JP3454395B2 - Temperature responsive valve - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a temperature responsive valve for preventing hot water discharge higher than the optimum operating temperature in a shower device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a shower device provided in a bathroom is
A shower head connected to a hot and cold water mixing tap by a hose to spray hot water at an appropriate temperature is generally used. In such a shower device, the temperature of sprinkling water is set by adjusting the valve openings on the water side and the hot water side of the hot and cold water mixing valve by various mechanisms.

On the other hand, the temperature at which water is actually sprinkled may become higher or lower than a set value due to a sudden change in the water supply pressure or the hot water supply pressure or some other cause. In this case, there is a danger particularly when the water sprinkles at an abnormally high temperature, so it is effective to provide a temperature responsive valve that shuts off the supply of the hot water toward the shower head when it exceeds a certain temperature.

An example of such a temperature responsive valve is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-64751.
The outline is shown in FIG.

This temperature responsive valve has a valve seat 51 incorporated in an internal flow path of a main body 50 thereof and a lift valve type valve body 52 which is seated on the valve seat 51, and a moving ring 52a provided on the valve body 52. A damper spring 53 and a coil spring 54 made of a shape memory alloy are arranged with the coil spring sandwiched therebetween.

The coil spring 54 keeps a contracted shape up to a certain temperature, whereby the valve body 52 is held in a position moved downward in the drawing, the seating surface is separated from the valve seat 51, and the flow path is opened. . Then, when the temperature exceeds a certain temperature, the coil spring 54 expands due to the shape memory characteristic, and the valve body 52 is seated on the valve seat 51 to close the flow path, whereby the supply of hot water is shut off. It

[0007]

A lift valve type valve body 52 is provided.
When closing this, the valve closes by narrowing the water passage between it and the valve seat 51, so the water resistance is considerably large. Therefore, the coil spring 5 made of shape memory alloy
In order for 4 to move the valve body 52 in the closing direction, it is necessary to increase the elastic reaction force of the coil spring 54.

However, the elastic reaction force of the coil spring 54 is proportional to the size of the outer diameter of the wire although it depends on the material of the wire and the heat treatment, so that the lift valve type valve element 52 is driven. Therefore, it is necessary to make the wire material of the coil spring 54 thick. When the coil spring 54 is made larger in this way, the material of the coil spring 54 is made of an expensive shape memory alloy, so the effect on the cost cannot be ignored.

Further, when the outer diameter of the wire material of the coil spring 54 is large, the interval between the coil windings also becomes small. Then, the hot water flows from the outer side to the inner side of the coil spring 54 to the downstream side, so that the flow path resistance increases. Therefore, the water flow rate is also limited, and in order to secure this water flow rate, it is necessary to make the entire valve large.

On the other hand, when the temperature responsive valve is incorporated in the flow path to the shower head connected to the hot and cold water mixing tap by the hose, the temperature of the hot water immediately after the mixed water is discharged can be sensed to shut off the flow path. Most preferred. Therefore, it is conceivable to incorporate the temperature responsive valve using a joint such as an elbow that is connected to the back of the hot and cold water mixing tap and connects the base end of the hose.

However, since the lift valve type as described in the above publication tends to increase the bulk of the valve, it is not suitable for incorporation into such an elbow.

As described above, in the conventional temperature-responsive valve, it is not possible to reduce the size of the valve itself, and even if the size is reduced, the wire rod which is the material of the coil spring made of the shape memory alloy has a large diameter. Therefore, there is a problem that there is an obstacle in securing the water flow passage.

The problem to be solved in the present invention is to downsize the whole without increasing the diameter of the spring or the like for driving the valve in response to the temperature and reduce the water flow resistance to secure a sufficient flow rate. It is to provide a temperature responsive valve that can.

[0014]

According to the present invention, a valve body is movably incorporated in a passage direction of a fluid, and the valve body is connected to a shape memory element to respond to a temperature change of the fluid to a high temperature side. wherein the deformation of the shape memory element to allow driving said valve body to the valve closing direction, the initial odor Te communication to be driven to the closed position where the valve body is seated downstream of the valve seat from the open position <br / > In a temperature-responsive valve that allows the flow pressure of excess fluid to be applied to the valve body in its closing direction , the shape memory element
A temperature responsive spring made of memory alloy,
Degree-responsive spring is located upstream of the valve body and downstream
Bias spring on the side biases the valve body in its opening direction.
And a valve body between the valve body and the inner wall of the flow passage on the upstream side.
When the is in the valve open position, almost the entire surface facing the upstream side is
Characterized by having a relationship of hitting the inner wall of the front channel
And

[0015]

In this case, the valve body is formed in a flat plate shape, and a protrusion protruding outward is provided on the periphery of the valve body, and the valve body can be set to the valve opening position where the portion excluding the protrusion is abutted against the inner wall of the flow path, and the temperature responsive spring is projected. The valve body may be urged in the valve closing direction by engaging with.

