A valve assembly with a thermally conductive structure and a servo valve

Abstract

This utility model provides a valve assembly and servo valve with a heat-conducting structure, belonging to the field of servo valves. The valve assembly includes a valve body, a motor mounting well on the valve body, a motor bracket outside the valve body, a motor stator mounted on the motor bracket, and a motor rotor passing through the motor stator and installed in the motor mounting well. The heat-conducting unit includes a hot end and a cold end, with the hot end connected to the motor stator and the cold end connected to the valve body. The heat generated by the motor stator during operation can be transferred to the valve body through the heat-conducting unit. The oil flowing in the fluid channel inside the valve body can reduce the temperature of the valve body, thereby reducing the temperature of the motor stator. By using such a valve assembly and servo valve with a heat-conducting structure, a directional heat transfer path is constructed from the motor heating area to the heat-conducting unit to the valve body oil circuit. Forced heat dissipation is achieved by utilizing the flow of hydraulic oil itself, avoiding the increased space cost of external water cooling or air cooling.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of servo valves, and more specifically relates to a valve assembly with a heat-conducting structure and a servo valve. Background Technology

[0002] Servo valves, with their high-precision control, fast response, wide pressure range, high reliability, and energy efficiency, are widely used in shipbuilding and machinery, metallurgy and energy, aerospace, and other fields. Their core components include the valve body assembly, drive element, and control circuit. Currently, servo valves (especially high-frequency response direct-drive servo valves) experience significant Joule heating in the motor windings due to high-frequency current during prolonged operation, with temperatures reaching over 100°C. Therefore, the reliability of the control circuit is crucial to the overall reliability of the servo valve. High temperatures accelerate the thermal aging of adjacent circuit board components, reducing their lifespan by more than 50%, and cause irreversible demagnetization of the motor magnets, reducing motor performance. Furthermore, high temperatures can increase the error of the motor angle sensor due to excessive temperature drift, leading to increased valve opening error.

[0003] The existing technology has the following pain points:

[0004] Currently, the heat dissipation solution for servo valves relies solely on natural convection, resulting in low heat dissipation efficiency.

[0005] It can only operate at high frequency for short periods of time, and will reduce its frequency when it detects that the temperature is too high.

[0006] High-temperature resistant magnetic materials (such as samarium cobalt magnets) cost six times more than ordinary neodymium iron boron magnets;

[0007] The contact area between the motor bracket and the valve body is too small, the heat source and the oil path are far apart, and the passive heat dissipation effect is poor. Utility Model Content

[0008] One objective of this utility model is to provide a valve assembly with a heat-conducting structure, the valve assembly including a valve body, a motor mounting well disposed on the valve body, a motor bracket disposed outside the valve body, a motor stator mounted on the motor bracket, and a motor rotor passing through the motor stator and mounted in the motor mounting well;

[0009] The valve body has multiple fluid channels inside, and the motor bracket has a heat-conducting mounting groove with a heat-conducting unit inside. The heat-conducting unit includes a hot end and a cold end. The hot end is connected to the motor stator, and the cold end is connected to the valve body. The heat generated by the motor stator during operation can be transferred to the valve body through the heat-conducting unit. The oil flowing in the fluid channels inside the valve body can reduce the temperature of the valve body, thereby reducing the temperature of the motor stator.

[0010] Preferably, the heat-conducting unit is a copper tube filled with a volatile medium. The volatile medium transfers heat through phase change inside the copper tube, vaporizing and absorbing heat at the hot end to form steam. The steam flows rapidly to the cold end due to the pressure difference, and liquefies at the cold end to release heat.

[0011] Preferably, the heat-conducting unit is provided with a capillary structure, through which the volatile medium condensed at the cold end returns to the hot end, and the volatile medium circulates between the cold end and the hot end.

[0012] Preferably, a heat-conducting surface is provided on the outer surface of the valve body, and the cold end of the heat-conducting unit is in contact with the heat-conducting surface. The cold end of the heat-conducting unit can be in contact with the heat-conducting plane to increase the contact area between the heat-conducting unit and the valve body.

