A control valve

Abstract

A control valve (1000) comprises a valve body (100), a valve core assembly (300) and a sealing member (200), the valve body has a mounting cavity (101) in which the valve core assembly is located at least partially, the valve body comprises a bottom wall (10), a side wall (20) and a limiting rib (30), the side wall is arranged protruding from the bottom wall, the limiting rib comprises an arc segment, the limiting rib is located in a space enclosed by the side wall and the bottom wall and protrudes from the bottom wall, a gap is formed between the side wall and the limiting rib, the sealing member comprises a first part and a second part, the first part is defined as an axial end close to the sealing member, the second part is defined as being located between the valve core assembly and the side wall, the first part and the second part are fixedly connected, the first part is located in the gap, and the second part is located between the valve core assembly and the side wall; in this way, the control valve can limit the position of the sealing member through the valve body, which is beneficial to reduce the influence of local deformation of the sealing member on the sealing performance during assembly.

Description

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202110065261.1, filed on January 18, 2021, and entitled "A control valve", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of fluid control, in particular to a control valve. BACKGROUND

[0003] Some systems need to use a multi-channel control valve to control the flow path, such as a motor vehicle. At present, multiple control valves may be generally used for control. In a multi-channel control valve, in order to achieve sealing, a sealing element is usually arranged on the valve body and the valve core assembly. During assembly of the sealing element and the valve body, local deformation of the sealing element may be caused during installation, which affects the sealing effect. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide a control valve which can limit the position of the sealing element and prevent local deformation of the sealing element during assembly, thereby improving the sealing effect of the sealing element.

[0005] The present application also provides a control valve. The control valve comprises a valve body, a valve core assembly and a sealing element. The valve body has a mounting cavity, and at least part of the valve core assembly is located in the mounting cavity. The valve body comprises a bottom wall, a side wall and a limiting rib. The side wall is arranged protruding from the bottom wall. The limiting rib comprises an arc-shaped section. The limiting rib is located in a space enclosed by the side wall and the bottom wall and protrudes from the bottom wall. A gap is formed between the side wall and the limiting rib. The sealing element comprises a first part and a second part. The first part is defined as being close to an axial end of the sealing element, and the second part is defined as being located between the valve core assembly and the side wall. The first part and the second part are fixedly connected, and the first part is located in the gap.

[0006] The control valve according to the embodiment of the present application comprises a valve body, a valve core assembly and a sealing element, the sealing element is arranged between the valve core assembly and the side wall of the valve body, and the sealing performance of the sealing element can be achieved; since the sealing element and the valve body are two separate parts, in the process of mounting the sealing element to the valve body, in order to facilitate the limitation of the assembly position of the sealing element on the valve body, a limiting rib is arranged in the valve body, and a gap is arranged between the side wall and the limiting rib; in the assembly process of the sealing element and the valve body, the first part of the sealing element can be arranged in the gap between the side wall and the limiting rib, so that the limiting rib can facilitate the limitation of the assembly position of the sealing element on the valve body; the embodiment of the present application can limit the arc length of the sealing element by arranging the limiting rib comprising an arc-shaped section, so as to reduce the local deformation of the sealing element in the assembly process, thereby facilitating the improvement of the sealing performance of the control valve, and further facilitating the improvement of the stability and quality of the control valve. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a partial structure explosion schematic diagram of a control valve provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0008] Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of a control valve at a first angle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0009] Figure 3 is a partial structure schematic diagram of a valve body provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0010] Figure 4 is an assembly schematic diagram of a limiting rib and a sealing element of an embodiment of the present application, and the arc length and the central angle of the limiting rib and the sealing element are shown in the figure;

[0011] Figure 5 is a top view of a partial structure of a valve body provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0012] Figure 6 is Figure 5 is a three-dimensional structure schematic diagram of a partial structure of a valve body provided in the

[0013] Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of a control valve at a second angle provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The features and exemplary embodiments of various aspects of the present application will be described in detail below, in order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear and apparent, the present application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0015] In the field of control valve for fluid control, the control valve comprises a valve body, a valve core assembly and a sealing member located between the valve body and the valve core assembly, the valve body has a mounting cavity, at least part of the valve core assembly is located in the mounting cavity, the valve core assembly can be rotated under the driving of a driving device, and the sealing member is used for sealing the gap between the valve core assembly and the valve body to prevent the valve core assembly from leaking during operation.

