KR20020078805A - Four-way reversing valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A four-way control valve is provided to reduce number of welding points. CONSTITUTION: A control valve includes a valve body having a plurality of ports(P,A,B,R) for flowing in and out of fluid; a main spool(70) supported in the valve body to rotate and forming at least one passage selectively connecting the ports according to rotating position thereof; a hydraulic pressure changing device operated by outside electric signal to take a part of fluid from supplying side among the ports so as to change hydraulic pressure; and a driving device rotated according to hydraulic pressure changed by the hydraulic pressure changing device to drive the main spool.

Description

Four-way reversing valve

The present invention is one of the direction control valve for controlling the direction of the fluid flow in the hydraulic or pneumatic circuit, for example in the four-way control valve which is operated to change the flow of the refrigerant when the cooling or heating of the combined heat pump air conditioner In particular, the four-sided control is provided with a disk-shaped spool that is rotationally operated and integrally integrated with a hydraulically operated rotary actuator for driving the spool and a solenoid operated pilot valve for driving the rotary actuator. It is about a valve.

First, referring to the heat-cooling combined heat pump air conditioner, as is well known, heat naturally moves from the high temperature side to the low temperature side, but in order to move the heat from the low temperature side to the high temperature side, an external action must be applied. This is the principle of the heat pump. Heat pump air conditioners have a transport mechanism for heat that transitions to a cycle consisting of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation of refrigerant, and through the heat exchange during condensation and evaporation, it generates cold air for cooling or hot air for heating. . The choice of cooling or heating can be done by changing the positions of the heat exchangers (condensers and evaporators) respectively used in the condensation and evaporation processes, but it is practically impossible to structurally change the positions of the condensers and evaporators. Therefore, the four-way control valve, one of the direction control valves, is used to convert the refrigerant flow to the condenser and the evaporator.

The conventional four-way control valve mainly used for the cooling and heating operation of the air-conditioning combined heat pump air conditioner as shown in FIG. 1 is a 4-port internal pilot type combined with the main valve 10 and the pilot valve 20. Consists of a 2-position solenoid-hydraulic actuating valve. The main valve 10 has four ports and two pilot connectors located at both ends. The main valve 10 is welded with four refrigerant connection pipes 11, 12, 13, 14 for connecting each port to the discharge and intake ports of the compressor and the refrigerant pipes of the internal and external heat exchangers, respectively. In addition, the pilot valve 20 is combined in an internal pilot manner through the four capillaries (21, 22, 23, 24). Reference numeral 27 is a solenoid coil for converting the pilot valve 20.

2A and 2B showing the conventional four-way control valve together with the air conditioner circuit, the pilot valve 20 in combination with the main valve 10 is a four-port two-position spring offset solenoid operated type, By moving the spool 25 to the normal position by the spring 26 or the conversion position by the electromagnetic force when the solenoid coil 27 is excited, one of the load side ports A and B is connected to the supply side port P, and the other is connected to the drain side port. Connect with R. The excitation current of the solenoid coil 27 is cut off at the cooling operation of the air conditioner and is applied only at the heating operation.

That is, when the cooling operation is selected, the pilot spool 25 is in the normal position as shown in FIG. 2A, in which the pilot pressure in one chamber 15 of the main valve 10 is higher than the other chamber 16. Then, the main spool 17 of the main valve 10 is moved to the left, so that the supply side port P is connected to the load side port A, and the other load side port B is connected to the drain side port R. Therefore, in the air conditioner, the refrigerant discharged from the discharge port of the compressor 1 is transferred to the outdoor heat exchanger 2 through the ports P and A of the main valve 10, so that the outdoor heat exchanger 2 serves as a condenser. Then, since the refrigerant depressurized by the expansion mechanism 3 is transferred to the indoor heat exchanger 4, the indoor heat exchanger 4 serves as an evaporator, and from the indoor heat exchanger 4 A cooling cycle in which the refrigerant is transferred to the inlet of the compressor 1 through the ports B and R of the main valve 10 is performed.

When the next heating operation is selected, the pilot spool 25 is moved to the conversion position by the solenoid coil 27 as shown in Figure 2b, wherein the pilot pressure of the other chamber 16 of the main valve 10 is one chamber 15 Acts higher than). The main spool 17 of the main valve 10 is then moved to the right, so that the supply side port P is connected to the load side port B and the other load side port A is connected to the drain side port R. Therefore, in the air conditioner, the refrigerant discharged from the discharge port of the compressor 1 is transferred to the indoor heat exchanger 4 through the ports P and B of the main valve 10, so that the indoor heat exchanger 4 acts as a condenser. Then, since the refrigerant decompressed by the expansion mechanism 3 is transferred to the outdoor side heat exchanger 2, the outdoor side heat exchanger 2 acts as an evaporator, and from the outdoor side heat exchanger 4 A heating cycle in which the refrigerant is transferred to the inlet of the compressor 1 through the ports A and R of the main valve 10 is performed.

