Rotary valve

Abstract

A rotary valve (1) comprising a housing (2) with a removable housing cover (3) and a rotor (4) within the housing (2), the rotor (4) being made accessible at least partially outside the housing (2) for cleaning or inspection by separating and displacing the housing cover (3) from the housing (2), wherein an end portion (5) of a shaft (6) of the rotor (4) is mounted in a bearing assembly (7) supported by the housing cover (3), the bearing assembly (7) comprising a first bearing (11) and a second bearing (12), the first bearing (11) and the second bearing (12) being adjustable after being put in place to keep the shaft (6) of the rotor (4) in a horizontal orientation relative to the housing (2) when the housing cover (3) is removed from the housing (2), wherein the first bearing (11) and the second bearing (12) are movable relative to each other in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the shaft (6).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a rotary valve comprising a housing with a removable housing cover and a rotor within the housing, the rotor being made accessible at least partially outside the housing by separating and displacing the housing cover from the housing in order to be able to access the interior of the rotary valve, e.g. for cleaning or inspection, wherein an end portion of a shaft of the rotor is mounted in a bearing assembly supported by the housing cover, the bearing assembly comprising a first bearing and a second bearing adjustable after positioning in order to keep the shaft of the rotor in a horizontal orientation relative to the housing when the housing cover is removed from the housing. BACKGROUND

[0002] Such a rotary valve is known from EP 3 000 754. In the known rotary valve, the bearing assembly comprises a bearing housing and an inner bearing adjustment ring and an outer bearing adjustment ring, each in threaded engagement with the bearing housing and rotatable within the bearing housing. The bearing assembly can comprise a first inner rolling bearing, a second outer rolling bearing and a spacer ring arranged therebetween, all located between the inner bearing adjustment ring and the outer bearing adjustment ring. The entirety of the bearing assembly is tiltable in order to keep the shaft of the rotor horizontal, thereby avoiding the problem of a "falling down" or "tilting down" of the rotor shaft when the rotor shaft is supported by only a single end portion. This occurs when the housing cover is separated from the housing and moved away from the housing in order to make the rotor at least partially accessible outside the housing in order to be able to access the interior of the rotary valve.

[0003] A problem with the construction known from EP 3 000 754 is that this construction is relatively complex and that it results in keeping the rotor shaft horizontal to a large extent depending on the effect of locking the constituent elements of the bearing assembly between the inner bearing adjustment ring and the outer bearing adjustment ring from being able to move relative to each other. SUMMARY

[0004] One of the objects of the present invention is to avoid the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide an alternative solution which does not require the application of an inner bearing adjustment ring and an outer bearing adjustment ring.

[0005] US 6,186,164 discloses a rotary valve according to the preamble of the main aspects of the present application, wherein the first bearing and the second bearing are movable relative to each other in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the shaft.

[0006] The rotary valve according to the present invention is provided with the features of one or more of the aspects of the present application.

[0007] In a first aspect of the invention, at least one of the first bearing and the second bearing is mounted in an adjustment flange which can be moved transversely relative to the shaft of the rotor and which is screwed to a base flange of the housing cover. The base flange is positionally fixed relative to the housing cover such that said vertical movement of the adjustment flange results in a relative transverse movement of the first bearing relative to the second bearing. In this way, when the rotor shaft is supported by only a single end, the positioning of the first bearing and the second bearing relative to each other can be utilized to keep the shaft of the rotor horizontal. Said bearings can be rolling bearings or any other suitable type of bearing.

[0008] A preferred way of realizing the screw connection between the adjustment flange and the base flange is that the screw connection comprises at least one bolt having threads which cooperate with corresponding threads in the openings of the adjustment flange, said at least one bolt being further provided with a tapered end portion which abuts against an inclined engagement surface of the openings in the base flange. By turning the bolt, the tapered end portion which cooperates with the inclined engagement surface in the openings of the positionally fixed base flange will cause the adjustment flange to move in the plane of the adjustment flange relative to the positionally fixed base flange. This applies especially to movement in the vertical direction, but also to possible movement in the horizontal direction, as will be further explained below.

[0009] In order to enable movement of the adjustment flange in two orthogonal directions in the plane of the adjustment flange, preferably the screw connection between the adjustment flange and the base flange comprises at least three bolts, each having threads which cooperate with corresponding threads in the openings of the adjustment flange, the bolts each being provided with a tapered end portion which abuts against an inclined engagement surface of the openings in the base flange.

