Bistable structure transmission unit of hydraulic valve

Abstract

The invention discloses a bistable structure transmission unit of a hydraulic valve, which comprises a voice coil motor for generating Ampere force by electrifying a coil to drive an integrated moving coil flange to reciprocate; a piston-shaped limiting rod is arranged in the sleeve, and the sleeve is connected with a rigid bistable driving rod with two steps; the rigid bistable structure is installed between the two steps of the rigid bistable driving rod and is composed of a plurality of polycarbonate set squares, and all the polycarbonate set squares are connected together in the circumferential direction through elastic components with deformation restoring force to form the bistable structure with rigidity and geometric kick characteristics; and the piston type valve core is connected with the rigid bistable driving rod to realize opening and closing of a valve port and complete rapid switching control of on-off of fluid in a hydraulic system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of hydraulic valve technology, and in particular to a bistable transmission unit for hydraulic valves. Background Technology

[0002] Hydraulic valves, as key components in hydraulic systems for control and energy regulation, directly determine the system's dynamic response speed, energy efficiency, and control precision. Currently, commonly used hydraulic valve actuation methods include electromagnetic actuation, piezoelectric actuation, and servo actuation. Traditional electromagnet-driven valves are simple in structure and low in cost, but have slow response speed, limited thrust, and require continuous power to maintain open or closed states, resulting in low energy efficiency. While servo valves offer superior response performance, their complex structure, high cost, and strict requirements for oil cleanliness make them unsuitable for small to medium-sized or energy-efficient systems.

[0003] To improve the dynamic performance and energy efficiency of hydraulic valves, researchers have begun to explore novel driving methods. Voice coil motors (VCMs), operating based on the Ampere force principle, have a linear relationship between their thrust and input current, offering advantages such as compact structure, fast response, and high control precision, and are increasingly being introduced into the hydraulic control field. CN105570226B proposes a structure that directly drives a four-way servo valve with a VCM. This disclosure achieves high-speed, precise displacement control of the valve core by setting a position feedback device at the VCM end and rigidly connecting the moving coil to the valve core, thus combining some performance characteristics of proportional and servo valves. However, the above scheme still has room for improvement in terms of displacement amplification, structural compactness, layout optimization when integrating the device into a confined space, and further reducing controller complexity and improving fatigue resistance while maintaining high responsiveness. Huazhong Agricultural University, addressing the slow response and insufficient driving force issues of water-hydraulic proportional valves, proposed using a VCM as the driving source and designed a mechanical lever amplification mechanism to increase the output thrust, thereby achieving faster dynamic response and higher control precision. Some literature proposes a two-stage drive method, in which a small valve core is driven by a pilot voice coil motor, and the main valve is controlled by hydraulic amplification. However, the amplification mechanism of this type of structure often uses multi-stage levers or mechanical linkages, which have problems such as large frictional losses, complex transmission chains, and high manufacturing precision requirements, making it difficult to achieve both high-speed response and low energy consumption characteristics.

[0004] This invention proposes a new solution to the above problems: by introducing a rigid bistable structure as an intermediate transmission unit between the voice coil motor and the valve core, the adjustable stiffness and geometric amplification effect of the structure are used to amplify the push rod stroke, and at the same time, a self-locking structure is formed in the two stable positions, so as to achieve energy-free maintenance of the valve core in the on and off states, thereby significantly improving the system's energy efficiency and reliability.

[0005] The technical solutions most similar to this invention mainly include a lever-type stroke amplification voice coil drive valve and a bistable holding valve.

[0006] Existing voice coil motor-driven hydraulic valves generally suffer from problems such as mismatch between stroke and valve spool opening, high energy consumption, and low structural integration. Because the linear displacement stroke of a voice coil motor is relatively short, levers or flexible amplification mechanisms are often needed to amplify the displacement. However, these structures are bulky, have low rigidity, and poor efficiency, making it difficult to balance driving force and response speed. Furthermore, traditional designs lack a self-holding mechanism, requiring continuous power to maintain the valve spool position, resulting in high energy consumption, severe heat generation, and decreased system reliability. Moreover, bistable mechanisms are mostly independent components that cannot work in conjunction with voice coil motors, leading to complex assembly, long force transmission paths, and sluggish dynamic response, making it difficult to meet the requirements of efficient, compact, and low-energy-consumption hydraulic drive systems. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to address the shortcomings of existing technologies by proposing a bistable structure transmission unit for hydraulic valves, specifically solving the following problems: (1) Problem of mismatch between voice coil motor stroke and hydraulic valve core opening Traditional voice coil motors have a short linear displacement stroke, which is insufficient to meet the effective opening required by hydraulic valve cores. Therefore, this invention introduces a bistable structure between the voice coil motor and the valve core, utilizing its geometric deformation amplification effect to achieve a mechanical mapping from the small-stroke input of the voice coil motor to the large-displacement output of the valve core, thereby significantly improving the valve core driving efficiency.