On the other hand, according to the domestic registered utility model publication No. 00127597, registration No. 0130152, registration No. 20-0213450, and Korea Patent Publication No. 2001-0007231, etc., as the operating means of the main valve, heat instead of the pilot valve described above Various types have been proposed, such as converting a slide type spool of a main valve directly with a same type piston mechanism, or forming a rotating type spool of which an electric motor is a driving source.

However, a thermal piston mechanism or an electric motor for directly driving the main spool has been practically not practically used due to a slow conversion time, inaccuracy, and many malfunctions.

As a valve required for the hydraulic or pneumatic circuit, solenoid-operated valves such as the pilot valve described above are frequently used for the advantages of easy control such as automatic operation or remote operation and fast and accurate conversion time. However, since it uses the electronic thrust of the solenoid, it is not suitable for controlling a large flow rate and is usually used for conversion up to a pressure of 210 [Kg / cm ² ] and a maximum flow rate of 80 [l / min]. Therefore, in the conventional four-way control valve as described above, the main valve is hydraulically operated, and the pilot valve for manipulating the valve is solely operated.

In order to manufacture a four-way control valve which is a combination of the main valve and the pilot valve, capillary tubes must be additionally connected in addition to the refrigerant connection tubes welded to the main valve. Therefore, there are a lot of welding spots, there is a difficulty in manufacturing, there is a problem that a lot of failures due to poor welding in the manufacturing or use process.

In addition, according to the conventional four-way control valve, part of the refrigerant in the high temperature and high pressure gas state discharged from the discharge port of the compressor is returned to the intake port of the compressor without passing through the heat exchanger, but through the pilot valve. Degrades.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to minimize the welding point by improving the structure of rotating the main spool using the converted pilot oil pressure while converting the pilot oil pressure to the solenoid operated type, which is easy to control, has a fast conversion time, and has an accurate advantage. To provide a four-way control valve that can be.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a four-way control valve that can increase the utilization efficiency of the fluid, such as refrigerant.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a conventional internal pilot type electro-hydraulic conversion four-way control valve.

Figure 2a and 2b is a circuit diagram showing a conventional air-conditioning combined heat pump air conditioner employing a four-way control valve divided into cooling operation and heating operation.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the four-way control valve according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the four-way control valve according to the present invention.

Figures 5a and 5b is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the hydraulic conversion portion of the four-way control valve according to the present invention divided into the normal state and the converted state.

Figure 6a and 6b is a cross-sectional view showing the rotary actuator of the four-way control valve according to the present invention divided into a normal state and a conversion state.

Figure 7a and 7b is a cross-sectional view showing the disc-shaped main spool operation of the four-way control valve according to the present invention divided into a normal state and a conversion state.

Brief description of the drawings

30: valve body 31, 32, 33, 34: refrigerant connection pipe

35: solenoid coil 38: pilot spool

39: spring 40: cylindrical housing

50: cap member 51: valve chamber

52: Hydraulic chamber 53,54,54 ': Groove

60: support member 70: main spool

72: opening 73: gear

74: cavity 80: rotary actuator

81: vane 82: gear member

In order to achieve the above objects, in the present invention, the valve body having a plurality of ports for the fluid in and out, and rotatably supported inside the valve body to selectively connect the plurality of ports to each other according to the rotation position A main spool having at least one flow path, hydraulic conversion means operated by an external electrical signal to take a part of the fluid from the supply side of the plurality of ports to convert the hydraulic pressure, and rotation according to the hydraulic pressure converted by the hydraulic conversion means. Invented a four-way control valve with a drive means for driving the main spool.

Preferably, as the hydraulic conversion means, a pilot hydraulic input port penetrated toward a supply side port of the plurality of ports in the valve body and two pilot hydraulic output ports penetrated at different heights toward the driving means are formed. And a pilot spool installed in the pilot valve chamber, the pilot spool being moved to block one of the two output ports, a spring pushing the pilot spool to one side, and excited by the external electrical signal. With a solenoid coil generating an electronic thrust that pulls the spool against the spring,

As the driving means, a gear portion is formed in the main spool, and a hydraulic pressure chamber in which pilot oil pressures converted by the hydraulic pressure converting means act in opposite directions to each other is formed, and the direction converted by the pilot oil pressure acting on the hydraulic pressure chamber. It is provided with a vane (vane) to be rotated and a hydraulically actuated rotary actuator which is coupled to the shaft of the vane to be a gear member to mesh with the gear portion of the main spool.