[0013] Preferably, the heat-conducting unit and the heat-conducting surface are connected by welding; a heat-conducting medium is provided in the connection area between the heat-conducting unit and the motor stator, and the heat-conducting medium is used to fill the gap between the heat-conducting unit and the motor stator and increase the heat conduction efficiency.

[0014] Preferably, the heat-conducting unit includes a hot end and two cold ends, with the hot end located in the middle of the heat-conducting unit and the cold ends located at both ends of the hot end;

[0015] The hot end is semi-enclosed around the outside of the silicon steel sheet of the motor stator, and the two cold ends are respectively attached to the outer surface of the valve body.

[0016] Preferably, the multiple fluid channels provided inside the valve body include: an oil supply channel, an oil return channel, a control channel A, and a control channel B; the oil supply channel is used to connect to the hydraulic pump, the oil return channel is used to connect to the oil tank, and the control channels A and B are used to connect to the hydraulic actuator; the cold end of the heat conduction unit is located near the oil supply channel.

[0017] Preferably, in the region where the cold end of the heat-conducting unit connects to the valve body, the thickness of the valve body shell is 0.4~10 mm.

[0018] Another objective of this invention is to provide a servo valve, including the valve assembly with a heat-conducting structure as described above.

[0019] As described above, the valve assembly and servo valve with a heat-conducting structure of this utility model construct a directional heat transfer path from the motor heating area to the heat-conducting unit and then to the valve body oil circuit by setting a heat-conducting unit. Forced heat dissipation is achieved by utilizing the flow of hydraulic oil itself, avoiding the increased space cost of external water cooling or air cooling. Attached Figure Description

[0020] The present invention will be more fully understood through the following detailed description and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein similar elements are numbered in a similar manner, wherein:

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a servo valve according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a valve assembly with a heat-conducting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a heat-conducting unit with a heat-conducting structure according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0024] In the figure: valve body 11, heat-conducting surface 111, motor bracket 12, motor stator 13, motor rotor 14, heat-conducting unit 15, hot end 151, cold end 152. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] It should be noted that if directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) are involved in the embodiments of this invention, these directional indicators are only used to explain the relative positional relationships and movement of the components in a specific posture. If the specific posture changes, the directional indicators will also change accordingly. Unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installed," "connected," and "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; they can refer to mechanical connections or electrical connections; they can refer to direct connections or indirect connections through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal communication between two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0027] Furthermore, if the embodiments of the present invention involve descriptions using terms such as "first," "second," etc., these descriptions are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of those features. Moreover, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0028] The technical solution of this utility model will be further described in detail below through embodiments and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but this utility model is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0029] Servo valves, with their high-precision control, fast response, wide pressure range, high reliability, and energy efficiency, are widely used in shipbuilding and machinery, metallurgy and energy, aerospace, and other fields. Their core components include the valve body (11 parts), drive elements, and control circuitry. Currently, servo valves (especially high-frequency response direct-drive servo valves) experience significant Joule heating in the motor windings due to high-frequency current during prolonged operation, with temperatures reaching over 100°C. Therefore, the reliability of the control circuitry is crucial to the overall reliability of the servo valve. High temperatures accelerate the thermal aging of adjacent circuit board components, reducing their lifespan by more than 50%, and cause irreversible demagnetization of the motor magnets, reducing motor performance. Furthermore, high temperatures can increase the error of the motor angle sensor due to excessive temperature drift, leading to increased valve opening error.

[0030] The existing technology has the following pain points:

[0031] Currently, the heat dissipation solution for servo valves relies solely on natural convection, resulting in low heat dissipation efficiency.

[0032] It can only operate at high frequency for short periods of time, and will reduce its frequency when it detects that the temperature is too high.

[0033] High-temperature resistant magnetic materials (such as samarium cobalt magnets) cost six times more than ordinary neodymium iron boron magnets;

[0034] The contact area between the motor bracket 12 and the valve body 11 is too small, the heat source and the oil path are far apart, and the passive heat dissipation effect is poor.

[0035] To solve the above problems, this embodiment provides a valve assembly with a heat-conducting structure. The valve assembly includes a valve body 11, a motor mounting well disposed on the valve body 11, a motor bracket 12 disposed outside the valve body 11, a motor stator 13 mounted on the motor bracket 12, and a motor rotor 14 passing through the motor stator 13 and mounted in the motor mounting well.

