JPS62155386A - Valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize an operational part of a valve, by driving the valve by means of a variation in the hydrogen gas pressure, which takes place accompanying a release or absorption of the hydrogen gas from hydrogen storage alloy at the time of heating or cooling of the alloy. CONSTITUTION:At one end of a valve body 6 of a change-over valve 2 is installed a piston 14, which is located in a piston chamber 1a, while at the other end is installed a spring 9, which pushes the valve body 6 toward the piston 14 side. On the opposite side of the side, on which the spring 9 is installed, is installed a bellows 15, while the inside of the bellows 15 is connected to a chamber in which hydrogen storage alloy 10 is placed. Thus, when the temperature of the hydrogen storage alloy 10 is changed by using a Peltier element 12, the pressure of the hydrogen gas in the bellows 15 varies, and the valve body 6 moves in the axial direction, holding the balance with the elastic force of the spring 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a valve, and particularly to a valve suitable for application to switching fluid flows.

[Background technology]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a so-called electromagnetic valve that switches the flow of fluids such as gas and liquid.

In the electromagnetic valve described above, electromagnetic force is used to reciprocate the valve body for opening and closing a fluid passage inserted through the valve body. Therefore, the operation unit for driving the valve body has a complicated structure, as it includes various parts attached to it, such as the valve body, a solenoid for reciprocating the valve body, and wiring for driving the solenoid. This means that it will occupy a large amount of space.

Further, in the case of a solenoid valve, especially a large-sized solenoid valve, the driving force thereof may not be sufficient. Therefore, when a large operating force is required, such as when the switching capacity of fluid is large, a pilot valve may be required, and there is also the problem that the valve port body becomes complicated.

Furthermore, so-called air-operated valves also require air piping for actuation, resulting in a problem that the structure becomes larger and more complicated.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a valve for switching fluid flow, etc.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology that can make the operating section compact.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows the valve body to be directly operated even when the valve body requires a large operating force.

[Summary of the invention]

By forming the operating part that operates the valve body inserted into the valve body with a hydrogen storage alloy housed in an airtight space and heating and cooling means for the hydrogen storage alloy, it is possible to simply heat and cool the hydrogen storage alloy. Since the valve body can be operated by releasing and absorbing the stored hydrogen gas, the operating section can be made smaller.

Further, since the hydrogen storage alloy has a large hydrogen gas storage capacity, it is possible to release and absorb a large amount of hydrogen gas even if it is a small amount. Therefore, even if the operating portion is small, a large operating force can be obtained, so even if a large force is required to operate the valve element, the valve element can be directly operated.

〔Example〕

The figure is a schematic sectional view showing a valve that is an embodiment of the present invention.

The valve of this embodiment is composed of an operating section 1 whose main body is a hollow housing having an inner space of a predetermined shape, and a switching valve section 2.

The main body of the switching valve section 2 includes a fluid inflow path 3 connected to a fluid pressure source (not shown), and a fluid pressure operated device, such as an air cylinder (not shown), which communicates with the inflow path 3. ) are provided with two outlet passages 4 and 4a connected to each cylinder chamber and two outlet passages 5 and 5a communicating with the atmosphere, and an annular valve for switching the flow passages is provided in the inner space. The body 6 is inserted. This valve body is provided with lip seals 7 around the predetermined portions to ensure airtightness, and in particular, two enlarged diameter portions located approximately in the center are provided with lip seals 7a and 7b for switching flow paths. is provided. In addition, seals 8 and 8a are attached near the tip and rear ends of the valve body 6, and between the tip of the valve body 6 and the inner end wall of the valve body. A spring 9 is attached.

On the other hand, inside the operating section 1, a hydrogen storage alloy 1O is filled in a space formed by partitioning the switching valve side with a filter 11 and the opposite side with a Vertier element (heating and cooling means) 12. There is. Moreover, the above-mentioned Bertier element 12 includes:
Heat dissipation board (heat dissipation means) 13 constituting the end of the main operation unit 1
are connected in a manner that allows heat transfer. This heat dissipation board 13 has fins 13a (
heat dissipation means) are installed.

A piston chamber 1a is formed inside the operating section 1, and a piston connected to the rear end of the valve body 6 inserted into the switching valve section 2 is disposed in the piston chamber 1a. 14 is slidably positioned.

The piston 14 is provided with the hydrogen storage alloy 10.
In order to prevent hydrogen gas released from escaping, a bellows 15 having an expandable structure is attached. Therefore, in this embodiment, the hydrogen gas released from the hydrogen storage alloy IO is accumulated in the airtight space 15a surrounded by the bellows 15 and the piston 14, and the piston 14 is pushed by the gas pressure.

The switching valve section 2 also prevents air from flowing in and out of the space 9a formed near the tip of the valve body 5 as the valve body 5 and the piston 14 connected thereto reciprocate. A ventilation hole 16 is provided for this purpose.

In addition, the hydrogen storage alloy 10 filled in the operating part l
It is known that the following relationship exists between the hydrogen gas and the enclosed hydrogen gas.

Hydrogen storage alloy lO releases hydrogen gas when heated,
On the contrary, it has the property of occluding when cooled, and an equilibrium expressed by the following equation (A) is established between this release and occlusion at a predetermined temperature.

M (solid) + Hg (gas) = M Ht (solid) + Q (calorific value)... (A) Here, M is a hydrogen storage alloy, H2 is hydrogen gas, M Ht is a metal hydride, and Q is the heat of formation. means.

When the hydrogen storage alloy 10 is cooled, the equilibrium of the above formula (A) shifts to the right, and conversely, when it is heated, it shifts to the left.

In the valve of this embodiment, the valve body 5 is operated using the hydrogen gas released and absorbed according to the above equation as a driving pressure source.

