Piezoelectric Valve

Abstract

To provide a piezoelectric valve which can be used attached to a fluid apparatus even if pitches of a plurality of gas discharge ports of a valve main body front face are smaller than pitches of a plurality of exhaust passages of the fluid apparatus.SOLUTION: A piezoelectric valve comprises a valve main body 20 for accommodating a plurality of actuators therein, has a gas suction port for sucking a compressed gas therein, and a plurality of gas discharge ports for discharging the sucked compressed gas by the valve-opening drive of a plurality of valve bodies at a valve body front face, and is detachably arranged at a fluid apparatus 60 via a connector part 50 which is arranged at the valve main body front face. The connector part has: a suction passage which has one end communicating with the gas suction port and another end communicating with an intake passage of the fluid apparatus; and a plurality of discharge passages which have one-side ends communicating with the plurality of gas discharge ports and other ends communicating with a plurality of exhaust passages 65. Opening pitches of the plurality of discharge passages at the other end sides are set larger than opening pitches of at the one-end sides.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a piezoelectric valve that opens and closes by utilizing the displacement of a piezoelectric element. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, piezoelectric valves that utilize the displacement of a piezoelectric element to open and close a valve and eject compressed gas are well known (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

[0003] The piezoelectric valve utilizes the characteristics of a piezoelectric element, which has excellent high-speed response performance, and includes an actuator that utilizes the displacement of the piezoelectric element to open and close a valve body.

[0004] The piezoelectric valves described in Patent Documents 2 and 3 house a number of actuators inside a valve body, each of which individually drives a number of valve elements, and by using the actuators to drive each of the valve elements to open, compressed gas supplied into the valve body is discharged individually from a number of gas exhaust ports on the front surface of the valve body, and the valve can be attached to and used in fluid equipment.

[0005] Patent Document 3 describes an example in which the piezoelectric valve is used as an ejector in an optical sorting machine. The ejector includes a manifold to which compressed air is supplied from a compressed air source, a nozzle member having a plurality of nozzle holes communicating with a plurality of exhaust passages formed in the manifold, and a plurality of the piezoelectric valves attached in series to the manifold via a connector portion.

[0006] Incidentally, in the ejector described in Patent Document 3, it is assumed that the pitch of the multiple nozzle holes, i.e., the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages formed in the manifold, and the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust ports on the front surface of the valve body of the piezoelectric valve are the same.

[0007] Therefore, if the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages formed in the manifold differs from the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust ports on the front surface of the valve body of the piezoelectric valve, there was a problem that the piezoelectric valve could not be attached to the manifold and used. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-316835 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-124695 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2015-137664 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a piezoelectric valve that can be attached to and used in a fluid device even if the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust ports on the front surface of the valve body is smaller than the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages formed in the fluid device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of actuators each of which drives a plurality of valve bodies individually in parallel planes by utilizing the displacement of a piezoelectric element; a valve body that houses the plurality of actuators therein, a front surface of the valve body having a gas inlet port for drawing compressed gas into the valve body, and a plurality of gas outlet ports for discharging the compressed gas drawn into the valve body from the gas inlet port by driving the valve bodies to open, A piezoelectric valve that is detachable from a fluid device via a connector portion provided on a front surface of the valve body, The connector portion has an intake passage having one end communicating with the gas intake port and the other end capable of communicating with an air supply passage formed in the fluid device, and has one end communicating with each of the plurality of gas exhaust ports and the other end capable of communicating with each of a plurality of exhaust passages formed in the fluid device. and extending in a straight line so as to enable the plurality of gas discharge ports and the inlet side openings of the plurality of exhaust passages formed in the fluid device to be linearly connected to each other. A plurality of discharge passages are provided, Distance between centers of adjacent discharge passages The one end side Distance between centers of adjacent discharge passages It is characterized in that it is larger than

[0011] The present invention relates to a valve seat plate having a plurality of valve seats and discharge paths that are respectively connected to and separated from the plurality of valve bodies and that fixes the plurality of actuators; the actuators are housed inside the valve body together with the valve seat plate, It is preferable that the compressed gas sucked into the interior of the valve body from the gas inlet is discharged individually from the multiple gas outlets through the multiple exhaust paths of the valve seat plate by separating the multiple valve bodies from the multiple valve seats.

