JPH08233121A - Faucet valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the sealing property, to suppress a rise of the sliding torque, and to obtain a smooth sliding property with no linking, by forming the sliding surface of at least one side of a fixed valve body and a movable valve body to compose a faucet valve with an amorphorous hard carbon membrane, and making the surface roughness of the sliding surfaces of both valve bodies within a specific value. CONSTITUTION: While one side sliding surface 31 (21) or both side sliding surfaces 31 and 21 of a fixed valve body 30 and a movable valve body 20 to compose a faucet valve 10 are formed of amorphorous hard carbon membranes 33 and 23, the surface roughness (Ra) of the sliding surfaces 31 and 21 is made 0.08 to 0.4μm. When both sliding surfaces 31 and 21 of the fixed valve body 30 and the movable valve body 20 are formed of amorphorous hard carbon membranes 33 and 23, the membrane thickness T1 of the amorphorous hard carbon membrane 23 at the movable valve body 20 side, and the membrane thickness T2 of the amorphorous hard carbon membrane 33 at the fixed valve body 30 side are made T1 >=T2 , and the surface roughness (the mean roughness on the center line) R1 of the sliding surface 21 at the mavable valve body 20 side, and the surface roughness R2 of the sliding surface 31 at the fixed valve body 30 side are made R1 >=R2 .

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a faucet valve composed of a movable valve body and a fixed valve body used for faucets, hot and cold water mixing taps, medical sampling valves, chemical liquid valves and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A faucet valve used for a faucet, a hot and cold water mixing valve, a medical sampling valve, and a chemical liquid valve has two disc-shaped valve bodies slidably contacting each other to be slid relative to each other. The fluid passage formed in the valve body is opened and closed. For example, a faucet valve used as a faucet or a hot and cold water mixing tap is shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), the movable valve body 20 and the solid valve body 30
With the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31 in contact with each other,
As shown in FIG. 4B, the movable valve body 2 is operated by operating the lever 40.
By moving 0, the fluid passages 22 and 32 formed in the valve bodies 20 and 30 are opened and closed to adjust the flow rate of the supply fluid.

The movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 3 are provided.
In the case of 0, high dimensional accuracy is required to maintain slidability and sealability, wear is severe due to continuous sliding, and corrosion is severe due to constant exposure to fluid. It can be processed with high precision and is made of ceramics with excellent wear resistance and corrosion resistance.

By the way, the slidability and the sealability are contradictory. In order to improve the sealability, the sliding contact surface is made extremely smooth, and a pair of valve bodies having these sliding contact surfaces are slid together. Then, there was a catch and an abnormal noise, and further, linking (adhesion) of the valve bodies sticking to each other and not moving. It has also been known that the sliding torque gradually increases as the number of sliding times increases even if linking is not achieved.

Therefore, various solutions have been proposed to prevent linking.

For example, there is one in which minute unevenness is formed on the sliding contact surface, or the valve body is made of porous ceramics having a three-dimensional mesh structure, and the open pores are impregnated with resin or oil as a lubricant. (JP-A-61-206875
No., 61-244980, 62-4949, 62-
37517, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-50475, etc.).

[0007]

However, in a facet valve in which minute unevenness is formed on the sliding contact surface, a lubricant is indispensable to maintain slidability, but if the lubricant flows out during long-term use, There is a possibility that the sliding surface having irregularities may slide and the sliding torque may increase, and the sealing performance may be impaired.

Further, depending on the type of lubricant, it is difficult to avoid deterioration of sliding characteristics due to deterioration during long-term use or adhesion of dust or the like. Moreover, sliding wear makes the sliding surface smooth, which inevitably causes linking.

On the other hand, in the case where the open pores in the porous body are filled with a resin, the resin portion having a low hardness is shaved first, and the resin having a lubricating action is not always in contact with the mating agent. There was variation. Moreover, since it is a porous material as compared with a dense mating material, it has a low hardness, and as a result, there is a problem that it is worn in a short period of time.