[0008] (2) The problem of continuous energy consumption caused by the lack of self-holding mechanism in hydraulic valves Existing voice coil motor-driven valves require continuous power to overcome hydraulic pressure and spring force when maintaining the valve core in the open or closed state, resulting in significant energy consumption. This invention utilizes the self-locking characteristic of a rigid bistable structure to achieve a stable equilibrium state at the two extreme positions of the valve core. This allows the valve core to maintain its position without continuous power supply during on / off states, achieving near-zero static energy consumption and energy savings.

[0009] (3) Problems of low structural integration and poor dynamic response. Most existing bistable mechanisms operate independently of the drive unit and cannot work in conjunction with a voice coil motor. This invention directly couples a rigid bistable structure with the voice coil push rod, achieving integrated drive and energy conversion. Simultaneously, through structural stiffness adjustment and geometric optimization, the valve core's motion trajectory is matched to the motor's output force curve, thereby improving the system's dynamic response and control stability.

[0010] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution: a bistable hydraulic valve transmission unit, the hydraulic valve comprising: A voice coil motor generates an Ampere force through energizing a coil, which drives the integrated moving coil flange to reciprocate. The sleeve is connected to the integrated moving ring flange and has a piston-shaped limiting rod inside that is connected to a rigid bistable drive rod with two steps. A rigid bistable structure is installed between two steps of a rigid bistable drive rod. It consists of multiple polycarbonate triangular plates, which are connected together circumferentially by elastic components with deformation recovery force to form a bistable structure with stiffness and geometric jump characteristics. The piston-type valve core is connected to a rigid bistable drive rod to realize the opening and closing of the valve port, and complete the rapid switching control of fluid flow on and off in the hydraulic system.

[0011] Furthermore, the voice coil motor adopts a moving coil structure and is fixedly installed on one side of the valve body, and is reliably connected to the sleeve through a flange.

[0012] Furthermore, the elastic component is a spring hinge, silicone rubber, elastic polyester, or flexible composite sheet.

[0013] Furthermore, the initial state of the spring hinge is maintained at a certain opening angle due to the spring force, and the direction of the spring force is consistent with the unfolding direction of the rigid bistable structure during installation.

[0014] Furthermore, when the rigid bistable structure is driven by a piston-shaped limiting rod, it gradually accumulates elastic potential energy through a spring hinge. When the critical point is reached, it abruptly changes from the first steady state to the second steady state, thus achieving nonlinear amplification of displacement.

[0015] Furthermore, an energy barrier exists between the first and second steady-state states of the rigid bistable structure, and a mechanical jump is generated at the moment of switching, which can effectively convert electromagnetic driving force into a mechanical response with greater displacement.

[0016] Furthermore, based on the energy barrier between the two steady-state states, the rigid bistable structure automatically locks into the new steady-state configuration without the need for continuous energization to maintain the position, thus achieving self-holding and energy-saving control of the valve core in the open or closed state.

[0017] Furthermore, the sleeve and piston-shaped limiting rod are replaced with a flexible rope. The flexible rope connects the integrated moving coil flange of the voice coil motor to the rigid bistable drive rod. When the voice coil motor produces an initial small displacement, the integrated moving coil flange directly presses against the rigid bistable drive rod, triggering the transformation of the rigid bistable structure. As the rigid bistable structure expands with a large displacement, the flexible rope is tightened from slack to tension. Subsequently, the voice coil motor retracts in the opposite direction, and the rigid bistable structure is reset through the traction of the flexible rope.

[0018] Furthermore, the multiple polycarbonate triangular plates in the rigid bistable structure constitute a polygonal bistable structure.

[0019] Furthermore, the rigid bistable structure contains six or eight polycarbonate triangular plates, forming a three-star bistable structure or a quadrilateral bistable structure.

[0020] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: Compared with existing voice coil driven hydraulic valves and traditional amplification mechanisms, this invention has significant advantages in structural innovation and energy utilization. By combining a voice coil motor with a rigid bistable structure, nonlinear geometric amplification with a small stroke drive corresponding to a large stroke output is achieved, effectively improving energy transfer efficiency and overcoming the inherent limitations of short stroke and insufficient thrust of the voice coil motor. The rigid bistable structure has natural geometric self-locking characteristics, allowing the valve core to remain stable after opening or closing without continuous power supply, thus significantly reducing power consumption and temperature rise, achieving near-zero energy consumption static holding. Simultaneously, the gap buffer structure between the sleeve and piston rod absorbs the impact energy generated during sudden jumps, preventing direct force on the integrated moving coil flange, improving system stability and service life. This invention integrates drive, amplification, and self-locking functions into a compact design, is easy to assemble, and is suitable for mass production and maintenance. The bistable unit uses a combination of high-strength polycarbonate material and spring hinges, ensuring rigidity while providing rapid jump characteristics, resulting in faster valve core opening and closing response and more reliable operation. Overall, this invention achieves a synergistic unity of small stroke driving large stroke output, fast response and low power consumption self-holding, and has high integration, high reliability and significant engineering application value. Attached Figure Description

[0021] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional assembly drawing of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 This is a simplified schematic diagram of the 3D assembly drawing.