[0012] The present invention relates to Openings at the tip sides of the plurality of exhaust paths of the valve seat plate can be the plurality of gas exhaust ports.

[0013] The present invention relates to It is preferable that the fluid device is a manifold, and compressed gas supplied from a compressed gas source is supplied from the supply passage to the inside of the valve body via the suction passage of the connector portion, while compressed gas discharged from the inside of the valve body is exhausted from the multiple exhaust passages via the multiple exhaust passages of the connector portion.

[0014] The present invention relates to It is preferable that the manifold has a nozzle hole at the tip of each of the exhaust passages, and compressed gas discharged from inside the valve body is exhausted from the exhaust passages through the exhaust passages of the connector portion and sprayed from each of the nozzle holes. Effect of the Invention

[0015] In the piezoelectric valve of the present invention, the connector portion has an intake passage having one end communicating with the gas intake port on the front surface of the valve body and the other end capable of communicating with the gas supply passage formed in the fluid device, and a plurality of gas exhaust ports each having one end communicating with the front surface of the valve body and the other end capable of communicating with each of the exhaust passages formed in the fluid device. and extending in a straight line so as to enable the plurality of gas discharge ports and the inlet side openings of the plurality of exhaust passages formed in the fluid device to be linearly connected to each other. A plurality of discharge passages are provided, Distance between centers of adjacent discharge passages The one end side Distance between centers of adjacent discharge passages Therefore, even if the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust ports on the front surface of the valve body is smaller than the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages formed in the fluid device, the valve can be attached to the fluid device and used by making the connector portion provided on the front surface of the valve body appropriate.

[0016] The piezoelectric valve of the present invention can be used, for example, as an ejector in an optical sorting machine by being attached to the manifold when the fluid device is a manifold in which compressed gas supplied from a compressed gas source is supplied from the supply passage to the inside of the valve body via the suction passage of the connector portion, while compressed gas discharged from the inside of the valve body is exhausted from the multiple exhaust passages via the multiple exhaust passages of the connector portion. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a piezoelectric valve. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a piezoelectric valve. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which an actuator is fixed to a valve seat plate. [Diagram 5]FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the piezoelectric valve, illustrating a state in which a valve seat plate is disposed inside a valve body. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the ejector as viewed from the front side. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 6 shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a conventional ejector as viewed from the front side. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an ejector according to the present invention, as viewed from the front side. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a piezoelectric valve. Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of the piezoelectric valve of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows an explanatory diagram of an actuator used in the piezoelectric valve of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows an explanatory diagram of a state in which an actuator is fixed to a valve seat plate used in the piezoelectric valve of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the piezoelectric valve of Fig. 1, showing an explanatory diagram of a state in which the valve seat plate is disposed inside the valve body. The piezoelectric valve 10 shown in Figures 1 to 5 comprises a valve body 20, a valve seat plate 25 disposed inside the valve body 20 and fixed to the valve body 20, and an actuator 30 fixed to both sides of the valve seat plate 25 with screws.

[0019] The valve body 20 is a case having an open front, and includes a gas pressure chamber therein for receiving compressed gas from an external compressed gas supply source (not shown). A connector portion 50 is attached by screws to the front surface of the valve body 20. An intake port 51 for drawing compressed gas into the valve body 20 and a plurality of exhaust ports 52 for discharging the compressed gas are opened on the front surface of the connector portion 50. Here, an example is shown in which four exhaust ports 52 are open on the front surface of the connector portion 50.

