JPS60192178A - flow control valve - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a flow rate control valve, and in particular uses an electrostrictive element suitable for increasing the amount of deformation of a valve body without increasing the size of the control valve. This relates to a flow control valve.

[Background of the invention]

First, a flow control valve using a conventional electrostrictive element will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a flow control valve using a conventional electrostrictive element.

In the figure, 1 is a laminated electrostrictive element, 2 is a sealed liquid, 3 is an O-ring, 4 is a valve body, 5 is a case, 6 is a fluid inlet, and 7
is the fluid outlet, and the arrows indicate the fluid flow.

This flow control valve is constructed by applying a step voltage to a laminated electrostrictive element 1 to vibrate it, and vibrating the valve body 4 through a sealing liquid 2, so that the valve body 4 is moved between the case 5 and the valve body 4. It has a structure that intermittently opens and closes the flow path that is formed. and,
By changing the frequency or duty ratio of the applied voltage, the time during which the flow path is opened is controlled, and the flow rate of the liquid flowing into the inlet 6 provided in the case 5 is controlled.

The feature of this flow control valve is that since it uses a laminated piezoelectric material, the amount of displacement can be relatively large, and even if the pressure difference between the inlet 6 and the outlet lower becomes relatively large, the amount of displacement will be small. It is possible to drive.

It is also possible to reverse the direction of liquid flow.

However, since the sealed liquid 2 cannot be completely sealed and leaks into the flow path, it is considered difficult to use when the fluid to be handled is gas. Furthermore, in order to increase the amount of displacement, it is necessary to increase the length of the laminated electrostrictive element l, which has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the flow control valve.

Next, another example of a conventional flow control valve will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional front view of another conventional flow control valve, in which 8 indicates an electrostrictive element, 9 indicates a ball valve, and arrows indicate fluid flow.

This flow control valve electrically vibrates the electrostrictive element 8 and -
The vibration is used to move the ball valve 9 to control the flow rate, but there is a drawback that the entire control valve becomes large although the valve portion of the ball valve 9 is small.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a flow control valve that is small and has a simple structure with a small number of parts.

[Summary of the invention]

The configuration of the flow control valve according to the present invention is such that the fluid control valve includes a flow path through which fluid flows and a valve body provided in the middle of the flow path in a case, and the valve body is applied with a voltage. The valve body is made of a flexible electrostrictive material and has a plate shape with a communicating hole, and an elastic material that presses the periphery of the valve body is mounted inside the case.

Additionally, the idea behind developing the present invention is as follows.

Conventional flow control valves using electrostrictive elements indirectly vibrate the valve body. Therefore, the size of the flow control valve becomes large and the number of parts increases. Therefore, we thought of making the valve itself with an electrostrictive element that is electrically insulated on the outside and vibrating the valve. Furthermore, if the periphery of the valve is fixed, the amount of deformation of the valve will be reduced, so the amount of deformation can be increased by simply pressing the periphery with an elastic material.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8.

First, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a flow control valve according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
) is a waveform diagram of the applied voltage.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, 10 is electrically insulated on the outside,
A valve body (hereinafter referred to as a valve body) of an electrostrictive element to which a voltage can be applied is formed into a plate shape of an electrostrictive material, and a communicating hole 12 is bored therein.

The position of the communication hole 12 in the valve body 10 is
The hole is bored at a position eccentric to the outlet 16 of the hole.

13 is a case formed in a cup shape, and a fluid outlet 1
6 is perforated, and the valve body 10 is brought into contact with a seat surface 13a of the end wall of the case, which is perpendicular to the direction of the flow path inside the case.

14 is a case fixed to the case 13, and a fluid inlet 1
5 is perforated.

A spring body 11 is an elastic member that presses the peripheral portion of the valve body 10, and is mounted inside the case 13.14. Normally, pressure P is applied to the spring body 11 side.

The operation of the flow control valve having such a configuration will be explained.

When no voltage is applied to the valve body 10, the valve body 10 is pushed against the seat surface 1 of the case 13 by the pressure difference and the spring body 11.
3a to close the flow path.

When a rectangular wave voltage as shown in FIG. 4(b) is applied to the valve body 10, the valve body 10 vibrates and exhibits a deformed state. FIG. 4(,) shows a state in which the plate-like body of the valve body 10 is deformed.