[0016] Generally, the valve body and the sealing member are provided separately, that is, the sealing member and the valve body are two separate parts, and then the separately provided sealing member and the valve body are assembled together manually, and then the valve core assembly 300 is assembled to the mounting space formed by the sealing member to extrude the sealing member, so that the sealing relationship is formed among the valve body, the sealing member and the valve core assembly. In order to facilitate the assembly of the sealing member into the mounting cavity of the valve body, a limiting member can be arranged in the valve body to mount the sealing member between the limiting member and the side wall of the valve body. The structure of the limiting member is an important factor, which can cause part of the sealing member not to be limited by the limiting member, and easily cause the deformation of the sealing member, such as curling, during the assembly process of the sealing member and the valve body or the assembly extrusion process of the valve core assembly and the sealing member, thereby affecting the sealing performance of the control valve.

[0017] The embodiment of the present application provides a novel control valve 1000. The control valve 1000 of the embodiment of the present application will be described below in combination with the drawings.

[0018] Please refer to Figures 1 to 4 The control valve 1000 of the embodiment of the present application comprises a valve body 100, a valve core assembly 300 and a sealing member 200, the valve body 100 has a mounting cavity 101, at least part of the valve core assembly 300 is located in the mounting cavity 101, and the valve core assembly 300 can rotate, for example, the valve core member can rotate under the driving of an external driving member to control the fluid. The valve body 100 comprises a side wall 20, the sealing member 200 is located in the mounting cavity 101 and arranged between the side wall 20 of the valve body 100 and the valve core assembly 300 to seal the gap between the side wall 20 of the valve body 100 and the valve core assembly 300, thereby improving the quality and stability of the control valve 1000. It can be understood that the side wall 20 is a side wall enclosing the mounting cavity 101, and the side wall 20 comprises an inner contour and an outer contour, the shapes of the inner contour and the outer contour can be the same or different, for example, in Figure 1 The inner contour of the side wall 20 is a cylindrical surface, and the outer surface of the side wall 20 comprises a flat mounting surface to facilitate the installation of the control valve 1000.

[0019] In order to facilitate the installation of the sealing element 200 and better limit the sealing element 200, in some embodiments, the valve body 100 comprises a bottom wall 10, a side wall 20 and a limiting rib 30, the side wall 20 is protrudingly arranged from the bottom wall 10, in the embodiment, the limiting rib 30 comprises an arc segment, the limiting rib 30 is located in the space enclosed by the bottom wall 10 and the side wall 20 and protrudes from the bottom wall 10, there is a gap between the side wall 20 and the limiting rib 30, the sealing element 200 is in an arc structure after assembly and the sealing element 200 is located in the gap, the sealing element 200 is in an arc structure after assembly refers to that the normal projection of the sealing element 200 on the bottom wall 10 is an open arc structure, that is, the sealing element 200 has an inner surface and an outer surface after assembly, the inner surface and the outer surface are arc surfaces respectively, the sealing element 200 comprises a first part and a second part, the first part is defined as the end close to the axial direction of the sealing element 200, the second part is defined as the part between the valve core assembly 300 and the side wall 20, the first part and the second part are fixedly connected, and the first part is located in the gap between the side wall 20 and the limiting rib 30.

[0020] By the valve body 100 of the embodiment, the limiting rib 30 is arranged in the valve body 100, there is a gap between the side wall 20 and the limiting rib 30, in the assembly process of the sealing element 200 and the valve body 100, the first part of the sealing element 200 can be arranged in the gap between the side wall 20 and the limiting rib 30, so that the limiting rib 30 can facilitate the limitation of the position of the sealing element 200 in the gap, the limiting rib 30 of the embodiment comprises an arc segment, which can limit the arc length of the sealing element 200, reduce the local deformation of the sealing element 300 in the assembly process, thereby facilitating the improvement of the sealing performance of the control valve, and further facilitating the improvement of the stability and quality of the control valve. The valve body 100 provided by the embodiment can be produced or sold independently, and by arranging the valve body 100, the sealing performance of the control valve 1000 can be improved, and the application can be facilitated.

