US2306768A - Control device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1942. D. D. WILE 2,306,768

CONTROL DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 11, 1956 INVENTOR F 1&3 v awe M K M A4, ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 29, 1942 CONTROL DEVICE Daniel D. Wile, Utica, N. Y., assignor to Detroit Lubricator Company, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Original application September 11,1936, Serial No. 100,264, now Patent 'No. 2,190,464, dated February 13, 1940. Divided and this application January 16, 1940, Serial No. 314,066

11 Claims.

My invention relates generally to control devices and more particularly to expansion valves for controlling the admittance of a refrigerant medium to a refrigerant evaporator.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an expansion valve having new and improved means connecting the valve member and the actuating means.

Another object of my invention is to provide an expansion valve having a new and improved diaphragm structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide an expansion valve having a new and improved arrangement of the operating and associated parts thereof.

The invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts, to be more fully described hereinafter and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, to be taken as a part of this specification, I have fully and clearly illustrated my invention, in which drawing Figure 1 is a view shown in vertical central cross section of my improved expansion valve;

Fig. 2 is a view shown in elevation of one of the parts of my expansion valve;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view shown in cross section of a modified form of diaphragm construction for my expansion valve;

Fig. 4 is a view shown in elevation of a spider or reenforcing member employed in the diaphragm structure of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 5 is a view shown in elevation of a plate or abutment member employed in the diaphragm structure of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, my expansion Valve has a casing including a body I which may be of general cylindrical shape, preferably having a longitudinally extending, centrally disposed, bored recess 2 that opens through the lower end thereof. In the recessed wall of bore 2 there is preferably provided a bored recess 3 of relatively small diameter that preferably aligns axially with bore 2, and the bore 3 may be internally threaded for receiving a tubular fitting, or valve seat member 4. The valve seat member 4 preferably has an external annular flange 5 that positions in bore 2 and abuts the recessed wall thereof. Preferably the body I is provided with an inlet bore Sfor housing a strainer member 'I, and the bore 6 may extend longitudinally of the bore 2 and comunicate with bore 3 through a laterally extending bore 8. The inlet bore 6 55 may be connected to a refrigerant supply conduit (not shown) in any suitable manner. Communieating with the centrally disposed bore 2 there is an outlet 9 which may be in the form of a bore that may be internally threaded for connection to a refrigerant evaporator (not shown).

In the present construction the valve seat member 4 is provided with an insert member If! in its lower end that may be press-fitted or otherwise secured thereto, and the insert member l9 has an aperture or bore H therethrough that connects bores 2 and 3 and provides a port and a downwardly facing valve seat l2. The bore 2 provides a valve chamber and flow passage for refrigerant, and disposed therein is a reciprocal valve member 13 preferably having an upwardly directed, conical face it for cooperation with the valve seat 12 to control flow of refrigerant through the port. The valve member l3 preferably has an end portion fitted into a tubular carrier member against an internal, upwardly facing shoulder l6 in the member l5 for rigidly securing the members l3 and [5 together. An abutment member I1, preferably in the form of a nut, is threaded onto the upper end of the carrier member IS, the nut preferably having an external annular flange I8. The nut or'abutment member I1 is preferably threaded only partway onto the tubular carrier member I5 so as to provide an upwardly facing annular space between the outer face of the valve member [3 and the inner wall surface of the nut for receiving solder 26 or other suit- I able means for securing the carrier member l5,

valve member l3 and nut ll rigidly together.

The bore 2 is closed by a closure member 2| that may screw thread thereinto, and the closure member 2| preferably has a centrally disposed, threaded aperture therethrough for receiving a combination adjustment and guide member 22. The guide member 22 preferably has a rod-like portion 23 of reduced diameter that projects into bore 2, and the reduced portion 23 preferably has a slightly enlarged inner end portion 24 that slidably positions in the tubular carrier member [5 for guiding the same. The reduced portion 23 provides an upwardly facing annular shouder 24 on the member 22, and seating on the shoulder 2 5 within bore 2 there is a platelike abutment member 25 having a centrally disposed aperture for receiving the reduced portion 23 of member 22. Surrounding the valve carrier member l5 there is a helical coil spring 26 having one end abutting the abutment member 25 and the other end abutting the flange 18 of I 5, the end portion seating.

abutment member H, the spring 26 being under compression acting to move the valve member I3 toward its seat I2.