[0020] The valve seat plate 25 has mounting portions for the actuator 30 on both sides, and has a valve seat 26 against which a valve body 31 (described later) of the actuator 30 abuts. In addition, a forward protruding portion 251 of the valve seat plate 25 has a plurality of gas exhaust paths 261 formed therein, which communicate from the valve seat surface of the valve seat 26 to the exhaust port 52 of the connector portion 50.

[0021] A cover member 28 that closes the opening of the valve body 20 is attached to the front surface of the valve seat plate 25. The cover member 28 is formed with an opening 281 into which the forward protrusion 251 of the valve seat plate 25 fits. In addition, the cover member 28 is formed with a gas intake path 282 that communicates from the intake port 51 of the connector portion 50 to the inside of the valve body 20.

[0022] Here, instead of forming the opening 281 in the cover material 28, an opening for discharging gas can be formed, and the tip surface of the forward protrusion 251 of the valve seat plate 25 can be abutted against the cover material 28 to connect the multiple gas discharge paths 261 to the opening for discharging gas.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, the actuator 30 includes a valve body 31, a piezoelectric element 32 that generates the driving force required for operation of the valve body 31 as a displacement, and a displacement magnification mechanism 33 that magnifies the displacement of the piezoelectric element 32 and applies it to the valve body 31.

[0024] The displacement magnification mechanism 33 has a displacement magnification section 34 that magnifies the displacement of the piezoelectric element 32, and a displacement transmission section 35 that transmits the displacement of the piezoelectric element 32 to the displacement magnification section 34, and is arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis of the operating direction of the valve body 31, in this case, a straight line connecting the longitudinal axis of the valve body 31 and the piezoelectric element 32.

[0025] The displacement transmission section 35 has a U-shaped base substrate 36 to which one end of the piezoelectric element 32 is joined, and a cap member 37 to which the other end of the piezoelectric element 32 is joined. The piezoelectric element 32 is disposed within the space of the U-shaped base substrate 36, so that the displacement magnifying mechanism 33 is disposed symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of the piezoelectric element 32.

[0026] The displacement amplifying section 34 is made up of first and second displacement amplifying sections 34 a and 34 b that are disposed symmetrically with respect to a straight line connecting the valve body 31 and the longitudinal axis of the piezoelectric element 32 . The first displacement amplifying portion 34a has first and second hinges 39, 40, a first arm 41, and a first leaf spring 42. The first arm 41 is integrated with one end of the U-shaped base substrate 36 by the first hinge 39, and is integrated with the cap member 37 by the second hinge 40. One end of the first leaf spring 42 is joined to the outer end of the first arm 41.

[0027] On the other hand, the second displacement amplifying portion 34b has third and fourth hinges 43, 44, a second arm 45, and a second leaf spring 46. The second arm 45 is integrated with the other side tip of the U-shaped base substrate 36 by the third hinge 43, and is integrated with the cap member 37 by the fourth hinge 44. One end of the second leaf spring 46 is joined to the outer tip of the second arm 45. Here, the displacement magnifying mechanism 33, excluding the first and second leaf springs 42, 46, can be formed integrally by punching out a metal material such as stainless steel including Invar.

[0028] The first leaf spring 42 and the second leaf spring 46 can be formed, for example, from a single metal plate. One end of the first and second leaf springs 42, 46 is joined to the outer tip portions of the first and second arms 41, 45, respectively, and the valve body 31 is provided on the installation portion located between the other ends of the first and second leaf springs 42, 46 and on the longitudinal axis of the piezoelectric element 32.

[0029] When the actuator 30 is in a valve-closed state, the piezoelectric element 32 expands when electricity is applied to the piezoelectric element 32. The displacement caused by the expansion of the piezoelectric element 32 is magnified in the displacement magnifying mechanism 33 by the principle of leverage with the first and third hinges 39, 43 as fulcrums, the second and fourth hinges 40, 44 as force points, and the outer tips of the first and second arms 41, 45 as points of application, thereby largely displacing the outer tips of the first and second arms 41, 45.

