JP2002228031A - Flow control valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control valve having appropriate air tight structure when pressure of used liquid is low, and constructed to be assembled and manufactured at a low cost, using an ultrasonic motor. SOLUTION: A control valve main body is provided by air-tightly sealing a valve body with an elastic member, and the valve body with a valve seat having a valve port by O rings respectively, and fitting and fixing an upper lid to an upper side of the elastic member. The valve port connected to an outflow pipe is provided on the valve seat of the control valve main body, and an inlet pipe is provided on the valve seat or the valve body. A vibrator is structured by joining a piezoelectric element or an electrostriction element on an upper surface of the elastic member, and a driving element is provided on a lower surface of the elastic member. A rotor energized to a side of the driving element by a proper energizing means and a valve element rotating together with the rotor are provided in the control valve main body, and a flow rate to the outflow pipe is controlled by rotation of the rotor pressure- contacting to the driving element.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow rate of a refrigerant or the like connected to an air conditioner, a refrigerator or the like, or a gas (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, halogen, butane, etc.) or a liquid (water, oil, etc.). Etc.) and a flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor for controlling the flow rate of any fluid in a gas-liquid mixed state.

[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 is an example of a control valve using a conventional ultrasonic motor. Hereinafter, the prior art will be described with reference to FIG.

[0003] The control valve in the prior art is a control valve body 1.
, Piezoelectric element 2 and rotor 3 housed in control valve body 1
And the driver 4 and the valve element 5, and the rotor 3
Is pressed against the driver 4 via a lining material 6 by an appropriate urging means. Note that the lining material 6 is bonded and fixed to the rotor 3. The control valve body 1 is formed by joining an elastic body 7, a valve body 8, and a valve seat 10 having valve ports 9a and 9b in a sealed structure by welding or the like. A piezoelectric element 2 or an electrostrictive element is joined to the upper surface of the elastic member 7 to form a vibrator 11, and a driver 4 is provided on the lower surface of the elastic member 7. Further, the valve element 5 can control the opening degree of the valve ports 9a and 9b by rotating together with the rotor 3 urged toward the driver 4 side. Reference numeral 12 denotes an inflow pipe attached to the valve seat 10. Reference numerals 13a and 13b denote outflow pipes connected to the valve ports 9a and 9b, respectively.

A thrust spring 14 applies a thrust load to the driver 4 side and the valve seat 10 side, and the thrust spring 14 rotates together with the rotation of the rotor 3 and the valve element 5. Reference numeral 21 denotes a shaft fixed to the valve seat 10 by press-fitting or the like, and the center of rotation of the valve body 5 is provided by fitting with a cylindrical hole formed in the center of the valve body 5.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the valve element 5 as seen from the sliding surface side with the valve seat 10. As shown in FIG. Reference numeral 22 denotes a dome-shaped closing portion provided inside the valve body 5. FIG. 5 shows the operation of the valve body 5 and the valve ports 9 a and 9 b and the valve port 24 of the inflow pipe 12.
It is the schematic which showed the relationship with. FIG. 5A shows the valve element 5.
3 is a view showing a state in which the closed portion 22 of the inflow pipe 12 stops on the valve port 24 of the inflow pipe 12, that is, a fully closed state. On the other hand, FIG.
(B) shows that the closing portion 22 of the valve element 5 has the valve port 24 of the inflow pipe 12.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where the valve is stopped between the valve and a valve port 9a of the outflow pipe 13a, that is, a fully open state. 5A and FIG.
(B) In both cases, the rotation of the valve body 5 is stopped by contacting the stopper pin 19 by the stopper portion 23 provided inside the valve body.

Next, the operation of the conventional control valve will be described. Although the explanation of the operation principle is omitted, it is an ultrasonic motor of a so-called standing wave driving system or a traveling wave driving system. In the prior art, the valve body 5
Of the outlet pipes 13a, 1
3b is controlled.

