JP4478761B2 - Fluid switching device with flat tube - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is based on a flat tube that allows a plurality of flat tubes to be stacked and bound, and allows fluid to flow out only from the throttled tube by adjusting, for example, a non-contact variable throttle provided on the downstream side of the tube. The present invention relates to a fluid switching device.

  In the piping path through which the fluid flows, a switching valve is provided at the piping branch portion, and the branch piping path is selected to form a fluid path according to the situation. Such a switching valve system is described in Patent Document 1. This conventional switching valve system includes a switching member for selectively switching the first and second two outlet ports from one inlet port and a transfer member for operating the switching member.

  However, the switching valve system described in Patent Document 1 is liable to cause problems such as corrosion because the switching member or the like is in direct contact with the fluid, and the structure itself is complicated and the control is complicated.

  Conventionally, an electromagnetic valve or a manual switching valve has been used to switch the driving directions of various fluid actuators.

  However, when a solenoid valve is used, electrical wiring and a control circuit are necessary, and the structure is complicated. In addition, in the case of a manual switching valve, there are problems that the structure is complicated and reliable control cannot be performed. Furthermore, since the mechanical moving part of the valve is in contact with the fluid, it is necessary to take measures against problems such as corrosion, rust or leakage.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-257138

  The present invention is based on the above prior art, and can automatically and reliably switch the flow direction of fluid with a simple structure, and preferably can switch the flow direction of fluid without contact with the fluid. An object is to provide a fluid switching device.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of flexible tubes, a common fluid supply source to which the tubes are connected, and the plurality of tubes are stacked and bundled in a flat state. A bundling portion that regulates an operating range in a direction perpendicular to the surface, and changes a flow rate of the tube passing through the bundling portion based on a change in fluid pressure in each tube on the downstream side of the bundling portion. A fluid switching device using a flat tube is provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the fluid pressure in each tube is changed by a variable throttle that is not in contact with the fluid provided on the downstream side of the bundling portion, and the fluid flows out only from the throttled tube.
The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that the plurality of tubes can be used by being connected to a water pipe.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, among the plurality of tubes stacked and bound in a flat state, the tube whose pressure is increased by being squeezed on the downstream side swells and crushes the low-pressure tube. And the fluid flows only through the high-pressure tube. Thereby, according to the change of the fluid pressure on the downstream side, the flow path can be switched to the tube having a high pressure, and the fluid can be reliably flowed only to the high pressure tube.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the tube to which the fluid is to be flowed is squeezed by the variable throttle that is not in contact with the fluid, and the fluid is caused to flow only to the throttled tube, so that the throttle mechanism causes problems such as corrosion and rust by the fluid. Without switching the tube.
According to the invention of claim 3, a hose is connected to a faucet for domestic use and a plurality of tubes are branched from the hose, so that it can be used easily without using a special dedicated piping facility. Can improve convenience.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown to (A), it branches into two tubes, the 1st system tube 11 and the 2nd system tube 12, from the common inlet tube 13. FIG. In this case, in the state as it is, as shown to (A), the fluid flows equally into the tubes 11 and 12 of the 1st system and the 2nd system. In the present invention, as shown in (B), the two tubes 11 and 12 are overlapped in a flat state at the bundling portion 14 and, for example, tied with a strong string or restrained with a rigid body, Squeeze together. Therefore, the operation range in the direction perpendicular to the flat surface, that is, the amount of swelling of both tubes is restricted, and the flow passage area of the entire two tubes is restricted so as not to increase. In this state, when the force of the pressurizing unit 15 acts on the downstream side of one tube (for example, the first system tube) 11 to pressurize the tube 11 in the closing direction, the pressure in the tube 11 increases. Tube 11 swells. Accordingly, since the first system tube 11 swells in the bundling portion 14, the second system tube 12 is flattened and closed, and the fluid does not flow. As a result, the fluid flows only in the pressurized tube 11 and supplies the fluid against the applied pressure. In addition, you may adjust the pressure of the pressurization part 15 so that the ratio of the flow volume which flows through both the tubes 11 and 12 may change according to a pressure difference, without one tube closing completely.

