KR100439155B1 - A thermally actuated steam trap - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a thermally active steam trap, in which upper and lower housing members (10a, 10b) are coupled by a connecting means (60) to form an inlet (12), an outlet (14), and a valve chamber (16). And a semicircular seating portion 20 formed near the outlet 14 of the lower housing member 10b, and a temperature control element 30 disposed in the valve chamber. The temperature control element comprises a rigid capsule 32 consisting of an arcuate top wall 32a and a bottom wall 32b and at least one diaphragm fixed at two points of contact between the top wall 32a and the bottom wall 32b. (36) (diaphragm). In addition, the heat-actuated steam trap of the present invention is supported by a diaphragm 36, the valve member 40 of which the distal end is hemispherical 42, and the elastic member whose one end is deflected downward in contact with the bottom surface of the housing member ( 50) more.

Description

Thermally Reactive Steam Traps {A THERMALLY ACTUATED STEAM TRAP}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermally active steam trap which is used to automatically remove condensate generated from various steam equipment or pipes in a pipe. More specifically, the present invention relates to a steam trap due to expansion and contraction of expansion media. To a thermostatic steam trap that discharges condensate while avoiding.

The temperature control element used in the thermodynamic steam trap utilizes a capsule comprising a diaphragm and an expansion medium that is sensitive to temperature.

The thermodynamic steam trap with the capsule operates as follows.

When the expansion medium in the steam trap capsule is cooled and condensed by condensate accumulated in the housing, the valve member blocking the outlet is moved to open the outlet. After that, the condensate is discharged to the outside. Inwards, the expansion medium inside the capsule expands, resulting in the valve member moving back to block the exit.

In such thermally active steam traps, many proposals have been made for the valve member and the housing outlet.

For example, in the form of the valve member and the outlet of the housing, the thermodynamic steam trap disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3698633 makes the valve member into a flat membrane so that when the expansion medium in the capsule expands, The valve member takes the form of blocking the outlet of the housing. This membrane is simple in design and easy to manufacture.

However, the configuration of such a valve member causes the rapid discharge of the condensate due to the membrane-connected configuration when the expansion medium contracts and the condensate is discharged.

On the other hand, a spherical valve member is used for the thermally active steam trap disclosed in US Pat. No. 4295605. It is configured so that a sphere connected to the expansion medium blocks the exit when the expansion medium expands.

Since the spherical valve member is operated at a high pressure, the spherical valve member may generate concentrated stress at the spherical portion to which the spherical joint is joined, thereby causing a breakage of the joint portion.

On the other hand, the valve member of the thermally active steam trap disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,679,727 has a conical shape with the top cut off. At this time, the outlet portion of the housing is inclined to conform to the conical shape, and the valve member is in contact with this inclined portion. As a result, such a configuration can accurately axially contact the housing outlet portion with only one portion of the valve member without any other device.

However, such a configuration of the valve member may also cause wear due to contact between the valve member and the housing outlet portion. In addition, it is difficult to produce the valve member in a conical shape, whereas the effect is not great.

In addition, the conventional thermal steam trap has a disadvantage in that it requires a lot of time and effort to replace the internal members in case of system failure due to the housing coupling method (for example, bolt nut coupling method) that is difficult to engage and disassemble. there was.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is more stable while overcoming the conventional problems in contact with the valve member and the housing outlet of the thermodynamic steam trap, which avoids the leakage of steam by the expansion and contraction action of the expansion medium and discharges the condensate. This provides a thermally active steam trap that can extend its life.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a more stable and effective method for the use of conventional springs in the fixed-buffering role of the housing top and the capsule.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a more efficient manner of joining the upper and lower housings.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a thermally active steam trap according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a temperature control element, a valve member, and a seating portion of the valve member of the thermally active steam trap shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

3 is a sectional view showing a temperature control element, a valve member and a valve member seating portion according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a plan view schematically showing the top of the capsule to show the annular groove on which the elastic element is placed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: Thermostatic Steam Trap 10: Valve Housing

20: valve member seating portion 30: temperature control element

32: capsule 36: diaphragm

40: valve member 50: elastic member

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, the thermally active steam trap 1 according to the present invention is the upper housing member 10a and the lower housing member 10b are coupled to each other by the connecting means 60 inlet 12 ), The valve housing 10 forming the outlet 14 and the valve chamber 16, the elastic member 50 which is deflected downward in contact with the bottom surface of the lower housing member 10b, and the lower housing member 10b. Is moved up and down by a semicircular seating portion 20 formed near the outlet 14, a temperature control element 30 disposed in the valve chamber 16, and the temperature control element 30. Possible valve member 40, wherein the temperature control element 30 comprises a rigid capsule consisting of an arcuate top wall 32a and a bottom wall 32b that form a space for the thermal expansion medium 37. 32 and at least one diaphragm fixed at two points where the top wall 32a and the bottom wall 32b are in contact with each other. ragm) 36, wherein the valve member 40 is supported by the diaphragm 36, the distal end 42 of the valve member 40 is hemispherical, and has an upper surface of the capsule 32. An annular groove 34 on which the other end of the elastic member 50 is placed is formed, and the fitting portion 38 extending downward from the bottom wall 32b of the capsule 32 is an outer circumferential surface of the seating portion 20. And a hemispherical distal end portion 42 of the valve member 40 and a semicircular portion 22 of the seating portion 20 are dimensioned to be in surface contact with each other.

In addition, the connecting means 60 for coupling the upper housing member 10a and the lower housing member 10b of the present invention is characterized in that the coupling.

