RU2504816C2 - Design method and production method of flow control for sanitary applications - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: machine building.

SUBSTANCE: design method of symmetrical shaping of an annular gap for a flow rate control consists in the fact that for elastic throttle elements available in the corresponding batch, and namely made in the form of O-rings there determined and stored in memory are averaged data on elastic properties for the corresponding batch. Considering values of elasticity and desired shape of flow characteristics from a data base, which are stored in memory, there chosen is a control circuit that corresponds to a certain type of equipment, which when combined with the corresponding batch of throttle elements implements the desired shape of flow characteristics of the flow control. Based on geometrical data of the chosen control circuit there determined is a tool required for use, and namely the corresponding casting mould under pressure or based on geometrical data available at the housing storage or parts of housings, which determine the annular gap, are prepared for furnishing with the corresponding batch of throttle elements.

EFFECT: improving reliability; excluding overregulation of the flow rate control.

2 cl, 12 dwg

Description

Technical field

The invention relates to a method for designing a symmetrical profiling of an annular gap for a flow regulator and to a method for manufacturing a flow regulator for sanitary applications with a housing having a through hole in the form of an annular gap, as well as a resilient throttle element located near the annular gap, which can be changed annular gap or its sections due to elastic deformation when a pressure difference occurs in the flowing medium, and the annular the gap has profiling, and the elastic throttle element is supported by its surface from the outflow side on the supporting shoulder, which is an integral part of the housing.

State of the art

A fluid flow regulator is known from the Russian patent RU 416972.

This well-known flow regulator, which is also described in patent documents DE 2060751 A1 or DE 2131117 A1, has an elastically deformable ring, which, depending on the excess pressure acting on the ring during the flow of the controlled fluid, narrows the existing through passage made in the form of an annular gap . According to the aforementioned prior art, a profiled core is installed together with the elastic ring, the profile forming passage openings for regulating the flowing fluid.

The known controller is designed in such a way that the elastic ring covers the core with a wave-like profile or lies on a ring equipped with radially located waves. Depending on the ratio of the difference (difference) in pressure that takes place in front of and behind the wave-like through holes, a narrowing occurs, due to which the flowing fluid is regulated.

There are support cams at the base of the wave-shaped through holes in which, depending on the pressure of the liquid, an elastic ring is pressed in. The height of these support cams is about half to a quarter of the total depth of the through holes. Thanks to the support cams, it is possible to prevent a large deflection and, thus, permanent deformation of the elastic ring at a high pressure difference. Thanks to the corresponding design of the support cams, it also becomes possible to achieve good regulation in the high-pressure region. In one embodiment, it is proposed that instead of the core, the inner wall of the housing can also be profiled. To fix the elastic throttle element in the form of the so-called O-ring (O-ring), there is a covering cross piece connected by a threaded sleeve to the rest of the housing having a core and a supporting shoulder for the elastic ring.

According to patent document DE 2131117 A1, a fluid flow regulator with an elastically deformable ring that rests on a flat sealing surface is configured such that the sealing surfaces for the elastic ring are provided with a certain number of trough-like recesses. Thanks to these recesses, the initial pressure build-up curve should increase more abruptly, and regulation should already be achieved at a lower pressure. More specifically, in a preferred embodiment, the sealing surfaces for the elastic ring are inclined at an angle from 10 ° to 15 ° towards the shaped core. Due to this, it should be achieved that with a falling inlet pressure, the elastic ring can more easily than in the known forms of execution, return to its original position.

Thus, fluid flow controllers are known whose action is based on a ring made of an elastic material and its interaction with a centrally located shaped core.

Typically, the regulator is designed so that an elastic o-ring (O-ring) radially covers the profiled core. In the operating mode, due to the pressure difference arising in front of and behind the regulator, the ring is compressed to a certain degree and at the same time partially penetrates into the core profile, due to which, depending on pressure, the throughput area decreases, and thus when changing depending on time and / or specific places of pressure regulation of a constant expense is reached. Well-known regulators work without additional energy.

