Actively Controllable Charge Valve

Abstract

The actively controllable charge valve (200) includes a valve body (100), a flow channel (110) is provided inside the valve body (100), one end of the flow channel (110) is connected to a pipeline (120), and the other end is connected to a charge part (130). A valve core (111) is provided inside the flow channel (110), a valve port (121) is provided in the valve body (100), and the valve core (111) is connected to the valve port (121) or the valve port (111). The flow channel (110) can be opened or closed by separating from or contacting with the sealing member (140) provided therebetween. Before the charge part (130) is connected to or disconnected from the charge hose (300), the charge part (130) is not in communication with the pipeline (120). When the charge part (130) is connected to the charge hose (300), the charge part (130) is in communication with the pipeline (120) via the flow channel (110).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] (Related Applications) This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed on August 26, 2022, bearing application number 202222308150.1 and entitled "Actively Controllable Charging Valve," the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION This application relates to the field of refrigeration control, and in particular to actively controllable charge valves. [Background technology]

[0003] During the manufacturing or maintenance of a cooling system, it is necessary to charge the cooling system with refrigerant through a refrigerant charging device. A charging valve is provided between the refrigerant charging device and the cooling system to open or close the refrigerant charging passage between the refrigerant charging device and the cooling system. However, due to the flammable and explosive properties of the refrigerant, it may form an explosive mixture when mixed with air, which may pose a risk of combustion and explosion if it comes into contact with a heat source or an open flame.

[0004] A conventional charge valve includes a valve seat and a charge joint provided on the valve seat. A valve chamber is formed within the valve seat. The charge joint is connected to the valve chamber and passes through the valve chamber. A refrigerant tank, a vacuum pump, a pressure gauge, etc. are then connected to the charge joint to form a charge passage, thereby realizing the function of charging the refrigerant.

[0005] With conventional charge valves, when charging refrigerant, the charge fitting must be connected to the charge port through-hole. However, the moment the charge port through-hole is connected, the charge port valve core is already pushed open before it engages with the tapered surface of the charge port gas nozzle, resulting in brief communication between the inside and outside. In this case, pressure exists within the charge valve, causing the refrigerant to spray out at high speed, and the amount of leakage cannot be manually controlled, making it easy for safety risks such as fire and explosion due to refrigerant leakage to occur. Summary of the Invention

[0006] An embodiment of the present application provides an actively controllable charge valve including a valve body, a flow channel provided inside the valve body, one end of the flow channel connected to a pipeline and the other end connected to a charge part, a valve core provided within the flow channel, and a valve port provided on the valve body, the valve core being able to open or close the flow channel by moving away from or coming into contact with the valve port, before the charge part and the charge hose are connected or disconnected, the valve core moves in a direction approaching the valve port and abuts against the valve port or a sealing member provided on the valve port to close the flow channel, thereby preventing the charge part from communicating with the pipeline, and when the charge hose is connected to the charge part, the valve core moves in a direction away from the valve port to open the flow channel, thereby connecting the charge part to the pipeline via the flow channel.

[0007] In one embodiment, the valve core has an external thread on its outer surface and an internal thread on its inner surface forming the flow channel passage of the valve body, the valve body and the valve core are threadedly engaged, and the valve core can be moved up and down within the flow channel by rotating the valve core.

[0008] In one embodiment, at least one layer of sealing structure is provided in the gap between the valve core and the flow channel, and the sealing structure is located on the outer periphery of the valve core and is pressed along the radial direction of the valve core between the inner surface forming the flow channel and the valve core.

[0009] In one embodiment, the sealing structure is a sealing ring, and the valve core includes a groove, which is recessed inward from the outer circumferential surface of the valve core along the radial direction of the valve core, with a portion of the sealing ring located in the groove, and the sealing ring is pressed between the bottom wall of the groove and the inner surface forming the flow channel of the valve body.

[0010] In one embodiment, the number of sealing structures is two or more, and the sealing structures are spaced apart along the axial direction of the valve core.

[0011] In one embodiment, the valve core includes an engagement portion, the cross-sectional shape of the engagement portion is triangular or trapezoidal, and the valve core abuts against the valve orifice by the engagement portion.