[0007]

As described above, the control valve body 1 of the control valve using the conventional ultrasonic motor has the elastic body 7, the valve body 8, and the valve seat 10 having the valve ports 9a and 9b welded to each other. It is formed by bonding to a hermetically sealed structure. Therefore, when the working fluid pressure is small, there is a problem that the hermetically sealed structure by welding or brazing is of excessive quality, or the welding or brazing causes an increase in the number of assembling man-hours and manufacturing time, thereby increasing costs. Further, there is a problem that the valve seat is distorted due to the thermal influence of welding or brazing, and a clearance is generated between the valve seat and the valve body, which causes valve leakage. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has an object to provide an appropriate airtight structure when the pressure of a working fluid is small, and can be assembled and manufactured at low cost. An object of the present invention is to provide a control valve using an ultrasonic motor having a configuration.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, a valve body and an elastic body, and a valve body and a valve seat having a valve port are hermetically sealed with an O-ring, respectively. The problem is solved by providing a control valve body with an upper lid fitted and fixed above.

That is, the control valve according to the first aspect of the present invention hermetically seals the valve body and the elastic body, and the valve body and the valve seat having the valve port, with an O-ring, respectively, and has an upper cover above the elastic body. The control valve body is provided by fitting and fixing, a valve port connected to an outflow pipe is provided in a valve seat of the control valve body, and an inflow pipe is provided in the valve seat or the valve body, and a piezoelectric element is provided on an upper surface of the elastic body. Alternatively, a vibrator is formed by joining the electrostrictive elements and a driver is provided on the lower surface of the elastic body, and a rotor urged toward the driver by appropriate urging means is provided in the control valve body. A valve body which rotates together with the rotor is provided, and the flow rate to the outflow pipe is controlled by the rotation of the rotor pressed against the driver.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the valve body and the elastic member and the valve body and the valve seat having the valve port are each hermetically sealed by an O-ring, and a sleeve is integrally formed at the center of the upper surface of the elastic member. Or provided separately, an upper lid is fitted and fixed above the elastic body via the sleeve to provide a control valve body, and a valve seat of the control valve body is provided with a valve port connected to an outflow pipe, An inflow pipe is provided in a valve seat or a valve body, a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element is joined to an upper surface of the elastic body to form a vibrator, and a driver is provided on a lower surface of the elastic body. A rotor urged toward the driver by an appropriate urging means and a valve body which rotates together with the rotor, and a flow rate to the outflow pipe is increased by rotation of the rotor pressed against the driver. A flow control valve, characterized in that it has to control.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an O-ring provided between the valve body and the elastic body applies an electric signal in an ultrasonic range to a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element of the vibrator. The flow control valve according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow control valve is provided in the vicinity of at least one nodal circle position of the vibration wave generated in (1).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the shape of the center of the elastic body and the upper lid fitted with the elastic body is changed by applying an electric signal in an ultrasonic range to a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element of the vibrator. 4. The flow rate according to claim 1, wherein the detents of the vibrator are formed by polygonal concave and convex shapes so as to match the nodal diameter position of the vibration wave generated at that time. It is a control valve.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the shape in which the elastic body and the upper lid are fitted to each other is a hexagonal uneven shape. It is a flow control valve of description.

[0014]

According to the present invention, the valve body and the elastic body and the valve body and the valve seat having the valve port are each hermetically sealed by an O-ring, and the upper lid is fitted and fixed above the elastic body. The control valve body is provided, and an electric signal in the ultrasonic region is applied to a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element joined to the outside of the elastic body, and a rotor pressed against an internal driver rotates, The valve body fitted to the rotor rotates while sliding on the valve seat. Therefore, the flow rate of the fluid entering from the inflow pipe to the outflow pipe is controlled by the rotation of the valve body.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The control valve according to the first embodiment includes a control valve main body 1, a piezoelectric element 2, a rotor 3 housed in the control valve main body 1, a driver 4, and a valve body 5. It is pressed against the side by a suitable urging means via a lining material 6. Note that the lining material 6 is bonded and fixed to the rotor 3. In the control valve body 1, the elastic body 7 and the valve body 8 are connected by the O-ring 26 while the valve port 9 is connected.
A valve seat 10 having a and 9b and a valve body 8 are formed by an O-ring 27 to form a seal structure, and an upper lid 28 is fitted and fixed to the elastic body. Note that the valve seat 10 and the valve body 8 form a detent due to the oval shape provided on each. A piezoelectric element 2 or an electrostrictive element is joined to the upper surface of the elastic member 7 to form a vibrator 11, and a driver 4 is provided on the lower surface of the elastic member 7.