[0021] In some embodiments, the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is greater than or equal to 0.9 times the arc length of the first part of the sealing element 200. It can be understood that, as Figure 4As shown, the arc length m1 of the limiting rib 30 refers to the arc length of the arc surface of the limiting rib 30 facing the sealing element 200, that is, the arc length of the outer surface of the limiting rib 30, and the arc length m2 of the sealing element 200 refers to the arc length of the arc surface of the sealing element 200 facing the limiting rib 30, that is, the arc length of the inner surface of the sealing element 200 after assembly. According to the embodiment of the present application, the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is greater than or equal to 0.9 times the arc length of the sealing element 200, so that the limiting rib 30 can limit the sealing element 200 in most of the arc length when the valve body 100 is applied to the control valve 1000, which is beneficial to reduce the deformation of the sealing element 200 in the part of the sealing element 200 not limited by the limiting rib 30 when the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is small during the assembly process of the sealing element 200 or during the assembly process of the sealing element 200 and the spool assembly 300, thereby improving the sealing performance of the control valve 1000, and further improving the stability and quality of the control valve 1000.

[0022] For further reference Figure 2 and Figure 3 Since the sealing element 200 needs to ensure the static sealing between the sealing element 200 and the side wall 20 of the valve body 100, and the sealing element 200 also needs to ensure the dynamic sealing between the spool assembly 300 and the sealing element 200 when the spool assembly 300 rotates, in some embodiments, the sealing element 200 after assembly is a non-closed circular arc structure, which can expand when subjected to a radial external force, so that the spool assembly 300 and the sealing element 200 have a larger expansion space during extrusion. Compared with the closed circular ring sealing element 200, the sealing element 200 of the embodiment of the present application can reduce the design difficulty and processing difficulty. When the sealing element 200 is a non-closed circular arc structure, the two sides of the sealing element 200 in the circumferential direction are prone to deformation during assembly, therefore, by setting the arc length of the limiting rib 30, the deformation of the two side edges of the sealing element 200 in the circumferential direction can be effectively prevented.

[0023] In order to better limit the sealing element 200 and prevent the sealing element 200 from being deformed during the assembly of the control valve 1000, in some embodiments, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is 0.7-1 times the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the inner surface of the side wall 20. Since the inner surface of the side wall 20 is a closed cylindrical curved surface, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the arc-shaped side wall 20 is 360 degrees. By setting the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 to be 0.7-1 times the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the inner surface of the side wall 20, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is calculated to be 252-360 degrees. The arc length of the limiting rib 30 can be calculated by the formula m = n x π x r / 180, where m is the arc length of the limiting rib 30, n is the number of degrees of the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30, and r is the radius corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30. At this time, the limiting rib 30 can limit a larger part of the sealing element 200.

[0024] For further reference Figure 4 In some embodiments, the central angle a2 corresponding to the arc length of the first part of the sealing element 200 is greater than or equal to 270 degrees and less than or equal to 280 degrees, and optionally, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the first part of the sealing element 200 can be 276 degrees. The central angle a1 corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is greater than 260 degrees and less than or equal to 360 degrees. In specific implementation, when the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is 260 degrees, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the sealing element 200 can be 276 degrees, and the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is 0.9 times the arc length of the sealing element 200; when the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is 360 degrees, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the sealing element 200 can be 276 degrees, and the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is 4.2 times the arc length of the sealing element 200. Through the above setting, the sealing element 200 can have a larger expansion space, and the limiting rib 30 can limit most of the sealing element 200. By setting the arc length of the limiting rib 30, the deformation of the sealing element 200 during assembly can be effectively reduced. It can be understood that the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the sealing element 200 can be set according to user's needs, for example, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the sealing element 200 can be 260 degrees or other angles, and the angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is also adjusted accordingly.

[0025] In order to facilitate the setting and manufacturing of the sealing element 200, in some embodiments, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is equal to the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the first part of the sealing element 200. Through the above setting, the limiting rib 30 can comprehensively limit the sealing element 200 and prevent it from being deformed. It can be understood that the limiting rib 30 and the sealing element 200 are mutually sleeved and correspondingly arranged, so that the limiting rib 30 can achieve better limiting effect.

[0026] Please refer to Figures 5 to 7 In order to improve the limiting performance of the limiting rib 30 on the sealing element 200 and effectively prevent the sealing element 200 from deforming, in some embodiments, the limiting rib 30 comprises at least two limiting blocks 31, the limiting blocks 31 are circular arc structures, the at least two limiting blocks 31 are arranged at intervals along the circumference of the installation cavity 101, and the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is greater than the sum of the arc lengths of the at least two limiting blocks 31. Since the at least two limiting blocks 31 are arranged at intervals, there is an interval passage between the two adjacent limiting blocks 31. At this time, the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is the sum of the arc lengths of the at least two limiting blocks 31 and the arc length corresponding to the interval passage between the limiting blocks 31, that is, the maximum arc length passing through the center of the limiting rib 30 and the end points of the two limiting blocks 31 arranged at the edge in the circumferential direction. By arranging the at least two limiting blocks 31 arranged at intervals, the sealing element 200 can be limited at various positions in the circumferential direction of the sealing element 200. For example, three limiting blocks 31 can be arranged, two limiting blocks 31 are arranged at the two side edge positions of the sealing element 200, and the other limiting block 31 is arranged at the middle position in the circumferential direction of the sealing element 200, so as to better prevent the sealing element 200 from deforming, thereby improving the sealing performance of the control valve 1000. It can be understood that the number of the at least two limiting blocks 31 can be set according to the user's demand, for example, the number of the limiting blocks 31 can be two, four, five, etc.

