WO2024061567A1 - System for projecting a cleaning liquid, having valve purging means - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for projecting a cleaning liquid (20), comprising in particular means for purging the valve body (3), the purging means being configured to allow air to enter the system (20).

Description

System for projecting a cleaning liquid with means for purging the valve

The invention relates to the field of liquid projection systems for cleaning motor vehicles and in particular to the valves used in these systems.

We already know in the state of the art, motor vehicles all provided with a cleaning liquid projection system to keep the windshield of the vehicle clean and allow optimal vision of the driver outwards. Other optical devices, such as sensors, may also require such projection systems.

These systems generally include a cleaning fluid reservoir, a pump and at least one valve configured to allow or block the passage of cleaning fluid to the various spray tips (also called "sprinklers" or "nozzles").

One of the problems with hydraulic valves placed in the hydraulic circuit of projection systems is the risk of them malfunctioning, linked to their icing. Additionally, in the event of very low temperatures, the cleaning fluid present in the valve may freeze, which may then lead to deterioration of the valve due to the expansion of the water when it freezes, causing the valve to fail. cleaning liquid projection system.

To avoid such deterioration of the valves in the event of frost or icing, it is known to attempt to purge the valve after using the system. However, cleaning liquid projection systems generally include one or more non-return valves, placed either between the hydraulic valve and the projection nozzle, or directly within the projection nozzle. Such a check valve ensures that no fluid can enter the system, including rain or water from a car wash. The valve also prevents the leakage of cleaning liquid outside of cleaning phases; Without a check valve, once the pump is turned off, there could be a few drops escaping from the nozzle and blocking a sensor associated with the nozzle. However, the presence of this non-return valve makes valve purging operations delicate since they require an entry of air (or gas) into the system, in a direction of fluid movement opposite to the direction of injection of the liquid. cleaning liquid through the valve towards the projection nozzle, in order to be able to extract the cleaning liquid from the body of the valve without risking damage to the latter.

It is therefore necessary to find a solution for spraying systems for cleaning liquid for motor vehicles allowing valve purging operations which are both effective and repeatable over time and which protect these valves against damage caused by cleaning operations. purge.

The invention aims in particular to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks by proposing a system which makes it possible to ensure effective and repeatable valve purging operations over time, making it possible to protect them from the risks of deterioration linked to very low liquid temperatures. cleaning, and which does not involve significant modifications compared to known systems. Such a solution is therefore particularly advantageous because it makes it possible to resolve the aforementioned problems while being implementable quickly without major modification of existing systems.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a system for projecting a cleaning liquid comprising:

- a cleaning liquid tank,

- a pump,

- at least one cleaning liquid projection nozzle,

- a non-return valve configured to prevent any entry of fluid into the system from the liquid projection nozzle and

- at least one valve comprising a valve body intended to receive the cleaning liquid and to selectively conduct it between the pump (24) and the at least one projection nozzle.

According to the invention, the system for projecting a cleaning liquid comprises means for purging the valve body, the purging means being configured to allow gas to enter the system.

Depending on other optional characteristics of the system, taken alone or in combination:

- the valve is a first valve, the purge means comprising a second valve comprising an orifice fluidly connected to an orifice of the first valve and a second orifice allowing the entry of gas into the second valve;

- the second orifice of the second valve is fluidly connected to the outside ambient air;

- the first valve and the second valve are arranged so as to allow gravity return of the cleaning liquid to the pump and to the liquid reservoir;

- the pump comprises a motor of the reversible type, the pump being configured to supply the valve body with cleaning liquid, according to a first direction of rotation of the motor, and to suck the cleaning liquid from the valve body, according to a second direction of rotation of the motor;

- the valve is a valve comprising three orifices, the system comprising a second non-return valve disposed on one of the orifices, said second non-return valve being configured to block the passage of fluid when the pump motor operates in the first direction of rotation and to pass air when the pump motor operates in the second direction of rotation;

- the second non-return valve comprises a deformable membrane, the membrane being configured to deform under the action of a vacuum generated by the pump when the pump motor operates in the second direction of rotation;

- the second non-return valve comprises a deformable cylinder, the cylinder being configured to deform under the action of a vacuum generated by the pump when the pump motor operates in the second direction of rotation;

- the valve is an electromagnetic valve also comprising a coil configured to induce the movement of the plunger from the closed position to the open position and vice versa.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawings in which:

is a view representing a system for projecting a cleaning liquid according to the invention,

is a view representing the valve of the system of the ,

is a view representing purging means according to a first mode of the invention,

And are a set of views illustrating part of the purging means according to a second embodiment of the invention,

And are a set of views illustrating part of the purging means according to a variant of the second embodiment of the invention.