[0010] Suitably, two of the at least three bolts are located opposite each other in a horizontal plane through the shaft of the rotor in order to provide horizontal adjustment of the shaft, while the third bolt is located in a vertical plane through the shaft of the rotor and above the shaft in order to provide vertical adjustment of the shaft. For movement in this vertical plane, a fourth bolt opposite said third bolt need not be provided as gravity assists any desired movement in the opposite direction performed by the third bolt. However, such a fourth bolt opposite the third bolt can also be applied for movement in the vertical plane.

[0011] In another aspect of the invention, which can be applied independently of or in addition to the features discussed above, preferably the end portion of the rotary valve is provided with a central bolt and a locking plate which can be placed in a working position in which the locking plate provides support for the central bolt to enable longitudinal movement of the shaft with the rotor by turning the central bolt.

[0012] Further preferably, in the non-working position the locking plate is positioned below the center bolt to avoid unintentional damage to the threads of the center bolt. In this way, gravity will provide assistance to keep the locking plate in the non-working position, such that purposeful manipulation by the operator will be required to place the locking plate in the working position.

[0013] Preferably, the locking plate is provided with a locking plate handle to move the rotatable locking plate between the non-working position and the working position.

[0014] It is further desirable that the locking plate is provided with at least one protrusion for engagement with one or more notches on the hub of the rotor shaft. In this way, rotation of the rotor can be prevented by placing the protrusion in one of the notches in the hub. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] The application will be further explained in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings of exemplary embodiments of a rotary valve according to the application, which are not limiting the application to the accompanying claims.

[0016] In the drawings:

[0017] - Figure 1 and Figure 2 schematically show the rotary valve in the working position and in the non-working position, respectively;

[0018] - Figure 3 show the end portion of the rotary valve of the application in the manner of an isometric view and a partial cross-sectional view;

[0019] - Figure 4A , Figure 4B show the end portion of the rotary valve of the application in the manner of a vertical cross-section representing two different positions of the first bearing and the second bearing;

[0020] - Figure 5A , Figure 5B show the end portion of the rotary valve of the application in the manner of a horizontal cross-section representing two different positions of the first bearing and the second bearing;

[0021] - Figure 6A , Figure 6B , Figure 7A , Figure 7B and Figure 8A , Figure 8B show a cross-sectional side view and a front view of the end portion of the shaft at the side of the detachable housing cover. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] When the same reference numerals are used in the accompanying drawings, these refer to the same parts.

[0023] Firstly, reference is made toFigure 1 and Figure 2 is shown a rotary valve 1 comprising a housing 2 with a removable housing cover 3 (as shown in Figure 2 ) and a rotor 4 within the housing 2, which rotor 4 is enabled to be at least partially placed outside the housing 2 by separating the housing cover 3 from the housing 2 and displacing it, in order to be able to access the interior of the rotary valve 1, for example for cleaning or inspection. Figure 1 and Figure 2 is also shown that an end portion 5 of the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 is mounted in a bearing assembly 7 which is supported by the housing cover 3.

[0024] According to Figure 1 , when the rotor 4 is completely inside the housing 2 and the housing cover 3 is mounted on the housing 2, the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 is also placed - usually via a sleeve - in a bearing 8 which is located on the side of the housing 2 opposite the location where the detachable and displaceable housing cover 3 is positioned.

[0025] In Figure 2 is depicted that the rotor 4 is partially placed outside the housing 2. This can be done after first separating the housing cover 3 from the housing 2 and subsequently moving, for example sliding, the end portion 10 comprising the bearing assembly 7 and the housing cover 3 away from the housing 2 by means of a structural part with, for example, a guide rail 9. However, this structural part is not necessary, moving the end portion 10 away from the housing 2 can also be realized in a different way.

[0026] When the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 is only supported by the bearing 7 which is supported by the housing cover 3, the rotor shaft 6 has a tendency to fall and to dip a small distance D, as depicted in Figure 2 . According to the invention, the problem of the rotor 4 falling or tilting downwards is counteracted with the features which are further explained with reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings.

[0027] Figure 3 A detailed view is provided at the end portion 10 of the rotary valve 1. Figure 3 is shown that the bearing assembly 7 comprises a first bearing 11 and a second bearing 12. These first bearing 11 and second bearing 12 can be adjusted after being put in place in order to keep the shaft 6 of the rotor in a horizontal orientation with respect to the housing 2 when the housing cover 3 is separated from the housing 2 and moved away from the housing 2, as shown in Figure 2 . This adjustability of the bearings is provided by the feature that at least one of the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 is movable in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the shaft 6. In essence, this means that the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 are movable with respect to each other in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the shaft. In Figure 4A , Figure 4B and Figure 5A , Figure 5BThese situations can be seen more clearly in the figures.

