DAMPING DEVICE

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a damping device, in particular for damping or avoiding pressure surges, such as pulsations, in hydraulic supply circuits, preferably in the form of a silencer, having the features of the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Damping devices of this type are state of the art. Such hydraulic dampers, also called mufflers or silencers, serve to reduce vibrations generated by pressure pulsations that are periodically imposed on a respective hydraulic system, particularly by the operation of hydraulic pumps. As shown in the document DE 10 2015 003 016 A1, which discloses a damping device of the aforementioned type in the form of a so-called disc silencer, a guide element against which the fluid flow can flow is provided in the circular-cylindrical, disc-shaped fluid receiving chamber forming the damping chamber. This guide element is formed by a projection that is integrally formed with an end wall serving as a cover part and that projects into the damping chamber and extends to its floor.The arrangement of the guide element allows a partial increase in the flow velocity and an improvement in the damping efficiency.

[0003] US 2 079 067 A describes a damping device, in particular for damping or avoiding pressure surges, such as pulsations, in hydraulic supply circuits, preferably in the form of a silencer, with a damping housing surrounding a damping chamber, which has at least one fluid inlet and at least one fluid outlet and a fluid receiving chamber extending between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet, wherein during operation of the device a fluid flow coming from the fluid inlet crosses the damping chamber to the fluid outlet, wherein a wall part of the fluid receiving chamber extends as a guide element in at least one direction of extension transverse to the direction of the fluid flow between mutually opposite end walls of the damping housing, and wherein a plurality of guide elements are provided in the damping chamber against which the fluid flow can flow and which vary the flow velocity of the fluid in certain regions.

[0004] Further damping devices are disclosed in DE 10 2008 015 763 A1, GB 721 860, CA 2 488 533 A1, US 2017 / 0138507 A1, US 997 610 A, US 4 287 962 A and US 1 865 677 A.

[0005] Based on this prior art, the invention aims to provide a damping device of the type mentioned at the outset, which is characterized by a particularly advantageous operating behavior.

[0006] According to the invention, this object is achieved by a damping device having the features of patent claim 1 in its entirety. According to the characterizing part of patent claim 1, a key feature of the invention is that the continuous hollow bodies are formed with a cylindrical central portion, to which cones are connected at the ends, each of which widens toward the associated end wall of the damping housing. At the high pressure level to which the damping housing is frequently exposed as a pressure vessel during operation as a silencer, the connection formed by the guide elements between the two end walls of the housing leads to a considerable increase in rigidity with a particular improvement in compressive and structural strength while maintaining a low structural weight.

[0007] Depending on the number of guide elements, several distributed areas with varying flow velocities are created. Furthermore, the distributed arrangement of guide elements results in a division of the flow path, thus achieving increased damping efficiency overall.

[0008] Advantageously, the guide elements can be arranged in rows relative to one another in such a way that at least some of the guide elements are offset from the guide elements of an adjacent row, forming an at least partially meandering fluid flow. Accordingly, not only is the flow velocity changed, but also the basic direction of the fluid flow from the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet is changed.

[0009] In this case, the arrangement can advantageously be such that the number of guide elements in a respective row increases by one guide element in each case transversely to the flow direction from the fluid inlet in the direction of the greatest transverse extent of the damping chamber and decreases by one guide element in each case in the direction of the fluid outlet from the greatest number until the number of guide elements in a row at the fluid inlet and outlet is the same.

[0010] In advantageous embodiments, the damping housing and / or the damping chamber is circular-cylindrical or polygonal, wherein the guide elements are at least partially, preferably all, of the same design and extend between the opposite side walls of the damping housing.

[0011] Advantageously, all guide elements can be designed as continuous hollow bodies with a cylindrical center section, to which cones are connected at the ends, each of which widens toward the corresponding end face of the damping housing. The design of the inserts connecting the end walls significantly increases the structural strength relative to the overall weight. The cones create a particularly advantageous damping situation in the damping housing.

[0012] The arrangement can be such that, in a central longitudinal section through the damping housing, octagonal cavities are formed into which a guide element is placed adjacently, and / or that, in a central cross-section through the damping housing transverse to the flow direction, the guide elements delimit hexagonal cavities between them, each of which is flowed through by the fluid flow in the flow direction.

[0013] The guide elements can advantageously be distributed in such a way that adjacent guide elements are at a short distance from one another or in contact with one another at their ends running along the cones into the end faces.

[0014] During the manufacture of the damping device, at least the damping housing with the guide elements can advantageously be formed as a single piece using a 3D printing process, preferably from a metal material. Furthermore, the fluid inlet and outlet are preferably also produced using the aforementioned printing process and are an integral part of the damping device as a whole.

[0015] The invention is explained in detail below using an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the drawing. They show: Fig. 1 is a perspective oblique view of the embodiment of the damping device according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a Fig. 1 enlarged central longitudinal section of the damping housing; and Fig. 3 one of the Fig. 2 corresponding central cross-section through the damping housing.

[0016] With reference to the accompanying drawings, the damping device according to the invention is explained using the example of a so-called disc silencer, which, as Fig. 1 shows, has a circular-cylindrical damping housing 2. At two diametrically opposite locations on the side wall 4, a fluid inlet 6 and a fluid outlet 8 are arranged, which form the connections to a fluid receiving chamber 10 forming a damping chamber. This has the shape of a circular-cylindrical disc between two cover or end walls 12 and 14, each of which has the shape of a flat circular disc.