Also preferably, the valve body comprises a cylindrical housing in which one side is blocked and the other is opened, and a cap member which closes the opening side of the housing, and the supply side of the plurality of ports is formed on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical housing. The remainder is formed on the closed surface of the cylindrical housing, and the main spool is configured in a disk shape rotatably installed to connect the port through the flow path while blocking between the supply side port and the remaining ports, and on the cap member. It is to form a valve chamber for the hydraulic conversion means and a hydraulic chamber for the drive means.

According to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to directly take the pilot hydraulic pressure in the valve body, and also generate a rotational power from the pilot hydraulic pressure to drive the main spool mechanically, so that no separate capillary tube is required, which reduces the welding location. As a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 of the accompanying drawings shows the appearance of the four-way control valve according to the present invention, Figure 4 is an exploded view showing the parts to explain the structure. The four-way control valve according to the present invention shown in these drawings is an example for the purpose of the cooling and heating operation of the air-conditioning combined heat pump air conditioner as described above, the type is a four-port two-position spring offset solenoid-hydraulic- It is rotationally operated.

First, referring to FIG. 3, the valve body 30 is cylindrical, and one supply side port P is formed on the circumferential surface thereof, and two load side ports A and B and one drain port R are formed on the lower surface of the body. have. Each port is welded with four refrigerant connecting pipes 31, 32, 33, 34 for connecting with the refrigerant pipes of the respective parts of the air conditioner. Reference numeral 35 provided on the upper surface of the valve body 30 is a solenoid coil. The excitation current of the solenoid coil 35 is not applied at the time of selecting the cooling operation of the air conditioner, but only at the time of selecting the heating operation.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the valve body 30 includes a cylindrical housing 40 having a lower end and an open upper end thereof, a cap member 50 coupled to an upper opening side of the housing 40, and the housing 40. It consists of a support member 60 for fixing in close contact with the inner bottom surface. A disc-shaped main spool 70 is rotatably received between the cap member 50 and the support member 60, and a hydraulically operated rotary actuator 80 is provided between the cap member 50 and the disc-shaped main spool 60. Is interposed. The solenoid coil 35 is fitted with a washer (not shown) and a nut 37 so that the solenoid coil 35 is inserted around the stem 36 which is screwed to the valve chamber 51 formed at the center of the outer surface of the cap member 50. Is fastened.

The cap member 50 is press-fitted in a state of being in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the upper opening side of the cylindrical housing 40 and sealed by welding so that a liquid or gaseous fluid does not leak out, but is not illustrated in the drawing, but a separate sealing ring Disassembly and assembly can be facilitated by allowing the members to be screwed together with each other. This cap member 50 has the above-mentioned valve chamber 51 recessed in the upper surface center part, and the hydraulic chamber 52 recessed at the point which shifted to one side from the center part of the lower surface side. The valve chamber 51 extends close to the circumferential surface of the housing 40 in the radial direction and is substantially opposite to the input side groove 53, the end portion of which forms a pilot hydraulic input port facing the supply side port P. Two output side grooves 54, 54 'which pass to the corresponding points on both sides of the inner circumferential wall in the hydraulic chamber 52 penetrate to the side. In the hydraulic chamber 52, an outlet 55 is formed so that the fluid flowing from one of the two output side grooves 54, 54 'can be released into a gap with the housing after operating the actuator described later. .

The output side grooves 54, 54 'leading to the valve chamber 51 are formed at different heights (see FIGS. 5A and 5B). On the lower surface side of the cap member 50, cutouts 56 and 56 'are formed in which the left and right side portions of the input side groove 53 are largely cut out, which is the fluid coming from the supply port P of the housing 40. It is to provide a flow path for moving the other port through the main spool 70 except for flowing into the input side groove 53.

The support member 60 has through holes 61, 62, and 63 corresponding to ports A, B, and R, respectively, on the bottom surface of the housing 40, and has a disk-shaped main spool between the cap members 50. It has a fixing hole 64 for inserting the boss (57) of the cap member 50 penetrating through the center of the main spool (70) so as to stably support the 70.