On the other hand, in recent years, amorphous hard carbon (diamond-like carbon, which has excellent wear resistance and a small friction coefficient,
Diamond Like Carbon (DLC),
Amorphous diamond, amorphous hydrogenated carbon,
(Also referred to as i-carbon) has attracted attention, and a sliding member in which a film made of this amorphous hard carbon is formed on a ceramic member has been proposed (JP-A-3-223190).
(See the official gazette).

However, in the sliding member disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-223190, although the surface roughness of the base material forming the amorphous hard carbon film is shown, the amorphous hard carbon film is formed. The surface roughness of the sliding contact surface after forming was not shown at all, and the preferable surface condition of the sliding contact surface was not suggested at all.

On the other hand, the number of sliding times of the facet valve is
Conventionally, it was required that the sliding torque be stable over the entire sliding of 100,000 times, but recently, it is beginning to be required that the sliding torque is low and stable up to 200,000 times. On the other hand, the present situation is that a simple use of an amorphous hard carbon film has not yielded a Faucet valve that can be favorably used over 200,000 times of sliding.

The object of the present invention is that the sealing property is good, the sliding torque does not increase even after repeated sliding, the base material can be prevented from being exposed, and the linking is performed for a long period of time. An object of the present invention is to provide a facet valve having a smooth sliding property without causing any trouble.

[0014]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the sliding contact surface of at least one of the fixed valve body and the movable valve body forming the facet valve is formed of an amorphous hard carbon film, and Surface roughness (Ra) of sliding contact surface is 0.08-0.4 μm
It is characterized by that.

That is, it was found that the surface roughness of the sliding contact surface after depositing the amorphous hard carbon film is important for improving the slidability. When the surface roughness (Ra) of the sliding contact surface is less than 0.08 μm, each valve element adsorbs and the sliding torque becomes large as described above, while when it exceeds 0.4 μm, the sealing property becomes poor. Since it will worsen, it was limited to the above range. When the amorphous hard carbon film is formed only on one valve body, the sliding contact surface of the valve body on which the amorphous hard carbon film is not formed also has a surface roughness (R
It is necessary to set a) to 0.08 to 0.4 μm.

Further, according to the present invention, the sliding contact surfaces of both the fixed valve body and the movable valve body forming the facet valve are formed of an amorphous hard carbon film, and the amorphous hard carbon film on the movable valve body side is formed. The film thickness T ₁ and the film thickness T ₂ of the amorphous hard carbon film on the fixed valve body side are set to T ₁ ≧ T ₂ , and the surface roughness (center line average roughness) R ₁ of the sliding contact surface on the movable valve body side is set. The surface roughness R ₂ of the sliding contact surface on the fixed valve body side is set to R ₁ ≧ R ₂ .

That is, in order to maintain excellent slidability over the number of sliding times of 200,000 times or more, an amorphous hard carbon film is coated on the sliding contact surfaces of both the fixed valve body and the movable valve body. The amorphous hard carbon film on the movable valve side T ₁
It has been found that it is sufficient to increase the thickness and increase the surface roughness R ₁ .

This is because the sliding surface on the fixed valve body side partially slides, whereas the entire surface on the movable valve body side always slides, so the sliding conditions are severe. That is, by thickening the amorphous hard carbon film on the movable valve body side, it is possible to prevent the film from being completely worn away by sliding wear, and to increase the surface roughness of the amorphous hard carbon film on the movable valve body side. As a result, it is possible to prevent a smooth surface due to sliding wear.

[0019]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. The same parts as the conventional parts are indicated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a view showing only a valve body of a faucet valve according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing only a movable valve body 20, and FIG. 3 is a view showing only a fixed valve body 30.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fixed valve body 30 and the movable valve body 20, which are disc-shaped, are kept in contact with each other at their sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31, and the movable valve body 20 is moved to move the movable valve body 20 to each other. Fluid passages 22, 32 provided in the valve bodies 20, 30 of
Is opened and closed to adjust the flow rate of the fluid.

The movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 are also provided.
Since a material having excellent wear resistance and resistant to deformation is required for each of the bases 24 and 34, each of the bases 24 and 34 is formed of a hard metal such as brass, stainless steel, or a cemented carbide, or ceramics, and the surface thereof is amorphous. Hard carbon films 23 and 33 are adhered to form sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31.

