JP4953438B2 - Fluid control valve unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fluid control valve unit that is inserted into a fluid device such as an intake manifold and used to control the flow rate of air flowing in an independent intake pipe.

  In an automobile engine, an intake control valve is arranged in a plurality of independent intake pipes that distribute air from the collector of the intake manifold to each cylinder of the engine, and distribution control of air into each cylinder is performed. Became. Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose an intake manifold having such an intake control valve. Recently, a unit base body integrally including a valve cylinder corresponding to the plurality of independent intake pipes, a valve body supported in an openable / closable manner in each valve cylinder, the valve cylinder and the independent intake pipe (intake port) The intake manifold, which is configured so that the intake control valve unit is assembled and inserted into a predetermined part of the intake manifold of the engine, has been put into practical use. .

The gasket includes a joint base portion that is attached to a joint end outer peripheral portion of the valve cylinder, and a seal portion that is elastically contacted with the joint end portion of the independent intake pipe (fluid conduit). As the gasket, the heat resistance (high-temperature resistance, low temperature property) since it is excellent in such as acrylic rubber, moldings of Furoroshiri cone rubber and low fluorine secondary vulcanization must rubber material such as rubber is preferably used. In particular, acrylic rubber moldings are often used because of their excellent heat resistance.

  By the way, when producing a molded body of a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization as described above, such a rubber material has a gentle vulcanization curve, so when trying to mold by one vulcanization, It takes a long time and occupies the mold during that time, and the molding efficiency becomes extremely poor. In order to prevent this, an unvulcanized rubber material is injected into a mold having a predetermined shape, heated to a temperature of 160 to 190 ° C. for 2 to 3 minutes for primary vulcanization, and once removed from the mold. A primary molded product that can maintain its shape is obtained, and this primary molded product is transferred into an oven without a mold, heated at 180 to 190 ° C. for 5 to 8 hours, and subjected to secondary vulcanization to obtain a final product. Obtain the next molded product. In this case, since shrinkage occurs in the secondary vulcanization, dimensional accuracy of the preformed product in anticipation of the shrinkage is required. Then, when attaching the gasket as the final molded product to the valve body, the adhesive is applied to the inner peripheral part of the joint base of the gasket and then spread according to the degree of contraction. It is necessary to fit elastically to the outer periphery of the end. Since the gasket mounted in such a expanded state always has a tensile stress, it also accelerates rubber sag. Also, the mounting operation while pushing one by one is troublesome and has become a factor that impairs the efficiency of the assembly operation of the intake manifold.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a fluid control valve unit for a fluid device having a plurality of fluid conduits, which takes advantage of the characteristics of a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization, An object of the present invention is to provide a fluid control valve unit that can be easily and firmly attached.

A fluid control valve unit according to the present invention is a fluid control valve unit mounted on a fluid device having a plurality of fluid conduits, and a unit base body integrally including valve cylinders corresponding to the plurality of conduits; Each valve cylinder includes a valve body that is openably and closably supported, and a gasket that is interposed at a joint portion between the valve cylinder body and the pipe line. The valve cylinder body has an outer periphery of a cylindrical joint end portion thereof. The gasket is provided with a flange portion for attaching a gasket, and the gasket includes a cylindrical joint base portion attached to a cylindrical joint end portion of the valve cylinder, and a seal portion elastically contacted to the cylindrical joint end portion of the pipe line. And an engagement groove for engaging the gasket mounting flange is formed on the inner periphery of the cylindrical joint base, and the gasket is made of a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization. 1 having an original shape corresponding to the cylindrical joint base and the seal part A primary molded product made of a rubber material in a vulcanized state is covered with the cylindrical joint base portion of the valve cylinder body through an adhesive, and is attached to the engagement groove portion. The second vulcanization is carried out in a state in which the parts are engaged, so that they are firmly and integrally fixed to the valve body.

Further, the seal portion of the gasket may be formed in a seal lip shape. Furthermore, the primary molded product may be formed by injecting a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization into a predetermined mold in an unvulcanized state and performing primary vulcanization.