[0012] In one embodiment, when the valve core abuts against the sealing member, a part of the engaging portion passes through the communication hole, and the engaging portion abuts against the side peripheral wall that forms the communication hole of the sealing member.

[0013] In one embodiment, the actively controllable charge valve further includes a restricting collar and a slot, the slot being recessed inward from an inner surface forming the flow channel along the radial direction of the flow channel, a portion of the restricting collar being located within the slot, the valve core being located between the restricting collar and the valve orifice along the axial direction of the flow channel, and the restricting collar being located closer to the lid cap of the charge valve than the valve orifice.

[0014] In one embodiment, the valve body is made of stainless steel, an internal hexagonal groove is provided on one side of the valve core, and a lid cap is provided on one end of the valve body adjacent to the internal hexagonal groove.

[0015] The details of one or more embodiments of the application are set forth in the drawings and description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the application will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] To better describe and explain the embodiments and / or examples of the inventions disclosed herein, reference may be made to one or more drawings. Any additional details or examples used to illustrate the drawings should not be considered as limiting the scope of any of the disclosed inventions, the embodiments and / or examples described herein, and the best mode of these inventions as understood herein.

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of an actively controllable charge valve in an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of an actively controllable charge valve closing a flow channel in an embodiment of the present application; FIG. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of an actively controllable charge valve in an embodiment of the present application connected to a charge hose; FIG.

[0018] Here, the above drawings include the following reference numerals: 200 charge valve, 100 valve body, 110 flow channel, 1101 slot, 1102 female thread, 111 valve core, 1111 groove, 1112 male thread, 112 internal hexagonal groove, 113 engagement portion, 114 lid cap, 115 restriction collar, 120 pipeline, 121 valve port, 1211 accommodation groove, 130 charge portion, 140 sealing member, 1401 communication hole, 150 sealing structure, 300 charge hose. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Hereinafter, the technical aspects of the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, but it is clear that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and are not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments that a person skilled in the art can obtain based on the embodiments of the present application without creative effort fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0020] It should be understood that when an element is "disposed on" another element, it may be disposed directly on the other element, or there may be intervening elements. When an element is considered to be "disposed on" another element, it may be disposed directly on the other element, or there may be intervening elements. When an element is considered to be "secured to" another element, it may be secured directly to the other element, or there may be intervening elements.

[0021] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used in the specification of this application are merely for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0022] A charge valve is a device that seals or connects a refrigerant valve chamber to a passageway. During actual use, a charge hose must be connected to the charge port. However, a brief connection between the inside and outside of the charge port occurs upon connection, potentially resulting in a brief leak of refrigerant from the valve body, potentially posing safety risks such as fire and explosion. The inside of the refrigeration system is under positive pressure, and the internal pressure varies depending on the type of refrigerant in the piping. In particular, some high-pressure refrigeration systems can experience refrigerant pressures reaching several tens of atmospheres. The connection process is affected by factors such as operating space and operator skill. Although the valve port opening time during the typical charge valve-to-charge hose connection process is very short, refrigerant leakage is inevitable, potentially resulting in a series of problems, such as frostbite and environmental pollution. To enable the charge valve to control the amount and concentration of refrigerant leakage during the charging process, an optimized valve body design is required.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a structural schematic diagram of an actively controllable charge valve 200 in an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1 , the present application includes a valve body 100, a flow channel 110 provided inside the valve body 100, a pipeline 120 connected to one end of the flow channel 110, and a charge section 130 connected to the other end. A valve core 111 is provided within the flow channel 110, and a valve opening 121 is provided in the valve body 100. When the valve body 100 is provided alone, the valve opening 121 is formed as a part of the flow channel 110, and the valve core 111 can conduct or block the flow channel 110 by separating from or abutting against the valve opening 121, thereby connecting or disconnecting the pipeline 120 and the charge section 130. When the charge hose 300 is connected to the charge section 130, the valve core 111 moves in a direction away from the valve port 121 to open the flow channel 110 and realize charging, and before the charge section 130 and the charge hose 300 are connected or disconnected, the valve core 111 moves in a direction approaching the valve port 121 and abuts against the valve port 121 to block the flow channel 110 and prevent refrigerant leakage that occurs when the charge section 130 and the charge hose 300 are connected or disconnected, thereby providing an actively controllable charge valve 200.