Further, a flow passage structure may be adopted which allows fluid to leak from the valve seat to the downstream side while the valve body is seated on the valve seat and closed, and in this case, the valve body is the valve seat. A small hole for fluid leakage may be formed at a position communicating with the downstream of the portion surrounded by the valve, and at least one of the valve element and the valve seat, which are in close contact with each other. You may form the slit for a fluid leak in.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION When the temperature of the passing fluid becomes high and the shape memory element causes the valve body to start moving in the closing direction, the flow pressure of the passing fluid acts in the direction of closing the valve body. Therefore, the shape memory element only needs to have a driving force that sets the valve body to the position where it receives the fluid pressure, and thereafter, the valve is closed by using the flow of the passing fluid, and the flow of the high temperature fluid is blocked. It

When a spring made of a shape memory alloy is used as the shape memory element, the valve element is driven to its closed position with the help of the flow pressure of the passing fluid, so the load generated by the spring can be small. The outer diameter can also be reduced. Therefore, the space for accommodating the spring is reduced, and the flow path resistance can be reduced, so that a sufficient flow rate can be secured.

In the case where the temperature responsive spring is engaged with the protrusion provided on the outer periphery of the valve body in the form of a flat plate, only this protrusion protrudes toward the internal flow passage, so that it acts as a large resistance to the passing fluid. do not do.

Further, in the case where the fluid is leaked to the downstream side when the flow path is closed by the valve body, the high temperature fluid remaining on the upstream side after the valve is closed is discharged to the downstream at a minute flow rate and discharged from the discharge end. Even if it is done, the flow rate is extremely small, so it is not damaged by the high temperature fluid.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a side view of essential parts showing a shower facility for a bathroom equipped with a temperature responsive valve of the present invention.

In the figure, a shower head 3 is connected to a hot and cold water mixing stopper 1 fixed to a wall of a bathroom via a hose 2. Like the conventional one, the hot and cold water mixing valve 1 is connected to a water supply pipe and a hot water supply pipe (not shown) connected to the building side and fixed to the wall, and the water discharge pipe 1a and the flow path to the shower head 3 side are connected. It can be switched and used, and the mixing ratio and flow rate of water and hot water can be adjusted by operating the handle.

An elbow 1b is connected between the hot and cold water mixing taps 1 in the same manner as a conventional one, and a temperature responsive valve 4 is inserted into the elbow 1b to be integrally assembled. Instead of such assembling, the temperature responsive valve 4 may be arranged between the elbow 1b and the hose 2, and in any case, the temperature responsive valve 4 may be provided in the vicinity of the mixed water outflow portion of the hot and cold water mixing tap 1. It suffices to position the response valve 4.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the details of the temperature responsive valve 4, and FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing the central portion on the lower end side of FIG.

The temperature responsive valve 4 has an outer shell composed of a main body 5 and a plug 6 integrally fixed to the inflow end side of the mixed water. The main body 5 has a mortar shape in which the side to which the plug 6 is attached is greatly reduced and the internal flow path is gradually reduced toward the downstream side. The main body 5 opens a cylindrical outlet 5a at the downstream end and, as shown in FIG. Three stays 5b are radially formed in the outlet 5a.

4A and 4B show the details of the plug 6. FIG. 4A is a bottom view seen from the inside of the main body 5, and FIG. 4B is the same.
Is a vertical sectional view.

The plug 6 is a plate portion 6a having a uniform thickness.
The three arcuate flow path holes 6b are coaxially arranged in the base, and a base 6c protruding downward is formed on the lower surface of the central portion. An engaging projection 6d is provided at the lower end of the outer peripheral edge of the plate portion 6a so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the upper end of the main body 5 and thereby to be fixed integrally to the upper end of the main body 5. The outer diameter of the base 6c is smaller than that of the central portion of the plate portion 6a, and the packing 7 is attached to the lower surface thereof. The packing 7 has the same outer diameter as that of the base 6c, and annular ridges 7a and 7b are formed on the peripheral portion and the central portion thereof, respectively.

In the illustrated example, the packing 7 is disk-shaped, but instead of this, an O-ring may be incorporated on the lower surface along the outer peripheral edge of the base 6c.

Returning to FIG. 2, an annular valve seat 5c is formed inside the main body 5 and at the upper end of the outlet 5a.
The valve body 8 is incorporated between c and the packing 7 on the plug 6 side. As shown in FIG. 5A (plan view), the valve element 8 is disk-shaped and has projections 8a protruding in the radial direction at three positions on the outer peripheral edge thereof. A sealing material 8b for seating on the valve seat 5c of the main body 5 is attached to the outer peripheral edge of the lower surface, an annular groove 8c is coaxially formed, and a small hole 8d is formed at the center.