  As the rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization, a material selected from acrylonitrile rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, and low-temperature fluororubber can be used. In particular, as the acrylic rubber, hydrogenated acrylonitrile rubber (H-NBR) is desirably used. Further, as the unit base, a synthetic resin molding or a metal molding is used. And this unit base | substrate shall be inserted with respect to the intake manifold as said fluid apparatus so that the several independent intake pipe of the parallel state as said fluid pipe line may be crossed. In the intake manifold, the fluid control valve unit of the present invention is applied to a tumble control valve, a variable intake length valve, and the like.

  In the fluid control valve unit according to the present invention, the gasket interposed in the joint portion between the valve cylinder and the fluid conduit includes a joint base portion attached to the outer peripheral portion of the joint end portion of the valve barrel, and the conduit And a sealing portion elastically contacted with the joining end portion of the fluid device, and in a state of being inserted into a predetermined position of the fluid device, the sealing portion elastically contacting the joining end portion of the pipe line The fluid is sealed at the joint with the fluid conduit, and fluid flow control is accurately performed by the valve body supported to be freely opened and closed in each valve cylinder. The gasket is a state in which a primary molded product of a primary vulcanized state using a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization is externally attached to the outer peripheral portion of the valve body joint end portion with an adhesive base. Because it is mounted by secondary vulcanization, double fixing action works due to the complete vulcanization by this secondary vulcanization and the curing of the adhesive and the shrinkage of the rubber material during the secondary vulcanization. In addition, the outer peripheral portion of the joining end portion is firmly and firmly integrated with each other.

Thus, since it is integrated with the shrinkage of the rubber material at the time of the secondary vulcanization, it is not necessary to increase the dimensional accuracy of the preformed product in the primary vulcanization molding, and the preforming metal The processing cost of the mold can be reduced. Further, when the primary molded product is externally attached to the outer periphery of the valve body joint end portion with the joint base, the primary molded product has not yet reached a complete vulcanized state. Thus, it is not accompanied by the trouble of spreading the joint base one by one, and can be done very easily. Moreover, since it is intended to secondary vulcanization primary molded article of a primary vulcanized with unit base, in close contact integrated in the valve cylinder of the unit substrate without deformation during mounting, thereby, the mounting state The gasket does not have a tensile internal stress that promotes rubber sag.

  In the present invention, assuming that the outer peripheral portion of the joint end portion of the valve body is provided with a flange for attaching the gasket, and the engagement groove portion is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the joint base portion of the gasket, the above 2 At the time of the next vulcanization, vulcanization is performed in a state in which the flange portion and the engagement groove portion are fitted with each other. Therefore, the gasket is extremely firmly and stably integrated with the valve body. Further, if the gasket seal portion is formed in a seal lip shape, when the fluid control valve unit of the present invention is inserted and assembled to a predetermined part of the fluid device, the corresponding joint end portion of the fluid pipe line Elastic contact is made more accurately, the sealing performance of this part is improved, and the accuracy of fluid flow control by opening and closing the valve is further increased.

  If the rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization is selected from acrylic rubber, acrylonitrile rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, and low-temperature fluororubber, these rubber materials have excellent heat resistance and the like. The above characteristics improve the sealability of the fluid pipe line in the fluid device, and the accuracy of the fluid flow control by opening and closing the valve becomes higher as described above.

  If the fluid device is an intake manifold, and the unit base is inserted so as to cross a plurality of independent intake pipes in parallel as the fluid conduit, the valve body with respect to the plurality of independent intake pipes The arrangement is simple and accurate, contributing to the advancement of intake control in the intake manifold, reducing the number of assembly parts and assembly man-hours of the intake manifold, streamlining the assembly of the internal combustion engine (engine) and improving its reliability. Greatly contributes to improvement.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of an intake manifold into which an embodiment of a fluid control valve unit of the present invention is inserted, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the fluid control valve unit, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a part of the fluid control valve unit.

  FIG. 1 shows an intake manifold (fluid device) 1 of an automobile engine, and the intake manifold 1 includes a plurality of independent intake pipes (fluid pipes) 3 branched from a main collector 2. The number of independent intake pipes 3 corresponds to the number of cylinders of an engine (not shown). FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section along one independent intake pipe 3. The independent intake pipe 3 is divided into a main pipe line 3a and a sub pipe line 3b from the middle, and a tumble control valve 4 is attached to the main pipe line 3a. The discharge side opening 3c of the independent intake pipe 3 is joined to an engine cylinder head (not shown), and the tumble control valve 4 functions to generate a tumble flow in the cylinder by opening and closing. An attachment hole 5 for an injector (not shown) is formed in the vicinity of the front end opening 3c.