[0025] The present application includes a valve body 100, a flow channel 110 provided inside the valve body 100, one end of the flow channel 110 is connected to a pipeline 120, and the other end is connected to a charge part 130, a valve core 111 is provided within the flow channel 110, a valve port 121 is provided in the valve body 100, and a sealing member 140 is provided at the valve port 121, and the valve core 111 can conduct or block the flow channel 110 by separating from or contacting with the sealing member 140, and the charge part 130 and the charge hose 300 are connected before or after the connection. Before the charge valve 200 is separated, the valve core 111 moves in a direction approaching the valve port 121 and abuts against the sealing member 140, blocking the flow channel 110, thereby preventing the charge section 130 from communicating with the pipeline 120; when the charge hose 300 is connected to the charge section 130, the valve core 111 moves in a direction away from the valve port 121, opening the flow channel 110, thereby connecting the charge section 130 to the pipeline 120 via the flow channel 110, thereby providing another actively controllable charge valve 200.

[0026] In some embodiments of the present application, a flow channel 110 is provided within the valve body 100, and when the charge hose 300 of the charging device is connected to the charge section 130 or when the charge hose 300 is disconnected from the charge section 130, the charge section 130 and the flow channel 110 are only in communication for a short period of time. In this case, the valve core 111 and the valve port 121 within the flow channel 110 are arranged to abut against each other, thereby blocking the flow channel 110 and preventing the refrigerant in the flow channel 110 from being discharged from the charge section 130 due to pressure, which would result in a large amount of leakage. This effectively controls the amount and concentration of leakage when the valve body 100 is connected to the charge section, thereby reducing the safety risks caused by refrigerant leakage when the charge section 130 is connected to the charge section.

[0027] 2 and 3, there are shown structural schematic diagrams of an embodiment of the present application in which an actively controllable charge valve 200 closes a flow channel 110 and a charge hose 300 is connected to the actively controllable charge valve 200.

[0028] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, in some embodiments of the present application, a valve core 111 is provided within the flow channel 110, and a male thread 1112 is provided on the outer surface of the valve core 111, and a female thread 1102 is provided on the inner surface of the valve body 100 that forms the flow channel 110. The valve body 100 and the valve core 111 are screwed together, and by rotating the valve core 111, the valve core 111 can move up and down within the flow channel 110, and at the same time, the valve core 111 can be held at an intermediate position within the flow channel 110 without the need for auxiliary components such as a positioning ring or a retaining ring. Since no auxiliary parts are required, the influence of the attachment of auxiliary parts on the movement and positioning of the valve core 111, for example, the risk of the valve core 111 popping out due to the pressure inside the valve body due to a missing auxiliary part, defective attachment, or incorrect attachment, is avoided. Meanwhile, compared to the prior art where positioning is performed using auxiliary parts such as a retaining ring, positioning the valve core 111 is achieved by utilizing the structural cooperation between the flow channel 110 and the valve core 111, which effectively improves the reliability of assembly and further improves the safety of using the valve core 111.

[0029] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, the valve body 100 is made of stainless steel, and compared to conventional copper valve body structures, the charge valve 200 of the present application can reduce the material costs of the valve body, and also has the advantage of reducing the product size and the product weight of the charge valve 200.

[0030] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, a valve core 111 is provided within the flow channel 110, and the central axis of the valve core 111 overlaps with the central axis of the pipeline 120. When the valve core 111 is rotated within the valve chamber of the flow channel 110, the valve core 111 moves up and down along the central axis of the pipeline 120 under the action of screwing, and abuts against or separates from the valve port 121 provided in the valve body 100, thereby blocking or circulating the refrigerant within the flow channel 110.

