Rotary valve of a motor vehicle cooling circuit

Abstract

The invention relates to a rotary slide valve (2) for a motor vehicle cooling circuit, having - a valve housing (4) with at least one first and at least one second valve connection (6, 8, 10), - a regulating element (12) having a cylindrical outer contour (16) for regulating a through-flow channel (14) between the first valve connection (6) and the at least second valve connection (8, 10) arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal axis (AI) of the regulating body (12), and - a sealing element (18) arranged in the region of the at least second valve connection (8) between the regulating element (12) and the at least second valve connection (8, 10), wherein, when in the uninstalled state, the sealing element (18) has a sealing ring (22) which is curved complementarily to the outer contour (16) of the regulating element (12) and has at least one first sealing limb (26) and at least one second sealing limb (28, 30), wherein, when the sealing element (18) is in the installed state, the first sealing limb (26) abuts the outer contour (16) of the regulating element (12) and the second sealing limb (28, 30) abuts the valve housing (4) in the region of the at least second valve connection (6, 8), wherein the sealing element (18) has at least one third sealing limb (32) which engages a corresponding recess (36) in the valve housing (4).

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION

[0002] Rotary slide valve of a motor vehicle cooling circuit

[0003] The invention relates to a rotary slide valve of a motor vehicle cooling circuit, comprising a valve housing with at least one first and at least one second valve connection, a control body having a cylindrical outer contour for controlling a through-channel between the first valve connection and the at least second valve connection arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the control body, and a sealing element arranged in the region of the at least second valve connection between the control body and the at least second valve connection, wherein the sealing element, in the uninstalled state, has a sealing ring curved complementarily to the outer contour of the control body, which has at least one first sealing leg and at least one second sealing leg, which are integrally connected to one another at a leg base, wherein, in the installed state of the sealing element, the first sealing leg rests against the outer contour of the control body,and the second sealing leg rests on the valve housing in the area of ​​at least the second valve connection.

[0004] Such cylindrical rotary valves are used for the continuous control of a flowing medium, in particular a coolant flow in a motor vehicle, for example for air conditioning a vehicle interior, for cooling an engine, a battery, or other components. Such rotary valves usually have an axial longitudinal valve axis, around and / or along which the cylindrical control body is movably mounted within a valve housing. The rotary valve generally has two valve connections, but can also have more than two valve connections. To prevent leakage between a first valve connection, in particular a valve inlet, and a second valve connection, in particular a valve outlet, when the rotary valve is closed, at least one sealing element is generally provided.The sealing element is usually arranged coaxially to the connection piece and has a sealing element longitudinal axis arranged perpendicular to the valve's longitudinal axis. For sliding sealing, the sealing element usually rests with an axially acting sealing area on the outer contour of the control body. For an additional seal around the circumference of the sealing element, a separate sealing ring is usually provided that radially surrounds the sealing element. This allows a gap formed between the valve housing and the control body, connected to the first valve connection, to be effectively sealed off from the second valve connection, to prevent overflow on the outer contour of the control body. It should be clear that the second valve connection, arranged radially on the control body, can serve as a valve inlet or valve outlet.The same applies to the first valve connection, which can also be arranged axially or radially on the valve housing.

[0005] The sealing element is usually designed in the form of a sleeve, arranged coaxially to the connection piece between the connection piece and the control body, with limited axial movement and preloaded against the control body. This allows the control body to slide with its outer contour along the sealing element when the valve is opened and closed, i.e. when the control body rotates, and simultaneously seals, ideally without there being any risk of the sealing element being scraped off by friction during movement. To improve the sealing effect, the sealing element can be preloaded axially towards the control body by means of an elastic preloading element, at least when the valve is closed, so that the sealing element resting against the control body blocks any leakage flow between the two valve connections.If there are several valve connections arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the control body, such a sealing element can of course be arranged at each of these valve connections.

[0006] DE 103 29 024 A1 discloses a sealing element for a rotary valve, which consists of a sealing ring and a sealing leg. The sealing ring has a flat surface and rests against the connection piece. The height of the sealing ring is adjusted such that its end facing away from the connection piece has a shape complementary to that of the cylindrical control body, ensuring full-surface contact with it. The varying heights of the sealing ring create a contact force that varies across the circumference, resulting in an uneven sealing effect.