[0036] The valve body 11 has multiple fluid channels inside, and the motor bracket 12 has a heat-conducting mounting groove, in which a heat-conducting unit 15 is installed. The heat-conducting unit 15 includes a hot end 151 and a cold end 152. The hot end 151 is connected to the motor stator 13, and the cold end 152 is connected to the valve body 11. The heat generated by the motor stator 13 during operation can be transferred to the valve body 11 through the heat-conducting unit 15. The oil flowing in the fluid channels inside the valve body 11 can reduce the temperature of the valve body 11, thereby reducing the temperature of the motor stator 13.

[0037] In this embodiment, as Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, a servo valve is a high-precision hydraulic control component, mainly used to convert electrical signals into hydraulic signals, enabling precise control of parameters such as displacement, speed, and force of hydraulic actuators. It has wide applications in industrial automation, aerospace, and precision manufacturing.

[0038] Servo valves typically have four interfaces for connecting to the hydraulic system: an oil supply port for connecting to the hydraulic pump, an oil return port for connecting to the oil tank, and control port A and control port B for connecting to the actuator.

[0039] The valve body 11 has multiple fluid channels inside, including an oil supply port channel, an oil return port channel, a control port channel A, and a control port channel B. The oil supply port, oil return port, control port A, and control port B are respectively connected to the oil supply port channel, the oil return port channel, the control port channel A, and the control port channel B.

[0040] The motor includes a motor stator 13 and a motor rotor 14. The motor stator 13 is fixed to the valve body 11 by the motor bracket 12. The connection between the motor stator 13 and the motor bracket 12 can be achieved through snap-fit ​​and fastening structures. The motor bracket 12 and the valve body 11 can be connected by bolts or other fasteners.

[0041] In this embodiment, the motor bracket 12 has a semi-enclosed structure, surrounding the silicon steel sheet of the motor stator 13. The silicon steel sheet of the motor stator 13 is circular. The heat-conducting mounting groove is a recess on the motor bracket 12. The shape, size, and thickness of the heat-conducting mounting groove match the heat-conducting unit 15, allowing the heat-conducting unit 15 to be placed inside the heat-conducting mounting groove and to fit snugly against the motor stator 13. During motor operation, the motor stator 13 generates heat, especially since the servo valve has the characteristic of high-frequency operation. The motor generates even more heat under high-frequency operation, and overheating can lead to unstable operation of the servo valve. In this embodiment, the heat-conducting unit 15 connects the motor stator 13 and the valve body 11. The heat-conducting unit 15 can construct a directional heat transfer path from the motor heating area to the heat-conducting unit 15 to the valve body 11 oil circuit, using its own hydraulic oil flow to achieve forced heat dissipation, avoiding the increased space cost of external water cooling or air cooling.

[0042] The valve body 11 in this embodiment is made of metal material, and the metal valve body 11 shell has better thermal conductivity.

[0043] Furthermore, the heat-conducting unit 15 is a copper tube filled with a volatile medium. The volatile medium transfers heat through phase change inside the copper tube, vaporizing and absorbing heat at the hot end 151 to form steam. The steam flows rapidly to the cold end 152 due to the pressure difference, and liquefies at the cold end 152 to release heat.

[0044] In this embodiment, the heat-conducting unit 15 is a copper tube. A copper tube is made of copper or a copper alloy as its outer material, is hollow inside, and is filled with a volatile medium, such as water, acetone, methanol, or ammonia. Copper itself has good heat transfer properties, and the volatile medium can increase the heat transfer rate through phase change.

[0045] Furthermore, the heat-conducting unit 15 is provided with a capillary structure inside, through which the volatile medium condensed at the cold end 152 returns to the hot end 151, and the volatile medium circulates between the cold end 152 and the hot end 151.

[0046] In this embodiment, the capillary structure can be a copper powder sintered layer, a groove, etc. The volatile medium condensed at the cold end 152 is pumped back to the hot end 151 through the capillary structure pump, and the cycle repeats.