Examples of the hydrogen storage alloy 10 include LaNi alloy, 'g
Various materials such as Ji-based alloys can be used.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

As a specific example, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to switching the air supplied to and discharged from a cylinder chamber in order to drive an air cylinder.

First, a DC power source (
By supplying power from (not shown) and generating heat,
The hydrogen storage alloy 10 in contact with the hydrogen storage alloy 10 is heated. When the hydrogen storage alloy 10 is heated, it releases the stored hydrogen gas according to the formula (A). Therefore, the piston 14 and the bellows 15 attached to the piston 14
The airtight space tSa formed by the above is put into a pressurized state by the released hydrogen gas. As a result, the piston 14 is pushed downward in the drawing, and the valve body 6 connected thereto also moves in the axial direction in conjunction with this movement. Fig. 0 shows a completely moved state.

In the above state, air (fluid) serving as a pressure source for driving an air cylinder (not shown) is transferred from the inflow path 3 to the outflow path 4a.
By supplying the liquid to one cylinder chamber through the above, the cylinder chamber is pressurized and the piston within the cylinder is moved. As the piston moves, the air in the other cylinder chamber is discharged from the outlet passage 4 through the discharge passage 5.

On the other hand, by applying a voltage in the opposite direction to the Peltier element 12 and causing it to absorb heat, the hydrogen storage alloy 10 can be cooled. In this case, hydrogen gas is absorbed according to the formula (A), and the airtight space 15a of the operating portion 1 becomes under reduced pressure. As a result, the piston 14 is pulled upward, so that the valve body 6 also moves upward and returns to its original state.

Note that the return of the valve body 6 is accelerated by a spring 9 attached to the tip thereof, and is performed sharply.

When the valve body 6 is moved upward, the γ pseal 7b may be in contact with the inner wall of the valve body and close the flow path, or the γ pseal 7b may be in a non-contact state.
comes into contact with the inner wall of the main body, closing the flow path up to that point. Therefore, by moving the valve body 6 upward, air can be supplied from the inflow path 3 to the other cylinder chamber of the air cylinder via the outflow path 4,
At this time, exhaust from the one cylinder chamber can be performed from the outflow path 4a through the exhaust path 5a as the piston moves.

As explained above, the valve of this embodiment uses hydrogen gas released from the hydrogen storage alloy 10 as a driving source to switch between supplying and exhausting air used as a pressure source for operating an air cylinder, etc. This is done by using it as a.

Therefore, the main part of the operating section can be formed by a small amount of the hydrogen storage alloy 10 housed in an airtight space filled with hydrogen gas and the Peltier element 12 which is a means for heating and cooling the alloy. The operating section that occupies the entire valve can be made smaller.

In addition, since the hydrogen storage alloy 10 has a very high storage capacity, a large amount of hydrogen gas can be absorbed by a small amount of the hydrogen storage alloy 10. Therefore, an extremely high driving pressure can be obtained by the hydrogen gas released by heating. As a result, even if the electromagnetic valve requires a pilot valve because of its large fluid switching capacity, the valve body 6 can be easily driven and operated directly.

Note that the valve of this embodiment also has the advantage that it does not require piping like a valve that uses fluid, such as an air-operated valve.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained based on Examples above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned Examples.

In the embodiment, only a Peltier element is shown as the heating and cooling means, but it is also possible to use an electric heating coil as the heating means and a Peltier element as the cooling means (for example, both means may be provided separately and independently). It may be something like that.

In addition, as an application example of the valve, a cylinder has been taken up, and the fluid to be switched is air. However, the valve of the present invention can be applied to other fluid pressure operated devices such as a low reactor Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to any type of fluid switching.

〔effect〕

(1) By forming the operation part for operating the valve body with a hydrogen storage alloy housed in an airtight space and means for heating and cooling the hydrogen storage alloy, the operation of the valve body can be simply controlled by the hydrogen storage alloy. This can be done by changing the gas pressure by heating and cooling to release and absorb the occluded hydrogen gas, so the operating section can be made smaller.

(2) Hydrogen storage alloys have a large hydrogen gas storage capacity and can provide a large gas pressure even if the amount used is small, so when the fluid switching capacity is large. Even if a large force is required to drive the valve body, the valve body can be directly driven.

(3) With the above [11 and (2)], it is possible to provide a valve that is small but has a large valve body driving ability.

(4) Due to (1) above, the system can be made smaller because piping is not required unlike an air-operated valve.

(5) By using a Peltier element as the heating and cooling means, the hydrogen storage alloy can be heated and cooled by switching the direct current, so the operating section can be further downsized.

(6) By connecting the heat dissipation means to the heating and cooling means in a heat transfer state, the cooling efficiency of the hydrogen storage alloy can be increased, so the return operation of the valve body can be performed with sharp responsiveness. can.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a schematic sectional view showing a valve that is an embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Operation part, 1a...Piston chamber, 2...Switching valve part, 3...Inflow path, 4.43...Outflow path, 5 .5a...Discharge path, 6...Valve body, ? , 7a, 7b...Lip seal, 8.8a...V seal, 9...Spring, 9a...Space, 10...Hydrogen storage alloy, 11... ... Filter, 12... Peltier element, 13... Heat dissipation board, 13a... Fin, 14... Piston, 15... Bellows, 15a...Airtight space, 16...Vent hole.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A valve comprising a hydrogen storage alloy that discharges and absorbs hydrogen gas, whose driving source is an operating section that operates the valve body, and means for heating and cooling the hydrogen storage alloy. (2) The valve according to claim 1, wherein the heating and cooling means comprises a Peltier element. (3) The valve according to claim 1, characterized in that a heat radiation means is connected to the heating and cooling means in a heat transfer state.