JP2001241561A - Flow control valve - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] An object of the present invention is to provide a control valve using an ultrasonic motor that effectively uses vibration generated by a vibrator as a rotational force. SOLUTION: The flow control valve of the present invention is a vibrator 1 in which a piezoelectric element 2 or an electrostrictive element is joined to an upper surface of an elastic body 6.
0, a body 9 having a cylinder 7 and a cylindrical portion 9a having a valve port 8 and extending from the lower surface at a nodal circle position generated in the vibrator.
Are provided in a substantially π-shaped control valve body 1 each having a hermetically sealed structure formed by appropriate processing means such as welding, and a rotor that is rotated via a driver 4 by vibration of a vibrator 10 in the control valve body 1. 3 and a control valve using an ultrasonic motor provided with a valve element 5 for changing the opening of the rotor 3 with the valve port 8 by an appropriate urging means. At least one notch 9b is provided in a cylindrical portion 9a extending from the lower surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow control valve or a pressure control valve which is connected to an air conditioner, a refrigerator or the like and uses an ultrasonic motor for controlling a flow rate of a refrigerant or the like, and particularly relates to a cylinder. Also, the present invention relates to a flow control valve that effectively uses a vibration generated by a vibrator as a rotational force due to a shape of a body and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when an ultrasonic motor for driving a piezoelectric element with a high-frequency voltage in an ultrasonic region is combined with a control valve,
A control valve that is small and has excellent controllability can be configured.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a conventional control valve using an ultrasonic motor, which has been filed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-190577. Hereinafter, the prior art will be described with reference to FIG.

A control valve according to the prior art includes a vibrator 10 in which a piezoelectric element 2 is joined to an upper surface of an elastic body 6, a cylinder 7 having an inflow pipe 12 on a side face, a valve port 8, an outflow pipe 13, and a cylinder. The control valve body 1 comprises a body 9 having a
The cylindrical body 7 having a constricted portion 19 or a tapered portion or a concave or convex projection, which is joined to the elastic body 6 and a nodal circle position 11 generated in the vibrator 10, and the body 9 are appropriately welded or the like. Approximately π
It is formed in a mold. The control valve body 1 accommodates a rotor 3, a driver 4 and a valve body 5, and the rotor 3 is pressed against the driver 4 by an appropriate urging means. Further, the valve element 5 is capable of controlling the opening of the valve port 8 by rotating together with the rotor 3.

[0004] The thrust spring 14 applies a thrust load to the driver 4 and the body 9 and rotates together with the rotation of the rotor 3 and the valve element 5. In addition, a cylindrical hole formed at the center of the valve body 5 includes:
A spring 15 is inserted, and the ball 16 is brought into contact with a recess 17 formed in the center of the body 9 via the spring 15. The thrust spring 14
Since the spring force is set to be larger than that of the spring 15, the lower surface of the valve body 5 is constantly pressed against the body 9 and also pressed toward the driver 4 via the rotor 3.

The valve element 5 has a stopper piece formed by projecting a part of the outer peripheral portion outward, and the stopper piece reaches the valve port 8 at a reference position (fully closed state) of the valve element 5. At this time, the rotation of the rotor 3 is stopped by abutting against a stopper pin 18 implanted and fixed to the body 9.

Next, the operation of the prior art will be described.
The driving mechanism of the related art is an ultrasonic motor in which the driving element 4 is vibrated by the piezoelectric element 2 and the rotor 3 is rotated. Although the description of the operation principle is omitted, it is a so-called standing wave driven ultrasonic motor. In the prior art, the gap between the valve port 8 of the body 9 and the flow groove of the valve element 5 is changed by rotating the valve element 5 using the rotational movement of the rotor 3, and the flow rate to the valve port 8 is reduced. To control.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional control valve using an ultrasonic motor, the vibration generated in the vibrator 10 is generated because the vibrator 10, the cylinder 7, and the body 9 are hermetically sealed by welding or the like. Since the vibration propagates as a transverse wave or a longitudinal wave and the vibration concentrates on the tip of the cylinder, the vibration of the cylinder 7 is suppressed by making the shape of the cylinder 7 a constricted portion 19 or a tapered portion, or a shape provided with a concave or convex projection. I was However, since the propagation of the vibration generated in the vibrator 10 is not completely suppressed, the provision of the cylindrical portion 9a in the body 9
By slightly releasing the slightly propagated vibration, the rotation of the rotor 3 that is rotated by friction driving with the driver 4 disposed on the vibrator 10 is ensured. However, even in the conventional configuration, there is a problem that the rotation operation of the rotor 3 cannot obtain the original rapid rotation of the ultrasonic motor. Further, in a control valve using a conventional ultrasonic motor, at a joint portion of the cylinder 7 and the body 9 by welding or the like,
Although the pressure resistance is sufficient, there is a problem that a higher breaking pressure strength of the control valve body 1 cannot be obtained.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic motor in which vibration generated by a vibrator works effectively as rotational force. To provide a control valve.

That is, the first invention provides a vibrator 1 in which a piezoelectric element 2 or an electrostrictive element is joined to an upper surface of an elastic body 6.
0, a cylinder 7 at a nodal circle position 11 generated in the vibrator,
A control valve body 1 having a substantially π-shape in which a body 9 having a valve port 8 and having a cylindrical portion 9a extended from the lower surface is formed in a hermetically sealed structure by appropriate processing means such as welding is provided. 1, a rotor 3 that rotates via a driver 4 by vibrating a vibrator 10 and a valve body 5 that changes the degree of opening of the valve port 8 by rotating the rotor 3 by an appropriate urging means. A control valve using an ultrasonic motor, comprising a cylindrical portion 9a extending from a lower surface of an outer edge portion of the body 9;
The flow rate control is characterized in that at least one b is provided.

