Electronic expansion valve of vehicle air conditioning system

Abstract

The invention relates to air conditioning refrigeration equipment, in particular to an electronic expansion valve of a vehicle air conditioning system. An electronic expansion valve of a vehicle air conditioning system comprises a valve body, a valve seat component detachably installed on the valve body and a rotor assembly installed on the valve seat component, and the valve body comprises an inlet channel, an outlet channel and a middle channel communicated with the inlet channel and the outlet channel. The valve seat component is fixedly installed in the middle channel and comprises a valve seat, the valve seat is provided with a valve port communicated with the outlet channel and a through hole communicated with the inlet channel, a valve port sleeve is arranged in the valve seat, and the valve port sleeve forms the valve port.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of Chinese invention patent application No. 201610898126.4, filed on October 14, 2016, entitled "An Electronic Expansion Valve for a Vehicle Air Conditioning System". Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to air conditioning refrigeration equipment, and more particularly to an electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system. Background Technology

[0003] The electronic expansion valve, installed between the receiver and evaporator, is the high-pressure and low-pressure boundary of the air conditioning refrigeration system. Its function is to throttle and reduce the pressure of the high-pressure liquid refrigerant from the receiver, regulating and controlling the amount of liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator to adapt to changes in refrigeration capacity. The electronic expansion valve is driven by a controller that calculates parameters collected by sensors and sends adjustment commands to the drive board. The drive board then outputs an electrical signal to the electronic expansion valve, which in turn drives the rotor component of the electronic expansion valve through a coil, causing the valve needle to move up and down, adjusting the throttling area of ​​the valve orifice, thereby controlling the refrigeration capacity.

[0004] In the existing technology, the nut of the electronic expansion valve is installed on the valve body by welding. Since the electronic expansion valve needs to be assembled first and then the nut is welded, the process is relatively complicated and the welding quality is difficult to guarantee. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by this invention is to provide an electronic expansion valve for automotive air conditioning systems, which simplifies the nut installation process and improves installation quality.

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: an electronic expansion valve for an automotive air conditioning system, comprising a valve body, a valve seat component detachably mounted on the valve body, and a rotor assembly mounted on the valve seat component. The valve body includes an inlet channel, an outlet channel, and an intermediate channel connecting the inlet channel and the outlet channel. The valve seat component is installed and fixed in the intermediate channel. The valve seat component includes a valve seat, which has a valve port communicating with the outlet channel and a through hole communicating with the inlet channel. The rotor assembly includes a valve needle that mates with the valve port. A nut is threaded onto the outer side of the valve needle. The nut is fixed to the valve seat by a screw. The valve seat has a guide portion, and the bottom of the nut is sleeved on the guide portion.

[0007] Preferably, the bottom of the nut is provided with a positioning flange, and the screw passes through the positioning flange to fix the nut to the valve seat.

[0008] Preferably, the bottom of the nut is integrally injection molded with a connecting piece, and the screw passes through the connecting piece to fix the nut to the valve seat.

[0009] Preferably, the guide portion is a guide sleeve that is integral with the valve seat or separate from the valve seat.

[0010] Preferably, the valve seat is an aluminum valve seat and the valve port is a steel valve port.

[0011] Preferably, the valve seat is provided with a support base that is formed separately from the valve seat and then fixed together, and the nut is fixed to the support base with screws.

[0012] Preferably, the support base includes a base body and an adapter sleeve, which are separately formed and then fixedly connected.

[0013] Preferably, the valve body is provided with a first thread located in the intermediate channel, and the seat is provided with a second thread that is tightened with the first thread.

[0014] Preferably, the valve seat is inverted onto the support base from bottom to top and fixed by laser or argon arc welding.

[0015] Preferably, the adapter sleeve is brazed to the seat body or the valve seat, the adapter sleeve and the seat body are brazed together.