The upper end wall of the body I is recessed, as at 21, and the inner side wall defining the recess is preferably circular in contour and stepped, providing an internal, upwardly facing shoulder or seating surface 28. Seated on the shoulder 28 there is a movable wall means or diaphragm 29 having an upturned, annular flange 30 that preferably lies flat against the inner side wall surface of the body I. The diaphragm 29 cooperates with the inner side and recessed wall of the body I to provide a pressure chamber 30 that communicates with bore 2 through a connecting bore 3!. Positioned flat against each side of the diaphragm 29 and supported on the shoulder 28 there is a plate-like reenforcing member or spider 32, and these members 32 may be of like construction. One of the reenforcing members or spiders 32 is shown in Fig. 2 and, as shown, is preferably formed having a centrally disposed plate portion 33 integrally connected to a flat, ring-like border portion'34 by spaced, radially extending, integral arms 35. Spaced inwardly from its outer periphery the diaphragm 29 is preferably provided with the usual continuous, embossed or bent portion 35 to provide for movement of the central portion of the diaphragm, within the confines of the embossed portion, without transmission of such movement, or of strain, to the outer border portion of the diaphragm. Also, the connecting members 35 of each of the reenforcing members 32 are preferably provided with embossed or bent portions 3! so that the central portions 33 of these members may move freely without placing a strain on, or transmitting movement to the border portions 34, and these embossed portions 31 preferably overlie the diaphragm embossed portion 36,

Mounted on the upper end of the body I there is a tubular shaped housing or extension member 38 having an open end extending into the body recess and seating on the upper reenforcing member 32, on an outer border portion thereof overlying the annular shoulder 28. The diaphragm 29 cooperates with the housing 38 to provide a closed chamber 33. At its lower end the extension member 38 preferably has an outturned annular flange 39, the outer peripheral surface of which preferably engages the inner wall surface of the diaphragm flange 30. An upper end portion of the body I and an upper end portion of the diaphragm flange 30 project above the upper face of the housing flange 39 and are bent inwardly leaving, however, an annular space or channel between the extension wall and the bent flange and body wall portion for receiving solder 40, or other suitable means for securing the body I, diaphragm 29, reenforcing members 32, and extension member 38 together and for sealing chambers 39 and 38 In the present instance, the extension member 38 is formed having an upwardly extending, reduced portion or neck 42, and between the neck 42 and the flange 39 the extension member 38 has an offset, substantially horizontally disposed wall 43 that is spaced above and is substantially parallel with the diaphragm 29 and serves to limit upward flexing movement thereof. An upper end portion of the neck 42 may be internally threaded to receive an adjustment member 44, preferably an externally threaded closure plug. The closure plug 44 preferably has a bored recess 45 opening through its lower end into the extension member 38, and. the recessed wall of the closure plug preferably has a centrally disposed, downwardly directed extended portion 45, the lower end portion of which may be pointed or conical to engage in 'a recess in the upper face of a removable abutment member 41. Carried by the upper reenforcing member or spider 32, on the upper face thereof, there is a reenforcing or abutment member 48 in the form of a plate, and preferably the plate 48 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the central or movable portion 33 of the spider 32. The abutment plate 48 is preferably formed having an upwardly extending outer border portion 49 positioned to engage the housing horizontal wall 43 to limit upward flexing movement of the diaphragm 29 and a fiat central portion 49*. Within the extension member 38 there is a helical coil spring 50 having one end, or its upper end, abutting the abutment member 41 and its other, or lower end, abutting the plate 48 that is carried by the upper spider 32. The upper spring abutment member preferably has a centrally disposed, downwardly directed extended portion 5| that positions wit in the uppermost coil of the spring 50 and prevents undue lateral movement of the upper end of the spring. The abutment plate 4-3 preferably has a plurality of spaced, upturned tabs 5| that position around the lower end portion of the spring 56 and limit lateral movement of the lower end of the spring. The spring 53 is under compression and acts to flex the diaphragm 29 in a downward direction.

Carried by the lower reenforcing member or spider 32, on the underside thereof, there is a reenforcing or abutment plate 52 that is preferably welded or otherwise suitably secured to the central or movable portion 33 of member 32. Disposed in spaced relation around the valve seat member 4 there is a plurality of apertures or bores extending longitudinally of the body I through the wall separating bore 2 and the recessed end of the body, and these bores slidably receive thrust members or pins 53, the upper ends of which project into chamber 39 and abut the underside of the plate 52. In the present instance, there are three of the pins 53 and these pins project into bore 2 and their lower ends abut a removable abutment member 54 carried by the abutment member or nut I! of the valve structure. An upper end portion of the nut I1 is preferably spherical in shape or has a convex surface, and the abutment plate 54 has a centrally disposed aperture therethrough providing a socket for receiving an upper end portion of the nut, the diaphragm of the aperture being such that the plate 54 seats on the spherical surface of the nut. By this arrangement the abutment plate 54 is free to move or cant so that the pressure exerted on the plate through the pins 53 will always be distributed equally between the pins. Adjacent their lower ends within bore 2, each of the pins 53 is preferably provided with an external annular groove or slot 55, these grooves preferably being in substantially the same horizontal plane. Engaging in the grooves 55 there is preferably provided a coil spring 55 that encircles the three pins 53 and is under tension urging the pins inwardly tending to cant the pins. The spring 56 increases the friction between the pins 53 and the walls of their apertures or bores sufficiently to dampen vibration of the spring-suspended valve I3 so that the valve will reciprocate smoothly and so-called chattering of the valve, due to impact of the valve with its seat, will be substantially eliminated.

