Gas valve device mounting structure

Abstract

To provide an attachment structure which can attach a gas valve device to a manifold at low costs without needing to turn over a gas stove body.SOLUTION: A manifold 4 which has a gas opening formed at an upper part and is supported at the lower side by a support part 74 is sandwiched by a connection part 81 from above. In a state that the gas opening of the manifold 4 and a gas introduction port part of a gas valve device 1 tightly contact with each other between a pair of lower flange parts 85, 86 by a seal member 8, upper flange parts 13, 14 provided at the gas valve device 1 are fastened to the pair of lower flange parts 85, 86 of the connection part 81 from above with screws.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a gas valve device that is integrally connected to a manifold. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, two methods have been used to attach a gas valve device to a manifold. One method, which is primarily used in tabletop stoves, involves sandwiching the manifold between the gas valve device and a fixture and fastening the gas valve device and fixture with screws (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The other method, which is primarily used in built-in stoves, involves welding a flange with a communication port aligned with the opening to the periphery of the manifold opening, and then fastening the welded flange and the flange of the gas valve device with screws (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

[0003] In the former case, the gas valve device is located above the manifold, so in order to screw the fixing bracket and the gas valve device together, the gas stove body must be turned upside down during installation, making it difficult to adopt for heavy built-in stoves.

[0004] On the other hand, in the latter method, the manifold opening and the communication port in the flange must be aligned, and the flange must be welded to the entire periphery of the manifold opening without gas leakage. This can lead to errors in the flange mounting position around the manifold or in the flange mounting angle, resulting in a high reject rate and increased installation costs due to work accuracy issues. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-23849 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-318079 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide an attachment structure that allows a gas valve device to be attached to a manifold at low cost, without the need to turn the gas stove body upside down, regardless of whether the gas stove is a tabletop stove or a built-in stove. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to the present invention, A mounting structure for a gas valve device that is integrally connected to a manifold, A manifold support part having a support part at an upper part thereof for supporting the manifold from below is joined to the bottom surface of the gas stove, a connecting portion having a pair of lower flange portions at an upper portion thereof, the connecting portion being located above the support portion; The gas valve device mounting structure is provided in which a gas opening is formed at the top, a manifold supported at the bottom by a support part is sandwiched from above by a connecting part, and a pair of upper flange parts provided on the gas valve device are screwed from above to the pair of lower flange parts of the connecting part, with the gas opening of the manifold and the gas inlet part of the gas valve device being in tight contact with each other between a pair of lower flange parts by a sealing member.

[0008] According to the above-described mounting structure, when attaching the gas valve device to the manifold, the upper flange of the gas valve device can be screwed to the pair of lower flanges of the connecting part from above. This allows for easy installation without turning the gas stove over, regardless of whether the gas stove is a tabletop or built-in type. Furthermore, since there is no need to precisely weld the flanges around the entire periphery of the manifold's gas opening, as in the past, poor welding is eliminated, reducing labor costs. Furthermore, since the gas valve device can be attached to the manifold regardless of the type of gas stove, a common gas valve device can be used.

[0009] Preferably, in the mounting structure for the gas valve device, The manifold support portion and the connecting portion are separate members, the connecting portion comprises a bottom wall portion joined to the support portion, a pair of side wall portions extending upward from opposing side edges of the bottom wall portion, and a pair of lower flange portions bent outward from upper ends of the side wall portions; The pair of side walls and the bottom wall are formed with manifold insertion portions through which the manifold is inserted.