In order to constructively implement the desired characteristics of the regulator, a laborious, empirically strongly based development is necessary.

Regarding this, reference can be made to patent documents DE 3302759 C1 or EP 0115342 A1.

By means of manual grinding of individual sections of the core presented there, a complex final geometry is obtained, which can hardly be displayed using computer-aided design (CAD) tools, and for this reason it can only be reproduced industrially at very high cost.

In addition, it turned out that the known retaining rings or holding crosses for elastic throttle elements overlap more than two thirds of the surface of the throttle element or ring in order to reliably hold them also when changing the direction of pressure or flow.

In this case, a disadvantage arises from the fact that the flow pressure acts only on a small part of the surface of the elastic throttle element, because of which the throttle element can hardly be elastically deformed at a small flow pressure, and thus does not enter into regulatory contact with structured or profiled the core. The consequence of this is the flow characteristics with uneven flow, i.e. with a strong local maximum flow rate in the pressure range of about 1 bar, which in industrial practice is often referred to as undesirable overshoot.

Improvement of the regulatory performance, however, accompanied by increased structural costs, is achieved according to the solution disclosed in patent document EP 1933217 A1. The presented flow rate controller for sanitary purposes includes a body body that contains at least one through hole bounded by a diaphragm part located in the direction of flow, and an annular gap remains between the diaphragm part and the through hole. Further, there is an elastic throttle element located near the annular gap, which changes the annular gap depending on the deformation of the throttle element during the formation of the pressure difference of the flowing medium. According to this document, at least portions or parts of the diaphragm part, depending on the pressure of the flowing medium, perform relative movement or reverse deformation in the direction of the annular gap so as to influence the cross-sectional area of the annular gap so that the shape of the characteristic of the pressure regulator flow rate would allow its use for a wide variety of supply and pressure conditions.

Disclosure of invention

Based on the foregoing, the objective of the present invention is to develop a method for manufacturing a flow rate controller for sanitary purposes with a through hole made in the form of an annular gap, as well as a method for designing a symmetrical profiling of an annular gap for a flow controller with which it is possible to reduce manufacturing costs and ensure high quality workmanship and, thus, the quality of the final product.

The objective of the invention regarding the method of designing a symmetrical profiling of the annular gap for the flow controller is achieved using the method disclosed in claim 1.

A method of manufacturing a flow controller is described in paragraph 2 of the claims.

Thus, there is a flow rate regulator (hereinafter referred to as a flow regulator) for sanitary applications, comprising a housing having a through hole in the form of an annular gap. There is also an elastic throttle element located near the annular gap, in particular the so-called O-ring, configured to change the annular gap or its portions due to elastic deformation when a pressure difference occurs in the flowing medium, and the annular gap has a symmetrical profiling, and the elastic throttle element is supported by the surface from the outflow side to the supporting shoulder, which is mainly an integral part of the housing.

For axial fixation of the elastic throttle element on the inlet side, a retaining ring or several retaining tabs are provided, and when viewed from the side of the inflow, the retaining ring or retaining tabs overlap the projection of the surface of the throttle element on the side of the inflow essentially only up to half, mainly up to one third . Due to this, the flow pressure of the flowing medium acts quite effectively on the throttle element, which eliminates critical sections on the control characteristic.

In another embodiment of the flow regulator, symmetrical profiling of the annular gap is realized by means of the regulating contour of the central core, and the profiling can vary depending on the flow rate and working pressure, while the profiling can be a gear profile, a rectangular profile, a wavy profile, a trapezoidal profile or a combination of the above profiles, moreover, when combining the corresponding typical type of geometric profile is performed throughout the plot circular segment of the contour.

In the method for designing symmetrical profiling of the annular gap for flow controllers of the type described above, first of all, for the elastic throttle elements available in the corresponding batch, in particular, made in the form of o-rings, average data on the elastic properties are determined. This can be done by known measurement and testing methods.