Here, the ceramics forming the bases 24 and 34 are sintered bodies mainly containing alumina, zirconia, silicon carbide, silicon nitride and the like, and a predetermined amount of a predetermined sintering aid or the like is mixed therein. Can be obtained at. For example, for alumina, at least one of CaO, SiO ₂ , and MgO is used, and for silicon carbide, C, B, B ₄ C, Al ₂ O ₃ ,
For Y ₂ O _{3 and the} like, and for silicon nitride, the periodic table 2
Oxides and nitrides of a and 3a group elements are respectively added as sintering aids, and for zirconia, Y ₂ O ₃ , CaO,
Stabilizers such as MgO are added.

The surface roughness (center line average roughness: Ra) on the amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33 forming the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31 of each valve body is 0.08 to 0.4 μm, respectively. Within the range. This is because when the surface roughness (Ra) is less than 0.08 μm, the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31 are too smooth to be easily adsorbed, and when the surface roughness (Ra) exceeds 0.4 μm, the sealing property deteriorates. Is.

The thickness of each of the amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33 is within the range of 0.3 to 1.5 μm. This is because when the thickness is less than 0.3 μm, it is easily worn away due to abrasion, and conversely, when the thickness is more than 1.5 μm, it is easily peeled off due to distortion during film formation.

In this embodiment, the sliding contact surface 2 of both valve bodies is
1 and 31 are formed of amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33,
It is also possible that only one of them is formed of an amorphous hard carbon film.
In this case, the other sliding contact surface is made of ceramics and has a surface roughness (Ra) of 0.08 to 0.4 μm. However, in order to maintain preferable slidability for a longer period of time, the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31 of both valve bodies are made of the amorphous hard carbon film 23,
It is preferable to form 33.

Further, according to the present invention, when both valve bodies are provided with the amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33 as in the embodiment of FIGS. It has been found that the relationship between the film thickness and the surface roughness of the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31 is important.

That is, when comparing the thickness T ₁ of the amorphous hard carbon film 23 on the movable valve body 20 side with the thickness T ₂ of the amorphous hard carbon film 33 on the fixed valve body 30 side, T ₁ ≧ When T ₂ is satisfied and the surface roughness R ₁ of the sliding contact surface 21 on the movable valve body 20 side and the surface roughness R ₂ of the sliding contact surface 31 on the fixed valve body 30 side are compared, R ₁ ≧ R _The point that ₂ is satisfied is important.

That is, the sliding contact surface 21 on the movable valve body 20 side is always entirely slid, and is more easily worn than on the fixed valve body 30 side. Therefore, when sliding is repeated, the sliding contact surface 21 of the movable valve body 20 is repeated. Although the amount of wear on the side becomes large, if the thickness T ₁ of the amorphous hard carbon film 23 is made large in advance and the surface roughness R ₁ at the movable valve body 20 side is made large, a good thickness will be obtained for a long period of time. The range of surface roughness can be maintained.

Further, the surface roughness R of the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31.
_1, for R ₂ preferably satisfy the R _1> R _2.

Although various methods such as the CVD method and the PVD method are used for depositing the amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33, the conditions such as gas pressure, temperature and time during film formation may be changed. The thicknesses T ₁ and T ₂ can be freely adjusted by. The surface roughness R ₁ and R ₂ on the amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33 can be freely adjusted by changing the surface roughness of the substrates 24 and 34 and the film forming conditions.

Further, although the above embodiment has shown the example using the disc-shaped valve body, the present invention is not limited to this shape, and is applied to various types of facet valves such as ball valves. It goes without saying that you can do it.

Experimental Example 1 First, the bases 24 and 34 of the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 forming the facet valve are made of alumina ceramics, and the movable valve body 20 is a disk-shaped body having an outer diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 10 mm. A fixed valve body 30 having a fluid passage 22 with a diameter of 5 mm
Is a disk-shaped body having an outer diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of 8 mm and a fluid passage 32 having a diameter of 5 mm.