[0017] In the fluid chamber 10, in the flow path leading from the fluid inlet 6 to the outlet 8, there are a plurality of guide elements 16 which are arranged in a distributed pattern. Fig. 2 and 3 As can be seen, the guide elements 16, which are only partially numbered in the drawing, are each formed by a hollow body which is of one piece and extends from end wall 12 to end wall 14, the guide elements 16 being formed integrally with the respective end wall 12, 14. The identically designed hollow bodies of the guide elements 16 each have a circular-cylindrical central part 18, to which a cone 20 is connected at each end, which each widens in the direction of the associated end wall 12 or 14, into which they merge with their ends 22 (only partially numbered).

[0018] As the Fig. 1 shows, in which the ends 22 of the guide elements 16 (only partially numbered) are visible, the pattern of the guide elements 16 is a row arrangement with rows 28 ( Fig. 2 ), which extend in a straight line and parallel to one another, perpendicular to the connecting line between the fluid inlet 6 and the fluid outlet 8. Starting from the fluid inlet 6 and the fluid outlet 8 and moving towards the center of the damping chamber, the number of guide elements 16 per row 28 increases by one guide element 16. In the arrangement shown with five rows 28 and with three guide elements 16 in the row 28 closest to the fluid inlet 6 and outlet 8, the pattern in the exemplary embodiment shown results in a total of 19 guide elements 16.

[0019] In the example shown, the guide elements 16 are arranged in the rows 28 in such a way that the guide elements 16 of one row 28 are offset by one guide element 16 relative to the guide elements of the following row 28 and that the guide elements 16 are arranged adjacent to one another in such a way that their ends 22, which merge into the associated end wall 12, 14, are at a short distance from one another or, as in Fig. 1 shown, are in contact with each other. In this arrangement, as shown in Fig. 2As shown, in a longitudinal section through the damping housing 2, centrally from the fluid inlet 6 to the fluid outlet 8, octagonal cavities 24 are formed between adjacent guide elements 16. In a cross-section with a cutting plane running centrally through the damping housing 2 and perpendicular to the connecting line between the fluid inlet 6 and the fluid outlet 8, the guide elements 16 define hexagonal cavities 26 between them, each of which is flowed through by the fluid flow in the main flow direction.

[0020] The plurality of guide elements 16 provided in the invention, in the form of hollow bodies that are integral with the end walls 12 and 14, opens up the possibility of designing the damping housing 2 as a pressure vessel suitable for high pressure levels despite its lightweight construction, with the flow being influenced by the guide elements ensuring efficient damping. The one-piece damper housing 2 can advantageously be realized using a 3D printing process.

Claims

1. Damping device, in particular for damping or preventing pressure shocks, such as pulsations, in hydraulic supply circuits, preferably in the form of a silencer, with a damping housing (2) surrounding a damping chamber (10), which has at least one fluid inlet (6) and at least one fluid outlet (8) as well as a fluid receiving chamber extending between the fluid inlet (6) and the fluid outlet (8) and forming the damping chamber (10), wherein, during operation of the device, a fluid flow coming from the fluid inlet (6) traverses the damping chamber (10) to the fluid outlet (8), wherein a wall portion of the fluid receiving chamber extends as a guide element (16) in at least one direction of expansion transverse to the direction of the fluid flow between mutually opposing end walls (12, 14) of the damping housing (2), and wherein a plurality of guide elements (16) are provided in the damping chamber (10), which guide elements the fluid flow can impinge upon thereby changing its flow velocity in certain areas, wherein at least some of the guide elements (16) are configured as continuous hollow bodies, characterised in that the continuous hollow bodies are formed with a cylindrical central portion (18), to which cones (20) are connected at the ends, which cones each widen in the direction of the assignable end wall (12, 14) of the damping housing (2).

2. Damping device according to claim 1, characterised in that the guide elements (16) are arranged in rows (28) with respect to each other, in such a manner that at least some of the guide elements (16) are arranged offset with respect to the guide elements (16) of an adjacent row (28), creating an at least partially meandering fluid flow.

3. Damping device according to claim 2, characterised in that the number of guide elements (16) in a particular row (28) increases transverse to the flow-through direction coming from the fluid inlet (6) towards the largest transverse expansion of the damping chamber (10) by one guide element (16) in each case and decreases in the direction of the fluid outlet (8) coming from the largest number by one guide element (16) in each case, until the number of guide elements (16) in a row (28) is equal at the fluid inlet (6) and the fluid outlet (8).

4. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the damping housing (2) and / or the damping chamber (10) is / are configured to be circular-cylindrical or polygonal and in that the guide elements (16), at least some of which, preferably all of which, are configured identically, extend between the mutually opposing end walls (12, 14) of the damping housing (2).

5. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least some of the guide elements (16), preferably all the guide elements (16), merge with both their ends (22) into the respectively assigned end wall (12, 14) of the damping housing (2).

6. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that all guide elements (16) are configured as continuous hollow bodies with a cylindrical central portion (18) to which cones (20) are connected at the ends, which cones each widen in the direction of the assignable end face (12, 14) of the damping housing (2).

7. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that, in a central longitudinal section through the damping housing (2), octagonal cavities (24) are formed, into which a guide element (16) is adjacently placed.

8. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that, in a central cross-section through the damping housing (2) transverse to the flow-through direction, the guide elements (16) define hexagonal cavities (26) between them, through each of which the fluid flow passes in the flow-through direction.

9. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that adjacent guide elements (16) are a short distance from one another or in contact with one another at their ends (22) extending along the cones (20) into the end faces (12, 14).

10. Damping device according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least the damping housing (2), which is configured in one piece with the guide elements (16), is obtained in a 3D printing process.