The values defined for the respective batch are stored in memory using a data processing device.

Taking into account the elasticity values stored in memory and, accordingly, the desired shape of the throughput characteristic of the flow regulator, those control circuits are selected from the data bank for a particular type of equipment that, in combination with the corresponding batch of throttle elements, realize the desired shape of the throughput characteristic of the flow regulator.

Further, on the basis of the geometric data of the selected control loop, the tool required for the application is determined, in particular, the corresponding mold for injection molding. Alternatively, based on geometrical data from the housings available at the warehouse or the parts of the housings that define the annular gap, a certain part of them can be prepared to be equipped with an appropriate batch of throttle elements that determine the desired shape of the flow characteristic of the flow regulator.

In a method of manufacturing a flow rate controller, a throttle member is worn on a circle of retaining tabs. Then, with the help of a stamping tool, the end sections of the retaining tabs are bent (plastic deform) radially outward, thereby achieving the desired fixation of the elastic throttle elements.

Alternatively, for axial fixation of the elastic throttle elements, the O-ring can be axially fixed by a holding protrusion, which is formed by plastic deformation of the cylindrical rim or by forced molding and corresponding molding of the rear section with a divided injection molding tool.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be explained in more detail below through examples of execution, as well as using the accompanying drawings.

The drawings show:

Figa is a longitudinal section of a flow regulator according to a first embodiment;

Fig. 1b is an isometric view of a flow controller according to a first embodiment;

Fig. 1c is a cross section along the line of the first embodiment of the flow regulator shown in Fig. 1a;

Figure 2 - a typical case of the use of the flow controller in the field of plumbing, namely inside the adapter connected to the outlet of the shower faucet at the junction with the shower hose;

Fig. 3a is a longitudinal section of a flow controller according to a second embodiment;

Fig.3b is an isometric image of a second form of execution of the flow controller with a partial cutaway;

Fig. 3c is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the flow regulator shown in Fig. 3a;

Fig. 4a is a longitudinal section of an improved second embodiment of a flow controller with a guide groove at low compression forces of the throttle member;

Fig. 4b is an image similar to Fig. 4a, however, with a higher compression force or, accordingly, the action of a pressure force on the elastic throttle element, which is now located resting in an additional annular groove;

Fig. 4c is a partially cutaway isometric view of an improved second embodiment of a flow controller;

Fig. 5a is a longitudinal section of a flow controller according to a second embodiment with an additional nozzle strainer;

Fig. 5b is a partially cutaway isometric view of the embodiment of Fig. 5a;

Fig. 5c is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a flow regulator with a nozzle screen along the line shown in Fig. 5a;

6 shows the flow characteristics of the flow controller, the curve shown in bold for a flow controller according to the invention, and the curve shown in thinner for a flow controller according to the prior art;

Figa-7f - various forms of execution of the corresponding symmetric control profiles, with which the flow through the flow regulator can be matched both with the operating pressure and with the corresponding properties of the throttle element;

Figa, b is a partially cutaway isometric view of a flow regulator according to the invention with typical flow rates and the corresponding color coding presented in tabular form of the casing or parts of the casing (Fig. 8b);

Figa, b, c - a process for a method of manufacturing flow controllers according to the second embodiment according to the invention with putting on the throttle element on the holding tabs and subsequent plastic deformation of the end sections of the holding tabs radially outward with a tool (Fig.9b), and the final state shown in figs;

Fig. 10a, b is a cross-section and, accordingly, an isometric image with a partial cut-out of the following exemplary embodiment of a flow regulator with a retaining protrusion located on the inlet side;

11a, b is a cross-section, as well as an isometric view with a partial cutaway of a first embodiment of a flow regulator according to the invention, equipped with a nozzle sieve, ventilation means and means for influencing the flow;

Figa, b - cross-section, as well as an isometric image with a partial cutaway of a second form of execution of the flow regulator, equipped with a nozzle sieve and means of forming a jet, and on figa and 11b, as well as on figa and 12b shows a detailed image with visible retaining ring and retaining protrusion.