[0016] The technical solution adopted in this invention involves directly fixing the nut to the valve seat using screws, avoiding cumbersome welding procedures and improving installation quality and reliability. Furthermore, to facilitate nut positioning, the bottom inner hole of the nut is fitted onto the guide portion of the valve seat, allowing the nut to be easily fixed using screws. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments:

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 4 of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

[0023] In the figure, the following are the reference numerals: 1. Valve body; 2. Rotor assembly; 3. Valve seat assembly; 4. Inlet channel; 5. Outlet channel; 6. Intermediate channel; 7. Valve seat; 8. Support seat; 9. Valve port; 10. Valve needle; 11. Seat body; 12. Adapter sleeve; 13. Guide sleeve; 14. Screw; 15. Positioning flange; 16. Screw; 17. Valve needle sleeve; 18. Nut assembly; 19. Connecting piece; 20. Communicating channel; 21. Gap; 22. Groove; 23. First O-ring; 24. Second O-ring; 25. Valve cavity. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below, but the present invention can be implemented in many different ways as defined and covered by the claims.

[0025] Example 1, as Figure 1 As shown, an electronic expansion valve for an automotive air conditioning system includes a valve body 1, a rotor assembly 2, and a valve seat component 3. The rotor assembly 2 is mounted on the valve seat component 3. The valve body 1 is provided with an inlet channel 4, an outlet channel 5, and an intermediate channel 6 connecting the inlet channel 4 and the outlet channel 5. The valve seat component 3 is detachably installed and fixed in the intermediate channel 6. The valve seat component 3 includes a valve seat 7 and a support seat 8, which are separately formed and then fixedly connected together. The valve seat 7 includes a valve port 9 and a connecting channel 20 communicating with the inlet channel 4. The rotor assembly 2 includes a valve needle 10 that cooperates with the valve port 9. The valve body 1 is provided with a first thread located in the intermediate channel 6, and the support seat 8 is provided with a second thread that is tightened to cooperate with the first thread.

[0026] There are multiple connecting channels 20, which are evenly distributed around the valve seat 7 to increase the flow area of ​​the refrigerant.

[0027] The electronic expansion valve of the automotive air conditioning system also includes a nut assembly 18 and a housing. Both the nut assembly 18 and the housing are fixedly connected to a support base 8. A rotor assembly 2 is rotatably fitted with the nut assembly 18, and the rotor assembly 2 is rotatably disposed within the housing relative to the nut assembly 18. The nut assembly 18 and the support base 8 are fixedly connected by a connecting piece 19. The connecting piece 19 ensures a stable connection between the nut assembly 18 and the support base 8, preventing the nut assembly 18 from rotating relative to the support base 8. This allows the rotor assembly 2 to rotate relative to the nut assembly 18, converting the rotational movement into axial movement, thus adjusting the opening area between the valve needle 10 and the valve port 9. The valve needle assembly slides within the valve seat's inner bore, and the nut's inner bore engages with the valve seat, achieving high-precision guidance. Alternatively, the valve needle assembly can also slide within the nut's inner bore, with the nut engaging with the valve seat for high-precision guidance.

[0028] The connecting piece 19 and the nut are integrally injection molded. The support base 8 is provided with a positioning platform for positioning the connecting piece. The screw 14 passes through the connecting piece 19 to fix the nut to the positioning platform of the support base 8. Since the nut is directly fixed to the support base by the screw 14, the cumbersome welding process is avoided, improving the quality and reliability of the installation.

[0029] The electronic expansion valve for an automotive air conditioning system of the present invention includes a valve seat component 3 comprising a valve seat 7 and a support seat 8, which are separately formed and then fixedly connected together. The valve seat 7 and the support seat 8 can be machined separately, thus reducing the molding difficulty of the valve seat 7 and the support seat 8, improving the machining accuracy of the parts, and reducing machining costs. Furthermore, since the valve seat 7 and the support seat 8 are machined separately, they can be divided into two easily machined parts according to the structure of the valve seat component 3, thereby reducing machining difficulty and improving machining accuracy and efficiency.

[0030] After the valve seat 7 and the support seat 8 are machined separately, the support seat 8 can be used to achieve a fixed connection between the valve seat 7 and the nut assembly 18 and the valve body 1. Thus, the valve seat 7 and the support seat 8 can each perform different functions, simplifying the functions of the valve seat 7 and the support seat 8 themselves, and correspondingly reducing the machining difficulty and complexity of the machining process of the valve seat 7 and the support seat 8 themselves.