In the second invention, when the cylinder 7 and the body 9 are connected to each other, the body 9 is disposed inside the lower end of the cylinder 7 and the outer edge of the body 9 is extended downward to form the cylindrical shape. 2. The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical portion 9a is formed by forming a portion 9a or extending the cylindrical portion 7 downward from the lower surface of the body.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the elastic body 6, the cylinder 7, and the body 9 having the valve port 8 are each made into a hermetically sealed structure by suitable processing means such as welding, and are joined to the outside of the elastic body. An electric signal in the ultrasonic range is applied to the element 2 or the electrostrictive element, and the valve element 5 for controlling the flow rate via the rotor 3 pressed against the internal driving element 4 rotates while sliding on the body 9. I do.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The flow control valve according to the present embodiment has a vibrator 10 in which a piezoelectric element 2 is joined to the upper surface of an elastic body 6 and a cylinder
And a body 9 having a tubular portion 9a having a valve port 8, an outflow pipe 13, and at least one notch 9b,
The control valve main body 1 is formed by joining a cylinder 7 and a body 9 to a hermetically sealed structure at a nodal position 11 generated in the elastic body 6 and the vibrator 10 by an appropriate processing means such as welding, and is formed in a substantially π shape. It is. The control valve body 1 accommodates a rotor 3, a driver 4 and a valve body 5, and the rotor 3 is pressed against the driver 4 by an appropriate urging means. Further, the valve element 5 is capable of controlling the opening of the valve port 8 by rotating together with the rotor 3. The inflow pipe 12
May be connected to the body 9 (not shown) instead of being attached to the side of the cylinder 7.

In the control valve body 1, the difference between the present invention and the conventional product will be described. In the present invention, the body (9)
At least one notch 9b is provided in the cylindrical portion 9a extending from the lower surface of the outer edge.

Therefore, in the control valve body 1,
A part of the vibration generated by the vibrator 10 propagates through the cylinder 7, and the vibration slightly propagated at the distal end of the cylindrical portion 9 a provided with at least one notch 9 b is released, so that the rotor 3 As for the rotation, the original rapid rotation of the ultrasonic motor can be obtained.

The operation of the driving mechanism according to the present invention is the same as that of the prior art, and will not be described.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In connecting the cylinder 7 and the body 9 to each other, the flow control valve according to the present embodiment disposes the body 9 inside the lower end of the cylinder 7 and extends the outer edge of the body 9 downward to form the cylindrical portion 9a. Or the cylindrical portion 9a is formed by extending the cylindrical portion 7 downward from the lower surface of the body.

In the control valve body 1 shown in FIG.
The differences between the product of the present invention and the conventional product will be described. The control valve body 1
In the above, the body 9 is disposed inside the lower end of the cylinder 7 and the two are joined. Accordingly, the control valve body 1 has a higher breaking pressure strength than the conventional joining method.

Although not particularly shown, the shape of the cylinder 7 is made to have a constricted portion, a tapered portion, or a concave or convex projection filed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-190577. Also, the present invention holds.

Although not particularly shown, the present invention can be realized by dividing the piezoelectric element 2 into even numbers. In addition, when the polarization direction of the piezoelectric element 2 is divided into two parts by + and-, the present invention can be applied to a series connection in which all areas are set to the same direction.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the notch is provided in the cylindrical portion 9a so that a part of the vibration propagated from the cylinder 7 is caused to act at the front end portion, so that the rotation of the rotor 3 is achieved. Has an advantage of being able to increase the breaking pressure strength of the control valve body 1 and has a great effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control valve body 2 Piezoelectric element 3 Rotor
4 Driver 5 Valve 6 Elastic body 7 Cylinder
7b Tip of cylinder 8 Valve port 9 Body 9a Cylindrical part
9b Notch 10 Vibrator 11 Articulated circle position generated in vibrator 10 12 Inflow pipe 13 Outflow pipe 14 Thrust spring 15 Spring 16 Ball 17 Body 9
Concave part formed at the center of 18 stopper pin 19 constricted part

Claims (2)

[Claims] A vibrator (10) in which a piezoelectric element (2) or an electrostrictive element is joined to an upper surface of an elastic body (6), and a cylinder (7) is located at a nodal circle generated in the vibrator. , A body (9) having a valve port (8) and having a cylindrical portion (9a) extended from the lower surface is formed in a closed structure by a suitable processing means such as welding.
A control valve main body (1) having a mold shape is provided, and a rotor (3) rotating via a driver (4) by vibration of a vibrator (10) is provided in the control valve main body (1); ) Is rotated by an appropriate urging means to change the degree of opening with the valve port (8).
A control valve using an ultrasonic motor, comprising: a cylindrical portion (9a) extending from a lower surface of an outer edge portion of the body (9).
A flow control valve, characterized in that at least one notch (9b) is provided in the flow control valve. 2. When connecting the cylinder (7) and the body (9), the body 9 is arranged inside the lower end of the cylinder (7).
Either the outer edge of the body 9 is extended downward to form the cylindrical portion (9a), or the cylindrical portion (7) is extended downward from the lower surface of the body to form the cylindrical portion (9a). The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein: