Metal hard sealing ball valve

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of valves, in particular to a metal hard sealing ball valve which comprises a main valve body structure and a sealing adjusting structure. The main valve body structure comprises a valve shell, a ball assembly and a valve seat assembly, and the sealing adjusting structure comprises an elastic compensation unit and a guide supporting unit. A hardening treatment layer and a micro-convex texture structure are arranged on the outer surface of the ball assembly, and a flexible filling material is embedded in a sealing ring on the inner side of the valve seat assembly. The elastic compensation unit dynamically adjusts the position of a valve seat through a spring assembly, and the guide supporting unit ensures movement stability. The inner wall of the valve shell is provided with a diversion trench to optimize a fluid path, and the outer wall of the annular valve seat is provided with radiating fins to improve high-temperature resistance. The sealing performance can be remarkably improved, friction and abrasion are reduced, the fluid scouring influence is reduced, the leakage problem under the high-pressure or high-temperature or high-abrasion working condition is solved, and the service life is prolonged.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of valve manufacturing, and in particular relates to a metal hard-sealed ball valve. Background Art

[0002] In industrial piping systems, ball valves are crucial fluid control devices, and their sealing performance directly impacts system reliability and safety. Currently, most common metal-hard-seal ball valves on the market rely on direct metal-to-metal contact for sealing. However, this type of structure is susceptible to sealing surface damage under high pressure, high temperature, or high-abrasion conditions, leading to leakage. Furthermore, some metal-hard-seal ball valves experience significant friction during opening and closing, increasing operational difficulty and potentially exacerbating wear on the sealing surface.

[0003] Therefore, we have made improvements to this and proposed a metal hard seal ball valve. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem that the sealing surface of the current metal hard-sealed ball valve is easily damaged under high pressure, high temperature or high wear conditions, resulting in leakage, and the friction force is large during the opening and closing process, which increases the difficulty of operation and aggravates the wear of the sealing surface.

[0005] To achieve the aforementioned objectives and address the aforementioned issues, the present invention provides a metal hard-seal ball valve comprising a main valve body structure and a seal adjustment structure. The main valve body structure comprises a valve housing, a ball assembly disposed within the valve housing, and a valve seat assembly mated with the ball assembly. The seal adjustment structure comprises an elastic compensation unit and a guide support unit. The elastic compensation unit is connected to the valve housing via the guide support unit and is used to apply a dynamic adjustment force to the valve seat assembly to adapt to sealing requirements under different operating conditions.

[0006] The ball assembly includes a main body and a flow channel extending through it. The outer surface of the main body is hardened, and the surface of the hardened layer is precision-ground to form a micro-convex texture, which reduces the friction coefficient between the ball and the valve seat while improving wear resistance. The valve seat assembly includes an annular valve seat and a sealing ring embedded within the annular seat. The inner surface of the sealing ring is provided with multiple grooves evenly distributed along the circumference. Flexible filling material is fixed to the bottom of the grooves to enhance the sealing effect under high-pressure conditions.

[0007] As a preferred technical solution of the present application, the elastic compensation unit includes a spring assembly and an adjusting screw. One end of the spring assembly contacts the outer side wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end abuts against the end of the adjusting screw. The adjusting screw passes through the side wall of the valve housing and is fixed by a threaded connection. By rotating the adjusting screw, the compression amount of the spring assembly is changed, thereby adjusting the position of the annular valve seat.

[0008] As a preferred technical solution of the present application, the guide support unit includes a guide rod and a limit block, one end of the guide rod is fixedly connected to the outer wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end slides through the limit block and remains parallel to the inner wall of the valve housing. The limit block is fixedly installed on the inner wall of the valve housing to limit the movement range of the annular valve seat and ensure the stability of its movement direction.

[0009] As a preferred technical solution of this application, the inner sidewall of the valve housing is provided with multiple axially extending guide grooves. These grooves have an arcuate cross-section and are used to guide fluid flow and reduce the impact of the fluid on the ball assembly. The ends of these guide grooves are connected to the valve housing's liquid inlet and outlet, respectively. The vortex effect formed by the fluid passing through the guide grooves effectively reduces the erosion of the fluid on the sealing surface.

[0010] As a preferred technical solution of the present application, support shafts are respectively provided on both sides of the spherical body, and the ends of the support shafts are rotatably connected to the inner wall of the valve housing through bearings. A dust cover is provided on the outer side of the bearing, and a gap is left between the inner wall of the dust cover and the support shaft to prevent external impurities from entering the interior of the bearing.

[0011] As a preferred technical solution of the present application, the outer wall of the annular valve seat is provided with a plurality of heat sinks evenly distributed along the circumference, and the thickness of the heat sinks gradually decreases from the middle to the two ends, which is used to improve the heat conduction efficiency and reduce the thermal stress concentration phenomenon of the valve seat assembly caused by temperature difference.

[0012] As the preferred technical solution of this application, the flexible filling material is made of a high-temperature resistant and corrosion-resistant composite material, and has multiple micro cavities embedded inside. The micro cavities are spherical in shape and are used to absorb part of the pressure under high-pressure conditions and improve the deformation ability of the sealing ring.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: By setting up the elastic compensation unit and the guide support unit, the spring assembly is used to apply a dynamic adjustment force to the annular valve seat. Combined with the synergistic effect of the guide rod and the limit block, the annular valve seat can always maintain a good fit with the ball body under different working conditions, thereby significantly improving the sealing performance. The hardened layer and micro-convex texture structure on the outer surface of the ball body effectively reduce the friction during the opening and closing process and reduce the degree of wear on the sealing surface. In addition, the design of the guide groove optimizes the fluid flow path and reduces the scouring effect of the fluid on the sealing surface, while the arrangement of the heat sink further enhances the high temperature resistance of the valve seat assembly. The above technical means work together to solve the problem of sealing surface damage and leakage of existing metal hard-sealed ball valves under high pressure, high temperature or high wear conditions, while reducing the difficulty of operation and extending the service life of the equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of part A.

[0017] Figure 4 It is a side view of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the annular valve seat structure of the present invention.

[0019] The accompanying drawings are numbered as follows: 1. Valve housing; 2. Ball assembly; 3. Valve seat assembly; 4. Elastic compensation unit; 5. Guide support unit; 6. Hardened layer; 7. Sealing ring; 8. Flexible filling material; 9. Guide groove; 10. Heat sink. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The present invention relates to a metal hard seal ball valve, which comprises a main valve body structure and a seal adjustment structure. The specific embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 As shown, the main valve body structure of this metal hard-seal ball valve includes a valve housing 1, a ball assembly 2 disposed within the valve housing 1, and a valve seat assembly 3 that cooperates with the ball assembly 2. The seal adjustment structure includes an elastic compensation unit 4 and a guide support unit 5. The elastic compensation unit 4 is connected to the valve housing 1 via the guide support unit 5 and is used to apply a dynamic adjustment force to the valve seat assembly 3 to adapt to the sealing requirements under different operating conditions. Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the present invention, showing in detail the matching relationship between the ball assembly 2, the valve seat assembly 3, the elastic compensation unit 4 and the guide support unit 5, and marking the specific positions of the hardened layer 6 and the sealing ring 7.