The valve body 5 is capable of controlling the opening of the valve ports 9a and 9b while rotating together with the rotor 3 biased toward the driver 4. In the configuration of this valve element 5,
Since it is completely the same as the control valve of the prior art shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the description is omitted. 12 is a valve seat 10
The inflow pipes (not shown, the inflow pipe 12 may be connected to the valve body 8) 13a and 13b are outflow pipes connected to the valve ports 9a and 9b, respectively. The valve body 5 and the valve seat 10 according to the present invention.
It is needless to say that the shape of is not limited to that shown in the drawings.

Numeral 14 denotes a thrust spring, which applies a thrust load to the driver 4 side and the valve seat 10 side, and the thrust spring 14 rotates together with the rotation of the rotor 3 and the valve element 5. 21 is
The shaft is fixed to the valve seat 10 by press fitting or the like, and the center of rotation of the valve body 5 is centered by fitting with a cylindrical hole formed in the center of the valve body 5.

The position of the O-ring 26 depends on the vibrator 1
Vibration waves generated when an electric signal in the ultrasonic region is applied to one of the piezoelectric elements 2 are arranged near at least one nodal circle position 25. By the way, the arrangement position of the O-ring 26 may be the side surface of the elastic body 7. However, the elastic body 7
Is a place where the vibration generated when an electric signal in the ultrasonic range is applied to the piezoelectric element 2 is an outer peripheral portion, and is greatly displaced, so that the sealing effect of the O-ring 26 may not be expected. . In addition, vibration is always applied to the O-ring 26, and there is a concern that the O-ring 26 may be fatigued due to vibration stress. Therefore, the O-ring 26 is arranged near the nodal circle position 25 which is the nodal position of the vibration wave generated in the vibrator 11.

The vibrator 11 must be provided with a detent so as not to rotate the elastic body 7 of the vibrator 11 in order to rotate the rotor 3. In the present invention, since the O-ring 26 is used between the valve body 8 and the elastic body 7, the rotation of the elastic body 7 is prevented by the valve body 8,
For example, it is suitable to perform between the upper lid 28 which is fitted and fixed with a detent due to the width across flats or the like. This is because it is possible to form a detent between the elastic body 7 and the valve body 8, but in this case, the vibration of the vibrator is suppressed, and the rotor 3 cannot be rotated efficiently. This is because a problem arises.

The position of the detent between the elastic member 7 and the upper lid 28 is determined at the nodal position of the vibration since the elastic member 7 forms the vibrator 11 by the piezoelectric element 2 and generates a vibration wave. It is appropriate to do. Therefore, a detent is easily formed, and does not change depending on the rotation direction of the rotor 3.
The central part, which is always the node position, is optimal. The shape of the detent between the elastic body 7 and the upper lid 28 may be a D-cut, a two-plane width, or the like as a generally known method. However, it is conceivable that the rotation preventing shape provided on the elastic body 7 regulates the form of the vibration wave, that is, the appearance position of the position of the nodal diameter, and suppresses the rotation of the rotor 3. As described above, the shape of the elastic member 7 and the central portion of the upper lid fitted with the elastic member 7 is the node diameter of the vibration wave generated when an electric signal in the ultrasonic range is applied to the piezoelectric element 2 of the vibrator 11. A detent of the vibrator is formed by a polygonal uneven shape so as to match the position. If the shape of the center is hexagonal, the balance of vibration is relatively good,
A hexagonal shape may be used because the influence on the appearance of the node diameter position can be performed at a low level.

Next, the operation of the control valve of the present invention will be described. The control valve of the present invention is exactly the same as the control valve of the related art, and therefore, the description is omitted.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and only differences from the first embodiment will be described. In the present invention, the sleeve 29 is formed integrally with the elastic body 7 or in a separate piece. This advantage is that the elastic body 7 is firmly fixed by the sleeve 29 and the energy of the vibration wave is efficiently applied to the rotor 3. That is, in the first embodiment, since the upper lid 28 performs both the fixing of the elastic body 7 and the rotation stop, a very small part of the energy of the vibration wave may propagate to the upper lid 28. The second embodiment is a measure for improving this point. In addition, the sleeve 29 and the upper cover 28
A detent is formed by cutting, width across flats, etc.

Although not particularly shown, the valve body 8,
The present invention can be realized even when the inflow pipe 12, the outflow pipe 13, and the valve seat are integrally formed by resin molding or the like.

