 is moved upward from this state, the valve shaft 26 is pushed up by the operating shaft 36, and the valve body 27 is also pushed up. The water outlet 23 is closed. When the valve stem 26 is further pushed up, the upper end of the upper valve stem 28 comes into contact with the valve shaft 47 on the tank 39 side from below, and the valve shaft 47 is pushed up. Valve shaft 47
Is pushed up, the valve 48 is separated upward from the valve seat 43.

Here, even if the valve 48 is separated from the valve seat 43, if the moving stroke of the valve 48 is small, as shown in FIGS. A film A due to the surface tension of water is formed between the upper surface of the seat 43 and the surface A of the water. During the formation of the film A, the water in the tank 39 is prevented from flowing out from the water supply port 42 by the film A. When the film A is broken, the water in the tank 39 flows out from the water supply port 42.

In this case, since the valve seat 43 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the valve 48 is opened when the valve 48 is opened.
The film A formed between the valve seat 43 and the valve seat 43 has an asymmetric shape on the lower side (the right side in FIGS. 2B and 2C) and the upper side. Also, in this case, the lower side of the valve seat 43 is deeper than the upper side because it is lower than the upper side, and the pressure of the water applied to the membrane A is lower on the lower side of the valve seat 43 than on the upper side. The film A formed on the lower side of the valve seat 43 is smaller than the film A formed on the upper side as the cross-sectional coefficient of the film A. For this reason, the film A formed on the lower side of the valve seat 43 is more easily broken than the film A formed on the upper side, the balance of the film A as a whole is lost, and the film A is easily broken from the lower side having weak strength. As the operating shaft 36 moves to the upper limit position, the valve 48 also moves to the upper limit position.

When the membrane A is broken, the water in the tank 39 flows out of the water supply port 42 through the gap between the valve 48 and the valve seat 43 and is stored in the constant volume reservoir 22. And
The water level in the fixed quantity water reservoir 22 rises, and as shown in FIG.
When the lower surface opening of the cylindrical portion 41a in the cap 41 is closed by the water surface, the outflow of water from the water supply port 42 is stopped. At this time, a fixed amount of water is stored in the fixed amount water reservoir 22.

When a fixed amount of water is stored in the fixed amount water reservoir 22 as described above, the operation shaft 36 is then lowered from the upper limit position to the lower limit position. As the operating shaft 36 is lowered from the upper limit position, first, the valve 48 on the tank 39 side comes into contact with the peripheral portion of the water supply port 42, and the water supply port 42 is closed. The closed state by the body 27 is maintained. Then, when the operation shaft 36 is lowered to the lower limit position, the upper valve stem 28 is separated from the valve shaft 47, the valve body 27 is separated downward from the bottom of the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22, and the water outlet 23 is opened. become. Then, the water stored in the fixed-quantity water reservoir 22 is discharged to the outlet 23.
Out of the water receiver 20 and the outlet 2
It is supplied and stored in the ice tray 13 below from 1.

The water stored in the ice tray 13 is supplied to the ice making chamber 1.
It is cooled by the cool air supplied into the inside 2 and becomes ice. Then, when the ice making completion temperature is detected by a temperature sensor (not shown) provided on the ice tray 13, the ice tray 13 is inverted and twisted, so that the ice in the ice tray 13 falls into the ice storage container 16. Ice tray 1
When 3 is returned to the original horizontal state, the water supply operation as described above is performed.

According to the first embodiment, the tank 39
Of the valve 4 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane.
When the valve 8 is opened, the film A formed between the valve 48 and the valve seat 43 has an asymmetrical shape between the lower side and the upper side of the valve seat 43, and the lower side of the valve seat 43 is larger than the upper side. The pressure of the water applied to the membrane A is higher at the lower side of the valve seat 43 than at the upper side, and the section modulus of the membrane A is higher than that of the valve seat 43. The film A formed on the lower side is smaller than the film A formed on the upper side. For this reason, the film A formed on the lower side of the valve seat 43 is more easily broken than the film A formed on the upper side, the balance of the film A as a whole is lost, and the film A is easily broken from the lower side having weak strength. Therefore, water can easily flow out of the water supply port 42 without increasing the movement stroke of the valve 48.

Therefore, the valve device according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes:
FIG. 6 shows the results of a water supply experiment performed using a valve device having a conventional structure. FIG. 6 shows the measurement of the movement stroke of the valve when the membrane A is broken when the valve is opened. As is apparent from FIG. 6, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to supply water even if the average value is shorter than the conventional one by 1.66 mm. Therefore, the movement stroke of the valve 48 can be reduced, and the valve device can be downsized.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the following points. That is, the valve seat 56 in which the water supply port 55 is formed is formed in a horizontal state. On the lower surface of the valve 57 that opens and closes the water supply port 55, the valve 57 is located inside the water supply port 55 when the valve 57 is closed, and has an outer peripheral portion eccentric from the center of the water supply port 55. Are provided. In this case, the rib 58 is formed in an arc shape centered on the center of the valve 57 and in an angle region of about 120 degrees (indicated by an angle θ in FIG. 8).

In the above configuration, the valve 57 is moved upward in the opening direction from the state in which the water supply port 55 is closed, and
7 is separated upward from the valve seat 56, first, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a film A is formed between the lower surface of the valve 57 and the upper surface of the valve seat 56 due to the surface tension of water. This membrane A tends to form a circle of the smallest radius between the valve 57 and the valve seat 56.

When the valve 57 is further pushed up, as shown in FIG. 9C, the size of the gap between the valve 57 and the valve seat 56 on the side of the valve 57 where the rib 58 is not provided and on the side where the rib 58 is not provided. It changes. That is, as the valve 57 rises,
On the side where the rib 58 is located, the outer surface of the rib 58 and the valve seat 56
Is smaller than the gap between the outer surface of the valve 57 and the valve seat 56. Therefore, on the side where the rib 58 is provided, the film A is formed between the outer surface of the rib 58 and the valve seat 56. Will be formed. Therefore, the film A is formed between the outer surface of the valve 57 and the valve seat 56 on the side where the rib 58 is not provided, but is formed between the outer surface of the rib 58 and the valve seat 56 on the side where the rib 58 is provided. The balance of the film A as a whole is lost, and the film A is easily broken from a weak point.

FIG. 6 also shows the results of a water supply experiment using the valve device of the second embodiment. This figure 6
As is apparent from the above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention,
It turns out that water supply is possible even if it is about 0.43 mm shorter than the conventional value on average.

FIGS. 10 to 12 show a third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in the following points. That is, a projection 60 is provided at a lower portion of the valve 59, which is located inside the water supply port 55 when the valve 59 is closed, and is eccentric from the center of the water supply port 55. In this case, the outer surface 60 a of the protrusion 60 has a slope that is inclined downward toward the center of the water supply port 55. This protrusion 60 also
Like the rib 58, it is formed in an angle region of about 120 degrees. Also, the lower surface 59a of the valve 59 other than the protrusion 60
The part is formed flat.

In the above configuration, the valve 59 is moved upward in the opening direction from the state in which the water supply port 55 is closed, and
When the nozzle 9 is separated upward from the valve seat 56, first, as shown in FIG. 12B, a film A is formed between the lower surface of the valve 57 and the upper surface of the valve seat 56 due to the surface tension of water. In this case, the shape of the film A changes on the side of the valve 59 where the protrusion 60 is not located and on the side where the projection 60 is not located. That is, as the valve 59 rises, a film A is formed between the outer surface 60a of the protrusion 60 and the valve seat 56 on the side where the protrusion 60 is located (right side in FIG. 12). As the film rises, the film A
It moves relatively to the lower side of the protrusion 60 along the outer surface 60a of the zero. On the other hand, on the side without the protrusion 60,
The film A formed between the outer surface of the valve 59 and the valve seat 56 increases as the gap increases.

Therefore, the shape of the film A greatly differs between the side of the valve 59 where the protrusion 60 is not provided and the side where the protrusion 60 is not provided, so that the balance of the film A as a whole is lost and the film A is easily broken from a weak point.