[0021] The spherical assembly 2 includes a spherical body and a flow channel hole running through the spherical body. The outer surface of the spherical body is provided with a hardening layer 6. The surface of the hardening layer 6 is precisely ground to form a micro-convex texture structure. The hardening layer 6 is generated on the surface of the spherical body through a heat treatment process. The depth of the micro-convex texture structure ranges from 0.01mm to 0.05mm, and the texture spacing is from 0.1mm to 0.3mm. The design of this micro-convex texture structure can effectively reduce the friction coefficient between the sphere and the valve seat, while improving the wear resistance. Support shafts are provided on both sides of the spherical body. The ends of the support shafts are rotatably connected to the inner wall of the valve housing 1 through bearings. A dust cover is provided on the outside of the bearing. A gap is left between the inner wall of the dust cover and the support shaft to prevent external impurities from entering the bearing. The dust cover is fixed to the inner wall of the valve housing 1 by screws. The gap width is 0.5mm to 1mm, ensuring the dustproof effect without affecting the normal rotation of the support shaft.

[0022] The valve seat assembly 3 includes an annular valve seat and a sealing ring 7 embedded inside the annular valve seat. The inner side of the sealing ring 7 is provided with a plurality of grooves evenly distributed along the circumference, and a flexible filling material 8 is fixed to the bottom of the grooves. Figure 3 for Figure 2 The enlarged partial view of part A in the middle focuses on the structural details of the inner groove of the sealing ring 7 and the flexible filling material 8, as well as its contact state with the main body of the sphere. The flexible filling material 8 is made of a high-temperature resistant and corrosion-resistant composite material, and is embedded with multiple micro cavities inside. The micro cavities are spherical in shape with a diameter ranging from 0.1mm to 0.3mm. The flexible filling material 8 can absorb part of the pressure under high-pressure conditions and increase the deformation capacity of the sealing ring 7, thereby enhancing the sealing effect. The sealing ring 7 is embedded in the inner side of the annular valve seat through an interference fit. The depth of the groove is 0.5mm to 1mm and the width is 1mm to 2mm. The flexible filling material 8 is fixed to the bottom of the groove by an adhesive. The adhesive is a high-temperature resistant epoxy resin.

[0023] The elastic compensation unit 4 includes a spring assembly and an adjusting screw. One end of the spring assembly contacts the outer wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end abuts the end of the adjusting screw. The adjusting screw passes through the side wall of the valve housing 1 and is fixed by a threaded connection. By rotating the adjusting screw, the compression of the spring assembly can be changed, thereby adjusting the position of the annular valve seat. The spring assembly uses a multi-turn coil spring with an outer diameter of 10mm to 20mm, a wire diameter of 1mm to 2mm, and a free length of 30mm to 50mm. The outer diameter of the adjusting screw is 8mm to 12mm, and the thread specification is M8 to M12. One end of the adjusting screw is provided with a hexagonal head to facilitate rotation using a wrench. A sealing gasket is provided between the adjusting screw and the side wall of the valve housing 1. The sealing gasket is made of polytetrafluoroethylene and has a thickness of 1mm to 2mm to prevent fluid leakage.

[0024] The guide support unit 5 includes a guide rod and a limit block. One end of the guide rod is fixedly connected to the outer wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end slides through the limit block and remains parallel to the inner wall of the valve housing 1. The limit block is fixedly mounted on the inner wall of the valve housing 1. The outer diameter of the guide rod is 6mm to 10mm, and the length is 50mm to 100mm. The guide rod is fixed to the outer wall of the annular valve seat by a threaded connection, and the thread specification is M6 to M10. The limit block is fixed to the inner wall of the valve housing 1 by screws. The inner diameter of the limit block is 0.1mm to 0.2mm larger than the outer diameter of the guide rod, ensuring that the guide rod can slide smoothly within the limit block. A linear bearing is provided between the guide rod and the inner wall of the valve housing 1. The inner diameter of the linear bearing is the same as the outer diameter of the guide rod, with an outer diameter of 8mm to 12mm and a length of 10mm to 20mm. It is used to reduce the friction resistance of the guide rod when it slides.