The upper coil spring 50 acts against the pressure in chamber 30 to move the valve l3 away from its seat, and the force exerted by the spring 50 may be varied or regulated by rotating the closure plug 46. In the present instance, the plug 44 is provided with an arcuate slot or groove 58in its upper end for receiving a key 59 by means of which the plug may be conveniently rotated to regulate the force exerted by spring 50. Enclosing the key 59 and the upper end of the extension member 38 there is a so-called expansible breather cap 50 that may be formed of rubber. The breather cap 130 has a neck portion 6|, the inner diameter of which is preferably smaller than the outer diameter of the neck 42 when the rubber is in its inert form, so that when the neck of the cap is stretched over the neck of the extension member 38 the rubber of the cap neck 6! will be under tension and will tightly engage the outer wall surface of the extension member neck to provide a good fluidtight seal therebetween. In the end wall of the closure plug 44 there is an aperture 62 therethrough providing communication between the interior of the cap 66. When the diaphragm structure is flexed upwardly, air from the interior of the extension member 38 passes into the breather cap 60 causing the breather cap to expand, which prevents undue resistance of the air to the upward flexing action of the diaphragm.

Referring to the modified form of my diaphragm structure shown in Figs. 3, 4. and 5, this structure is similar to that shown in Fig. 1 but differs therefrom in that an upper spider or reenforcing member 32 instead of the abutment plate 48, has the upwardly directed, extended portions or fingers, designated at 66, for limiting lateral or side movement of the thrust member or spring 50. The central portion 49 of an abutment plate 48 is provided with a plurality of apertures 61 therethrough positioned around and outwardly of the spring 53 for receiving the extended portions or fingers 65 which project therethrough into chamber 33 The extended portions or fingers E56 may be formed out of the reenforcing plate, as shown in Fig. 5, and besides serving to limit lateral movement of the lower end of the spring 50, they also limit lateral movement of the abutment plate 43 which may be loosely supported on the diaphragm instead of being welded to the spider, as in the construction of Fig. 1. The fingers 65 extend upwardly, longitudinallg. of the spring 55, and are preferably spaced from the spring, or define a space slightly larger than the diameter of the spring so that the spring will have slight lateral movement and will not be placed under any undue side strain.

The operation of my herein described expansion valve in connection with a refrigerating system is as follows: The force exerted by the spring 50 through the diaphragm 29 and thrust members 53 on the valve member l3 tends to move the valve member away from its seat, while the force exerted by the spring 26 plus the force exerted by the refrigerant medium on the diaphragm 29 tends to move the valve toward its P seat. Thus the difierence between the opposed forces exerted by the springs 50 and 255 will determine the pressure which will be maintained in the chamber M and consequently will determine the pressure which will be maintained in a reirigerant evaporator with which the valve is employed. For example, if the pressure in chamber 30 remained constant, then the opposing forces acting to move the valve in opposite directions would be in balanced relation and the valve member 13 would be seated. However, the pressure within the evaporator and consequently the pressure in chamber 3% fluctuates, which causes the opposing forces to become unbalanced and throttle the valve to maintain the pressure in chamber 30 substantially constant or within predetermined pressure limits. When the valve is throttled, refrigerant enters valve chamber 2 through the valve controlled port H and passes from chamber 2 through outlet 9 into the evaporator. As the pressure in the evaporator approaches the desired pressure, the valve throttles down to decrease the port capacity and amount of refrigerant supplied to the evaporator. By means of the adjustment member 44 the force exerted by the upper spring 5!] may be varied to change the differential between the forces exerted by spring 50 and 25 and thereby regulate the pressure to b maintained in the evaporator.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 100,264, filed September 11, 1936, for Control devices, now Patent No. 2,190,464, dated February 13, 1940.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters "Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device of the character described, a body, a movable wall cooperating with said body providing a chamber in which fluid pressure acts against one side of said wall, an abutment member loosely supported by said movable wall and having a plurality of apertures therethrough, and a reenforcing member for said movable wall and interposed between saidmovable wall and said abutment member, said reenforcing member having a plurality of spaced extended members extending through said apertures to limit lateral movement of said loosely disposed abutment member.