In these figures, identical elements bear the same references.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following achievements are examples. Although the description refers to one or more embodiments, this does not necessarily mean that each reference relates to the same embodiment or that the features only apply to a single embodiment. Simple features of different embodiments may also be combined or interchanged to provide alternative embodiments.

There represents a cleaning liquid projection system 20 comprising a liquid reservoir 22, a pump 24, a cleaning liquid projection nozzle 26 configured for example to spray a cleaning liquid on the windshield or on optical elements of 'a motor vehicle. The projection system 20 also includes a valve 1 to control the distribution of the cleaning liquid towards the projection nozzle 26. The valve 1 is connected to the reservoir 22 by a supply hose 28 and the projection nozzle 26 is connected to the valve 1 by a distribution hose 30. A non-return valve (not shown) is present in the projection nozzle 26 or is located between the latter and the valve 1. The projection system 20 according to the invention also includes purging means (not shown on the ) of the valve body 3, the purge means being configured to allow air to enter within the system 20.

In addition, the projection system 20 may also include several valves supplying several projection nozzles, thus making it possible to supply cleaning liquid to several destinations of the vehicle in which the system 20 is implemented.

The valve 1 is for example an electromagnetic valve comprising a coil 13 whose power supply makes it possible to control the movement of a plunger 7 like that described in the remainder of the description. However, the invention is not limited to electromagnetic valves and can also be applied to other types of valves.

There represents a sectional view of the electromagnetic valve 1 showing the internal elements of the electromagnetic valve 1. The electromagnetic valve 1 comprises a valve body 3 enclosing a hydraulic cavity 5 in which a plunger 7 is positioned. The valve body 3 comprises a first part 3a comprising a coil 13 arranged around a first portion 5a of the hydraulic cavity 5 and a second part 3b in which a first orifice 9 corresponding to a fluid inlet orifice and a second orifice 11 corresponding to a fluid outlet orifice and enclosing a second portion 5b of the hydraulic cavity 5.

The first orifice 9 is configured to be connected to a fluid supply hose 28, for example a cleaning or washing liquid. The supply hose 28 is for example connected to a reservoir 22 of cleaning liquid via a supply pump 24 allowing the supply of the cleaning liquid as on the .

The second orifice 11 is configured to be connected to a projection nozzle 26 via a distribution hose 30.

The electromagnetic valve 1 also comprises a hydraulic channel 15 connecting the first orifice 9 and the second orifice 11, said hydraulic channel 15 being in fluid relationship with the hydraulic cavity 5 in which the plunger 7 is arranged (the hydraulic channel 15 is therefore locally merged with the second portion 5b of the hydraulic cavity 5). The hydraulic channel 15 is configured to be extended on either side of the electromagnetic valve 1, in particular via the hoses 28, 30, so as to transmit the cleaning liquid from the reservoir 22 to a projection nozzle 26.

The plunger 7 is configured to move between an open position (not shown) in which it allows the cleaning liquid to pass between the supply hose 28 and the distribution hose 30 and a closed position (shown on the ) in which it blocks the passage of the cleaning liquid between the supply hose 28 and the distribution hose 30.