[0025] The inner side wall of the valve housing 1 is provided with a plurality of guide grooves 9 extending in the axial direction. The cross section of the guide grooves 9 is arc-shaped and is used to guide the flow of fluid and reduce the impact force of the fluid on the ball assembly 2. Figure 4 This is a side view of the present invention, showing the distribution of guide grooves 9 on the inner sidewall of the valve housing 1 and their connection to the liquid inlet and outlet. The number of guide grooves 9 ranges from 4 to 8, with a width of 5 mm to 10 mm and a depth of 2 mm to 5 mm. The ends of the guide grooves 9 are connected to the liquid inlet and outlet of the valve housing 1, respectively. The vortex effect formed by fluid passing through the guide grooves 9 effectively reduces erosion of the sealing surface. The surface of the guide grooves 9 is polished to a roughness Ra of 0.4 μm to 0.8 μm to further reduce resistance to fluid flow.

[0026] The outer wall of the annular valve seat is provided with a plurality of heat sinks 10 evenly distributed along the circumference. The thickness of the heat sinks 10 gradually decreases from the middle to the two ends, which is used to improve the heat conduction efficiency and reduce the thermal stress concentration caused by the temperature difference in the valve seat assembly. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the annular valve seat structure of the present invention, illustrating the arrangement of the heat sink 10 and its thickness variation. The number of heat sinks 10 ranges from 6 to 12, with thicknesses ranging from 1 mm to 3 mm and lengths from 10 mm to 20 mm. The thickness of the heat sink 10 decreases gradually from the center to the ends at a rate of 0.1 mm / mm to 0.2 mm / mm. The heat sink 10 is secured to the outer wall of the annular valve seat by welding using argon arc welding, with a weld height of 0.5 mm to 1 mm, ensuring a strong connection between the heat sink 10 and the annular valve seat.

[0027] The assembly process is as follows: the inner wall of the valve housing 1 is pre-machined with a guide groove 9, and the surface of the guide groove 9 is polished and cleaned. The support shaft of the ball assembly 2 is installed on the inner wall of the valve housing 1 through a bearing, and a dust cover is installed on the outside of the bearing and fixed with screws. After the heat sink 10 is welded to the outer wall of the annular valve seat, the sealing ring 7 is embedded in the inner side of the annular valve seat, and the flexible filling material 8 is bonded and fixed to the bottom of the groove of the sealing ring 7. The annular valve seat is connected to the limit block through a guide rod and installed in the valve housing 1. The other end of the guide rod is fixed to the annular valve seat through a thread. One end of the spring assembly contacts the outer wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end abuts the end of the adjusting screw. The adjusting screw passes through the side wall of the valve housing 1 and is fixed by a threaded connection. Finally, the sealing gasket is installed between the adjusting screw and the side wall of the valve housing 1 to complete the assembly.

[0028] The operating principle is as follows: When fluid enters the valve housing 1 from the liquid inlet, it flows through the guide groove 9 to the flow channel hole of the ball assembly 2. Under high-pressure or high-temperature conditions, the spring assembly in the elastic compensation unit 4 applies a dynamic adjustment force to the annular valve seat, ensuring that the annular valve seat always maintains a good fit with the ball body, thereby ensuring sealing performance. The guide rod and limit block in the guide support unit 5 work together to limit the movement range of the annular valve seat and ensure the stability of its movement direction. The hardened layer 6 and micro-convex texture structure on the outer surface of the ball body reduce friction during opening and closing, reducing the degree of wear on the sealing surface. The flexible filling material 8 on the inside of the sealing ring 7 absorbs some pressure under high-pressure conditions and increases the deformation capacity of the sealing ring 7, further enhancing the sealing effect. The heat sink 10 improves the heat conduction efficiency of the annular valve seat, reduces the thermal stress concentration caused by temperature differences, and thus improves the high-temperature resistance of the valve seat assembly. When the position of the annular valve seat needs to be adjusted, it can be achieved by rotating the adjustment screw to change the compression of the spring assembly.

[0029] In order to better enable relevant personnel in this technical field to fully understand and implement the present invention, the operating principle and implementation steps of the present invention are supplemented below with reference to specific application scenarios.