[0030] The displacement of the outer tip ends of the first and second arms 41, 45 separates the valve body 31 from the valve seat 26 via the first and second leaf springs 42, 46, and opens the gas discharge path 261.

[0031] On the other hand, when the current supply to the piezoelectric element 32 of the actuator 30 is released, the piezoelectric element 32 contracts, and this contraction seats the valve body 31 on the valve seat 26 via the displacement magnifying mechanism 33, thereby closing the gas discharge path 261.

[0032] 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of an ejector in an optical sorting machine, with FIG. 6 being an explanatory diagram of the ejector as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 7 being an FF cross-sectional view of FIG. 6, showing the ejector as viewed from the side. The ejector 80 shown in Figures 6 and 7 includes a manifold 60 having an air space 63 therein to which compressed air is supplied from a compressed air supply source (not shown), the piezoelectric valve 10 attached to the manifold 60 via the connector portion 50, and a nozzle member 70 attached to the manifold 60.

[0033] The manifold 60 has a number of air supply passages 64 and a number of exhaust passages 65 extending in the longitudinal direction, each of which communicates with the air space 63. The number of exhaust passages 65 is provided with nozzle holes 71 of the nozzle member 70 communicating therewith.

[0034] The piezoelectric valve 10 is attached to the manifold 60, the intake port 51 of the connector portion 50 communicates with the air supply passage 64 of the manifold 60, and the multiple exhaust ports 52 of the connector portion 50 communicate with the multiple exhaust passages 65 of the manifold 60.

[0035] The manifold 60 is formed with one air supply passage 64 and four exhaust passages 65 as pairs, and the pairs of air supply passage 64 and exhaust passage 65 are formed along the longitudinal direction in the same number as the number of piezoelectric valves 10 attached to the manifold 60.

[0036] FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a conventional ejector viewed from the front side, showing a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between the manifold and the flow passages of the piezoelectric valve (a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the connector portion of the piezoelectric valve). The connector portion 50 of the piezoelectric valve 10 is formed with a plurality of exhaust passages 521, one end of which communicates with the plurality of gas exhaust passages 261 opening to the front surface of the valve body 20, and the other end of which communicates with the plurality of exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 8, a conventional ejector 80 is based on the premise that the pitch of the plurality of gas discharge paths 261 opening on the front surface of the valve body 20 in the piezoelectric valve 10 and the pitch of the plurality of discharge passages 521 formed in the connector portion 50 are the same as the pitch of the plurality of nozzle holes 71 in the nozzle member 70 and the pitch of the plurality of exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60.

[0038] Therefore, if the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60 differs from the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust passages 261 opening into the front surface of the valve body 20 of the piezoelectric valve 10, there is a problem that the piezoelectric valve 10 cannot be attached to the manifold 60 and used.

[0039] FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the ejector of the present invention seen from the front side, showing a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the manifold and the flow passages of the piezoelectric valve (a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the connector portion of the piezoelectric valve). As shown in FIG. 9 , in the ejector 80 of the present invention, the opening pitch of the multiple discharge passages 521 formed in the connector portion 50 on the side communicating with the multiple exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60 is made larger than the opening pitch on the side communicating with the multiple gas discharge passages 261 opening to the front surface of the valve body 20.

[0040] As a result, even if the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust passages 261 opening to the front surface of the valve body 20 is smaller than the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60, it is possible to attach the piezoelectric valve 10 to the manifold 60 and use it.

[0041] According to the piezoelectric valve 10 of the present invention, there is no need to prepare a dedicated product for each pitch of the multiple exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60. Even if the pitch of the multiple gas discharge passages 261 opening into the front surface of the valve body 20 is smaller than the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages 65 formed in the manifold 60, by making the connector portion 50 appropriate, it can be attached to the manifold 60 and used.

