JPS626123A - Ball rotary type fluid flow rate sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a vortex chamber to a compact shape by preventing it from becoming a large outside diameter, by dividing it into two of the upper and the lower parts. CONSTITUTION:A vortex chamber is formed to a compact shape by preventing it from becoming a large outside diameter, by dividing it into the upper and the lower parts, namely, the first vortex chamber into which a fluid flows, and the second vortex chamber 15 in which a sphere 16 rotates. In this state, the fluid is made to flow into the second vortex chamber 15 from the center of the vortex chamber, by which even if the sphere 16 is not detained, the sphere 16 is pushed to the outside periphery of the vortex chamber and rotated, therefore, due to a fact that the sphere 16 executes a rotary motion stably by an operation with a guide groove 14 of the sphere 16, and a fact that an outflow of the fluid from the peripheral part is utilized, a pressure loss of the fluid becomes smaller than the case when it flows out from only the center of the vortex chamber.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a flow rate sensor that measures the flow rate of a fluid, particularly a liquid, and is particularly used in a gas water heater to detect and control flow rate fluctuations in the water heater. The present invention relates to a fluid control device.

Conventional technology This type of conventional flow rate sensor places a sphere in a vortex chamber, wraps the sphere from above and below, and rotates it at a fixed position, and fluid is supplied to the vortex chamber in a tangential direction from the outer circumference of the sphere. At the same time, the fluid was made to flow out from the center of the vortex chamber. (For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 48-59864) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above configuration, the sphere rotates and fluid is supplied from the outer periphery, so the shape becomes large and the problem is similar to that of a gas water heater. It goes against the compactness of equipment required for household equipment, so it cannot be applied. Also, because the fluid flows out from the center of a full room, there is a large pressure loss due to vortex flow, making it unsuitable for measuring large flow rates. Water heaters that use general tap water pressure have the problem of not being able to flow at a large flow rate. Furthermore, since the spheres are held together from above and below, there is a problem in that if foreign matter gets mixed in, it will enter the plane of movement of the spheres and interfere with rotation. Therefore, in order to make the sphere more compact and resistant to foreign matter contamination, a method was adopted in which the sphere was no longer bundled up and down and was made free in the vertical direction, and the fluid was allowed to flow directly into the sphere's moving part. There was a problem in that there was no movement, and the rotating sound of the sphere was generated, resulting in a high noise level.

The present invention has been made to solve these conventional problems, and aims to provide a flow sensor that is resistant to foreign matter contamination, is compact, and is quiet.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the ball rotating type fluid flow sensor of the present invention has a first vortex chamber into which fluid flows and a second vortex chamber into which a sphere rotates. In addition to the first outlet located at the center, a second outlet is provided which flows out from the circumference, and the fluid flows into the second vortex chamber from the center of the vortex chamber. The second vortex chamber has a configuration in which a spherical guide groove is provided on the outer circumferential wall of the second vortex chamber.

Function The present invention achieves a compact shape by dividing the vortex chamber into upper and lower halves to prevent the outer diameter from becoming large, and allows fluid to flow into the second vortex chamber from the center of the vortex chamber. Therefore, the sphere rotates by being pushed toward the outer periphery of the vortex chamber without being bundled, so the sphere performs stable rotational movement due to the action of the sphere's guide groove, and the fluid outflow from the circumference is used. Therefore, the fluid pressure loss can be reduced compared to the case where the fluid flows out only from the center of the vortex chamber.