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, three tubes are switched.
As shown in (A), three systems of tubes 19, 20, 21 branch from a common inlet tube 13 via a header 18. The three tubes 19, 20, and 21 are overlapped at the bundling portion 22 in a flat state, the operation range in the direction perpendicular to the flat surface is restricted, and the total flow area of the three tubes does not increase. So that the bulge is regulated. Pressure units 23, 24, and 25 are provided on the downstream side of the binding unit 22. Each pressurizing unit 23, 24, 25 is, for example, a fluid actuator for various operations. The fluid pressure in the tube changes according to the operation, or the tube is squeezed from the outside or the flow path is squeezed by a valve or the like. By increasing the internal pressure, the fluid pressure of each tube is changed, and the back pressure of each tube in the binding portion 22 is changed.
In the example shown in the figure, the pressurizing portions 23, 24, and 25 have a throttle valve structure, and the valve body is in contact with the fluid. Instead of such a structure, each tube is squeezed from the outside. As a structure for increasing the pressure in the tube, it is preferable to use a structure in which the throttle mechanism is not in contact with a fluid because problems such as corrosion and rust caused by the fluid and leakage problems are unlikely to occur.

  In the state of (A), since the pressures of the pressurizing units 23, 24, and 25 are equal, the flow rates through the tubes 19, 20, and 21 are equal. From this state, as shown in (B), when the pressure part 23 of the tube 19 operates and the pressure in the tube 19 rises, the tube 19 swells, and in the binding part 22, the swelled tube 19 becomes another part. The two tubes 20 and 21 are crushed and the flow paths of these tubes 20 and 21 are blocked. Therefore, the fluid supplied from the inlet tube 13 flows into the tube 19 that has become high pressure. Note that the pressure in the pressurizing unit may be adjusted so that the ratio of the flow rate flowing through each tube changes according to the pressure in each tube.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a basic configuration of an application example of the present invention. In this example, the fluid switching device of the present invention is applied to a fluid pressure motor.
As shown in (A), a plurality of (two in the figure) tubes 3 made of a flexible material are fixed in parallel to the axial direction on the cylindrical inner peripheral surface 2 of the drum 1 constituting the fixed outer frame. The A rotating body (FIG. 2) is coaxially fitted on the inner surface of the drum 1. A spiral protrusion is formed on the outer surface of the rotating body. As shown in FIG. 5B, the spiral protrusion 4 is composed of a plurality of rotatable rollers 5 and presses against each tube 3.

  When a fluid (for example, tap water) is supplied to each tube 3 as indicated by an arrow W, the tube 3 on the front side of the spiral protrusion 4 expands due to water pressure, and the rotating protrusion is rotated by pressing the spiral protrusion 4 to the left side in the figure. Let

4 is a basic configuration diagram of a rotating body fitted into the drum of FIG. 3, (A) is a front view, and (B) is a side view.
A rotating body 7 is attached to the rotating shaft 6. The rotating body 7 is formed by laminating thin plate rotating plates 8. Each thin plate rotating plate 8 includes a plurality (four in this example) of thin plate rollers 5 having the same thickness along the outer periphery. Each roller 5 has a semicircle or more portion rotatably held in the arc-shaped notch 8 a of the rotating plate 8, and the remaining part of the arc portion protrudes from the outer surface of the rotating plate 8. The rotating plate 8 is laminated so that the projecting portion of the roller 5 is gradually shifted in phase when viewed from the axial direction, and the screw-like spiral protrusion 4 is formed on the outer surface of the rotating body 7 as a whole (FIG. 3B). reference).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a pressure state with respect to a tube of a fluid pressure motor according to an application example of the present invention.
Four tubes 11 of the first system and four tubes 12 of the second system are alternately mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the drum 1. A rotating body 7 is fitted on the inner surface of the drum 1 and rotates in the direction of the arrow. In the rotating body 7, the four rollers 5 protrude from the outer surface to form the spiral protrusion 4 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) as described above.