[0027] When the limiting rib 30 comprises at least two limiting blocks 31, in some embodiments, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting block 31 is greater than or equal to 76 degrees, and the projection of each limiting block 31 in the radial direction of the side wall 20 at least partially overlaps with the projection of the first part of the sealing element 200, so that each limiting block 31 can limit the position of the sealing element 200. Since the valve body 100 is a plastic part, it is usually formed by injection molding. In order to facilitate the molding of the circular arc limiting block 31, the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting block 31 can simplify the difficulty of the manufacturing process. In specific implementation, the interval distance between the limiting blocks 31 can be set according to the user's demand, as long as each limiting block 31 can limit the first part of the sealing element 200.

[0028] In some embodiments, the width of the gap between the limiting rib 30 and the side wall 20 is greater than or equal to the thickness of the first part of the sealing element 200, and the sealing element 200 is clamped between the spool assembly 300 and the side wall 20. Through the above arrangement, the installation of the sealing element 200 and the valve body 100 can be facilitated.

[0029] Since the valve core assembly 300 needs to be sleeved to the inner surface side of the side wall 20, in order to make the valve core assembly 300 coaxial with the side wall 20, so that the valve core assembly 300 is stably rotated, in some embodiments, the limiting rib 30 is coaxial with the side wall 20, the limiting rib 30 has a limiting surface facing the side wall 20, and the shape of the limiting surface matches the shape of the sealing element 200, so that the sealing element 200 and the side wall 20 are coaxial. When the limiting rib 30 includes at least two limiting blocks 31, the circular arc surfaces where the surfaces of the at least two limiting blocks 31 away from the side wall 20 are coplanar with each other, so as to better limit the position of the sealing element 200.

[0030] In order to facilitate the assembly of the valve core assembly 300 and the valve body 100, in some embodiments, the valve body 100 further includes a mounting portion 102 located in the mounting cavity 101 and protruding from the bottom wall 10, and part of the valve core assembly 300 is inserted into the mounting portion 102, and the height of the limiting rib 30 protruding from the bottom wall 10 is less than or equal to the height of the mounting portion 102 protruding from the bottom wall 10. Through the above arrangement, the limiting rib 30 can limit the sealing element 200 while preventing the height of the limiting rib 30 from affecting the installation of the valve core assembly 300. In specific implementation, the height of the limiting rib 30 can be set according to user requirements. In order to prevent the height of the limiting rib 30 from affecting the limiting performance, the height of the limiting rib 30 can be slightly lower than the height of the mounting portion 102, as long as it does not affect the installation and rotation of the valve core assembly 300.

[0031] The control valve 1000 of the embodiment of the present application is used for controlling fluid, and can be applied to a heat exchange system, such as a vehicle air conditioning system or a household air conditioning system. Specifically, the working medium flowing through the control valve 1000 can be water, a mixed liquid of water and other liquids, or other cooling liquids with heat conduction capacity. The control valve 1000 controls the distribution of the working medium and adjusts the outlet flow through the control valve 1000, thereby controlling the working medium of the heat exchange system flow path, which can improve the control performance of the heat exchange system flow path.

[0032] In order to realize the control performance of the control valve 1000 on the fluid, in some embodiments, the side wall 20 includes a first sub-portion 21 extending in the circumferential direction of the side wall 20, the first sub-portion 21 includes a first communication port 211 penetrating the first sub-portion 21, the sealing element 200 includes a second communication port 201 penetrating the sealing element 200, the second communication port 201 corresponds to the first communication port 211 and is in communication with each other, and the limiting rib 30 is arranged close to the first sub-portion 21 in the circumferential direction of the side wall 20. Through the above arrangement, the limiting rib 30 can better limit the sealing element 200 sleeved to the inner surface side of the first sub-portion 21, preventing the sealing element 200 from deforming.