  A short branch independent intake pipe (fluid pipe) 7 that joins the independent intake pipe 3 from the sub-collector 6 is provided in parallel. A fluid control valve unit 8 that functions as a variable intake length valve is inserted in the middle of the branch independent intake pipe 7 as a unit base 9 so as to cross the plurality of branch independent intake pipes 7. . The function as a variable intake length valve is to open and close depending on the operating conditions of the engine and to change the intake pulsation frequency equivalently by changing the intake pipe length. The fluid control valve unit 8 is inserted from the side of the intake manifold 1 (from the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1), and the intake manifold 1 is inserted with a guide member and an insertion state when the unit base 9 is inserted. A holding member (both not shown) for maintaining the above is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the fluid control valve unit 8 includes a unit base 9 integrally including four valve cylinders 10 corresponding to a four-cylinder engine, and each valve cylinder valve cylinder 10. The valve body 11 is supported in an openable and closable manner inside, and the gasket 12 is interposed at the joint between the valve body 10 and the branch independent intake pipe 7. The unit base 9 is made of a molded body such as aluminum, and the four valve cylinders 10 are integrally formed so that their axial centers are in parallel and are connected in series. Since the number of valve cylinders 10 corresponds to the number of cylinders of the engine as described above, it is not limited to four.

  One valve shaft 11a penetrating each valve cylinder 10 in the diametrical direction is supported on the unit base 9 so as to be rotatable. A butterfly valve (valve element) is provided on the valve shaft 11a in each valve cylinder 10. 11 is fastened and fixed. A gear 11b is fixed to one end portion of the valve shaft 11a that protrudes from the unit base 9. When the gear 11b is inserted and assembled to the intake manifold 1, the gear 11b meshes with a valve drive transmission gear (not shown). Thus, opening / closing control of the butterfly valve 11 is performed. Needless to say, the gear 11b may have a fan shape of approximately 90 ° in terms of its function. In addition, the butterfly valve 11 is configured to open and close simultaneously by rotating the shaft of one valve shaft 11a, but may be configured to open and close individually.

  A gasket mounting flange 10b is formed on the outer peripheral portion of each valve cylinder 10 on the joint end portion 10a side with the branch independent intake pipe 7. Further, the gasket 12 includes a joining base portion 12a attached to the outer peripheral portion of the joining end portion 10a in the valve body 10, and a seal portion 12b elastically contacted with the joining end portion 7a in the branch independent intake pipe 7. An engagement groove portion 12c is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the joining base portion 12a so as to be integrated with the gasket mounting flange portion 10b. The seal portion 12b is formed in two seal lip shapes, elastically deforms by elastically contacting the joint end portion 7a of the branch independent intake pipe 7, and the resilience of the elastic contact portion is maintained. Yes. This elastic deformation is performed along the joining end portion 7a indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

  The gasket 12 is made of a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization, such as acrylic rubber, acrylonitrile rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, and low-temperature fluororubber as described above. Preferably, hydrogenated acrylonitrile rubber is used. The integration of the gasket 12 and each valve body 10 corresponds to the joining base portion 12a and the seal portion 12b by injecting one of these unvulcanized rubber materials into a predetermined mold and performing primary vulcanization. It is a primary molded product with an original shape, and an adhesive is applied to the inner surface of the portion corresponding to the joint base 12a of the primary molded product, and attached to the outer peripheral portion of the joint end 10a in the valve body 10, This is done by placing in the oven together with the unit base 9 and performing secondary vulcanization. The primary vulcanization is performed at 160 to 190 ° C. for 2 to 3 minutes, and the secondary vulcanization is performed by heating at 180 to 190 ° C. for 5 to 8 hours. As the adhesive, an adhesive that cures under the secondary vulcanization conditions is used. Specifically, resin adhesives such as phenol resin adhesives and epoxy resin adhesives, and rubber adhesives such as silicone rubber adhesives, fluorine rubber adhesives, and nitrile rubber adhesives are employed. .