[0047] Furthermore, a heat-conducting surface 111 is provided on the outer surface of the valve body 11, and the cold end 152 of the heat-conducting unit 15 is attached to the heat-conducting surface. The cold end 152 of the heat-conducting unit 15 can be attached to the heat-conducting surface to increase the contact area between the heat-conducting unit 15 and the valve body 11.

[0048] In this embodiment, as Figure 2 , Figure 3As shown, the heat-conducting surface 111 can be a flat surface or a curved surface machined on the outer surface of the valve body 11. The outer surface of the heat-conducting unit 15 is a flat surface or a matching curved surface. The cold end 152 of the heat-conducting unit 15 can be attached to the heat-conducting surface to obtain a larger contact area and better heat conduction efficiency.

[0049] Furthermore, the heat-conducting unit 15 is connected to the heat-conducting surface 111 by welding; a heat-conducting medium is provided in the connection area between the heat-conducting unit 15 and the motor stator 13, and the heat-conducting medium is used to fill the gap between the heat-conducting unit 15 and the motor stator 13 and increase the heat conduction efficiency.

[0050] In this embodiment, the welding method can be silver welding, which has better thermal conductivity. The thermally conductive medium can be silicone grease.

[0051] Furthermore, the heat-conducting unit 15 includes a hot end 151 and two cold ends 152. The hot end 151 is disposed in the middle of the heat-conducting unit 15, and the cold ends 152 are disposed at both ends of the hot end 151.

[0052] The hot end 151 is semi-enclosed around the outside of the silicon steel sheet of the motor stator 13, and the two cold ends 152 are respectively attached to the outer surface of the valve body 11.

[0053] In this embodiment, as Figure 3 As shown, the heat-conducting unit 15 includes a hot end 151 and two cold ends 152. The hot end 151 is located in the middle of the heat-conducting unit 15, and the cold ends 152 are located at both ends of the hot end 151. With this design, the hot end 151 is located between the two cold ends 152, which can improve the heat conduction efficiency.

[0054] Furthermore, the valve body 11 has multiple fluid channels inside, including an oil supply channel, an oil return channel, a control channel A, and a control channel B; the oil supply channel is used to connect to the hydraulic pump, the oil return channel is used to connect to the oil tank, and the control channels A and B are used to connect to the hydraulic actuator; the cold end 152 of the heat conduction unit 15 is located near the oil supply channel.

[0055] In this embodiment, as described above, the servo valve includes an oil supply port channel, an oil return port channel, a control port channel A, and a control port channel B. The oil in the oil supply port channel has a low oil temperature, which allows for a larger temperature difference with the heat source, thus improving heat transfer efficiency.

[0056] In addition, the valve body 11 in this embodiment is formed by additive manufacturing technology, the distance between the fluid channel and the outer surface of the valve body 11 is closer, and the thickness of the valve body 11 shell is smaller, which is more conducive to the heat exchange between the oil in the fluid channel and the heat conduction unit 15.

[0057] Furthermore, in the region where the cold end 152 of the heat-conducting unit 15 is connected to the valve body 11, the thickness of the valve body 11 shell is 0.4~10 mm.

[0058] Another objective of this invention is to provide a servo valve, including the valve assembly with a heat-conducting structure as described above.

[0059] The servo valve with a heat-conducting structure in this embodiment differs from the conventional servo valve without a heat-conducting structure in the following ways:

[0060] 1) Traditional servo valves use natural convection for heat dissipation, while the servo valve in this embodiment uses active oil cooling.

[0061] 2) Traditional servo valves operate at temperatures above 100°C at high frequencies, while the servo valve in this embodiment operates at temperatures below 80°C at high frequencies.

[0062] 3) Traditional servo valves require an external heat sink, but the servo valve in this embodiment does not require an external integrated heat sink.

[0063] 4) Traditional servo valves have low reliability and the circuit board is prone to failure due to high temperature. The servo valve in this embodiment has high reliability.

[0064] In some embodiments, the width of the heat-conducting mounting groove on the motor bracket 12 is 18mm, the thickness of the heat-conducting unit 15 is 2mm, the hot end is connected to the heat dissipation ring groove of the motor stator by screws, and the cold end of the copper tube is in close contact with the outer wall of the main oil circuit of the valve body.