[0033] In summary, according to the control valve 1000 of the embodiment of the present application, the control valve 1000 comprises the valve body 100, the valve core assembly 300 and the sealing member 200, the sealing member 200 is sleeved between the valve core assembly 300 and the side wall 20 of the valve body 100, so that the sealing member 200 can realize the sealing between the valve core assembly 300 and the valve body 100, and prevent the control valve 1000 from causing fluid leakage during the working process. Since the sealing member 200 and the valve body 100 are two separate parts, in order to facilitate the assembly of the sealing member 200 and the valve body 100, the limiting rib 30 is arranged in the valve body 100, which can facilitate the limiting of the assembly position of the sealing member 200; the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is greater than or equal to 0.9 times the arc length of the sealing member 200, so that the limiting rib 30 can limit the arc length of a larger part of the sealing member 200, which is beneficial to reduce the deformation of the part of the sealing member 200 which is not limited by the limiting rib 30 during the assembly process or during the assembly process of the sealing member 200 and the valve core assembly 300 when the arc length of the limiting rib 30 is small, thereby facilitating to improve the sealing performance of the control valve 1000, improve the quality of the control valve 1000, and facilitate the popularization and application.

[0034] It should be understood that the relational terms herein, such as first, second, and the like, are used solely to distinguish one from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual relationship or order between such entities or actions. It should be understood that the terms used herein are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the application described herein can be capable of functioning or being arranged in other sequences, except where explicitly stated to the contrary.

[0035] It should be noted that the above examples are only used to illustrate the present application and not to limit the technical solutions described in the present application. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the skilled in the art can still modify or equivalently replace the present application, and all technical solutions and improvements which do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present application should be covered in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A control valve, the control valve comprising a valve body, a valve core assembly, and a seal, the valve body having a mounting cavity, at least a portion of the valve core assembly being located in the mounting cavity, characterized in that, The valve body includes a bottom wall, a side wall, and a limiting rib. The side wall protrudes from the bottom wall. The limiting rib includes an arc-shaped segment. The limiting rib is located within the space formed by the side wall and the bottom wall and protrudes from the bottom wall. There is a gap between the side wall and the limiting rib. The seal located inside the control valve has a non-closed arc-shaped cross-section. The seal includes a first part and a second part. The part closer to one axial end of the seal is defined as the first part, and the part located between the valve core assembly and the side wall is defined as the second part. The first part and the second part are fixedly connected. The first part is located within the gap.

2. The control valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The arc length of the limiting rib is greater than or equal to 0.9 times the arc length of the first part of the seal.

3. The control valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib is 0.7 to 1 times the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the inner surface of the sidewall.

4. The control valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central angle corresponding to the arc length of the first part of the seal is greater than or equal to 270 degrees and less than or equal to 280 degrees. The central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib is greater than or equal to 260 degrees and less than or equal to 360 degrees.

5. The control valve according to claim 4, characterized in that, The central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting rib is equal to the central angle corresponding to the arc length of the first part of the seal.

6. The control valve according to claim 1, characterized in that, The limiting rib includes at least two limiting blocks, which are spaced apart circumferentially along the mounting cavity. The arc length of the limiting rib is greater than the sum of the arc lengths of the at least two limiting blocks.

7. The control valve according to claim 6, characterized in that, The central angle corresponding to the arc length of the limiting block is greater than or equal to 76 degrees. Along the radial direction of the sidewall, the projection of each of the limiting blocks at least partially overlaps with the projection of the first part of the seal.

8. The control valve according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The width of the gap between the limiting rib and the sidewall is greater than or equal to the thickness of the first part of the seal. The seal is sandwiched between the valve core assembly and the side wall.

9. The control valve according to claim 8, characterized in that, The limiting rib is coaxial with the side wall, and the limiting rib has a limiting surface facing the side wall. The shape of the limiting surface matches the shape of the seal so that the seal and the side wall are coaxial.

10. The control valve according to claim 8, characterized in that, The valve body also includes a mounting portion located within the mounting cavity and protruding from the bottom wall, with a portion of the valve core assembly inserted into the mounting portion. The height by which the limiting rib protrudes from the bottom wall is less than or equal to the height by which the mounting part protrudes from the bottom wall.

11. The control valve according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The sidewall includes a first sub-port extending circumferentially along the sidewall, the first sub-port including a first connecting port extending through the first sub-port, and the sealing member including a second connecting port extending through the sealing member, the second connecting port corresponding to and communicating with the first connecting port. The limiting rib is located close to the first sub-part.

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