<Example>

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a thermally active steam trap according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the temperature control element, valve member and seating portion of a thermostatic steam trap according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the valve housing 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an upper housing member 10a and a lower housing member 10b, and the upper and lower housing members 10a and 10b are Coupling with each other by coupling 60 to facilitate coupling and disassembly. In addition, the valve housing 1 sealed in this manner has a valve chamber 16 formed therein, an inlet 12 formed in the upper housing 10a, and an outlet 14 formed in the lower housing 10b.

1 and 2, a temperature control element 30 is disposed within the valve chamber 16 of the present invention, the temperature control element 30 being a rigid capsule consisting of top and bottom walls 32a and 32b. And (32). Each of the top and bottom walls 32a and 32b of the rigid capsule 32 are attached to each other in a bow shape to form a space for the expansion medium 37. In addition, the wavy diaphragm 36 is fixed at two points to which the top wall and the bottom wall 32a, 32b are attached.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the seating portion 20 according to the invention is formed near the outlet 14 of the lower housing member 10b, more particularly near the outlet passage 15. Here, the outer circumferential surface of the seating portion 20 meshes with the fitting portion 38 extending downward from the bottom wall 32b of the rigid capsule 32.

1 and 4, the elastic member 50, more specifically, one end of the spring 50 is in contact with the bottom wall 10b of the valve housing 10, and the other end of the spring 50 is a capsule. It lies in an annular groove 34 (best shown in FIG. 4) formed in the top surface 31 of 32. As a result, the temperature control element 32 including the capsule 32 is biased downward by the spring force of the spring 50.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the diaphragm 36 disposed in the rigid capsule 32 supports the valve member 40 according to the present invention. The valve member 40 has a hemispherical distal end portion 42. When the expansion medium expands due to an increase in temperature due to vapor inflow, the valve member 40 is lowered to lower the housing member 10b. It is seated on a semicircular seating portion 20 formed near the exit of the. The semicircular portion 22 of the seating portion 20 is suitably sized to be in surface contact with the hemispherical distal end portion 42 of the valve member 40.

3 shows an alternative embodiment of the valve member and seat engagement according to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the valve member 40 ′ according to an alternative embodiment of the invention consists of a flat contact portion 42 ′ and a convexly shaped member 44 ′ formed integrally therewith. In addition, the seating portion 20 ′ formed near the outlet has a disc shape with an open center. At this time, the contact portion 42 'of the valve member 40' is in surface contact with the plane 22 'of the seating portion 20'.

With the above configuration, the steam trap 1 according to the present invention operates as follows.

When the fluid introduced into the valve chamber 16 from the inlet 12 in the upper housing member 10a is hot steam, the expansion medium 37 expands and changes the diaphragm 36 instantaneously, and the diaphragm ( The valve member 40 supported by 36 is pushed downward. As a result, the valve member 40 contacts the seating portion 20 formed at the upper end of the outlet passage 15 of the lower housing 10b to close the outlet 14 to prevent leakage of steam.

On the other hand, when the condensate of the steam flows from the inlet 12, the expansion medium 37 is contracted to pull up the diaphragm 36 instantly. As a result, the valve member 40 terminates contact with the seating portion 20 and discharges the condensate to the outlet 14.

In the operation of the present invention, the moment when the seating portion 20 formed at the upper end of the outflow passage is in contact with the valve member 40, even when the position of the capsule 32 is slightly distorted, the hemispherical end portion 42 of the valve member 40 ) Provides sliding contact by slidingly contacting the semi-circular portion 22 of the seating portion 20.

What has been described above is only one embodiment for implementing the steam trap according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the scope of the present invention is not limited as claimed in the following claims. Without departing from the scope of the present invention, those skilled in the art will have the technical spirit of the present invention to the extent that various modifications can be made.

As described above, the present invention has the effect of providing a thermally active steam trap that is more stable, thereby extending the life by configuring the valve member and the corresponding seating portion 20 in surface contact.

In addition, the present invention by providing an annular groove on the upper surface of the capsule, the effect of providing a more stable and efficient fixed-buffer role for the method of using a conventional spring in the fixed-buffer role of the housing top and the capsule. There is.

In addition, the present invention has an effect of providing a coupling method of the upper-lower housing by taking a coupling method in the coupling method of the upper housing member and the lower housing member.

Claims (2)

delete In the thermally active steam trap (1), A valve housing 10 in which the upper housing member 10a and the lower housing member 10b are coupled to each other by the connecting means 60 to form an inlet 12, an outlet 14, and a valve chamber 16; A semicircular seating portion 20 formed near the outlet 14 of the lower housing member 10b; As a temperature control element 30 disposed in the valve chamber 16, a rigid capsule 32 composed of an arcuate top wall 32a and a bottom wall 32b to form a space for the thermal expansion medium 37. And a temperature control element (30) comprising at least one diaphragm (36) fixed at two points in contact with the top wall (32a) and the bottom wall (32b); A valve member 40 supported by the diaphragm 36 and whose distal end 42 is hemispherical; An elastic member 50 whose one end is deflected downward in contact with the bottom surface of the lower housing member 10b is Include, The upper surface 31 of the capsule 32 is formed with an annular groove 34 in which the other end of the elastic member 50 is placed, The fitting portion 38 extending downward from the bottom wall 32b of the capsule 32 is engaged with the outer circumferential surface of the seating portion 20, The hemispherical distal end portion 42 of the valve member 40 and the semicircular portion 22 of the seating portion 20 are dimensioned to be in surface contact with each other, Here, the connecting means (60) for coupling the upper housing member (10a) and the lower housing member (10b) is a thermally activated steam trap, characterized in that the coupling.