[0065] When the motor temperature is 110℃, the hot end of the heat conduction unit 15 absorbs heat (heat flux density > 5W / cm²) and the cold end transfers the heat to the outer wall of the main oil circuit at 40℃.

[0066] In some embodiments, the heat-conducting unit 15 is evacuated and then filled with ammonia as a volatile medium (phase change temperature 80°C).

[0067] In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence number of each process does not necessarily imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0068] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of this application. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, segment, or portion of code containing one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions indicated in the blocks may occur in a different order than those indicated in the drawings. For example, two consecutively indicated blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It is particularly important to note that each block in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, can be implemented using a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or operation, or using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0069] The above description is merely an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural transformations made using the contents of the present invention specification and drawings under the technical concept of the present invention, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

[0070] The above are merely preferred embodiments of this utility model and are not intended to limit the scope of this utility model. Various modifications and variations can be made to this utility model by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure, characterized by: The valve assembly includes a valve body (11), a motor mounting well disposed on the valve body (11), a motor bracket (12) disposed outside the valve body (11), a motor stator (13) mounted on the motor bracket (12), and a motor rotor (14) passing through the motor stator (13) and mounted in the motor mounting well. The valve body (11) has multiple fluid channels inside, and the motor bracket (12) has a heat-conducting mounting groove, in which a heat-conducting unit (15) is installed. The heat-conducting unit (15) includes a hot end (151) and a cold end (152). The hot end (151) is connected to the motor stator (13), and the cold end (152) is connected to the valve body (11). The heat generated by the motor stator (13) during operation can be transferred to the valve body (11) through the heat-conducting unit (15). The oil flowing in the fluid channels inside the valve body (11) can reduce the temperature of the valve body (11), thereby reducing the temperature of the motor stator (13).

2. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heat-conducting unit (15) is a copper tube filled with a volatile medium. The volatile medium transfers heat through phase change inside the copper tube. It vaporizes and absorbs heat at the hot end (151) to form steam. The steam flows rapidly to the cold end (152) due to the pressure difference. The steam liquefies at the cold end (152) and releases heat.

3. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: The heat-conducting unit (15) is provided with a capillary structure. The volatile medium condensed at the cold end (152) returns to the hot end (151) through the capillary structure, and the volatile medium circulates between the cold end (152) and the hot end (151).

4. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: A heat-conducting surface (111) is provided on the outer surface of the valve body (11). The cold end (152) of the heat-conducting unit (15) is in contact with the heat-conducting surface. The cold end (152) of the heat-conducting unit (15) can be in contact with the heat-conducting surface to increase the contact area between the heat-conducting unit (15) and the valve body (11).

5. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 4, characterized in that: The heat-conducting unit (15) and the heat-conducting surface (111) are connected by welding; A heat-conducting medium is provided in the connection area between the heat-conducting unit (15) and the motor stator (13). The heat-conducting medium is used to fill the gap between the heat-conducting unit (15) and the motor stator (13) and increase the heat conduction efficiency.

6. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heat-conducting unit (15) includes a hot end (151) and two cold ends (152). The hot end (151) is located in the middle of the heat-conducting unit (15), and the cold ends (152) are located at both ends of the hot end (151). The hot end (151) is semi-enclosed around the outside of the silicon steel sheet of the motor stator (13), and the two cold ends (152) are respectively attached to the outer surface of the valve body (11).

7. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 1 or 6, characterized in that: The valve body (11) has multiple fluid channels inside, including: oil supply channel, oil return channel, control channel A, and control channel B; the oil supply channel is used to connect to the hydraulic pump, the oil return channel is used to connect to the oil tank, and the control channel A and control channel B are used to connect to the hydraulic actuator; the cold end (152) of the heat conduction unit (15) is located near the oil supply channel.

8. A valve assembly with thermally conductive structure according to claim 7, characterized in that: The thickness of the valve body (11) shell in the area where the cold end (152) of the heat conducting unit (15) is connected with the valve body (11) is 0.4-10 mm.

9. A servo valve characterized by A valve assembly with a heat conducting structure as claimed in any one of claims 1-8.

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