FIG. 6 also shows the results of a water supply experiment performed using the valve device of the third embodiment. This figure 6
As is apparent from the above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention,
It can be seen that water supply is possible even if the average value is shorter than the conventional one by about 0.07 mm. In this case, the average value of the movement stroke when the film A is broken is not much different from the conventional one, but it can be seen that the standard deviation σ is smaller than the conventional and other embodiments.
A small standard deviation σ means that there is no unevenness in the movement stroke when the film A is broken. This is considered to be because the difference between the slope of the outer surface 60a of the protrusion 60 transmitting the film A and the portion without the protrusion 60 is reliably exhibited, and the asymmetric film A is reliably formed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be modified or expanded as follows. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the valve driving device 3
4 through the valve rod 26 due to the vertical movement of the operating shaft 36 of the valve 4.
8, 57 and 59 are moved up and down, but when the tank is set on the mounting table, the lower end of the valve shaft on the tank side is relatively moved by a pressing portion provided in a fixed state on the mounting table side. By pressing the valve, the valve may be pushed up to be configured.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the valve device of the water supply tank 39 in the automatic ice making device. For example, in a spray humidifier, the valve device of the tank for supplying water to be sprayed, or the petroleum fan In the heater, the present invention can also be applied to a valve device of a tank for supplying kerosene to be burned.

[0041]

According to the valve device of the first aspect, the valve seat having the liquid supply port is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, so that the valve is opened and closed between the valve and the valve seat. The formed liquid film is asymmetrical between the lower side and the upper side of the valve seat, and the balance is lost, and it is easy to break from a weak part on the lower side where a large amount of water pressure is applied, so that the moving stroke of the valve is not increased, The liquid can easily flow out of the liquid supply port.

According to the valve device of the second aspect, the lower part of the valve is located inside the liquid supply port when the valve is in a closed state and protrudes to a portion eccentric from the center of the liquid supply port. The liquid film formed between the valve and the valve seat when the valve is opened is asymmetric between the side with the protrusion and the side without the protrusion, the balance is lost, and the film breaks from a weak point. As a result, the liquid can easily flow out of the liquid supply port without increasing the moving stroke of the valve.

In this case, if the protruding portion of the valve is formed by a hanging rib, it is possible to easily form an imbalanced film. In addition, when the protrusion has a configuration in which the outer surface has a slope that is inclined downward toward the center of the liquid supply port, the film formed on the side where the protrusion is formed surely forms along the slope. As a result, an out-of-balance film can be stably formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation when a valve is opened.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an automatic ice making device of a refrigerator.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part in a closed state of a water supply port.

FIG. 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 in a state where a water supply port is opened.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing experimental results of a water supply experiment in a conventional example and in each example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the valve from below.

FIG. 9 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a conventional configuration.

FIG. 14 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

39 is a tank, 42 is a water supply port (liquid supply port), 43 is a valve seat,
44 is a valve body, 47 is a valve shaft, 48 is a valve, 55 is a water supply port (liquid supply port), 56 is a valve seat, 57 is a valve, 58 is a rib (projection),
59 is a valve, 60 is a protrusion, 60a is an outer surface, and A is a membrane.

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F16K 1/00-1/54 B67D 3/02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A valve seat provided at a lower portion of a tank for storing a liquid and having a liquid supply port formed therein, and provided so as to be vertically movable with respect to the valve seat. A valve for closing the liquid supply port by contacting from above, and opening the liquid supply port by separating upward from the periphery of the liquid supply port, wherein the valve seat is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. A valve device characterized by having been made. 2. A valve seat provided at a lower portion of a tank for storing a liquid and having a liquid supply port formed therein, and provided so as to be vertically movable with respect to the valve seat. A valve for closing the liquid supply port by contacting from above, and opening the liquid supply port by separating upward from the peripheral edge of the liquid supply port. A valve device, wherein a projection is provided at a position which is located inside the liquid supply port when the valve is closed and is eccentric from the center of the liquid supply port. 3. The valve device according to claim 2, wherein the protruding portion is formed by a hanging rib. 4. The valve device according to claim 2, wherein the projection has an outer surface having a slope inclined downward toward the center of the liquid supply port.