2. In a device of the character described, an annular border member, a plate-like central portion, a plurality of arm' members connecting said annular member and said central portion, said central portion having a plurality of ears projecting from the plane of said central portion, and a reenforcing member adjacent said central portion and having a plurality of apertures therethrough receiving said ears.

3. In a device of the character described, an annular border member, a plate-like central portion, a plurality of flexible arm members connecting said annular member and said central portion, said arm members having an embossed portion so that said central portion can move relative to said border member, said central portion having a plurality of ears projecting from the plane of said central portion, and a reenforcing member adjacent said central portion and having a plurality of apertures therethrough re ceiving said ears.

4. In a device of the character described, a diaphragm member having an embossed portion and a central portion, an annular border mem ber registering with said diaphragm member, a plate-like central portion adjacent said diaphragm member central portion, a plurality of flexible arm members connecting said annular member and said plate-like central portion, said arm members having an embossed portion so that said plate-like central portion can move relative to said border member, said arm member embossed portions being in alignment with said diaphragm member embossed portion, said plate-like central portion having a plurality of ears projecting from the plane of said platelike central portion, and a reenforcing member adjacent said plate-like central portion and having a plurality of apertures therethrough receiving said ears.

5. In a device of the character described, a wall member having a recessed wall, a diaphragm disposed against said wall member and overlying said recessed Wall, a diaphragm reenforcing spider positioned against and separate from said diaphragm, said spider having a continuous marginal portion and a central portion secured to said marginal portion by a plurality of flexible arm members, a supporting member overlying and having a portion securing said diaphragm and said spider to said wall member, said diaphragm and said recessed wall cooperating to form a pressure chamber, means under stress interposed between said supporting member and said spider for urging said diaphragm in one direction, means integral with and carried by said central portion for positioning said stressed means, and control means operated by said diaphragm due to pressure changes in said chamber.

6 In a device of the character described, a wall member having a recessed wall, a diaphragm disposed against said wall member and overlying said recessed wall, a diaphragm reenforcing spider positioned against and separate from said diaphragm, said spider having a continuous marginal portion and a central portion secured to said marginal portion by a plurality of flexible arm members, said central portion having a plurality of upstanding ears extending away from the plane of said diaphragm, a plate-like abutment member having a plurality of apertures registering with said ears, said abutment memher having a portion in engagement with said central portion and a portion spaced from the plane of said diaphragm, a supporting member overlying and having a portion securing said diaphragm and said spider to said wall member, said diaphragm and said recessed wall cooperating to form a pressure chamber, said supporting member having a portion overlying said diaphragm and spaced therefrom, said supporting member portion forming an abutmentfor engagement by said abutment member portion to limit movement of said diaphragm in one direction, means under stress interposed between said supporting member and said spider for ur ing said diaphragm in a direction opposite to said one direction, and control means operated by said diaphragm due to pressure changes in said chamber.

7. In a device of the character described, a body, a movable wall cooperable with said body providing a chamber within which fluid pressure acts against one side of said wall, an abutment member carried by said movable wall and having a plurality of apertures therethrough, and a reenforcing member for said movable wall and positioned between said movable wall and said abutment member and having a plurality of spaced extended members extending through said apertures for positioning said abutment ment member.

8. In a device of the character described, a flexible diaphragm member having an annular channel, a flexible reenforcing member having a central portion, an annular border portion and a plurality of flexible arms, said border portion being joined to said central portion by said arms, each of said arms extending across said channel and having a transverse channel registering with said annular channel, and means securing said border portion to the periphery of said diaphragm member.

9. In a device of the character described, a flexible diaphragm member having an annular channel, a flexible reenforcing member having a central portion, an annular border portion and a plurality of flexible arms, said border portion being joined to said central portion by said arms, each of said arms extending across said channel and having a transverse channel registering with said annular channel, a transverse flange projecting from the edge of said diaphragm member, and means engaging said flange and securing said border portion to the periphery of said diaphragm member.

10. In a device of the character described, a wall member having an opening with a surrounding seat, an imperforate diaphragm supported on said seat and closing said opening, a resilient sheet material reinforcing member extending across said diaphragm and overlying said seat, a reinforcing sheet material plate member seating on said reinforcing member and having an abutment rim spaced from said reinforcing member, spaced sheet material thrust member positioning fingers extending from one of said reinforcing members and away from said diaphragm, and means securing said diaphragm and said resilient reinforcing member to said seat.

11. In a device of the character described, a resilient diaphragm, a resilient reinforcing sheet material member extending across and movable with said diaphragm, a reinforcing plate member supported on said sheet member, spaced positioning fingers extending from said sheet member and limiting lateral movement of said plate member, and a coil spring seating against said plate member and positioned by said fingers.

DANIEL D. WILE.

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