In this way, when a voltage is applied, the valve body 10 deforms into an arcuate shape, and the upstream side 13b and the downstream side 13c in the case 13
are in communication with each other, and fluid flows through the communication hole 12 as shown by the arrow.

Therefore, by changing the duty ratio and frequency of the applied voltage waveform, the flow rate of the flowing fluid can be controlled.

In this flow control valve, the periphery of the valve body 10 is only pressed by the spring body 11, so that the amount of deformation can be greater than when the periphery is fixed, and the flow rate can be increased with the same voltage.

Furthermore, since the valve body itself is made of an electrostrictive element, as can be seen from FIG. 3, the number of parts is small and a small flow control valve can be manufactured.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a flow control valve according to another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of its main parts, where (,) indicates that the fluid is moving to the left, and (b) indicates that the fluid is moving to the right. The arrows indicate fluid flow.

The stoichiometric control valve in the example shown in FIG. 5 is constructed by arranging two flow rate control valves in the example shown in FIG. 3 to face each other.

Reference numeral 17 indicates a case, and the center portion of the case is an intermediate wall, and a communication hole 19 is bored in the center. Seat surfaces 17a and 17b are formed on the left and right wall surfaces of the intermediate wall, with which the valve body comes into contact.

14a, ], 4b are cases fixed to the left and right sides of the case 17, and the cases 14a and 14b are provided with flow passages 18a and 18b, respectively.

10a and LOb are valve bodies (hereinafter referred to as valve bodies) of electrostrictive elements to which a voltage can be applied, which are formed into a plate shape from an electrostrictive material similar to that explained in the previous example, and the center of each valve body is It has two communicating holes 12a and 12b, respectively, at positions eccentric from the seat surface 17a of the intermediate wall of the case 17,
17b.

11a and llb are spring bodies that are elastic members that press the peripheral portions of the valve bodies 10a and 10b from the left and right, respectively.

When no voltage is applied to the valve bodies 10a, 10b, the valve bodies 10a, 10b are the spring bodies 11a.

11b or seat surfaces 17a, 1 of case 17 due to pressure difference
Since it is pressed against 7b, the fluid does not flow.

Now, the fluid pressure is PI on the left side and P2 on the right side as seen in Figure 5.
shall be. Figure 6 (,) shows the state in which the fluid flows to the left when p2 > p, and Figure 6 (b) shows the case in which fluid flows from the high pressure side to the low pressure side when P2 < p, as shown in Figure 6 (a). Let's explain with an example.

For example, a rectangular wave voltage is applied to the P2 side valve body 10b related to the high pressure side. Then, the valve body 1010b vibrates and deforms, and high pressure is applied to the valve body 10a on the PI side, which is related to the low pressure side, and the valve body 1, which was pressed by the spring body 11a,
Press 0a. Therefore, a flow path is formed, and the fluid flows through the communication holes 12b and 19°12a as shown by the arrow.

If necessary, a voltage synchronized with the valve body 10b on the A'P2 side, related to the high pressure side, may be applied to the valve body 10a on the PI side, related to the low pressure side. The flow rate is controlled by changing the duty ratio and frequency of the applied voltage waveform, as described above.

In this way, it is possible to control the flow rate in both the left and right directions.

The example of FIG. 6(b) has the same effect as the example of (,) when the flow direction is opposite, so the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Still another embodiment of Ichiki's invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a flow control valve according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the main part thereof, in which (a) the fluid moves to the left, and (b) the fluid moves to the left. It shows a state in which the fluid flows to the right, and the arrow indicates the flow of fluid.

The flow rate control valve shown in FIG. 7 is such that flow rate control in both left and right directions can be performed using a single electrostrictive element valve body.

23 and 24 are convex portions 23a facing each other.

The case 24a and the peripheral edges 23b and 24b are each provided with t'L, and the cases 23 and 24 are brought into contact with each other and bonded and fixed to form the case of the flow control valve. The opposing wall surface between the convex portions 23a and 24a of the case 23, 24 is a seat surface 23c against which the valve body abuts.