[0007] DE 10 2011 083 803 A1 discloses a rotary valve with a sleeve-like sealing element. It has, at one axial end facing the control body, a curved end face corresponding to the cylindrical outer contour of the control body, and, at the other axial end facing away from the control body, a face face arranged in a plane for the support of a spring element. Due to the resulting different axial heights and angles of the sealing element over the circumference of the sealing element in the axial extension direction of the sealing element, the contact force of the sealing element on the control body is weaker in the region of large axial heights than in regions of small axial heights of the sealing element, so that, particularly in these regions, the sealing element can lift off the outer contour of the control body, thus leading to leakage.

[0008] The generic rotary slide valve according to DE 2016 116 550 A1 avoids these disadvantages by providing a curved sealing ring for the sealing element in its uninstalled state, with two sealing legs, one of which rests against an outer contour of the control body when installed, and the other against the connecting piece. However, increasingly complex cooling circuits, particularly in electrified vehicles, now also require reliable sealing in different flow directions. Previous sealing solutions for rotary slide valves have the disadvantage that they are at least partially forced away in a certain flow direction, resulting in unwanted leaks.

[0009] The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a rotary valve that enables reliable, durable, and low-wear sealing, both axially and radially. Furthermore, the rotary valve should be relatively compact and space-saving, and cost-effective to manufacture and assemble.

[0010] The object is achieved according to the invention by a rotary valve having the features of claim 1.

[0011] According to the invention, the sealing element has at least a third sealing leg that engages a corresponding recess in the valve housing. The provision of the third sealing leg securely fixes the sealing element in the valve housing. Even with changing flow directions, a fundamentally reliable seal is ensured. Furthermore, such a sealing element enables relatively cost-effective production and, thanks to the rotatability of the ring, relatively quick assembly.

[0012] Preferably, a third sealing leg is provided above and below each second valve connection. This securely fixes the sealing element in the valve housing and ensures a good seal at the valve connection. The third sealing leg can run coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the control body. This creates a particularly compact rotary slide valve in which all valve connections can be located in one plane.

[0013] Particularly secure fixation and, moreover, simple installation of the sealing element is ensured by the fact that the sealing element has a surface element on which the sealing ring and the third sealing leg are formed. It is particularly advantageous if the surface element is rectangular.

[0014] In a particularly advantageous embodiment, an additional second sealing leg is provided. This makes the rotary slide valve particularly well-suited for sealing in changing flow directions. The sealing element can have a Y-shaped cross-section in the area of ​​the second sealing legs, with each sealing leg sealing against a specific flow direction of the coolant.

[0015] In a particularly advantageous, compact embodiment of a rotary slide valve, two second valve connections are provided, each forming a valve outlet, wherein the first valve connection forms a valve inlet.

[0016] The invention is explained in more detail below using preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0017] Figure 1 shows a perspective, sectional view of a rotary slide valve according to the invention with two second valve connections and two sealing elements,

[0018] Figure 2 is a sectional detailed view of a second valve connection, and

[0019] Figure 3 shows the sealing element in a perspective view. Figure 1 shows a rotary slide valve 2 according to the invention for a motor vehicle cooling circuit (not shown). The rotary slide valve 2 comprises a valve housing 4 with a first valve connection 6 and a second valve connection 8 and a third valve connection 10. An inlet-side pressure PI is present at the first valve connection 11. After being pressurized, an outlet-side pressure P2 or P3 is present at the second valve connection 8 and the third valve connection 10, which are usually lower than the inlet-side pressure PI. Arranged within the valve housing 4, between the first valve connection 6 and the second and third valve connections 8, 10, is a control body 12 which is mounted so as to be rotatable about the valve longitudinal axis A1 and / or displaceable along the valve longitudinal axis A1 for the continuous control of a through-channel 14.