A bias spring 9 for urging the valve body 4 toward the base 6c is incorporated between the lower surface of the valve body 8 and the stay 5b, and a temperature responsive spring 10 is memorized around the base 6c of the plug 6. It is arranged as an element. The bias spring 9 is a coil spring made of normal spring steel, and the upper end portion of the bias spring 9 is inserted into the annular groove 8c to be restrained so that the valve body 8 and the bias spring 9 maintain their respective coaxial positional relationships.

The temperature-responsive spring 10 has a shape memory characteristic in which the generated load changes depending on the temperature of the spring itself. Below a certain temperature, the generated load is low and the elastic reaction force is suppressed to a small value. And the generated load increases and it expands. The temperature responsive spring 10 is set so that the characteristics transition at a temperature slightly lower than the upper limit temperature when the shower is used. Normally, as shown in FIG. 2, the valve body 8 has the packing 7 on the base 6c side. Try to stay seated in the.

That is, the external force acting on the valve body 8 is the fluid pressure due to the mixed water that flows in from the bias spring 9, the temperature responsive spring 10 and the flow path hole 6b and flows out to the downstream, and this fluid pressure becomes maximum. The spring constants of the springs 9 and 10 are set according to the time point. And. When the mixed water having a temperature slightly lower than the upper limit temperature is supplied, the generated load of the temperature responsive spring 10 becomes large and the temperature responsive spring 10 extends to push the valve body 8 in a direction away from the packing 7.

In the above construction, if the mixed water from the hot and cold water mixing tap 1 is in the temperature range suitable for use in the shower, the temperature responsive spring 10 maintains the contracted shape, and as shown in FIG. Is pressed against the packing 7 by the biasing force of the bias spring 9. Therefore,
The mixed water flowing in from the flow path hole 6b of the plug 6 is supplied to the shower head 3 from the outlet 5a without receiving the resistance of the valve body 8.

On the other hand, when the temperature of the mixed water from the hot and cold water mixing tap 1 becomes high due to a sudden change in the water supply pressure or the hot water supply pressure and other causes, and the temperature range is slightly lower than the upper limit temperature of the shower, the temperature responsive spring 10 It begins to deform in the direction of elongation due to its shape memory characteristics. Due to the deformation of the temperature responsive spring 10, the valve body 8 seated on the packing 7 is separated from the lower surface of the packing 7, and a gap is created between the packing 7 and the valve body 8.

On the other hand, while the valve body 8 is moving as described above, since the high temperature mixed water is continuously supplied from the flow path hole 6b, the mixed water is a gap between the packing 7 and the valve body 8. Flow into the valve seat 8 and the upper surface of the valve body 8 receives the flow pressure of the mixed water as an acting force toward the valve seat 5c. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the valve body 8 moves to the valve seat 5c side at a stroke due to the flow pressure of the mixed water, and the sealing material 8b moves to the valve seat 5c.
Then, the flow path is cut off, and the supply of high-temperature water to the shower head 3 side is stopped.

Even after the valve body 8 is seated on the valve seat 5c, the small hole 8d formed in the valve body 8 communicates with the downstream side, so that the high-temperature water continuously supplied from the hot and cold water mixing tap is in this small hole. It is discharged little by little from 8d. In this case, since the flow rate is extremely low, the shower head 3 simply drops and drops, and the water spray is stopped and the person using the bath does not take hot water.

In addition, instead of opening the small hole 8d in the valve body 8, the residual material of such high temperature water is discharged by the sealing material 8b on the valve seat 5c as shown in FIG. 7 (a). These slits 8e and 5d can be used by providing an appropriate number of slits 8e in the seated portion, or by providing slits 5d in the portion where the valve seat 5c receives the sealing material 8b as shown in FIG. The residual high-temperature water can be discharged. Further, the valve body 8 is not provided with the sealing material 8b, and the lower surface of the valve body 8 is directly abutted against the valve seat 5c so that complete contact cannot be obtained.
The high temperature water may be eliminated by utilizing the leakage of water from between.

As described above, after the valve body 8 is separated from the packing 7 by the temperature responsive spring 10, the valve body 8 can be instantly seated on the valve seat 5c by utilizing the flowing pressure of the mixed water flowing down. . Therefore, the temperature responsive spring 1
0 only needs to exert at least a restoring force for separating the valve body 8 from the packing 7, and an acting force for continuously pressing the valve body 8 to the valve seat 5c is substantially unnecessary.
Therefore, the acting force that the temperature responsive spring 10 has to cover when moving the valve body 8 in the valve closing direction is small, and even if the temperature responsive valve spring 10 is made small, its function can be sufficiently fulfilled, and the temperature responsive valve 1 The entire size can be reduced.