[0042] In the above embodiment of the present invention, the piezoelectric valve 10 has been described as having four actuators 30 disposed within the case of the valve body 20 and four gas discharge passages 261 opening on the front surface of the valve body 20, but this is not limited to this and it is sufficient that two or more actuators are disposed within the case of the valve body and two or more gas discharge passages 261 open on the front surface of the valve body 20.

[0043] In the above embodiment of the present invention, the piezoelectric valve 10 is provided with a valve seat plate 25 to which an actuator 30 is fixed, and the actuator 30 is housed inside the valve body 20 together with the valve seat plate 25. However, this is not limited to this, and for example, the actuator can be directly housed inside the valve body without using a valve seat plate.

[0044] In the piezoelectric valve of the present invention, the actuator may be any actuator that utilizes the displacement of a piezoelectric element to drive the valve body, and is not limited to the actuator of the above embodiment.

[0045] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the configuration can be appropriately modified without departing from the scope of the invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0046] The piezoelectric valve of the present invention is extremely useful because it can be attached to and used in fluid equipment even if the pitch of the multiple gas exhaust ports on the front surface of the valve body is smaller than the pitch of the multiple exhaust passages formed in the fluid equipment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10 Piezoelectric valve 20 Valve body 25 Valve seat plate 251 Forward protrusion 26 Valve seat 261 Gas exhaust passage 28 Lid material 281 Opening 282 Gas intake passage 30 Actuator 31 Valve body 32 Piezoelectric element 33 Displacement magnification mechanism 34 Displacement magnification section 35 Displacement transmission section 36 Base Board 37 Cap member 39 First hinge 40 Second hinge 41 First Arm 42 First leaf spring 43 3rd hinge 44 4th hinge 45 Second Arm 46 Second leaf spring 50 Connector part 51 Intake port 52 Outlet 521 Discharge passage 60 Fluid equipment (manifold) 63 Air Space 64 Air supply passage 65 Exhaust passage 70 Nozzle member 71 Nozzle hole 80 Ejector

Claims

1. a plurality of actuators each of which drives a plurality of valve bodies individually by utilizing the displacement of a piezoelectric element; a valve body that houses the plurality of actuators therein, a front surface of the valve body having a gas inlet port for drawing compressed gas into the valve body, and a plurality of gas outlet ports for discharging the compressed gas drawn into the valve body from the gas inlet port by driving the valve bodies to open, A piezoelectric valve that is detachable from a fluid device via a connector portion provided on a front surface of the valve body, The connector portion has an intake passage having one end connected to the gas intake port and the other end capable of communicating with an air supply passage formed in the fluid device, and a plurality of exhaust passages extending in a straight line, one end of which is connected to each of the plurality of gas exhaust ports and the other end of which is capable of communicating with each of the plurality of exhaust passages formed in the fluid device, and which enable the plurality of gas exhaust ports to be linearly connected to the inlet side openings of the plurality of exhaust passages formed in the fluid device, and wherein the distance between the centers of adjacent exhaust passages on the other end side of the plurality of exhaust passages is greater than the distance between the centers of adjacent exhaust passages on the one end side.

2. a valve seat plate having a plurality of valve seats and discharge passages that are respectively connected to and separated from the plurality of valve bodies and that fixes the plurality of actuators; the actuators are housed inside the valve body together with the valve seat plate, 2. The piezoelectric valve according to claim 1, wherein the compressed gas drawn into the interior of the valve body from the gas inlet is discharged individually from the plurality of gas outlets via the plurality of exhaust paths of the valve seat plate due to separation between the plurality of valve bodies and the plurality of valve seats.

3. 3. The piezoelectric valve according to claim 1, wherein the fluid device is a manifold, and compressed gas supplied from a compressed gas source is supplied from the supply passage to the inside of the valve body via the suction passage of the connector portion, while compressed gas discharged from the inside of the valve body is exhausted from the multiple exhaust passages via the multiple exhaust passages of the connector portion.

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