[0020] The control body 12 is designed as a cylindrical rotary slide valve and has a through-channel 14 through which a medium can flow. For example, by rotating the control body 12 about the valve's longitudinal axis A1, the through-channel 14 between the first valve port 11 and the second valve port 8 or the third valve port 10 is opened or closed. In Figure 1, the control body 12 is in a state in which the through-channel 14 to the third valve port 10 is opened. To enable rotation of the control body 12, the control body 12 is mounted with play, whereby the inlet-side pressure PI assigned to the first valve port 6 is also applied to the cylindrical outer contour 16 of the control body 12, at least partially in the region of the second valve port 8.

[0021] To prevent leakage between the first valve connection 6 and / or the second valve connection 8 and / or the third valve connection 10, in particular at the cylindrical outer contour 16 of the control body 12, a sealing element 18 is provided in the region of each of the second and third valve connections 8, 10, which sealing element bears against the outer contour 16 of the control body 12 for sliding sealing. During assembly of the rotary slide valve 2, the sealing element 18 can be inserted into the outlet channel of the valve housing 4 on the outlet side and clamped by inserting the control body 12. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that reference numeral 20 designates a drive of the rotary slide valve 2.

[0022] Figure 2 shows a detailed sectional view of the second valve connection 8. The sealing element 18, which is also shown in section, is clearly visible here. The sealing element 18 is constructed as follows: basically, it has a sealing ring 22 that is curved complementarily to the outer contour 16 of the control body 12 and is formed on a curved, rectangular surface element 24 (see Figure 3). In the present exemplary embodiment, the sealing element 18 has a first sealing leg 26 and two second sealing legs 28, 30, which are connected to one another at a leg base 34. Two further third sealing legs 32 are provided here on the surface element 24. However, they could also be connected to the leg base 34.

[0023] The first sealing leg 26 rests against the outer contour 16 of the control body 12; the two second sealing legs 28, 30 have a Y-shaped cross-section and are in operative contact with the valve housing 4 in the area of ​​the second valve connection 8. The third sealing legs 32 each engage in a recess 36 of the valve housing 4. The third sealing legs 32 securely fix the sealing elements 18 even in changing flow directions. This effect is further enhanced by the two second sealing legs 28, 30, which also have a Y-shaped cross-section. The first second sealing leg 28 seals against the pressure P2 in the second valve connection 8, while the second second sealing leg 30, together with the third sealing leg, seals against the pressure P1 of the first valve connection 6. Figure 3 shows the sealing element 18 in a perspective view.Clearly visible here is the curvature of the sealing element 18 and the rectangular surface element 24 on which the sealing ring 22 is formed.

Claims

REQUIREMENTS Rotary slide valve (2) of a motor vehicle cooling circuit, comprising a valve housing (4) with at least one first and at least one second valve port (6, 8, 10), a control body (12) having a cylindrical outer contour (16) for controlling a flow channel (14) between the first valve port (6) and the at least second valve port (8, 10) arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal axis (Al) of the control body (12), and a sealing element (18) arranged in the region of the at least second valve port (8) between the control body (12) and the at least second valve port (8, 10), wherein the sealing element (18) in the uninstalled state has a sealing ring (22) curved complementarily to the outer contour (16) of the control body (12), which has at least one first sealing leg (26) and at least one second sealing leg (28, 30),wherein, in the installed state of the sealing element (18), the first sealing leg (26) bears against the outer contour (16) of the control body (12), and the second sealing leg (28, 30) bears against the valve housing (4) in the area of ​​the at least second valve port (6, 8), characterized in that the sealing element (18) has at least a third sealing leg (32) which engages in a corresponding recess (36) of the valve housing (4). Rotary slide valve (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that a third sealing leg (32) is provided above and below each second valve port (8, 10). Rotary valve (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the third sealing leg (32) extends coaxially to the longitudinal axis of the control body. Rotary valve (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sealing element (18) has a surface element (24) on which the sealing ring (22) and the third sealing leg (32) are formed. Rotary valve (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the surface element (24) is rectangular. Rotary valve (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a further second sealing leg (30) is provided. Rotary valve (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the sealing element (18) has a Y-shaped cross-section in the region of the second sealing legs (28, 30).Rotary valve (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that two second valve ports (8, 10) are provided, each forming a valve outlet, wherein the first valve port (6) forms a valve inlet.