The plunger 7 comprises a first portion 7a, corresponding to a flexible end in the present case, for example an end made of elastomer or rubber to allow good sealing in the closed position, the first portion 7a coming into contact with a wall of the body valve 3 in the closed position to block the passage of the cleaning liquid through the hydraulic channel 15, that is to say between the first orifice 9 and the second orifice 11. The movement of the plunger 7 from the closed position to the open position is achieved via the power supply of coil 13 (for example above a predetermined voltage threshold). An elastic constraint element 17, for example a helical spring, can be arranged between the valve body 3 (or an element fixed relative to the valve body 3) and the plunger 7 and configured to constrain the plunger 7 in the closed position in the absence of power supply to coil 13 (or in the case of power supply below the predetermined voltage threshold).

According to a first embodiment of the invention ( ), the purge means comprise a second valve 50 itself comprising a first orifice fluidly connected to an orifice of the first valve 1 and a second orifice 51 authorizing the entry of gas into the second valve 50. Advantageously, this second valve 50 is also an electromagnetic valve whose piston can be controlled remotely so as to allow the entry of gas into the system 20 when the purge operation of the first valve 1 is required. More precisely, the second orifice 51 of the second valve 50 is connected to the external ambient air, which has the advantage of allowing an entry of air within the liquid projection system 20 which is simple to implement. . In order to allow purging of the first valve 1 which is even simpler to implement, so that the current systems do not require significant modification, the first valve 1 and the second valve 50 are arranged so to authorize a gravity return of the cleaning liquid to the pump 24 and to the liquid reservoir 22. In other words, the assembly formed of the first valve 1 and the second valve 50 is located at height, within the vehicle in which the system 20 is installed, relative to the pump 24 and the tank 22, which allows the cleaning liquid stored in the valve body 3 of the first valve 1 to be moved under the effect of gravity and replaced by the air entering the system 20, via the second valve 50.

According to a second embodiment of the system of the invention, the pump 24 comprises a reversible type motor (not shown) and is configured to supply the valve body 3 with cleaning liquid, in a first direction of rotation of the motor, and to suck the cleaning liquid from the valve body 3, in a second direction of rotation of the motor. Thus, it is possible to cause a movement of the cleaning liquid in a direction opposite to the direction of injection when the operation of purging the body of the valve 3 is necessary, without significant modification of the system 20. The pump 24 is therefore a pump generally referred to as a reversible pump and is part of the purging means of this second embodiment. The purging means further comprise an element allowing the entry of air within the system 20, so that the operation of the motor in the second direction of rotation (the direction of rotation allowing the purging operation) does not create not too great a depression within the system 20, risking damage to its various components. According to a first variant of this embodiment, this element allowing the air inlet is a second valve 50, similar to that described in the context of the first embodiment ( ), in fluidic relationship, on the one hand, with the first valve 1 and, on the other hand, with the ambient outside air. This configuration has the advantage, unlike the first embodiment previously described, of not requiring an arrangement of the first valve 1 – second valve 50 assembly which allows a gravity return of the cleaning liquid to the pump and to the liquid reservoir since this return is generated by the pump 24 itself. Thus, the liquid projection system 20 according to this embodiment is more compact and therefore easier to implement within the vehicle.

According to a second variant of this second embodiment, the element allowing the entry of air within the system 20 is a second non-return valve 60, placed on one of the orifices of the valve and configured to block the passage of fluid when the motor of the pump 24 operates in the first direction of rotation and to let air pass when the motor of the pump 24 operates in the second direction of rotation. The valve 1 therefore comprises a third orifice 12 connected to a gas source, for example ambient outside air, on which said non-return valve 60 is arranged. The second non-return valve 60 can comprise a deformable cylinder 61 arranged around an inlet of gas formed by the body 63 of the valve 60. Thus, when the motor of the pump 24 operates in the first direction of rotation, cleaning liquid rushes into the valve 60 and exerts pressure against the deformable cylinder 61 preventing in fact the passage of air via the inlet of said valve 60 ( ). Conversely, when the motor of the pump 24 operates in the second direction of rotation, a depression is produced within the system 20, which has the effect of evacuating on the one hand the cleaning liquid present within the second non-return valve 60 and, on the other hand, cause the deformation of the cylinder 61. From then on, the ambient air enters the system 20, thus creating a pressure balance between the pressure internal to the system 20 and the ambient pressure external, which allows the purging operation of the valve body 3 to be carried out without damaging the components of the system 20 ( ). Alternatively, the second non-return valve 60 may comprise a deformable membrane 62 abutting against the gas inlet formed by the body 63 of the valve 60. Thus, when the motor of the pump 24 operates in the first direction of rotation, cleaning liquid rushes into the valve 60 and exerts pressure against the deformable membrane 62, effectively preventing the passage of air via the inlet of said valve 60 ( ). Conversely, when the motor of the pump 24 operates in the second direction of rotation, a depression is produced within the system 20, which has the effect of evacuating on the one hand the cleaning liquid present within the second non-return valve 60 and, on the other hand, cause the deformation of the membrane 62. From then on, the ambient air enters the system 20, creating a pressure balance between the pressure internal to the system 20 and the ambient pressure external, which allows the purging operation of the valve body 3 to be carried out without damaging the components of the system 20 ( ).