[0031] Preferably, the support base 8 includes a base body 11 and an adapter sleeve 12, which are separately formed and then fixedly connected. Since the support base 8 needs to be connected and fixed to both the nut assembly 18 and the valve body simultaneously, it can be further decomposed into two simpler components based on the two connection functions required, thereby reducing the processing difficulty and improving the processing accuracy of the support base 8. Preferably, the adapter sleeve 12 is made of SUS304, which facilitates welding and fixing to the base body 11. In this embodiment, the support base 8 is decomposed into a base body 11 fixedly connected to the valve body 1 and an adapter sleeve 12 that respectively mates with the nut assembly 18 and the housing, thus simplifying the overall processing difficulty of the base body 11 and the adapter sleeve 12 and improving its processing efficiency.

[0032] Of course, if the support base 8 needs to achieve a large number of connection structures, it can be disassembled into more parts and then combined. However, this would lead to a large cumulative error after the parts are assembled, which would significantly affect the structural accuracy of the final support base 8. It would also increase the assembly process and reduce the processing efficiency. Therefore, when processing the support base 8, it can be disassembled according to the basic functions that the support base 8 needs to achieve, so that the structure of the support base 8 is simplified and the problem of too many parts is avoided.

[0033] To facilitate nut positioning, the valve seat 7 is provided with a guide portion, and the bottom inner hole of the nut is fitted onto the guide portion. In this embodiment, the guide portion is a guide sleeve 13 integrally formed with the valve seat. The guide sleeve 13 extends upward from the valve seat, and a guide fit is formed between the guide sleeve 13 and the nut, which can ensure the coaxiality of the fit between the nut assembly 18 and the valve seat 7, improve the guiding accuracy of the valve needle 10 during movement, and prevent the valve needle 10 from deviating during movement.

[0034] The rotor assembly 2 also includes a screw 16 and a valve needle sleeve 17. The valve needle 10 is movably disposed in the valve needle sleeve 17 and extends out from one end of the valve needle sleeve 17. The screw 16 extends into the valve needle sleeve 17 from the other end of the valve needle sleeve 17 and is drivenly connected to the valve needle 10.

[0035] The cross-sectional area of ​​the small-diameter section of the valve needle 10 is less than or equal to 5 times the equivalent area of ​​the valve port 9. Preferably, the cross-sectional area of ​​the small-diameter section of the valve needle 10 is less than or equal to 3 times the equivalent area of ​​the valve port 9, which can reduce the turbulence area, thereby mitigating the impact of turbulence on the valve needle 10 and improving the stability and reliability of the valve needle 10 during operation.

[0036] The valve seat 7 is inverted and mounted onto the support seat 8 from bottom to top, and is fixed by laser or argon arc welding. A stop step is provided on the outer periphery of the valve seat 7. After the valve seat 7 is installed into the support seat 8 from bottom to top, the stop step stops and positions the support seat 8, thus ensuring the accuracy of the installation position. After the valve seat 7 is installed into the support seat 8, it can be fixed to the support seat 8 by laser or argon arc welding, and then the entire assembly is installed into the intermediate channel 6 on the valve body 1.

[0037] The adapter sleeve 12 and the seat 11 can also be fixedly connected together by brazing, or the valve seat 7, the adapter sleeve 12 and the seat 11 can be fixedly connected together by brazing.

[0038] In one embodiment, please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 There is a gap 21 between the outer wall of the valve seat component 3 and the inner wall of the intermediate channel 6.

[0039] Specifically, the outer wall of the valve seat component 3 is provided with a groove 22, and the groove 22 and the outer wall of the valve seat component 3 form at least a partial gap 21.

[0040] A first O-ring 23 and a second O-ring 24 are provided between the valve seat component 3 and the valve body 1, and the gap 21 is located between the first O-ring 23 and the second O-ring 24.

[0041] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2The valve seat 7 is provided with a valve cavity 25 that communicates with the communication channel 20. The valve cavity 25 is located on the side of the valve port 9 close to the communication channel 20. The height of the valve cavity 25 along the axial direction of the electronic expansion valve is greater than the height of the communication channel 20 along the axial direction of the electronic expansion valve.