[0030] In industrial piping systems, the application scenarios of metal hard-sealed ball valves generally involve high-pressure, high-temperature or high-wear conditions. For example, in the high-temperature fluid delivery pipeline of a chemical plant, the ball valve needs to be frequently opened and closed to control the flow of the fluid while ensuring stable sealing performance. When the fluid enters the valve housing 1 from the liquid inlet, it is first guided to the flow channel hole of the ball assembly 2 through the guide groove 9. The design of the guide groove 9 reduces the fluid flow resistance through its arc-shaped cross-section and polished surface, and reduces the erosion of the fluid on the sealing surface through the vortex effect, thereby protecting the contact area between the sealing ring 7 and the ball body from direct impact.

[0031] Under high-pressure working conditions, the spring assembly in the elastic compensation unit 4 applies a dynamic adjustment force to the annular valve seat, so that the annular valve seat always maintains a tight fit with the spherical body. The principle of realizing this dynamic adjustment force is that one end of the spring assembly contacts the outer wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end is fixed to the side wall of the valve housing 1 through an adjusting screw. When the working pressure changes, the compression of the spring assembly can be fine-tuned by rotating the adjusting screw, thereby changing the position of the annular valve seat and ensuring the stability of the sealing performance. In addition, the guide rod and the limit block in the guide support unit 5 work together to limit the movement range of the annular valve seat and ensure the stability of its movement direction. The gap between the guide rod and the limit block is designed to be 0.1mm to 0.2mm, ensuring that the guide rod can slide smoothly in the limit block. At the same time, the setting of the linear bearing further reduces the friction resistance of the guide rod when it slides.

[0032] The hardened layer 6 and the micro-convex texture structure on the outer surface of the spherical body play an important role in the opening and closing process. The hardened layer 6 is generated by a heat treatment process and is precisely ground to form a micro-convex texture structure with a depth of 0.01mm to 0.05mm and a spacing of 0.1mm to 0.3mm. This design not only effectively reduces the friction coefficient between the sphere and the valve seat, but also improves the wear resistance. The presence of the micro-convex texture structure enables the sphere body to disperse the pressure distribution of the contact point when rotating, thereby reducing the risk of local wear. In addition, the two ends of the support shaft are connected to the inner wall of the valve housing 1 through bearings, and the provision of a dust cover prevents external impurities from entering the bearing, ensuring the normal rotation of the support shaft.

[0033] Under high-temperature conditions, the heat sink 10 welded to the outer wall of the annular valve seat significantly improves heat conduction efficiency. The thickness of the heat sink 10 gradually decreases from the middle to the ends. This design optimizes the distribution of thermal stress and avoids the concentration of thermal stress caused by temperature differences. The heat sink 10 is fixed to the outer wall of the annular valve seat using an argon arc welding process. The weld height is 0.5mm to 1mm, ensuring the connection strength while improving the heat dissipation effect. When the fluid temperature rises, the heat sink 10 can quickly conduct heat to the external environment, thereby reducing the overall temperature of the valve seat assembly and extending its service life.

[0034] The flexible filling material 8 inside the sealing ring 7 plays a key role in high-pressure conditions. Made from a heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant composite material, the flexible filling material 8 is embedded with spherical microcavities with diameters ranging from 0.1mm to 0.3mm. These microcavities absorb some of the pressure under high pressure and increase the deformation capacity of the sealing ring 7, thereby enhancing the sealing effect. The flexible filling material 8 is fixed to the bottom of the groove of the sealing ring 7 with an adhesive. The adhesive is made of high-temperature resistant epoxy resin to ensure stable bonding performance even in high-temperature environments.

[0035] In actual operation, when the position of the annular valve seat needs to be adjusted to suit different operating conditions, a wrench is used to rotate the adjusting screw. The hexagonal head design of the adjusting screw facilitates operation, while the PTFE sealing gasket between it and the side wall of the valve housing 1 effectively prevents fluid leakage. By varying the compression of the spring assembly, the position of the annular valve seat can be precisely adjusted to ensure a consistent fit with the ball body, thus ensuring stable sealing performance.