Further, the present invention is established even if the number of valve ports provided in the valve seat is two or more. Further, although not particularly shown, the present invention is established even when the closing portion of the valve element does not close the inflow pipe but also closes the outflow pipe.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect, since the piezoelectric element and the lead wire can be isolated from the fluid, there is an advantage that the electric insulating means is not required, and the vibrator has a valve structure. Since the shape also serves as a valve body part which is a part of the above, the number of parts can be significantly reduced. Also,
Since the seal structure is formed by the O-ring, an inexpensive control valve can be provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the elastic body is firmly fixed by the sleeve, and the energy of the vibration wave is efficiently applied to the rotor. For this reason,
A very small part of the energy of the vibration wave does not propagate to the upper lid.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position of the O-ring is close to the position of the nodal circle of the vibration wave generated when an electric signal in the ultrasonic range is applied to the piezoelectric element or the electrostrictive element. Since the structure is such that the O-ring is bent in the mounting direction for sealing, there is an advantage that the sealing performance can be sufficiently ensured.

According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the invention,
The formation of the detent between the elastic body and the upper lid or between the sleeve and the upper lid is configured to secure a clearance so that the outer peripheral portion of the vibrator does not interfere with the valve body. Therefore, the effect that the energy of the vibration wave can be efficiently supplied and rubbed to the rotor is enormous.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of a flow control valve according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the flow control valve according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a valve body of a conventional flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor.

FIG. 5 (a) is a fully open state diagram of a conventional flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor, and FIG. 5 (b) is a fully closed state diagram of a conventional flow control valve using an ultrasonic motor. Valve body 2 Piezoelectric element 3 Rotor 4
Driver 5 Valve body 6 Lining material 7 Elastic body 8 Valve body 9, 9a, 9b Valve port 10 Valve seat 11 Vibrator 12 Inflow pipe 13, 13a, 13b Outflow pipe 14 Thrust spring 15 Spring 16 Ball 17 Center of valve seat 10 Concave part formed in the part 18 Flow groove 19 Stopper pin 20 Lead wire 21 Shaft 22 Dome-shaped closing part provided inside the valve element 5 23 Stopper part provided inside the valve element 24
Valve port of the inflow pipe 12 25 Nodal circle position 26, 27 O-ring 28 Top cover 29 Sleeve

Claims (5)

[Claims] A valve body and an elastic body, and a valve body and a valve seat having a valve port are each hermetically sealed by an O-ring, and an upper lid is fitted and fixed above the elastic body to form a control valve body. A vibrator is provided by providing a valve port connected to an outflow pipe in a valve seat of the control valve body, providing an inflow pipe in the valve seat or the valve body, and joining a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element to an upper surface of the elastic body. And a driving element is provided on the lower surface of the elastic body, and a rotor urged toward the driving element side by an appropriate urging means and a valve element rotating together with the rotor are provided in the control valve body. A flow control valve for controlling a flow rate to an outflow pipe by rotation of a rotor pressed against the driver. 2. A valve body and an elastic body, and a valve body and a valve seat having a valve port are hermetically sealed by an O-ring, and a sleeve is provided integrally or separately at the center of the upper surface of the elastic body. A control valve body is provided by fitting and fixing an upper lid above the elastic body via the sleeve, and a valve port connected to an outflow pipe is provided in a valve seat of the control valve body, and the valve seat or the valve body is provided in the valve seat. An inflow pipe is provided, a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element is joined to the upper surface of the elastic body to form a vibrator, and a driver is provided on the lower surface of the elastic body. A rotor urged to the driver side and a valve body co-rotating therewith are provided, and the flow rate to the outlet pipe is controlled by rotation of the rotor pressed against the driver. Flow control valve, wherein the door. 3. An O-ring provided between the valve body and the elastic body is provided with an O-ring for generating a vibration wave generated when an electric signal in an ultrasonic range is applied to a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element of the vibrator. The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein the flow control valve is provided near at least one articulation position. 4. A vibration wave generated when an electric signal in an ultrasonic range is applied to a piezoelectric element or an electrostrictive element of the vibrator, wherein a shape of a central portion of the elastic body and an upper lid fitted with the elastic body is changed. 4. The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein the detent of the vibrator is formed by a polygonal concave and convex shape so as to match the position of the nodal diameter. 5. The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein a shape of fitting the elastic body and the upper lid is a hexagonal uneven shape.