[0010] According to the above mounting structure, the manifold can be easily attached to the manifold support portion, and rattle of the manifold is suppressed when the upper flange portion and the lower flange portion are screwed together. This improves the workability of airtightly connecting the gas opening portion of the manifold with the gas inlet portion of the gas valve device, thereby improving the quality of gas leakage prevention. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] As described above, according to the present invention, whether the gas stove is a tabletop stove or a built-in stove, the gas valve device can be attached to the manifold at low cost without having to turn the gas stove body upside down. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a gas stove according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the gas stove body according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3(a) is a schematic perspective view showing a gas valve device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3(b) is a partial perspective view showing the periphery of a connection portion of a valve body. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a manifold, a gas valve device, and a mounting fixture according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a gas valve device is attached to a manifold according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a state in which a gas valve device is attached to a manifold according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a gas valve device is attached to a manifold according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a mounting fixture according to the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] (Embodiment 1) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An attachment structure for a manifold and a gas valve device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the gas stove of this embodiment is a so-called tabletop gas stove that is placed on, for example, a kitchen storage table and used. It includes two stove burners 9, a grill 99, a gas stove body 100 that houses these and opens upward, and a top plate 101 that closes an upwardly open section 102 (see FIG. 2) of the gas stove body 100. A front panel 103 of the gas stove body 100 is provided with an on / off operation button 92 for igniting and extinguishing the stove burners 9 and the grill burner (not shown), and an operation knob 15 for adjusting the flame power of each burner. In this specification, the front panel 103 is defined as the front of the gas stove, and the depth direction when viewing the gas stove body 100 from the front side is defined as the front-rear direction, the width direction is defined as the left-right direction, and the height direction is defined as the up-down direction.

[0014] Gas valve devices 1 are provided behind the front panel 103 in correspondence with the stove burners 9 and grill burners. As shown in Fig. 2, the gas valve devices 1 are integrally connected to a manifold 4 that extends within the gas stove body 100, and adjust the amount of fuel gas supplied from the manifold 4 to each burner. Since each burner uses a gas valve device 1 with a common configuration, the following describes the attachment structure between the manifold 4 and one gas valve device 1.

[0015] Gas valve device 1 comprises a valve body 10 having a gas passage therein, a flame adjustment lever 11 connected to and supported so as to be rotatable in the left-right direction relative to valve body 10, and an ignition / extinction operator 19 supported so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction relative to valve body 10. Gas valve device 1 is supported and fixed to gas stove body 100 in a state in which operation knob 15 attached to the front end of flame adjustment lever 11 protrudes forward from within gas stove body 100 through a lever insertion hole opened in front panel 103, and ignition / extinction operator 19 is located behind ignition / extinction operation button 92 provided on front panel 103.

[0016] The valve body 10 is made of a cast body. A connecting portion 12 for connection to the manifold 4 is formed below the center of the front-rear direction of the barrel portion 20 of the valve body 10. A pair of flanges (hereinafter simply referred to as "upper flanges") 13, 14 are formed above the connecting portion 12 and extend horizontally outward in the left-right direction from the barrel portion 20. An injection nozzle (not shown) facing the gas inlet of the burner is formed above the center of the front-rear direction of the barrel portion 20. The connecting portion 12 has a semi-cylindrical fitting recess (hereinafter referred to as the "upper fitting recess") 16 extending in the left-right direction that intersects with the valve body 10, and a tubular portion 17 that protrudes downward from the center of the upper fitting recess 16. The tubular portion 17 is formed so that its diameter tapers slightly downward. An O-ring 8, which is a sealing member, is fitted around the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 17, and when the gas valve device 1 is attached to the manifold 4, the lower end of the cylindrical portion 17 is pressed against the periphery of an opening 41 of the manifold 4, which will be described later, and the opening of the cylindrical portion 17 communicates with the opening 41 of the manifold 4. Therefore, in this embodiment, the cylindrical portion 17 forms a gas inlet portion. An annular groove 18 into which the O-ring 8 is fitted is formed around the periphery of the cylindrical portion 17, and screw holes H are formed in each of the pair of upper flange portions 13, 14.

[0017] Manifold 4 is a metal pipe with a generally circular cross section through which fuel gas flows, and its upstream end is provided with hose end 410 for connecting a gas hose that penetrates the rear wall of gas stove body 100, and its downstream end is formed with a closed section (not shown) formed by crushing or the like. Gas valve device 1 is attached to the part of manifold 4 that extends left and right along front panel 103.

[0018] An opening 41 is formed in a predetermined location in the pipe wall of the manifold 4 by cutting, pressing, or the like. The lower end of the cylindrical portion 17 formed in the connection portion 12 of the valve body 10 described above is pressed into the opening 41, and an O-ring 8 provides an airtight connection between the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 17 and the pipe wall around the opening 41 of the manifold 4. Therefore, in this embodiment, the opening 41 and its peripheral portion in the pipe wall of the manifold 4 form the gas opening. As shown in FIG. 6, when the gas valve device 1 is attached to the manifold 4, it fits externally into the upper fitting recess 16 of the connection portion 12.