[0028] The Figure 3 , Figure 4A , Figure 4B and Figure 5A , Figure 5B all show a preferred embodiment in which the first bearing 11 is mounted in an adjustment flange 13 which can be moved transversely relative to the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 and which is screwed to a positionally fixed base flange 14 of the housing cover 3. In principle, this can also be implemented in reverse.

[0029] The screw connection between the adjustment flange 13 and the base flange 14 is shown in the respective figures to comprise at least one bolt 15 which is provided with a thread which cooperates with a corresponding thread in an opening in the adjustment flange 13 - the manner in which these threads can be implemented is clear to the skilled person and therefore not shown. The at least one bolt 15 is further provided with a tapered end portion 16 which abuts against an inclined engagement surface 17 of an opening in the positionally fixed base flange 14. For the sake of clarity, the angle at which the surface 17 is provided with its inclined positioning is not shown to scale. It is further explained that a mirror image construction can also be applied in which two bolts 15 cooperate with tapered end portions 16 of openings 17, wherein these cooperating bolts 15 and openings 17 are then on opposite sides of the shaft 6 of the rotor 4. This construction will be discussed below in the context of the movement in the horizontal plane. Figure 5A and Figure 5B .

[0030] The differences between what is shown in Figure 4A , Figure 4B and Figure 5A , Figure 5B will now be discussed.

[0031] Figure 4A and Figure 4B provide a view in the manner of a vertical section which represents two different vertical positions of the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 relative to each other.

[0032] In Figure 4A , the bolt 15 is located at the entrance of the opening in the base flange 14 with the inclined surface 17, such that the first bearing 11 is located at a slightly higher position than the second bearing 12.

[0033] In Figure 4B , the bolt 15 is screwed into the opening in the base flange 14 with the inclined surface 17, such that the first bearing 11 is located at a slightly lower position than the second bearing 12.

[0034] Figure 4A andFigure 4B The combination thus indicates that by displacing the bolts 15 into the openings in the base flange 14 or displacing them out of the openings in the base flange 14, the relative vertical position of the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 can be adjusted and, thus, the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 can be kept horizontal. It has been explained above that the adjustment of the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 relative to each other can also be achieved with a mirror image configuration with two bolts cooperating with the tapered end portions 16 of the openings 17, wherein the bolts 15 and the openings 17 are located on opposite sides of the shaft 6 of the rotor 4.

[0035] Figure 5A and Figure 5B shows the configuration explained with reference to Figure 4A and Figure 4B but now for moving the respective bearings 11 and 12 in a horizontal plane. Figure 5A and Figure 5B are provided in a horizontal cross-sectional manner, representing two different horizontal positions of the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 relative to each other. Figure 5A 、 Figure 5B Further discussion of the operation of the configuration will be similar to the above discussion with reference to Figure 4A 、 Figure 4B and is therefore omitted for the sake of brevity.

[0036] For the sake of brevity of the preferred embodiment, the Figure 4A 、 Figure 4B and Figure 5A 、 Figure 5B are depicted in combination, wherein the screw connection between the adjustment flange 13 and the base flange 14 comprises at least three bolts 15, each having a thread cooperating with a corresponding thread in the openings of the adjustment flange 13, and each of these bolts 15 is provided with a tapered end portion 16 abutting the tapered engagement surface 17 of the openings in the base flange 14.

[0037] Figure 5A 、 Figure 5B shows two of the at least three bolts 15 in opposite positions in a horizontal plane through the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 in order to provide horizontal adjustment of the shaft 6, while Figure 4A 、 Figure 4B shows the remaining third bolt 15 in a vertical surface through the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 and above the shaft 6 in order to provide vertical adjustment of the shaft 6. It is again repeated that for vertical movement, a mirror image configuration with two bolts 15 cooperating with the tapered end portions 16 of the openings 17 on opposite sides of the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 can also be applied.

[0038] Now turning to Figure 6A 、 Figure 6B ,Figure 7A , Figure 7B and Figure 8A , Figure 8B , the end portion of the rotary valve 1 is shown provided with a central bolt 18 and a locking plate 19, which can be placed in a working position, as shown in Figure 7A , Figure 7B and Figure 8A , Figure 8B , in which the locking plate 19 provides support for the central bolt 18 to enable the shaft 6 to move longitudinally with the rotor 4 by turning the central bolt 18.