Embodiment Figure 5 shows the inside of a gas water heater.
The water that enters passes through the heat exchanger 2, passes through the control device 3, and flows out from the outlet 4. The heat exchanger 2 is heated by the gas burner 5 to make the water inside it hot water, so hot water flows out from the outlet 4. The control device 3 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The hot water from the heat exchanger 2 is supplied to the housing 6.
It has two openings: an inlet nozzle 7 that introduces hot water into the interior of the hot water, and an outlet 8 that discharges hot water to the outlet 4. Reference numeral 9 indicates an upper surface guide, and numeral 10 indicates a lower surface guide, each of which has a cylindrical shape, and are fixedly installed inside the housing 6 so as to face each other. The upper guide 9 has a fluid inlet 11 having a smaller diameter than the outer diameter of the upper guide 9 in the center. The lower guide 1o has a circular first outlet 12 at the center and a second outlet 13 at the outer periphery. As shown in FIG. 2, the second outlet 13 has a half-moon shape. Furthermore, the top guide 9
The ends of the lower guide 10 are notched, and when the two are brought together, a guide groove 14 and a second vortex chamber 15 are formed. A sphere 16 made of magnetic material is movably inserted into the second vortex chamber 15 . Further, on the upper surface of the housing 6, a holding body 17 projects inwardly integrally with the housing, and enters the second vortex chamber 15 so that the sphere 16 is connected to the first outlet 1.
2. Prevents leakage. A cylindrical space is provided at the upper part of the housing 6 and the upper guide 9 for the inlet nozzle 7 □
The first vortex chamber 18 is formed in communication with the first vortex chamber 18 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the inlet nozzle 7 is formed with its opening oriented tangentially to the first vortex chamber 18. A permanent magnet 19 is located outside facing the sphere 16 of the housing 6.
There is a detection element 20 that detects changes in magnetic flux, and a sphere 16
The rotation within the second vortex chamber 15 is output as an electric pulse. In other words, the sphere 16 is a permanent magnet 19
An output is output to the detection element 20 in order to change the direction of the magnetic force. A shutoff valve 21 and a regulating valve 22 are present downstream of the first outlet 12 and the second outlet 13 and are integrally formed with the housing 6 to open and close the flow path to the outlet 8. The valve is opened and closed by vertical movement. The control shaft 23 controls the rotation of the motor 24 by a screw 25 provided on the motor 24 and the housing 6.
It is converted into vertical movement of 3. Control shaft 23 is O ring 2
6, it remains fluidly sealed from the outside even when rotated.

The operation with the above configuration will be described.

When the motor 24 is turned on and the control shaft 23 is rotated, the control shaft 2a moves upward and pushes the shutoff valve 21 and the control valve 22 open. Then, hot water flows in from the inlet nozzle 7, and first
A vortex flows in the vortex chamber 18 and flows from the fluid inlet 11 to the second vortex chamber 15
flows into. Then, the sphere 16 rotates in accordance with this vortex flow, and an output pulse corresponding to a rotational speed proportional to the inflowing flow rate is output to the detection element 20. The motor 24 continues to rotate until output pulses of a preset period are output.
The shutoff valve 21 and the control valve 22 are opened, and when output pulses of a predetermined period are confirmed, the motor 24 is stopped. On the contrary, this phenomenon occurs when the hot water flow rate of the inlet nozzle 7 increases, that is, when the tap water pressure increases, and the number of output pulses increases, so the motor 24 is reversed until the predetermined output pulse is reached. Then, the shutoff valve 21 and the control valve 2
2 in the direction of closing to reduce the hot water flow rate. Through the above operations, the amount of water flowing through the heat exchanger 2 is controlled, and feedback control is performed to output a constant amount of hot water. The presence of two shutoff valves 21 and two control valves 22 means that the shutoff valve 21
This is to adjust the flow rate using the control valve 22 so that the water stop gasket 27 does not deteriorate due to running water. In other words, the flow of water is shut off using the shutoff valve 21, and the flow rate is adjusted using the control valve 2.
This is done in step 2.

In this state, if the fluid inlet 11, the first vortex chamber 18, and the guide groove 14 are not present as shown in FIG.
It flows out from the outlet 13 and the first outlet 12. Since the water flow A flows out while swirling with a large outer diameter, it flows out with less fluid resistance, and compared to the case where the fluid flows out only through the first outlet 12, the fluid resistance is smaller and a larger flow rate can flow.