The disc-shaped main spool 70 has a support hole 61 through which the boss 57 of the cap member 50 penetrates its center portion, and between the cap member 50 and the support member 70, the boss ( 57 is supported so that it can be rotated smoothly. The main spool 70 has an opening 72 which penetrates the upper and lower surfaces substantially in a semicircular shape to form a first flow path, and a cavity 74 which is formed in a concave shape on the lower surface side of the remaining portion to form a second flow path. have. And the gear part 73 is formed in the opening part 72 along the outer main surface. The opening 72 is at least partially in communication with the cutouts 56, 56 ′ of the cap member 50 and at the same time two ports A located on both sides on the bottom surface of the housing 40 through the support member 60. It is also designed to communicate with one of the B, wherein the cavity 74 is designed to communicate the port R and the center of the remaining two of the two ports A and B located on either side of the housing 40 bottom.

The rotary actuator 80 is a vane that can be rotated by a fluid discharged from any one of the output side grooves 54, 54 'which are accommodated in the hydraulic chamber 52 of the cap member 50 and opened therein. And a gear member 82 coupled to the shaft of the vane 81 to engage with the gear portion 73 of the main spool 70.

Meanwhile, a stem 36 fitted to the solenoid coil 35 is screwed to the valve chamber 51 formed at the center of the upper surface of the cap member 50, and a slide pilot spool 38 is formed inside the stem 36. ) Is received with the spring 39.

Referring to the operation of the four-way control valve according to the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

First, Figure 5a shows the normal state of the above-mentioned hydraulic conversion means. In the normal state of the hydraulic conversion means, that is, the state in which the solenoid coil 35 is not excited, the pilot spool 38 protrudes to the end of the valve chamber 51 of the cap member 50 by the spring 39 to the end of FIG. 5A. As shown, the groove 54 passing through the upper side of the two output side grooves 54 and 54 'in the valve chamber 51 is opened and the groove 54' passing through the lower side is closed. Accordingly, a part of the fluid supplied through the supply side port P of the housing 40 and facing the input side groove 53 is transferred to the hydraulic chamber through the output side groove 54 opened in the valve chamber 51. 52). Then, in the hydraulic chamber 52, as shown in FIG. 6A, the hydraulic pressure is applied to the fluid transferred from the open output side groove 54 to press the right side of the vane 81 (upper side in the drawing) to the front. The vanes 81 are rotated counterclockwise. When the vane 81 is rotated counterclockwise, the gear 82 coupled to the same axis as the vane 81 rotates in the same direction, so that the vane 81 is engaged with the gear member 82 as shown in FIG. 7A. The main spool 70 having the bite gear 73 is rotated. When the main spool 70 is rotated in this way, as shown in FIG. 7A, one side hole 61 of the support member 60 is exposed to the opening 72 so that the supply side port A described above is a cutout of the cap member 50. Port of the first load (eg, an outdoor heat exchanger of the air conditioner) via the opening 56 of the main spool 70 and the opening 61 of the support member 60. At the same time, the second load side port B and the drain port R are connected to each other through the cavity 74 of the main spool 70.

Next, FIG. 5B shows the converted state of the hydraulic converter. In the converted state of the hydraulic converter, that is, the state in which the solenoid coil 35 is excited by the application of current, the pilot spool 38 of the cap member 50 is caused by the electronic thrust (suction force) acting upon the solenoid coil 35 excitation. The groove 54 which is pulled over the valve chamber 51 and penetrates the upper part of the two output side grooves 54 and 54 'in the valve chamber 51 as shown in FIG. 5B is closed and the groove 54' penetrates the lower part. ) Is opened. Therefore, a part of the fluid supplied through the supply side port P of the housing 40 and input through the input side groove 53 facing the hydraulic chamber through the output side groove 54 'opened in the valve chamber 51. Are transferred to 52. Then, in the hydraulic chamber 52, as shown in FIG. 6B, the hydraulic pressure acts to pressurize the fluid forward from the open output side groove 54 ′ to the left side (lower side in the drawing) of the vane 81. The vane 81 is rotated clockwise. When the vane 81 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the gear 82 coupled to the same axis as the vane 81 rotates in the same direction, thus engaging the gear member 82 as shown in FIG. The main spool 70 having the gear portion 73 is rotated in reverse. When the main spool 70 is rotated in this way, as shown in FIG. 7B, an opening 62 opposite the support member 60 is exposed in the opening 72 so that the supply side port A described above is cut off of the cap member 50. The second load (for example, in the case of an air conditioner) located on the opposite side via the connection portion 56, 56 ', the opening 72 of the main spool 70, and the one through hole 61 of the support member 60; The first load side port A and the drain port R are connected to each other through the cavity 74 of the main spool 70.