  Since the primary molded product by the primary vulcanization is not yet completely vulcanized, the valve cylinder 10 can be easily attached to the gasket mounting flange 10b. Further, since it contracts by the subsequent secondary vulcanization, there is no problem even if the portion corresponding to the joint base 12a is somewhat loose with respect to the joint end outer peripheral portion of the valve body 10. Therefore, it is not necessary to improve the dimensional accuracy of the primary molding die. During the secondary vulcanization, the portion corresponding to the joint base 12a is secondarily vulcanized while contracting in the centripetal direction, and the adhesive is cured, whereby the gasket 12 and the valve body 10 are The engagement groove portion 12c and the gasket mounting flange portion 10b are in close contact with each other. In this way, the shrinkage during the secondary vulcanization and the curing action of the adhesive are synergistic, and the gasket 12 is firmly integrated with the valve body 10. In this case, the fitting relationship between the engagement groove portion 12c and the gasket mounting flange portion 10b is extremely effective in achieving strong fixation and integration of the gasket 12 with respect to the valve body 10; If sufficient fixation and integration can be achieved by shrinkage during vulcanization and curing of the adhesive, these may not be provided. Further, the shape of the seal portion 12b is not limited to the seal lip shape as illustrated.

  In the above embodiment, the example applied to the variable intake length valve has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to a tumble control valve. Further, although the unit base 9 is an aluminum molded body, it may be a molded body of other metal or a resin molded body that does not deform even at the secondary vulcanization temperature. Furthermore, the intake manifold is taken as an example of the fluid device, but the present invention can also be applied to other fluid devices, in which the control valve is provided in the fluid conduit.

It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the intake manifold which inserted one Embodiment of the fluid control valve unit of this invention. It is a partially broken front view of the fluid control valve unit. It is an enlarged view of the X section in FIG. It is a top view which shows a part of the fluid control valve unit.

Explanation of symbols

1 Intake manifold (fluid device)
3 Independent intake pipe (fluid pipe)
7 Branch independent intake pipe (fluid pipe)
7a Joint end 8 Fluid control valve unit 9 Unit base 10 Valve body 10a Joint end 10b Gasket mounting flange 11 Butterfly valve (valve)
12 gasket 12a joint base 12b seal part 12c engagement groove part

Claims (5)

A fluid control valve unit mounted on a fluid device having a plurality of fluid conduits,
A unit base body integrally including a valve cylinder corresponding to the plurality of pipe lines, a valve body supported by each valve cylinder so as to be openable and closable, and a joint between the valve cylinder and the pipe line. With gaskets,
The valve cylinder includes a gasket mounting flange on the outer periphery of the cylindrical joint end,
The gasket is provided with a cylindrical interface base to be mounted on the tubular joint ends of the valve cylindrical body, and a seal portion which is elastically contacted to the cylindrical connecting ends of the conduit, the tubular interface base An engaging groove portion is formed on the inner peripheral portion to engage the gasket mounting collar.
The gasket is made of a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization, and a primary molded product made of a rubber material in a primary vulcanized state having an original shape corresponding to the cylindrical joint base and the seal portion is used as an adhesive. Through the cylindrical joint base portion and externally attached to the tubular joint end portion of the valve body, and secondary vulcanization in a state where the gasket mounting flange is engaged with the engagement groove portion , A fluid control valve unit, wherein the fluid control valve unit is firmly fixed to the valve cylinder . The fluid control valve unit according to claim 1,
The seal part of the gasket is a fluid control valve unit formed in a seal lip shape. In the fluid control valve unit according to claim 1 or 2,
The primary control product is formed by injecting a rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization into a predetermined mold in an unvulcanized state and performing primary vulcanization and molding. Valve unit. The fluid control valve unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The fluid control valve unit, wherein the rubber material that requires secondary vulcanization is selected from acrylic rubber, acrylonitrile rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, and low-temperature fluorine rubber. In the fluid control valve unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The fluid control valve unit according to claim 1, wherein the fluid device is an intake manifold, and the unit base is inserted so as to traverse a plurality of parallel independent intake pipes as the fluid conduit.

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