[0024] Figure 3 This is a two-dimensional cross-sectional view of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a rigid bistable structure. Detailed Implementation

[0026] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It should be understood that the specific examples described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the invention.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a bistable hydraulic valve transmission unit, which specifically includes the following parts: (1) Overall structural design The hydraulic valve of this invention is generally composed of a voice coil motor assembly, a push rod stroke amplification mechanism, a rigid bistable structure, and a valve core assembly. For example... Figures 1-3 As shown, the specific structure includes: a voice coil motor base 1, an integrated moving coil flange 2, a sleeve 3, a piston-shaped limiting rod 4, a cylindrical housing 5, a rigid bistable structure 6, a connecting piece 7, a rigid bistable drive rod 8, a sealing ring 9, and a valve body 10.

[0028] The voice coil motor is mounted on the voice coil motor base 1. The voice coil motor adopts a moving coil structure and is fixedly installed on one side of the hydraulic valve body, reliably connected to the sleeve 3 via an integrated moving coil flange 2. When the coil is energized, the current generates an Ampere force in the magnetic field, thereby driving the integrated moving coil flange 2 to reciprocate axially. The integrated moving coil flange 2 acts as a push rod, directly driving the sleeve 3, which in turn pushes the piston-shaped limiting rod 4 inside the sleeve 3. The front end of the piston-shaped limiting rod 4 is connected to the rigid bistable drive rod 8 via a thread. A rigid bistable structure 6 is installed between the two steps of the rigid bistable drive rod 8, and the outer side of this structure is radially limited by a cylindrical shell 5. Considering that the hydraulic valve of this invention is an on / off type valve with low accuracy requirements for valve core displacement, an appropriate gap is reserved between the rigid bistable structure 6 and the outer shell to compensate for assembly errors and avoid excessive constraint.

[0029] The end of the rigid bistable drive rod 8 is connected to the piston-type valve core. The piston-type valve core is isolated from the transmission medium by a sealing ring 9. The valve body 10 opens and closes through the axial movement of the integrated moving coil flange 2, sleeve 3, and piston-shaped limiting rod 4, thereby completing the rapid switching control of fluid flow in the hydraulic system. The voice coil motor transmits a small stroke displacement to the piston-shaped limiting rod 4 through the sleeve 3, triggering the rigid bistable structure 6 to achieve large stroke amplification. A gap compensation structure is provided between the sleeve 3 and the piston-shaped limiting rod 4 to absorb the impact force during sudden jumps, preventing the force from acting directly on the motor and improving system stability and drive safety. The hollow sleeve design eliminates the need for repeated large stroke deformation during reverse drive, thus achieving the synergistic function of stroke self-amplification and energy reset.

[0030] (2) Design and function of rigid bistable structures like Figure 4As shown, this rigid bistable structure consists of multiple laser-cut polycarbonate triangular plates connected together by spring hinges. The initial state of the spring hinges is maintained at a certain opening angle due to the spring force. Four spring hinges are evenly arranged circumferentially on the upper and lower surfaces of each polycarbonate triangular plate, for a total of eight hinges (the eight circumferential triangular plates are connected by eight hinges), thus forming a bistable structure with stiffness and geometric jump characteristics. During installation, the direction of the spring force should be aligned with its unfolding direction to ensure effective force transmission and self-restoring of the elastic force. When the voice coil motor drives the push rod downwards, it moves the rigid bistable drive rod. The step of the rigid bistable drive rod compresses the protruding part of the rigid bistable structure, realizing force transmission. Elastic potential energy is gradually accumulated through the spring hinges. When a critical point is reached, it abruptly changes from the first stable state to the second stable state, achieving nonlinear amplification of displacement. By embedding this structure between the voice coil motor and the valve core, a mechanical amplification effect of small stroke input corresponding to large stroke output is achieved. This structure has an energy barrier between the two steady states, generating a significant mechanical jump during the switching process, which effectively converts the electromagnetic driving force into a mechanical response with a larger displacement. After the switching is completed, due to the significant energy barrier between the two steady states, the structure maintains a stable state through its geometric self-locking characteristics, automatically locking itself in the new steady-state configuration. It can maintain the valve core's open and closed position without continuous power supply, thereby achieving energy-saving effects.