[0019] The mounting fixture 6 is composed of two components: a support plate (manifold support portion) 71 that supports the manifold 4 from below, and a connecting bracket (connecting portion) 81 that is joined to the support plate 71 and screwed to the valve body 10. The support plate 71 has a substantially rectangular fixing piece 72 at its lower end, formed by bending a metal plate; a substantially rectangular standing piece 73 that extends substantially vertically upward from the front end of the fixing piece 72; and a substantially rectangular support piece (support portion) 74 that extends substantially horizontally forward from the upper end of the standing piece 73. Although not shown, the fixing piece 72 has screw holes, and is screwed to an inner flange portion 110 that is formed by folding the lower end of the front panel 103 of the gas stove body 100 inward. Therefore, in this embodiment, the inner flange portion 110 forms the bottom surface of the gas stove body 100.

[0020] A shallow semi-cylindrical fitting recess (hereinafter referred to as the "lower fitting recess") 75 is formed in the left-right direction in the center of the support piece 74 of the support plate 71 in the front-rear direction, corresponding to the upper fitting recess 16 provided in the connection portion 12 of the valve body 10 described above. The lower fitting recess 75 fits onto the outside of the manifold 4.

[0021] A connecting bracket 81, which is generally U-shaped when viewed from the front, is joined to the upper surface of the support piece 74 of the support plate 71. The connecting bracket 81 is formed by bending a generally rectangular metal plate and includes a generally rectangular bottom wall portion 82 that is joined to and overlaps the upper surface of the support piece 74, a pair of generally rectangular side wall portions 83, 84 that extend generally vertically upward from both left and right ends of the bottom wall portion 82, and a pair of generally rectangular flange portions (hereinafter referred to as "lower flange portions") 85, 86 that extend generally horizontally outward in the left and right directions from the upper ends of the side wall portions 83, 84. A recessed portion 87 is formed between the pair of lower flange portions 85, 86 of the connecting bracket 81, with a concave recess 87 facing downward. The recessed portion 87 has a width in the left and right direction sufficient to accommodate the connecting portion 12 of the valve body 10 described above, and a height sufficient to allow the upper flange portions 13, 14 to abut against the lower flange portions 85, 86 when the connecting portion 12 of the valve body 10 is accommodated in the recessed portion 87.

[0022] The support pieces 74 of the support plate 71 and the bottom wall portion 82 of the connecting bracket 81 are joined by caulking, spot welding, or the like. The connecting bracket 81 also has a substantially rectangular lower opening 88 that opens in the center of the bottom wall portion 82 in the front-to-rear direction, and substantially inverted U-shaped side openings 89, 90 that are continuous with the lower opening 88 and are cut upward from the lower ends of the side wall portions 83, 84. The lower opening 88 of the bottom wall portion 82 faces the lower fitting recess 75 when the bottom wall portion 82 is joined to the support pieces 74 of the support plate 71. The width of the lower opening 88 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the manifold 4. Furthermore, the height of the side openings 89, 90 from the lower ends of the side wall portions 83, 84, when added with the depth dimension of the lower fitting recess 75, is set to be approximately the same as the outer diameter of the manifold 4, and the approximately semicircular cutouts at the upper ends of the side openings 89, 90 have approximately the same diameter as the manifold 4. Therefore, when the connecting bracket 81 is fitted onto the manifold 4 from above with the manifold 4 supported by the support pieces 74 of the support plate 71, the manifold 4 is inserted into the side opening 89 of one side wall portion 83 and the side opening 90 of the other side wall portion 84 so as to penetrate the pair of side wall portions 83, 84 within the lower opening 88, and the manifold 4 is positioned in the front-to-rear direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, the side openings 89, 90 and the lower opening 88 constitute a manifold insertion portion.

[0023] Screw holes H are formed in each of the pair of lower flange portions 85, 86 of the connecting bracket 81. These screw holes H are provided in positions that face the screw holes H in the upper flange portions 13, 14 when the gas valve device 1 is attached to the manifold 4.