The implementation of the invention

In the flow controllers shown in the drawings for sanitary applications, there is mainly one housing 1, and corresponding openings 2 in the form of an annular gap are formed in the housing 1.

Additionally, in the annular gap are the corresponding elastic throttle elements 3, in particular, made in the form of o-rings (the so-called O-rings). These elastic throttling elements 3 change the annular gap or its portions due to their elastic deformation when a pressure difference occurs not shown in the drawings flowing medium.

As you can see, the annular gap has at least one symmetrical profiling 4, which in the images shown respectively in figa to 1C and 2, is formed by a core 5, which has a corresponding, for example, gear structure.

The elastic throttle element 3 is supported by its surface located on the outflow side (in the drawings, bottom) on the supporting shoulder 6, which is an integral part of the housing 1.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1a, 1b and 2, a retaining ring 7 is provided on the inflow side for axial fixing of the elastic throttle element 3, and when viewed from the inflow side, the retaining ring 7 overlaps the projection of the surface of the throttle element from the inflow side essentially only up to half, mainly up to a maximum of one third, so that the flow pressure of the flowing medium sufficiently acts on the throttle element 3, and the uneven areas on the control characteristic are eliminated ke (see Fig.6).

The central core 5 is connected by radial bridges 8 with a retaining ring 7, and they mainly form a single part that can be inserted or pressed into the housing 1.

In the housing 1, in addition, a circular inner flange 9 is provided, on which the retaining ring 7 with the central core 5 rests. The central core 5 may have, as can be seen, in particular in FIGS. 1a and 1b, a conical shape, and the taper is reduced from the side of the influx (on figa - the upper side) to the side of the outflow (on figa - the bottom side).

In the embodiment according to the invention, the support shoulder 6 is made elongated towards the longitudinal axis or, respectively, towards the center of the regulator to provide reinforced support for the throttle element 3, in particular, at higher loads caused by pressure.

There is a possibility not shown in figa to 1 with the possibility of performing in the housing from the inside of the circular receiving groove (groove) for supporting the corresponding section of the elastic throttle element 3.

This eliminates the adverse effect on the throttle element 3 with a strong, due to pressure deformation.

The housing 1 or parts of the housing 1 can have, in particular, a taper 10 in the upper part (see the principle image in Fig. 5a) to ensure a suitable sealing action when the pressure regulator made in this way is placed in the mounting hole or in the mounting sleeve.

According to a second embodiment according to FIGS. 3a to 3c, 4a to 4c, and also FIG. 5a to 5c, symmetrical profiling of the annular gap 2 in the housing 1 is realized by means of a control loop extending along the surface of the inner perimeter or the inner side of the housing portion facing the annular gap 2 .

In particular, in this case, protrusions 11 or corresponding structural elements located on the inner perimeter side are provided.

As can be seen in figa to 4C, in the protruding sections (protrusions 11) of the regulatory circuit provides a circular groove 12.

In the second embodiment of the invention according to FIGS. 3a to 3c and FIGS. 4a to 4c, as well as FIGS. 5a to 5c, retaining tabs 13 are used, which extend from the core part 14 made as a single part of the housing 1 in the inflow direction (up), moreover, the free ends of the retaining tabs 13 are curved in the direction of the annular gap 2.

These free ends 15 are bent in the direction of the outer surface of the housing 1 and thereby fix the elastic throttle element 3, in particular, when the flow direction changes.

In this case, the retaining tabs 13 with the free ends 15 according to the invention are made in such a way that when viewed from the side of the inlet, the retaining tabs overlap the projection of the surface of the throttle element 3 from the side of the inflow essentially only up to half, mainly up to one third, so that the pressure the flow of the flowing medium sufficiently acts on the throttle element 3, and critical sections on the adjustment characteristic are eliminated.