It is equipped with 24c. 25 is a flow path on the case 23 side, 26
is a flow path on the case 24 side.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a valve body (hereinafter referred to as a valve body) of an electrostrictive element to which a voltage can be applied, which is formed into a plate shape from an electrostrictive material similar to that explained in the previous example, and the valve body 20 is a plate-shaped valve body (hereinafter referred to as a valve body) of an electrostrictive element to which a voltage can be applied. Seat surface 2
It is sandwiched between 3c and 24c and is located almost in the center of the case. The valve body 20 has two communication holes 22 bored at positions eccentric from the center of the valve body.

Reference numerals 21a and 21b are spring bodies made of an elastic material that press the periphery of the valve body 20 from the left and right, respectively, and are convex portions 23a of the cases 23 and 24, respectively.

24a and the peripheral portions 23b, 24b.

When no voltage is applied to the valve body 20, the valve body 20
is pressed against the seat surface of the case on the low pressure side and closes the flow path, so no fluid flows.

Now, the fluid pressure is Pl on the left side and Pl on the right side as seen in Figure 7.
shall be.

When a voltage is applied to the valve body 20, the valve body 20 vibrates and deforms into an arcuate shape, and when the fluid pressure is P2>PI, the fluid moves in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 8(a). Flow path 26. Communication hole 22. It flows to the left through the flow path 25, and the fluid pressure is P.
When 2 < P, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the fluid flows through the flow path 25. as shown by the arrow. The fluid flows to the right through the communication hole 22 and the flow path 26.

The flow rate is controlled by changing the duty ratio and frequency of the applied voltage waveform.

In this way, in the embodiment of FIG.
It is possible to control the flow rate in both the left and right directions.

In the above embodiments, the number of communication holes provided in the valve body of the electrostrictive element is one in the example of FIG. 3 and two in the examples of FIGS. It is sufficient that one or more communicating holes of an appropriate size are provided in accordance with the specifications and design of the flow control valve.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a flow control valve that is small and has a simple structure with a small number of parts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a flow control valve using a conventional electrostrictive element.
Figure 2 is a partially sectional front view of another conventional flow control valve;
The figure is a sectional view of a flow control valve according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4(a) is an enlarged view of the main part, Fig. 4(b) is a waveform diagram of the applied voltage, Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a flow control valve according to another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 6 is its main part. In the enlarged view, (a) shows a state in which the fluid flows to the left, and (b) shows a state in which the fluid flows to the right.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a flow control valve according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the main part thereof, in which (a) the fluid moves to the right, and (b) the fluid moves to the right. This shows the state in which the flow occurs. 10.10a, 10b, 20-valve body of electrostrictive element, 11,
lla, llb, 21a, 21b-spring body, 12, 19
．． 22--Communication hole, 13. 14. 14 a. 14b, 17, 23.24-=case, 23a. 24a;=convex portion, 13a, 17a, 17b, 23c. 24cm... Seat surface, 15... Fluid inlet, 16...
...Nagarekun 5th figure stone 6 figure (L) (1)) 7th mouth B figure P2' Pz < R

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A flow control valve comprising a flow path through which fluid flows and a valve body provided in the middle of the flow path in a case, in which the valve body is connected to an electric current capable of applying a voltage. 1. A flow control valve comprising a plate-shaped valve body made of a strainable material and having a communication hole, and an elastic member that presses the periphery of the valve body mounted in a case. 2. In the device described in claim 1, when the plate-shaped valve body is brought into contact with the seat surface of the case end wall in the direction perpendicular to the flow path direction in the case, and no voltage is applied to the valve body. A flow rate control valve is constructed so that the flow path is closed, and when a voltage is applied to the valve body, the flow path is opened by deformation of the valve body. 3. In either of claims 1 or 2, an intermediate wall having a communication hole is provided in the case, and plate-shaped valves are installed from the left and right so as to sandwich the inner wall. The flow control valve is equipped with an elastic member mounted in a case so as to press the periphery of each valve body from the left and right by bringing the body into contact with the seat surface of the intermediate wall. 4. In either of claims 1 or 2, a plate-shaped valve body is located approximately in the center of the case, and to the left of the valve body. A flow rate control valve in which an elastic member is mounted in a case, and an elastic member that presses the periphery of the valve body from the left and right is mounted on the right side and has an opposing flow path.