[0039] Figure 6A , Figure 6B depicts the locking plate 19 in a non-working position, below the central bolt 18 to prevent accidental damage to the threads of the central bolt 18, which would be possible when the rotor placed in the shaft hub 23 has a high speed.

[0040] Further shown is that the locking plate 19 is provided with a locking plate handle 20 to move the locking plate 19 between the non-working position of Figure 6A , Figure 6B and the working position of Figure 7A , Figure 7B and Figure 8A , Figure 8B .

[0041] Figure 7A , Figure 7B and Figure 8A , Figure 8B shows that in this connection the locking plate 19 is provided with at least one protrusion 21 for engagement with one or more notches 22 on the shaft hub 23 of the shaft 6 that accommodates the rotor 4. In Figure 7A , Figure 7B , the locking plate 19 has not yet been positioned to prevent rotation of the rotor 4, since the rotation of the rotor is at that time blocked by the motor connected to the rotor 4. In Figure 8A , Figure 8B , the rotor 4 is disconnected from the motor and one of the protrusions 21 has engaged with a notch 22 on the shaft hub 23 of the shaft 6 of the rotor 4 to prevent rotation of the rotor 4.

[0042] While the application has been discussed with reference to the exemplary embodiments of the rotary valve of the application, the application is not limited to that particular embodiment, which is susceptible to alteration in many ways. Consequently, the exemplary embodiments discussed are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the appended claims. Rather, the present embodiments are merely intended to explain the phraseology of the claims by way of example. Thus, the scope of the application should be construed in accordance with the appended claims, where the phraseology of the claims should be construed in light of the exemplary embodiments.

Claims

1. A rotary valve (1) comprising a housing (2) with a removable housing cover (3) and a rotor (4) within the housing (2), the rotor (4) being made accessible at least partially outside the housing (2) by separating and displacing the housing cover (3) from the housing (2) in order to gain access to the interior of the rotary valve (1), wherein, An end portion (5) of a shaft (6) of the rotor (4) is mounted in a bearing assembly (7) supported by the housing cover (3), the bearing assembly (7) comprising a first bearing (11) and a second bearing (12) which can be adjusted after installation in order to keep the shaft (6) of the rotor (4) in a horizontal orientation relative to the housing (2) when the housing cover (3) is removed from the housing (2), and wherein the first bearing (11) and the second bearing (12) can be moved relative to each other in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the shaft (6), characterized in that at least one of the first bearing (11) and the second bearing (12) is mounted in an adjustment flange (13) which can be moved transversely relative to the shaft (6) of the rotor (4), and in that the adjustment flange (13) is screwed to a base flange (14) of the housing cover (3), and in that the screw connection between the adjustment flange (13) and the base flange (14) comprises at least one bolt (15) which is provided with a thread which cooperates with a corresponding thread in an opening in the adjustment flange (13), the at least one bolt (15) being provided with a tapered end portion (16) which abuts an inclined engagement surface (17) of an opening in the base flange (14).

2. The rotary valve according to claim 1, characterized in that The screw connection between the adjustment flange (13) and the base flange (14) comprises at least three bolts (15), each bolt (15) having a thread which cooperates with a corresponding thread in an opening in the adjustment flange (13), the bolts (15) each being provided with a tapered end portion (16) which abuts an inclined engagement surface (17) of an opening in the base flange (14).

3. The rotary valve of claim 2, wherein, Two of the at least three bolts (15) are in opposite positions in a horizontal plane through the shaft (6) of the rotor (4) in order to provide horizontal adjustment of the shaft (6), while a third bolt (15) is in a vertical plane through the shaft (6) of the rotor (4) and above the shaft (6) in order to provide vertical adjustment of the shaft (6).

4. The rotary valve according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that An end portion of the rotary valve (1) is provided with a central bolt (18) and a locking plate (19) which can be placed in a working position in which the locking plate (19) provides support for the central bolt (18) in order to enable longitudinal movement of the shaft (6) with the rotor (4) by turning the central bolt (18).

5. The rotary valve of claim 4, wherein, In a non-working position, the locking plate (19) is located below the central bolt (18).

6. The rotary valve of claim 5, wherein, The locking plate (19) is provided with a locking plate handle (20) to move the rotatable locking plate (19) between the non-working position and the working position. The locking plate (19) is provided with a locking plate handle (20) to move the rotatable locking plate (19) between the non-working position and the working position.

7. A rotary valve according to claim 6, characterised in that Said locking plate (19) is provided with at least one protrusion (21) for engaging with one or more notches (22) on a hub (23) of said shaft (6) housing said rotor (4).

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