  In the state of (A), the second system tube 12 on the front side of the roller 5 rotating in the direction of the arrow is low-pressure and the tube is flattened, and the first system tube 11 while the roller 5 is getting over or just after getting over is in a high-pressure state. Is inflated. From this state, when the roller 5 rotates to get over and over the second system tube 12, as shown in (B), the second system tube 11 swells at a high pressure, and the first system tube 11 has a low pressure. It will be flattened. By alternately repeating the states (A) and (B) by the above-described automatic switching action of the fluid pressure, the rotating body 7 rotates in the drum 1 while getting over the two systems of tubes 11 and 12 smoothly. .

FIG. 6 is a piping system diagram of a fluid pressure motor according to an application example of the present invention.
As described above, the inlet tube 13 connected to the faucet branches into two systems, the first system tube 11 and the second system tube 12, and is squeezed by the bundling portion 14. On the downstream side of the bundling portion 14, the branch portion 14 is further branched into four pieces and mounted in the drum 1. The tube is a flexible flexible tube made of polyolefin resin.

  In such a piping configuration, the pressure in the two tubes is equal on the upstream side of the bundling portion 14, and the back pressure on the downstream side is different. That is, since a high pressure is generated when the roller of the rotating body passes over the tube in the drum 1, as described above, the pressure in the tubes of the first system and the second system alternately repeats high and low. Due to the pressure difference between the first tube 11 and the second tube 12, the high pressure tube crushes the low pressure tube in the binding portion 14, and the flow of the low pressure tube is interrupted.

  As a result, the automatic switching operation of the first system tube 11 and the second system tube 12 is performed in the drum 1. That is, the tube crushed by the roller (for example, the first system) is at a high pressure, and the tube (second system) to be crushed from now on is in a low pressure state. For this reason, in the binding part 14, the 1st system tube 11 interrupts | blocks the flow path of the 2nd system tube 12 (state shown in figure), and the pressure of the 2nd system tube 12 falls further. As a result, the roller crushes and rotates the tube 12 of the second system in the drum, and the second system increases in pressure. Conversely, in the first system, the rollers are separated and the pressure is reduced. Then, conversely, in the binding unit 14, the second system tube 12 blocks the flow path of the first system tube 11 and the roller rotates again. By repeating the above, the switching operation is carried out by self-excitation.

  In this case, since the time constant of pressure transmission changes by changing the position of the binding part 14, the switching frequency can be adjusted.

  Since the present invention can switch the outflow direction without directly contacting the fluid, for example, it can be used in the field of dangerous reagent fluid container filling operation that does not allow leakage, reactor cooling water control, factory wastewater flow sensor, etc. it can.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation principle of the embodiment of the present invention. Operation | movement explanatory drawing of another Example of this invention. The block diagram of the example of application of this invention. The block diagram of the example of application of this invention. Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the Example of this invention. The piping system figure of the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: drum, 2: inner peripheral surface, 3, 3a, 3b: tube, 4: spiral protrusion,
5: roller, 6: rotating shaft, 7: rotating body, 8: thin plate rotating plate, 8a: notch,
11: 1st system tube, 12: 2nd system tube, 13: Inlet tube,
14: Bundling part, 15: Pressurizing part, 18: Header, 19, 20, 21: Tube,
22: Bundling part, 23, 24, 25: Pressurizing part.

Claims (3)

A plurality of flexible tubes;
A common fluid source to which the tubes are connected;
A bundling portion that stacks and bundles the plurality of tubes in a flat state and regulates an operation range in a direction perpendicular to the flat surface ;
A pressurizing unit disposed on the downstream side of the binding unit with respect to the flow of fluid flowing through the flexible tube;
A fluid switching device using a flat tube , wherein the flow rate of each tube passing through the binding portion is changed by selectively increasing the fluid pressure in each tube by the pressurizing unit. The flatness according to claim 1, wherein the pressurizing unit is a variable throttle that is not in contact with a fluid, and the fluid pressure in each tube is changed by the variable throttle so that the fluid flows out only from the throttled tube. Fluid switching device using tubes.   The fluid switching device using a flat tube according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of tubes can be used by being connected to a water pipe.

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