As an alternative to the axial fixation of the elastic throttle element by means of a retaining ring or several retaining tabs, the expansion ring (O-ring) can also be axially fixed with a retaining protrusion, which is formed either by plastic deformation of the cylindrical rim or by forced molding and corresponding molding of the rear cross sections of a divided injection molding tool. The manufacturing method described below according to FIGS. 9a to 9c, in principle, can also be used for the manufacture of the above-mentioned protrusion, if it is formed from an axially existing side.

Figure 2 shows a typical application of a flow controller inside an adapter 16, which has an external thread 17 and an internal thread 18.

This adapter may be located between the mixer 19 and the shower hose 20.

The advantage of this solution is that it is possible to retrofit almost every shower and bath faucet, namely based on the standardized thread of the shower hose and mixer outlet. In addition, the use of a flow regulator protects the shower hose at high pressures during operation from exposure to excessive pressure. Thus, the pressure acting on the supply side in front of the mixer in the water supply system in the desired way decreases as a result of the pressure drop in the mixer itself, as well as in the flow regulator.

In the drawing according to figa, which corresponds to a longitudinal section of a flow regulator according to a second embodiment, said groove 12 is made.

An elastic throttle element 3 can be supported on this circular groove 12 under severe pressure deformation (see FIG. 4b), thereby retaining the desired adjustment characteristic and its reproducibility.

In the drawing according to FIGS. 5a to 5c, the controller according to the second embodiment is again shown, moreover, a protective or packed screen 21 is additionally installed on the supply side.

The housing of the regulator 1 is made in the form of a single part, and the nozzle sieve 21 is fixed with a snap connection on the upper side of the housing 1.

The representation of the flow rate Q in l / min depending on the pressure according to the curves in FIG. 6 shows the principle of operation when using the flow controller according to the invention.

Using the proposed design solution and design technology, overshoot (thin curve) is eliminated.

Also, thanks to the solution according to the invention, a steeper increase and transition to a horizontal portion of the curve without critical sections is achieved (the curve shown by the bold line). The curve shown is an example only.

The desired increase in the curve can be selected when designing the flow regulator so that the nominal flow rate is reached even at a pressure of 0.2 bar.

Figures 7a to 7f show various forms of execution of the corresponding symmetric control profiles, with which the flow through the flow regulator can be matched both with the working pressure and with the properties of the corresponding throttle element. In this regard, the forms of execution of the profiles according to figa to 7c matter.

Figures 7d to 7f show a symmetrical combination of various gear profiles (high profile and low profile). FIG. 7e shows a combination of two or more differently made partial segments of a regulator that achieve the desired regulation result. Thus, with the help of prefabricated profiles or partial profiles, an important possibility of fine tuning the throughput is achieved, and there is not only the possibility of varying between different prefabricated full profiles, but also due to the possibility of combining partial profiles, the tuning range is further expanded.

The solution according to the invention presented with the help of the drawings also makes it possible to extend it to the combination of individual teeth, which at the same step can be individually made up of a set of teeth of various shapes, namely, without geometric and, as a rule, irreversible, necessary in the past in accordance with the prior art adjustments to the production tool, which were carried out using grinding or other methods of cutting or material removal.

In the drawings according to figa and 8b below isometric images with a partial cutaway of the second form of execution of the flow regulator (Fig.8a) and, accordingly, the first form of execution of the flow regulator (Fig.8b) shows a table that lists the various values of the flow (left column tables), with the corresponding code colors indicated in the flow line.

In the casing made in the form of a single part in Fig. 8a, simple coding is used.

In the case of FIG. 8b, made of two parts, two-color coding can be used, the second color not yet occupied with coding, for example, indicates the properties of the corresponding installed elastic throttle element.

With the help of FIGS. 9a to 9c, a step-by-step method of manufacturing a holding element of a pressure regulator according to a second embodiment is shown in order to protect the throttle element from being lost and washed out.

According to figa elastic throttle element 3 is worn on still elongated retaining tabs 13. These holding tabs 13 represent together a centering and guide mandrel for elastic throttle element 3.