Then, an amorphous hard carbon film was deposited on the surface of one valve body. As a method for forming the amorphous hard carbon film, an ion plating method in which carbon ions obtained by ionizing benzene (C ₆ H ₆ ) gas with a filament is vapor-deposited on the surface of the substrate by an ion accelerator, and the thickness is 0.
It was 8 μm.

Several prototypes of the sliding valve surfaces 21 and 31 of the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 having different surface roughness are manufactured.
A sliding experiment was conducted.

In the experiment, the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 were
While pressing the casing with an axial force of 30 kgf, 1 kg / c of hot water at 80 ° C is placed in the fluid passages 22 and 32.
It was injected at a pressure of m ^{2 and} the operating force required to slide the movable valve body 20 by the operating lever 40 was measured.

As the evaluation criteria in this test, it was judged that the slidability was good when the maximum operating force of the operating lever 40 after sliding 100,000 times was 0.8 kg or less. The results are shown in Table 1 and FIG.

As is clear from Table 1, in the case where the amorphous hard carbon film is not formed on both valve bodies (No. 1), the operating force of the operating lever 40 increases rapidly during sliding 100,000 times. The subsequent operation force was as large as 3.0 kgf.

No. Even if the amorphous hard carbon film 33 is formed on the fixed valve body 30 side as in 2, the surface roughness (R
When a) was less than 0.08 μm, adsorption occurred at the initial stage of sliding and the operating force was temporarily increased.

In contrast to these, 3 to 5, an amorphous hard carbon film is formed on one of the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30, and the surface roughness (Ra) of the sliding contact surface is 0.08 to 0. In the case of the range of 0.4 μm, the maximum operating force was 0.8 kgf or less, and good slidability was exhibited.

[0041]

[Table 1]

Experimental Example 2 Next, in the same manner as described above, several kinds of sliding contact surfaces having different surface roughness were made as prototypes, and a leak test of the facet valve was conducted.

First, the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 are soaked in water by a casing having a notch so that the fluid passages 22 and 32 are completely blocked by the axial force of 30 kgf. Let After that, air was flown in from the fluid passage 22 side at a pressure of 4 kg / cm ² , and the quality of the sealing property was judged by whether or not bubbles were generated from the notch of the casing.

The results are shown in Table 2. From this result, it is clear that when the sliding contact surfaces of both the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 have a surface roughness (Ra) of 0.4 μm or less, bubbles do not occur and the sealing property is good. .

Therefore, if an amorphous hard carbon film is formed on at least one of the sliding contact surfaces and the surface roughness (Ra) of both sliding contact surfaces is within the range of 0.08 to 0.4 μm, It can be seen that low operating force and high sealing performance can be maintained for a long time.

[0046]

[Table 2]

Experimental Example 3 Next, the movable valve body 2 forming the facet valve shown in FIG.
0 and the bases 24 and 34 of the fixed valve body 30 are made of alumina ceramics, and the movable valve body 20 has an outer diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 10
The fixed valve body 30 has a shape of a disc-shaped body having an outer diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of 8 mm, and a fluid passage 32 having a diameter of 5 mm.

Amorphous hard carbon films 23 and 33 were adhered to the surfaces of both valve bodies to form sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31. As a method for forming the amorphous hard carbon film, an ion plating method was adopted in which carbon ions obtained by ionizing benzene (C ₆ H ₆ ) gas with a filament were deposited on the surface of the substrate by an ion accelerator.

Further, the surface roughness R of the sliding contact surfaces 21 and 31.
Several kinds of ₁ , R ₂ and amorphous hard carbon films 23, 33 having different thicknesses T ₁ , T ₂ were made as prototypes and a sliding test was conducted.

In the experiment, the movable valve body 20 and the fixed valve body 30 are
While pressing the casing with an axial force of 30 kgf, 1 kg / c of hot water at 80 ° C is placed in the fluid passages 22 and 32.
It was injected at a pressure of m ^{2 and} the operating force required to slide the movable valve body 20 by the operating lever 40 was measured. The length from the fulcrum of the operating lever 40 to the point of action was 65 mm. As an evaluation criterion by this test, it was judged that the slidability was good when the maximum operating force of the operating lever 40 when sliding 200,000 times was 0.8 kg or less.