[0031] (3) The stroke amplification mechanism of the push rod A moving-coil voice coil motor drives a piston rod via a sleeve mechanism to trigger and reset the bistable structure. During operation, the voice coil motor initially outputs a small displacement stroke. The sleeve, pushed forward by the motor, moves and presses against the piston-shaped limiting rod 4, triggering a sudden deformation of the bistable structure and causing a large displacement response in the system. During this process, the piston rod moves forward synchronously with the bistable structure, while the sleeve of the voice coil motor remains connected to the motor body and does not participate in the large stroke movement. The pre-existing gap between the sleeve and the piston rod effectively absorbs the instantaneous impact force generated during the sudden change of the bistable structure, preventing this impact from directly acting on the motor coil and improving the stability and reliability of the system.

[0032] When the voice coil motor applies a small displacement in the reverse direction, the sleeve presses against the other end of the piston rod, causing the bistable structure to return from the second stable state to the first stable state. Because the sleeve has a hollow structure design, the motor can complete the reset without traversing the complete deformation path of the bistable structure during the reverse drive process. This achieves a stroke amplification function, driving a large stroke with a small stroke, while reducing motor energy consumption and improving system response efficiency.

[0033] The above embodiments are used to explain and illustrate the present invention, but not to limit the present invention. Any modifications and changes made to the present invention within the spirit and scope of the claims shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A bistable hydraulic valve transmission unit, characterized in that, The hydraulic valve includes: A voice coil motor generates an Ampere force through energizing a coil, which drives the integrated moving coil flange to reciprocate. The sleeve is connected to the integrated moving ring flange and has a piston-shaped limiting rod inside that is connected to a rigid bistable drive rod with two steps. A rigid bistable structure is installed between two steps of a rigid bistable drive rod. It consists of multiple triangular plates, which are connected together circumferentially by elastic components with deformation recovery force to form a bistable structure with stiffness and geometric jump characteristics. The piston-type valve core is connected to a rigid bistable drive rod to realize the opening and closing of the valve port, and complete the rapid switching control of fluid flow on and off in the hydraulic system.

2. The hydraulic valve bistable structure transmission unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The voice coil motor adopts a moving coil structure and is fixedly installed on one side of the valve body, and is reliably connected to the sleeve through a flange.

3. The hydraulic valve bistable structure transmission unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The elastic component is a spring hinge, silicone rubber, elastic polyester, or flexible composite sheet.

4. The hydraulic valve bistable structure transmission unit according to claim 3, characterized in that, The initial state of the spring hinge is maintained at a certain opening angle due to the spring force. During installation, the direction of the spring force is consistent with the unfolding direction of the rigid bistable structure.

5. The hydraulic valve bistable structure transmission unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, When a rigid bistable structure is driven by a piston-shaped limiting rod, it gradually accumulates elastic potential energy through a spring hinge. When the critical point is reached, it abruptly changes from the first steady state to the second steady state, achieving nonlinear amplification of displacement.

6. The hydraulic valve bistable structure transmission unit according to claim 5, characterized in that, There is an energy barrier between the first and second steady-state states of a rigid bistable structure. The mechanical jump occurs at the moment of switching, which can effectively convert electromagnetic driving force into a mechanical response with larger displacement.

7. A bistable hydraulic valve transmission unit according to claim 6, characterized in that, Based on the energy barrier between the two steady-state states, the rigid bistable structure automatically locks into the new steady-state configuration without the need for continuous energization to maintain the position, thus achieving self-holding and energy-saving control of the valve core in the open or closed state.

8. The hydraulic valve bistable structure transmission unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sleeve and piston-shaped limiting rod are replaced with a flexible rope. The flexible rope is used to connect the integrated moving coil flange of the voice coil motor to the rigid bistable drive rod. When the voice coil motor produces an initial small displacement, the integrated moving coil flange directly presses against the rigid bistable drive rod to trigger the shape transformation of the rigid bistable structure. As the rigid bistable structure expands with large displacement, the flexible cord is tightened from slack to tension; subsequently, the voice coil motor retracts in the opposite direction, and the rigid bistable structure is reset through the traction of the flexible cord.

9. A bistable hydraulic valve transmission unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rigid bistable structure contains multiple polycarbonate triangular plates that form a polygonal bistable structure.

10. A bistable hydraulic valve transmission unit according to claim 9, characterized in that, The rigid bistable structure contains six or eight polycarbonate triangular plates, forming a three-star bistable structure or a quadrilateral bistable structure.

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