Further, since the force required for the temperature responsive spring 10 to drive the valve body 8 in the valve closing direction is small, the outer diameter of the wire rod of the temperature responsive spring 10 can be made small as described above. For this reason, the temperature responsive spring 10 itself and the mounting space around it can be made small, and the internal flow path of the main body 5 can be widened by this reduction amount. Therefore, a sufficient water passage area to the shower head 3 side can be ensured, and the shower can be used without insufficient flow rate.

In the embodiment, the shower equipment is provided with the temperature responsive valve of the present invention, but instead of this, the flow path from the hot and cold water mixing tap installed in the kitchen, vanity, etc. to its water discharge end. Needless to say, it may be incorporated into.

[0042]

According to the present invention, since the flow pressure of the passing fluid can be used also as the driving force in the valve closing direction of the valve body, the shape memory element generates the driving force for setting the valve body to the position where it receives the fluid pressure. Anything can be used as long as it has a load, and it is possible to reduce the size of the shape memory element itself and the space for storing the shape memory element, and it is possible to reduce the flow path resistance due to the shape memory element at the same time as reducing the size of the entire valve.

When a spring made of a shape memory alloy is used as the shape memory element, the load generated by the spring is small and the outer diameter of the spring can be made small, so that the flow resistance is reduced and at the same time the flow rate is sufficiently secured. . Further, since the amount of shape memory alloy for manufacturing the spring can be small, the cost can be improved.

In the case where the valve body is formed in a flat plate shape and the projection is provided on the outer periphery thereof, only the projection has a resistance protruding toward the internal flow path, so that the flow path resistance to the passing fluid at an appropriate temperature can be suppressed.

Further, in the case where the fluid is leaked to the downstream side when the flow path is closed, the high temperature fluid remaining on the upstream side after the valve is closed is discharged at a minute flow rate to the downstream side, so that it is damaged by the high temperature fluid. Never.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a shower facility provided with a temperature responsive valve of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a main part of a temperature responsive valve.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing the outflow port which is the lower end of the body of the temperature responsive valve.

4A and 4B are details of the plug, in which FIG. 4A is a bottom view seen from the inside of the main body, and FIG. 4B is a vertical sectional view.

5 (a) is a plan view of the valve body, and FIG. 5 (b) is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 5 (a).

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view when the valve body is closed by the inflow of high-temperature water.

FIG. 7 is a partial development view showing another example of the configuration for discharging the residual high-temperature water when the valve body is closed, in which FIG. 7A shows an example in which a slit is provided in the sealing material of the valve body, (B) of the same figure is a partially developed view showing an example in which a slit is provided in the valve seat.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view showing an example of a conventional temperature responsive valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Hot and cold water mixing tap 2: Hose 3: Shower head 4: Temperature responsive valve 5: Main body 5a: Outlet 5c: valve seat 6: Plug 6b: flow path hole 6c: Base 7: Packing 8: Disc 8a: protrusion 8b: Seal material 8d: Small hole 9: Bias spring 10: Temperature responsive spring

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16K 31/70

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A valve body is movably installed in the passage direction of a fluid, the valve body is connected to a shape memory element, and the shape memory element is deformed according to a temperature change of the fluid toward a high temperature side. valve body and can be driven into its closing direction, the valve body the valve body the flow pressure of the initial odor Te communication over fluid is driven to the closed position seated on the downstream of the valve seat from the open position to Temperature responsive valve that can be applied in the valve closing direction
In the above, the shape memory element is made of a shape memory alloy and is temperature-responsive.
A spring, wherein the temperature responsive spring is the valve
It is arranged on the upstream side of the body and the valve body is arranged on the downstream side.
The valve is equipped with a bias spring that biases the valve in the opening direction.
The valve body is opened between the body and the inner wall of the flow passage on the upstream side.
When almost the entire surface facing the upstream side when in the
A temperature responsive valve that has a relationship of hitting the inner wall . 2. The valve body is formed in a flat plate shape, and the outer periphery is formed around the valve body.
A protrusion protruding from the valve body, and the valve body is a portion excluding the protrusion.
It is possible to set the valve opening position abutting the inner wall of the flow path,
By engaging the temperature responsive spring with the protrusion, the valve
The temperature responsive valve according to claim 1, wherein the body can be biased in a valve closing direction . 3. A pre-Symbol valve body is closed seated on the valve seat
Allow the fluid to leak from the valve seat downstream during
The temperature responsive valve according to claim 1 or 2, which has a flow path configuration . 4. The valve body is a portion surrounded by the valve seat.
And a small hole for fluid leakage at a position communicating with the downstream.
The temperature responsive valve according to claim 3 , wherein the temperature responsive valve is opened . 5. At least one of the valve body and the valve seat.
Therefore, at the part where these are in close contact with each other,
The temperature responsive valve according to claim 4 , wherein the temperature responsive valve is formed as a hood.