The invention is not limited to the embodiments presented and other embodiments will be clear to those skilled in the art. By way of example, the invention also covers an embodiment according to which the purging means comprise both a second valve 50 and a second non-return valve 60, the latter being positioned on the orifice of the second valve 50 connected to the outside ambient air.

1: valve/first valve

3: valve body

3a: first part of the valve body

3b: second part of the valve body

5: hydraulic cavity

5a: first part of the hydraulic cavity

5b: second part of the hydraulic cavity

7: diver

9: first port of the valve

11: second valve port

12: third port of the valve

13: coil

15: hydraulic channel

17: elastic constraint element/coil spring

20: cleaning liquid projection system
22: cleaning fluid reservoir
24: pump
26: projection tip
28: supply hose
30: distribution hose
50: second valve
51: second orifice of the second valve

60: second check valve
61: deformable cylinder
62: deformable membrane

63: body of the second non-return valve

Claims (9)

1. System for projecting a cleaning liquid (20) comprising:
   - a reservoir (22) of cleaning liquid,
   - a pump (24),
   - at least one projection tip (26) of cleaning liquid,
   - a non-return valve configured to prevent any entry of fluid into the system (20) from the liquid projection nozzle (26) and
   - at least one valve (1) comprising a valve body (3) intended to receive the cleaning liquid and to selectively lead it between the pump (24) to the at least one projection nozzle (26),
   the system for projecting (20) a cleaning liquid being characterized in that it comprises means for purging the valve body (3), the purging means being configured to allow gas to enter the system ( 20).
2. System (20) according to claim 1, in which the valve (1) is a first valve (1), the purge means comprising a second valve (50) comprising a first orifice fluidly connected to an orifice of the first valve and a second orifice (51) allowing gas to enter the second valve (50).
3. System (20) according to claim 2, wherein the second orifice (51) of the second valve (50) is fluidly connected to the external ambient air.
4. System (20) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first valve (1) and the second valve (50) are arranged so as to allow gravity return of the cleaning liquid to the pump (24) and to the reservoir (22). ) of liquid.
5. System (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the pump (24) comprises a reversible type motor, the pump (24) being configured to supply the valve body (3) with cleaning liquid, according to a first direction of rotation of the motor, and to suck the cleaning liquid from the valve body (3), according to a second direction of rotation of the motor.
6. System (20) according to the preceding claim, in which the valve (1) is a valve comprising three orifices, the system (20) comprising a second check valve (60) disposed on one of the orifices, said second check valve (60) ) being configured to block the passage of fluid when the pump motor (24) operates in the first direction of rotation and to allow air to pass when the pump motor (24) operates in the second direction of rotation.
7. System (20) according to the preceding claim, in which the second check valve (60) comprises a deformable membrane (62), the membrane (62) being configured to deform under the action of a vacuum generated by the pump (24). ) when the pump motor (24) operates in the second direction of rotation.
8. System (20) according to claim 6, in which the second check valve (60) comprises a deformable cylinder (61), the cylinder (61) being configured to deform under the action of a vacuum generated by the pump (24 ) when the pump motor (24) operates in the second direction of rotation.
9. System (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the valve (1) is an electromagnetic valve also comprising a coil configured to induce the movement of the plunger (7) from the closed position to the open position and Conversely.

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