Since the water flow B is constricted from a large diameter to a small diameter, it becomes a flow directed toward the center, and the sphere 16 receives a force toward the center due to this flow. Since the water flows in and out with the same diameter, only the force that presses the sphere 16 downward is generated. Sphere 16
When the sphere 16 receives a force toward the center, when balanced with the outward force due to the centrifugal force of the sphere 16, the sphere 16 itself begins to move irregularly in the radial direction, hitting the sphere guide 28 and holding it in the center. It hits the body 17 and generates sound.

The irregular motion is caused by turbulence in the fluid, and normal water flow always has a turbulent component. The sound produced by the collision of the spheres 16 resonates with the heat exchanger 2 and generates a large noise. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the swirling flow in the first vortex chamber 18 is once throttled at the fluid inlet 11 and divided into a water stream C1, which is then passed through the second outlet 1.
3. As the water flows out to the first outlet 12, the water flow generates a force toward the center, but equally the water flow C now generates an outward force, and the sphere 16 is forced to move toward the top surface only by its own centrifugal force. It rotates while constantly contacting the guide 9 and the lower guide 10. Furthermore, since there is a guide groove 14, the robot rotates neatly along this guide groove 14. Therefore, the generation of sound is suppressed. Furthermore, since the spheres 16 do not need to be held together in the vertical direction, even if some foreign matter is present in the guide groove 14, the spheres 16 will continue to rotate over the foreign matter, making it resistant to foreign matter.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the rotating ball type fluid flow sensor of the present invention provides the following effects.

(1) Since the first vortex chamber and the second vortex chamber are configured on the same outer diameter, there is no need to make any modifications to the large diameter portion in the radial direction, and the configuration can be made compact.

(■ The sphere receives an outward force due to the action of the fluid inlet, and rotates stably due to the action of the guide groove, so there is no need to worry about noise.

(3) Since the sphere is not bound by two surfaces and only the outer circumference serves as a guide, the degree of freedom of movement is high and there is no possibility that the sphere will stop rotating due to foreign objects. High reliability can be obtained.

(4) Since the second outlet is provided in addition to the first outlet on the outer periphery, it is possible to provide a sensor with low fluid resistance and a wide range of applications.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front sectional view of a fluid control device incorporating a rotating ball type fluid flow sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan sectional view of the same ball rotating type fluid flow sensor, and Fig. 3 is a conventional Figure 4 is a water flow pattern diagram of the ball rotating type fluid flow sensor of the present invention, Figure 4 is a water flow pattern diagram of the ball rotating type fluid flow sensor of the present invention, and Figure @5 is a configuration diagram of a gas water heater. 6...Housing, 7...Inlet nozzle, 9...Top guide, 1o...Bottom guide, 11...Fluid inlet, 12...
1st exit, 13... 2nd exit, 14...
・Guide groove, 15...Second vortex chamber, 16...
- Sphere, 17...Holding body, 18...First vortex chamber, 2o...Detection element. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakatashi One per person
Figure 11. □, Id 10---Lower η゛fd//---; Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cylindrical vortex chamber is separated into upper and lower parts to form a first vortex chamber and a second vortex chamber, and an inlet nozzle for injecting fluid into the first vortex chamber from the tangential direction of the cylinder, and a cylindrical vortex chamber at the bottom of the second vortex chamber. a first outlet through which the fluid flows out from the center and a second outlet through which the fluid flows out from the outer periphery; a guide groove is provided on the outer peripheral wall of the second vortex chamber;
, a second vortex chamber is connected to a fluid inlet having a diameter smaller than that of the vortex chamber, a sphere is inserted into the second vortex chamber, and the sphere is arranged so as not to flow out from the first outlet. A rotating ball type fluid flow sensor comprising a holder provided with a spherical body and a detector for detecting the rotation of the spherical body within a vortex chamber.