After the throttle element 3 has been positioned accordingly, in the next step (Fig. 9b), a stamping tool 22 is used, which has on its lower side a narrowed portion 23 with a reduced diameter.

This section 23 of reduced diameter by means of a concave arc (region 24) passes into the section 25 of larger diameter.

The concave portion 24 acts on the retaining tabs 13 and deforms their free ends 15, as shown in Fig.9 after removal of the tool 22.

The flow regulator can be applied, in particular, for public projects conducted at open tenders, taking into account the resulting savings in water consumption, reduction in the required heating energy associated with the consumption of hot water, as well as a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the case of heat from minerals. The advantage is also achieved of improving the distribution of load on the network with the existing supply infrastructure.

State and private water suppliers are in confrontation with ever higher demands of the population for comfort, which is reflected, firstly, in the more frequent use of a shower for the body and, secondly, also in the often increasing consumption of water through comfortable plumbing faucets and showers that embody the desire for water treatments.

Thus, there is a problem in that the existing water supply infrastructures cannot respond quickly enough to increasing water consumption by the population and reach their maximum load, which as a result leads to the fact that the reliability of the supply and the stability of pressure are at risk.

The widespread use of the proposed flow controllers can help slow down or prevent the development of this situation, because, firstly, the absolute consumption at each sampling point decreases, and secondly, the network load decreases, especially during peak hours. This, in turn, improves the comfort of consumers, in particular, on the problematic in terms of pressure higher floors of residential and other buildings, or in parts of the city that are higher in comparison with the surrounding areas. Also, within the framework of one house or one street, the use of a flow regulator ensures uniform consumption, i.e. consumers in low pressure zones will no longer be hydraulically unevenly serviced due to increased consumption in individual sampling points, since flow regulators contribute to the uniformity of the total water flow.

Of course, the presented flow controllers can be combined with conventional flow controllers. It is also possible to implement modifications for low pressure by using throttling elements with low Shore hardness <60 with an appropriate profile contour.

Claims (2)

1. A method for designing a symmetrical profiling of an annular gap for a flow rate regulator intended for sanitary applications, comprising a housing having a through hole in the form of an annular gap, and also located near the annular gap, an elastic throttle element configured to change the annular gap or its sections due to elastic deformation in the event of a pressure difference of the flowing medium, moreover, the annular gap has profiling, and the elastic throttle ele The vent is supported by its surface from the outflow side on the supporting shoulder, which is an integral part of the housing, moreover, the symmetrical profiling of the annular gap is realized by means of the regulating contour of the central core, characterized in that for the elastic baffle elements present in the corresponding batch, in particular, made in the form of o-rings, determining and storing in memory the averaged data on the elastic properties for the corresponding batch;
- taking into account the values of elasticity stored in the memory and the desired shape of the flow characteristic of the flow regulator, from the data bank select the control circuit corresponding to the particular type of equipment, which in combination with the corresponding batch of throttle elements implements the desired shape of the flow characteristic of the flow regulator,
- moreover, on the basis of the geometrical data of the selected control loop, the tool necessary for the application is determined, in particular, the appropriate die casting mold, or on the basis of geometrical data, the parts of the housings available in the warehouse or defining the annular gap are prepared for assembly with the corresponding batch of throttle elements. 2. A method of manufacturing a flow rate controller for sanitary applications, comprising a housing having a through hole in the form of an annular gap, as well as an elastic throttle element located near the annular gap, configured to change the annular gap or its portions due to elastic deformation when a pressure difference occurs the flowing medium, and the annular gap has a profiling, and the elastic throttle element is supported by its surface from the outflow side on the supporting shoulder, which is an integral part of the housing, while for axially fixing the elastic throttle element on the inlet side, a holding ring is provided that holds the protrusion or several retaining tabs, characterized in that the throttle element is put on the holding tabs or parts of the holding protrusion, and then the end sections are used with a stamping tool the retaining tabs or parts of the retaining protrusion are bent radially outward, and thus the corresponding throttle elements are fixed.

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