On the other hand, the fluid flowing out through the outlet port 55 of the hydraulic chamber 52 via the valve chamber 51 and the hydraulic chamber 52 of the cap member 50 in the normal state or the converted state is the housing 40 and Turns the gap between the cap members 50 and enters the cutouts 56 and 56 'and joins with the fluid mains supplied directly from the supply side port P to the cutouts 56 and 56' and together with the load side port A or B. Are transported. That is, since most of the fluid passes through the load, the utilization rate of the fluid (refrigerant) is high.

In the above embodiment, but the use for the heating and cooling combined heat pump air conditioner is illustrated, but is not limited to the use or illustrated in the drawings. That is, the number of ports can be changed according to the product to be applied, and accordingly, the flow path structure and the number of disk-shaped main spools can be changed. In addition, the disk-shaped main spool and a solenoid-operated hydraulic conversion means or a hydraulic-actuated rotary actuator for its operation may also be implemented in various ways.

As described through the above embodiments, the four-way control valve according to the present invention has a solenoid-hydraulic-rotating operation type having a disc-shaped main spool, and integrates a solenoid-operated hydraulic conversion means and a hydraulically operated rotary actuator for operating the same. Since the valve body is embedded in one valve body, only the connecting pipe corresponding to the main port needs to be welded to the valve body. Therefore, it is possible to minimize the welding location, making the production easier, as well as significantly reducing the failure rate due to welding failure in the manufacturing or use process.

Further, according to the present invention, since a part of the fluid of the supply side port branched to drive the main spool joins the main stream again and is supplied to the load side, the loss of the fluid is very small. Therefore, it is possible to increase the fluid utilization rate, thereby providing an effect of increasing the heat exchange efficiency in the case of the air conditioner.

Claims (7)

A valve body having a plurality of ports for entering and exiting a fluid, and a main spool rotatably supported inside the valve body to form at least one flow path selectively connecting the plurality of ports to each other according to the rotational position thereof; Hydraulic converting means operated by an external electric signal to take a part of the fluid from the supply side of the plurality of ports to convert the hydraulic pressure, and a driving means rotated in accordance with the hydraulic pressure converted by the hydraulic converting means to drive the main spool Four-way control valve provided. The hydraulic pressure converting means according to claim 1, wherein a pilot hydraulic input port penetrating toward a supply side port of the plurality of ports and two pilot hydraulic output ports penetrating at different heights toward the driving means are formed in the valve body. A valve chamber, a pilot spool installed in the valve chamber to move to block one of the two output ports, a spring pushing the pilot spool to one side, and an external electric signal to excite the pilot spool. A four-way control valve with a solenoid coil that generates electromagnetic thrust to pull against the spring. 2. The hydraulic chamber according to claim 1, wherein the main spool has a gear portion, and the pilot hydraulic pressure converted by the hydraulic pressure converting means acts in the opposite direction, and the hydraulic pressure chamber acts on the hydraulic chamber. And a vane which is rotated in a reverse direction, and a gear member coupled to the shaft of the vane and engaged with the gear part of the main spool. 2. The valve body according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is provided with a cylindrical housing in which one side is closed and the other is opened, and a cap member for closing the opening side of the housing, wherein a supply side port of the plurality of ports is formed on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical housing. And a remainder formed on the closed side of the cylindrical housing, wherein the main spool is configured in a disk shape rotatably installed to connect the port through the flow path while intercepting between the supply side port and the remaining ports. Four-way control valve. The support member of claim 4, further comprising a support member rotatably supporting the main spool on an inner bottom surface of the cylindrical housing and having a through hole corresponding to the ports formed on the bottom surface thereof. Four-way control valve. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the plurality of ports, including one of the supply side formed on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical housing and two load side and one drain side disposed on the same circular arc on the side of the cylindrical housing Four ports are included, the openings penetrating the upper and lower surfaces thereof and the two at the lower surface side such that the main spool forms a first flow path connecting the supply side port with one of the two load side ports as the main spool rotates. A four-way control valve having a cavity connecting the other one of the load side port and the drain side port. The discharge port of the compressor installed in the air conditioner, the inlet port of the compressor installed in the air conditioner, and a refrigerant connecting pipe for connecting to each refrigerant pipe of the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger, respectively. Four-way control valve, characterized in that.