[0031] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, in actual operation, S1: Rotate the valve core 111 to move it toward the valve orifice 121 until it abuts against the valve orifice 121 and forms a tight seal. S2: The charge hose 300 of the charge device is connected to the charge section 130 until the connection ports at both ends are fastened. S3: The valve core 111 is rotated upward until it rotates to one side of the flow channel 110 and a flow path is formed between the conduit 120 and the charge section 130. S4: The charging device is opened so that the refrigerant in the charging device is discharged from the charging hose 300 and flows into the pipe 120 along the flow channel 110. S5: After the refrigerant is completely charged, the valve core 111 is first rotated downward until the flow path of the flow channel 110 is blocked. S6: Thereafter, the charge hose 300 is disconnected from the charge unit 130, and the entire charging operation is completed.

[0032] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, at least one layer of sealing structure 150 is provided in the gap between the valve core 111 and the flow channel 110. In order to ensure a good seal between the outer circumferential surface of the valve core 111 and the flow channel 110 and prevent the refrigerant from leaking through the assembly gap between the outer circumferential surface of the valve core 111 and the flow channel 110 when the charge valve 200 operates normally, at least one layer of sealing structure 150 is provided in the gap between the valve core 111 and the flow channel 110, and the sealing structure 150 is located on the outer circumferential surface of the valve core 111. When there are two or more sealing structures 150, the sealing structures 150 are arranged at intervals along the axial direction of the valve core 111. Specifically, in this embodiment, the sealing structure 150 may be a sealing ring, and the valve core 111 is provided with grooves 1111 for accommodating the sealing rings, the number of grooves 1111 being equal to the number of the sealing rings, the grooves 1111 being recessed inward from the outer circumferential surface of the valve core 111 along the radial direction of the valve core 111, with a portion of the sealing ring positioned within the groove 1111, and the sealing ring being pressed between the bottom wall of the groove 1111 and the inner surface forming the flow channel 110, so that the sealing ring is in a sealing and pressing state. Of course, in another embodiment, the valve core 111 does not need to include the groove 1111, i.e., the sealing ring may be directly pressed between the inner surface forming the flow channel 110 and the outer circumferential surface of the valve core 111.

[0033] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, in consideration of the sealing effect of abutting against the valve orifice 121 in actual application, the valve core 111 includes an engaging portion 113, and the cross-sectional shape of the engaging portion 113 is triangular or trapezoidal, which improves the structural strength of the engaging portion 113, while the sides of the triangle or trapezoid can better form line or surface contact with the outer surface of the valve orifice 121, thereby improving the hard sealing effect.

[0034] In addition, in one embodiment of the present application, the charge valve 200 further includes a sealing member 140, which is disposed at the valve port 121. Specifically, the valve port 121 is recessed inward along the radial direction of the flow channel 110 to form a receiving groove 1211, and at least a portion of the sealing member 140 is located within the receiving groove 1211. The sealing member 140 has a communication hole 1401 that can communicate with the flow channel 110. The valve core 111 can be separated from or abut against the sealing member 140, and can further open or close the flow channel 110. When the valve core 111 abuts against the sealing member 140, a portion of the engagement portion 113 passes through the communication hole 1401, and the engagement portion 113 abuts against the circumferential wall of the communication hole 1401 of the sealing member 140. It can be seen that the provision of the sealing member 140 to form a soft seal between the valve core 111 and the valve port 121 improves the sealing effect.

[0035] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, one side of the valve core 111 is provided with an internal hexagonal groove 112, and in actual use, a hexagonal wrench is used to operate the valve core 111, specifically, to rotate it up and down to adjust the blocking and opening of the flow channel 110. At the same time, in consideration of the overall compactness of the charge valve 200, the head of the internal hexagonal groove 112 may be recessed during use, that is, the entire internal hexagonal groove 112 may be recessed into the interior of the valve member, so as to maintain the flatness of the surface of the valve core 111. Meanwhile, the internal hexagonal groove 112 has six force-receiving surfaces, which is more reliable than the straight groove structure and cross groove structure with only two surfaces, and therefore the internal hexagonal groove 112 can withstand a larger load.

[0036] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, a cover cap 114 is provided at one end of the valve body 100, but because one end of the valve core 111 is provided with the structure of the internal hexagonal groove 112, sand, stones, dust, etc. may get into the groove during daily use, affecting the operability of the charge valve 200, so the cover cap 114 is provided above the internal hexagonal groove 112. Meanwhile, the cover cap 114 can perform a sealing function on one end of the valve body 100.