[0024] The procedure for attaching the gas valve device 1 to the manifold 4 will be described below. First, the manifold 4 is placed on the support piece 74 of the support plate 71 so that the opening 41 of the manifold 4 is located in the center of the support piece 74 in the left-right direction. Then, the connecting bracket 81 is fitted onto the manifold 4 from above. At this time, the lower half of the manifold 4 fits into the lower fitting recess 75 of the support piece 74 through the lower opening 88 of the bottom wall 82, and the upper half of the manifold 4 fits into the side openings 89, 90 of the side wall portions 83, 84, so that the opening 41 of the manifold 4, which opens upward, is accommodated in the recess 87. The bottom wall 82 is then joined to the support piece 74 by spot welding or the like. In this way, the manifold 4 is supported on the support piece 74 of the support plate 71 and sandwiched between the connecting bracket 81 from above, completing a subassembly in which the manifold 4 is fixed to the mounting fixture 6.

[0025] Next, the subassembly is placed inside the gas stove body 100 from the upper open portion 102, and the fixing piece 72 at the lower end of the support plate 71 is fixed with screws to a predetermined location on the upper surface of the inner peripheral flange portion 110 of the gas stove body 100. When the entire lower surface of the gas stove body is covered with a bottom wall, such as in a built-in stove, the bottom wall forms the bottom surface of the gas stove body.

[0026] Once the mounting fixture 6 having the manifold 4 is fixed inside the gas stove body 100 as described above, the gas valve device 1 is positioned so that the lower end of the tubular portion 17 protruding downward from the connecting portion 12 of the valve body 10 is positioned above the opening 41 of the manifold 4. When positioning the gas valve device 1, the flame adjustment lever 11 of the gas valve device 1 protrudes forward from inside the gas stove body 100 through a lever insertion hole opened in the front panel 103, and the ignition / extinction operating element 19 is positioned behind the ignition / extinction operating button 92 attached to the front panel 103.

[0027] Furthermore, when the gas valve device 1 is positioned as described above, the upper flanges 13, 14 extending outward in the left-right direction from the valve body 10 and the lower flanges 85, 86 of the connecting bracket 81 overlap one another vertically, with the upper and lower screw holes H facing each other. Therefore, by threading a screw S into the screw hole H from the upper open portion 102 of the gas stove body 100, the upper flanges 13, 14 and the lower flanges 85, 86 are fastened together, and the gas valve device 1 is integrally connected to the manifold 4. Furthermore, the lower end of the cylindrical portion 17 of the connecting portion 12 is pressed against the periphery of the opening 41, and the O-ring 8 airtightly connects the opening 41 of the manifold 4 and the opening of the cylindrical portion 17 of the valve body 10.

[0028] As described above in detail, according to this embodiment, when attaching the gas valve device 1 to the manifold 4, the upper flanges 13, 14 of the valve body 10 and the lower flanges 85, 86 of the connecting bracket 81 can be screwed together from above the gas stove body 100. This allows for easy installation without turning the gas stove body 100 upside down, whether it is a tabletop stove or a built-in stove. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to airtightly and precisely weld the flanges around the entire periphery of the manifold opening, as is the case with conventional built-in stoves, poor welding does not occur, and installation costs can be reduced. Furthermore, since the gas valve device 1 can be attached to the manifold 4 regardless of the type of gas stove, a common gas valve device 1 can be used.

[0029] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, when connecting the upper flange portions 13, 14 and the lower flange portions 85, 86, rattle of the manifold 4 is suppressed, which improves the workability of airtight connection between the gas opening portion of the manifold 4 and the gas inlet portion of the valve body 10, and improves the quality of gas leakage prevention.

[0030] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide an attachment structure that enables the gas valve device 1 to be attached to the manifold 4 at low cost without having to turn the gas stove body 100 upside down, regardless of whether the gas stove is a tabletop stove or a built-in stove.