[0042] Example 2, as Figure 2 As shown, the difference from Embodiment 1 is that this embodiment does not require a connecting piece. The bottom of the nut has a positioning flange 15, and the support base 8 has a positioning platform for positioning the positioning flange 15. The screw 14 passes through the positioning flange 15 to fix the nut to the positioning platform of the support base 8. Since no connecting piece is required, the process can be simplified.

[0043] Example 3, as Figure 3 As shown, the difference from Embodiment 1 is that the guide sleeve 13 and the valve seat 7 can be set separately. The guide sleeve is a separate structure, so the height of the guide sleeve can be increased as needed. The valve seat does not need to extend upward out of the guide sleeve, thereby reducing the processing cost of the valve seat.

[0044] Example 4, as Figure 4 As shown, valve seat 7 is an aluminum valve seat, and valve port 9 is a steel valve port. Specifically, a steel valve port sleeve is provided at the valve port to form the valve port. This reduces the processing cost of the steel valve seat. The adapter sleeve 12 is made of easy-to-weld steel and is brazed to the valve seat assembly. Moreover, the guide sleeve 13 can be set separately or integrated with the valve seat 7.

[0045] Example 5, as Figure 5 As shown, the difference from Embodiment 1 is that the base 11 of the support 8 and the adapter sleeve 12 are integral structures.

[0046] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electronic expansion valve for an automotive air conditioning system, comprising a valve body (1), a valve seat component (3) detachably mounted on the valve body (1), and a rotor assembly (2) mounted on the valve seat component (3), wherein the valve body (1) includes an inlet channel (4), an outlet channel (5), and an intermediate channel (6) connecting the inlet channel (4) and the outlet channel (5), the valve seat component (3) is fixedly mounted in the intermediate channel (6), the valve seat component (3) includes a valve seat (7), the valve seat (7) having a valve port (9) communicating with the outlet channel (5) and a through hole communicating with the inlet channel (4), characterized in that: The valve seat (7) has a valve port sleeve, which forms the valve port (9).

2. The electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The valve seat (7) is an aluminum valve seat (7), and the valve port (9) is a steel valve port (9).

3. The electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The valve seat (7) is provided with a support seat (8) which is formed separately from the valve seat (7) and then fixed together. The support base (8) includes a base body (11) and an adapter sleeve (12), which are fixedly connected after being separately formed.

4. The electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The adapter sleeve (12) is made of easy-to-weld steel and is brazed to the valve seat component (3).

5. An electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The valve seat (7) is provided with a stop step on its outer periphery. The valve seat (7) is located at the bottom of the support seat (8), and one end of the valve seat (7) extends into the support seat (8). The stop step and the inner wall of the support seat (8) are positioned in cooperation.

6. The electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotor assembly (2) includes a valve needle (10) that mates with the valve port (9). A nut is threaded onto the outer side of the valve needle (10). The nut is fixed to the valve seat (7) by a screw (14). The valve seat (7) is provided with a guide portion. The bottom of the nut is fitted onto the guide portion.

7. An electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The guide part is a guide sleeve (13) that is integral with the valve seat (7) or separate from the valve seat (7).

8. An electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The cross-sectional area of ​​the small-diameter section of the valve needle (10) is less than or equal to 5 times the equivalent area of ​​the valve port (9).

9. An electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: There is a gap (21) between the outer wall of the valve seat component (3) and the inner wall of the intermediate channel (6).

10. An electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The outer wall of the valve seat component (3) is provided with a groove (22), and the groove (22) and the outer wall of the valve seat component (3) form at least part of the gap (21).

11. An electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 9, characterized in that: A first O-ring (23) and a second O-ring (24) are provided between the valve seat component (3) and the valve body (1), and the gap (21) is located between the first O-ring (23) and the second O-ring (24).

12. The electronic expansion valve for a vehicle air conditioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The valve seat (7) includes a connecting channel (20) communicating with the inlet channel (4). The valve seat (7) is provided with a valve cavity (25) communicating with the connecting channel (20). The valve cavity (25) is located on the side of the valve port (9) close to the connecting channel (20). The height of the valve cavity (25) along the axial direction of the electronic expansion valve is greater than the height of the connecting channel (20) along the axial direction of the electronic expansion valve.

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