[0037] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, a restricting collar 115 is provided in the flow channel 110, and the restricting collar 115 is used to restrict the valve core 111. The valve body 100 includes a slot 1101, which extends along the radial direction of the flow channel 110 and is recessed inward from the inner surface forming the flow channel 110. A portion of the restricting collar 115 is located within the slot 1101. Along the axial direction of the flow channel 110, the valve core 111 is located between the restricting collar 115 and the valve orifice 121. The restricting collar 115 is located closer to the cover cap 114 than the valve orifice 121. When the valve core 111 moves away from the valve orifice 121, the valve core 111 can abut against the restricting collar 115, and the stroke of the valve core 111 can be limited by the restricting collar 115.

[0038] In actual application, the actively controllable charge valve 200 provided by the present application has a simple structure and high reliability, and the charge valve 200 can be opened and closed conveniently and is not affected by the operating space and operating skill level, and can avoid frostbite caused by refrigerant leakage during the connection and disconnection process.

[0039] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way, and for the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described, but as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, any combination should be considered within the scope described in this specification.

[0040] The above examples merely illustrate some embodiments of the present application, and although the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be understood as limiting the scope of the patent claims of the present application. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make some modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, and all of these are within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the patent of the present application should be determined according to the scope of the attached claims.

Claims

1. The valve body includes a flow channel provided inside the valve body, one end of the flow channel is connected to a pipeline, and the other end of the flow channel is connected to a charge portion, a valve core is provided in the flow channel, and a valve port is provided in the valve body, and the valve core can open or close the flow channel by separating from or coming into contact with the valve port; an actively controllable charge valve in which, before the charge portion and a charge hose are connected or disconnected, the valve core moves in a direction approaching the valve orifice and abuts against the valve orifice or a sealing member provided on the valve orifice, thereby blocking the flow channel, so that the charge portion is no longer in communication with the pipeline; and, when the charge portion is connected to a charge hose, the valve core moves in a direction away from the valve orifice, thereby opening the flow channel, so that the charge portion is in communication with the pipeline via the flow channel.

2. 2. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the valve core is provided with a male thread, and the inner surface of the valve body forming the flow channel is provided with a female thread, the valve body and the valve core are screwed together, and the valve core can be moved up and down within the flow channel by rotating the valve core.

3. 2. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 1, wherein at least one layer of sealing structure is provided in the gap between the valve core and the flow channel, the sealing structure is located on the outer periphery of the valve core, and the sealing structure is pressed between the valve core and an inner surface forming the flow channel along the radial direction of the valve core.

4. 4. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 3, wherein the sealing structure is a sealing ring, the valve core includes a groove, the groove is recessed inward from the outer circumferential surface of the valve core along the radial direction of the valve core, a part of the sealing ring is located in the groove, and the sealing ring is pressed between a bottom wall of the groove and an inner surface of the valve body that forms the flow channel.

5. 4. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 3, wherein the number of the sealing structures is two or more, and the sealing structures are provided at intervals along the axial direction of the valve core.

6. 2. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve core includes an engaging portion, the cross-sectional shape of the engaging portion is triangular or trapezoidal, and the valve core abuts against the valve port by the engaging portion.

7. 2. An actively controllable charge valve according to claim 1, wherein when the valve core abuts against the sealing member, a part of the engaging portion passes through a communication hole formed in the valve body, and the engaging portion abuts against a side peripheral wall that forms the communication hole of the sealing member.

8. 2. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 1, further comprising a restricting collar and a slot, wherein the slot is formed along the radial direction of the flow channel by being recessed inward from an inner surface forming the flow channel, a portion of the restricting collar is located within the slot, and along the axial direction of the flow channel, the valve core is located between the restricting collar and the valve orifice, and the restricting collar is provided closer to a lid cap of the charge valve than the valve orifice.

9. 2. The actively controllable charge valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is made of stainless steel, an internal hexagonal groove is provided on one side of the valve core, and a lid cap is provided on one end of the valve body adjacent to the internal hexagonal groove.

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