[0031] (Embodiment 2) This embodiment has the same configuration as embodiment 1, except that a mounting fixture in which a support plate and a connecting bracket are integrally formed is used. Therefore, the same reference numbers are used for the same configurations, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0032] Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the gas valve device 1 is attached to the manifold 4 of this embodiment, and Fig. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a mounting fixture 600 in which a support plate and a connecting bracket are integrally formed. Similar to the first embodiment, mounting fixture 600 of this embodiment is formed by forming a metal plate into a predetermined shape, and includes a fixing piece 720 joined to bottom surface 110 of gas stove body 100, a substantially rectangular standing piece 730 standing substantially vertically upward from the front end of fixing piece 720, a substantially rectangular support piece 740 extending substantially horizontally forward from the upper end of standing piece 730, a pair of side wall portions 830, 840 extending substantially vertically upward from both left and right ends of support piece 740, and a pair of substantially rectangular lower flange portions 850, 860 extending substantially horizontally outward in the left and right directions from the upper ends of each side wall portion 830, 840. That is, the mounting fixture 600 of this embodiment has a configuration in which the support piece 74 of the support plate 71 of embodiment 1 and the bottom wall portion 82 of the connecting bracket 81 are integrated, and the fixed piece 720, the standing piece 730, and the support piece 740 form the manifold support portion, and the pair of side wall portions 830, 840 and the pair of lower flange portions 850, 860 form the connecting portion.

[0033] In the mounting fixture 600 of this embodiment, side openings 890, 900 are formed in a pair of side wall portions 830, 840. The manifold 4 is inserted into these side openings 890, 900, and the opening 41 is accommodated in a recess 870 between a pair of lower flange portions 850, 860. Note that, in the figure, a lower fitting recess is not formed in the support piece 740, but as in the first embodiment, a lower fitting recess that fits externally onto the lower half of the manifold 4 may be formed in the support piece 740. The procedure for attaching the gas valve device 1 to the manifold 4 of this embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, except that joining the support plate 71 and the connecting bracket 81 is not necessary and the manifold 4 is inserted laterally through the side openings 890, 900, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0034] According to this embodiment, when attaching the gas valve device 1 to the manifold 4, the upper flanges 13, 14 of the valve body 10 and the lower flanges 850, 860 can be screwed together from above the gas stove body 100, making the installation easy for both tabletop stoves and built-in stoves without having to turn the gas stove body 100 upside down. Furthermore, since airtight, high-precision welding is not required, poor welding does not occur and the installation cost can be reduced. Furthermore, since the gas valve device 1 can be attached to the manifold 4 regardless of the type of gas stove, a common gas valve device 1 can be used.

[0035] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as in embodiment 1, rattle of the manifold 4 is suppressed when connecting the upper flange portions 13, 14 and the lower flange portions 850, 860, which improves the workability of airtightly connecting the gas opening portion of the manifold 4 with the gas inlet portion of the valve body 10 and improves the quality of gas leakage prevention. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, unlike embodiment 1, the support plate and connecting bracket are formed integrally, which reduces the number of parts and reduces costs.

[0036] In the above embodiments, the O-ring 8 is used as the sealing member, but a dedicated packing may also be used as the sealing member. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1 Gas valve device 10 Valve body 13,14 Upper flange 17 Cylinder part 4 manifolds 41 Aperture 71 Support Plate 73 Support piece 81 Connecting bracket 85,86 Lower flange

Claims

[Claim 1] A mounting structure for a gas valve device that is integrally connected to a manifold, a manifold support portion having a support portion at an upper portion thereof for supporting the manifold from below, the manifold support portion being joined to the bottom surface of the gas stove; a connecting portion having a bottom wall portion joined to the support portion and a pair of side wall portions extending upward from opposing side edges of the bottom wall portion, and a pair of lower flange portions at an upper portion thereof bent outward from upper ends of each of the pair of side wall portions, the connecting portion being located above the support portion; the manifold support portion and the connecting portion are separate members, the pair of side wall portions and the bottom wall portion of the connecting portion have manifold insertion portions through which the manifold is inserted, A mounting structure for a gas valve device in which a gas opening is formed at the top, the manifold is supported at the bottom by the support part, is sandwiched from above by the connecting part, and a pair of upper flange parts provided on the gas valve device are screwed from above to the pair of lower flange parts of the connecting part, with the gas opening of the manifold and the gas inlet part of the gas valve device being in tight contact with each other between the pair of lower flange parts by a sealing member.

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