[0036] In summary, the present invention achieves excellent sealing performance and durability under high-pressure, high-temperature, or high-wear conditions through the synergistic effects of the hardened layer 6, flexible filler material 8, heat sink 10, and elastic compensation unit 4. The combination of the steps and principles in this specific application scenario fully demonstrates the technical advantages and practicality of the present invention.

Claims

1. A metal hard seal ball valve, characterized in that: The invention comprises a main valve body structure and a sealing adjustment structure, wherein the main valve body structure comprises a valve housing (1), a ball assembly (2) arranged inside the valve housing (1), and a valve seat assembly (3) matched with the ball assembly (2); the sealing adjustment structure comprises an elastic compensation unit (4) and a guide support unit (5); the elastic compensation unit (4) is connected to the valve housing (1) via the guide support unit (5) and is used to apply a dynamic adjustment force to the valve seat assembly (3).

2. A metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spherical assembly (2) comprises a spherical body and a flow channel hole penetrating the spherical body, and the outer surface of the spherical body is provided with a hardening treatment layer (6).

3. A metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The valve seat assembly (3) comprises an annular valve seat and a sealing ring (7) embedded inside the annular valve seat, wherein the inner side of the sealing ring (7) is provided with a plurality of grooves evenly distributed along the circumference, and a flexible filling material (8) is fixed to the bottom of the grooves.

4. A metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastic compensation unit (4) comprises a spring assembly and an adjusting screw, one end of the spring assembly contacts the outer side wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end abuts against the end of the adjusting screw, the adjusting screw passes through the side wall of the valve housing (1) and is fixed by a threaded connection, the outer diameter of the adjusting screw is 8 mm to 12 mm, and the thread specification is M8 to M12.

5. The metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide support unit (5) comprises a guide rod and a limit block, one end of the guide rod is fixedly connected to the outer side wall of the annular valve seat, and the other end slides through the limit block and remains parallel to the inner wall of the valve housing (1), and the limit block is fixedly mounted on the inner side wall of the valve housing (1). The outer diameter of the guide rod is 6 mm to 10 mm, and the length is 50 mm to 100 mm.

6. The metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner side wall of the valve housing (1) is provided with a plurality of guide grooves (9) extending in the axial direction. The cross section of the guide grooves (9) is arc-shaped, the groove width is 5 mm to 10 mm, the groove depth is 2 mm to 5 mm, and the surface roughness Ra value of the guide grooves (9) is 0.4 μm to 0.8 μm.

7. The metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer side wall of the annular valve seat is provided with a plurality of heat sinks (10) uniformly distributed along the circumference, wherein the thickness of the heat sinks (10) gradually decreases from the middle to both ends, the thickness ranges from 1 mm to 3 mm, the length ranges from 10 mm to 20 mm, and the thickness variation rate ranges from 0.1 mm / mm to 0.2 mm / mm.

8. The metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that: Support shafts are provided on both sides of the spherical body, and the ends of the support shafts are rotatably connected to the inner wall of the valve housing (1) through bearings. A dust cover is provided on the outer side of the bearing, and a gap is left between the inner wall of the dust cover and the support shaft, with a gap width of 0.5 mm to 1 mm.

9. The metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 2, characterized in that: The surface of the hardened layer (6) is precisely ground to form a micro-convex texture structure, wherein the depth of the micro-convex texture structure ranges from 0.01 mm to 0.05 mm, and the texture spacing ranges from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

10. The metal hard seal ball valve according to claim 3, characterized in that: The flexible filling material (8) is embedded with a plurality of spherical micro cavities with diameters ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm, and the flexible filling material 8 is made of a high-temperature-resistant and corrosion-resistant composite material.

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