Further, the sliding contact surface 21 on the movable valve body 20 side after sliding 200,000 times was observed to examine whether or not the amorphous hard carbon film 23 was abraded and the substrate 24 was exposed. The results are shown in Table 3.
And as shown in FIGS.

Clearly from these results, the movable valve body 20
The thickness T ₁ of the amorphous hard carbon film 23 on the side is smaller than the fixed valve body 30 side (No. 1, 2, 3), or the movable valve body 2
When the surface roughness R ₁ of the sliding contact surface 21 on the 0 side is smaller than the fixed valve body 30 side (No. 1, 4, 7), the amorphous hard carbon film 23 on the movable valve body 20 side is worn away. The substrate 24 was exposed, and the operating force exceeded 0.8 kgf.

On the other hand, the thickness T ₁ of the amorphous hard carbon film 23 on the movable valve body 20 side is equal to or larger than the thickness T ₂ on the fixed valve body 30 side, and the surface roughness of the sliding contact surface 21 on the movable valve body 20 side is large. The surface roughness R ₁ is not less than the surface roughness R ₂ on the fixed valve body 30 side (No.
No. 5,6,8,9) does not expose the substrate and the operating force is 0.
It was an excellent result of 7 kgf or less.

[0054]

[Table 3]

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sliding contact surface of at least one of the fixed valve body and the movable valve body forming the facet valve is formed of an amorphous hard carbon film, and both sliding surfaces are formed. By setting the surface roughness (Ra) of the contact surface to be 0.08 to 0.4 μm, it is possible to provide a high-performance facet valve capable of maintaining a low operating force and a high sealing property for a long period of time.

Further, according to the present invention, the sliding contact surfaces of both the fixed valve body and the movable valve body forming the facet valve are formed of the amorphous hard carbon film, and the amorphous hard carbon on the movable valve body side is formed. Film thickness T ₁ and amorphous hard carbon film thickness T _{2 on the} fixed valve body side
Is T ₁ ≧ T ₂ , and the surface roughness (center line average roughness) R ₁ of the sliding contact surface on the movable valve body side and the surface roughness R ₂ of the sliding contact surface on the fixed valve body side are R ₁ ≧ R ₂ . As a result, even after sliding 200,000 times 0.8
Since a low operating force of not more than kgf is maintained and the substrate is not exposed, it is possible to provide an extremely high-performance facet valve capable of maintaining good slidability for a long period of time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing only a valve body of a faucet valve of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the movable valve body of FIG.

3 is a perspective view showing the fixed valve body of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an operating state of a general faucet valve, in which (A) is a view in which a fluid passage is opened,
(B) is a view in which the fluid passage is cut off.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of sliding times and the operating force in the facet valve of the present invention and the comparative example.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of times of sliding and the operating force in the facet valve of the present invention and the comparative example.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of times of sliding and the operating force in the facet valve of the present invention and the comparative example.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of sliding times and the operating force in the facet valve of the present invention and the comparative example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Faucet valve 20: Movable valve body 21: Sliding contact surface 22: Fluid passage 23: Amorphous hard carbon film 24: Base body 30: Fixed valve body 31: Sliding contact surface 32: Fluid passage 33: Amorphous hard Carbon film 34: Substrate 40: Operating lever

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sliding valve contact surface of at least one of a fixed valve element and a movable valve element constituting a valve is formed of an amorphous hard carbon film, and the surface roughness (Ra) of the sliding contact element of both valve elements is determined. 0.08-0.
Faucet valve characterized by having a thickness of 4 μm. 2. A sliding contact surface of both a fixed valve body and a movable valve body which form a valve is formed of an amorphous hard carbon film, and is fixed to a film thickness T ₁ of the amorphous hard carbon film on the movable valve body side. The film thickness T ₂ of the amorphous hard carbon film on the valve body side is T ₁ ≧ T ₂ , and the surface roughness (center line average roughness) R ₁ of the sliding contact surface on the movable valve body side and the sliding contact on the fixed valve body side. A facet valve having a surface roughness R ₂ of R ₁ ≧ R ₂ .