Flow proportional control valve

Abstract

This novel flow proportional control valve uses a stepper motor to control the flow port size, achieving proportional flow control and withstanding higher pressures. The flow resolution can be altered by combining different components, and the material in contact with the fluid can be replaced with a corrosion-resistant material, enabling it to control corrosive and high-pressure fluids.

Claims

1. A flow proportional control valve, comprising a valve body for assembling flow control components and serving as a fluid inlet / outlet, the valve body having a component assembly hole in which a valve nozzle, a valve nozzle sleeve, and a motor sleeve are assembled; a valve nozzle for allowing fluid to pass through an orifice and engaging with the front end of a tapered mandrel to control the fluid flow rate, and having an outer diameter of multiple diameters for engaging with the valve nozzle sleeve by press-fitting, rotating, or screwing; and a valve nozzle sleeve having an inner hole of multiple diameters for assembling the valve nozzle, an outer diameter of multiple diameters for assembling a sealing ring, and being inserted into the component assembly hole of the valve body. One end face of the valve nozzle sleeve serves as the point where the spindle stops moving during resetting; a spindle, the tapered front end of which mates with the valve nozzle, controls the fluid flow by changing the area between the tapered front end of the spindle and the inner hole of the valve nozzle; the rear end has a slot and external threads, the slot can be assembled with the stepper motor shaft and rotates with the stepper motor shaft, and is assembled with the internal thread of the spindle sleeve through the external threads; a magnetic body is assembled on the spindle and fixed therein, and can convert the position change of the spindle into a magnetic field change; a spindle sleeve, with internal threads, mounts the spindle. Fitted within a mandrel sleeve, this device converts the rotational motion of the mandrel into linear and rotational motion via threads to control the size of the flow orifice. The mandrel sleeve engages with the motor sleeve via press-fit, rotation, or screw-fit. A motor sleeve has multiple internal diameters or threads for assembling the mandrel, mandrel sleeve, and stepper motor, reducing mandrel runout during linear motion. The outer end face of the motor sleeve has multiple mounting holes for mounting a stepper motor and a position sensor. A stepper motor serves as the drive mechanism for this flow proportional control valve. The stepper motor shaft, fitted onto the motor sleeve and engaging with the slot at the rear end of the spindle, transmits rotational motion to the spindle via the stepper motor shaft and the slot, and converts the rotational motion into linear motion via the thread, thereby controlling the fluid flow rate; a position sensor, mounted on the motor sleeve, converts the magnetic field changes of the magnet mounted on the spindle into signals via a signal processor, which are then transmitted to the central processing unit to determine the spindle's status; one or more sealing rings, mounted on the valve body, motor sleeve, and valve nozzle sleeve, prevent fluid from leaking out through gaps at the joints of the parts.

2. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, the flow proportional control valve having a valve body having a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a component assembly hole, the fluid inlet being parallel to or at an angle to the fluid outlet, and perpendicular to or at an angle to the component assembly hole; the fluid inlet being a locking internal thread, the end face of the internal thread having an internal hole leading to the component assembly hole; the component assembly hole being a closed hole perpendicular to the bottom surface of the valve body, and having one or more diameters to mate with a valve nozzle, valve nozzle sleeve, motor sleeve, and sealing ring, and the end hole of the component assembly hole intersecting with the fluid inlet; the fluid outlet being a locking internal thread, the end face of the internal thread having an internal hole leading to the component assembly hole.

3. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, wherein the flow proportional control valve has an axially movable and rotatable spindle, and the spindle has a tapered front end, which is inserted into a through hole of a valve nozzle. By changing the depth of the tapered front end inserted into the through hole of the valve nozzle, the flow area between the valve nozzle and the spindle can be changed, thereby controlling the fluid flow rate; the large diameter of the tapered front end is connected to a first end face, which is perpendicular to the axis of the spindle; the first end face is connected to a first diameter of the spindle, which has one or more sealing ring mounting grooves, and the first diameter is connected to a second end face; The second end face is connected to a second diameter, which is fitted with the inner diameter of the magnetic body with clearance, overfit, or interference. The second end face is in contact with one end face of the magnetic body, and the gap between the magnetic body and the mandrel and the contact surface are coated with adhesive to bond and fix the magnetic body and the mandrel. The mandrel also has an external thread connected to the second diameter, which can engage with the internal thread of the mandrel sleeve to change the rotational motion into a helical motion with axial movement. The third end face connected to the external thread has a slot that can engage with the stepper motor shaft, so that the mandrel can be driven to rotate when the stepper motor shaft rotates.

4. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, the flow proportional control valve having a cylindrical multi-diameter valve nozzle having a through hole that can mate with the large diameter of the front end of the spindle so that the large diameter of the front end of the spindle can be sealed with the through hole.

5. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, the flow proportional control valve having a motor sleeve that allows a spindle to move axially in its inner bore, and having a transversely arbitrarily shaped opening intersecting the axis of the inner bore, the opening being perpendicular to the axis or at an angle, the motor sleeve further having an outer diameter that can mate with a valve body mounting hole, and the motor sleeve having an arbitrarily shaped opening at the outer diameter that mates with the valve body, the opening intersecting with the inner bore of the motor sleeve.

6. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, wherein the flow proportional control valve has a magnetic body, the magnetic body being a hollow cylinder with its inner diameter having clearance fit, overfit, or interference fit with the second diameter of the spindle, one end face of the magnetic body contacting the second end face of the spindle, the gap between the magnetic body and the spindle and the contact surface being coated with adhesive to bond and fix the magnetic body to the spindle; the spindle is driven to rotate by the rotation of the stepper motor, and the magnetic body can change its position with the rotation of the spindle and cause a change in the magnetic field around it.

7. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, wherein the flow proportional control valve has a position sensor mounted on the motor sleeve and located within the magnetic field variation range of the magnetic body. The position of the magnetic body changes due to the rotation of the stepper motor causing the spindle to rotate. This position sensor can convert the magnetic field change into a signal output to the signal processor. The signal processor then transmits this signal to the central processing unit to determine the position and state of the spindle and calculate whether the stepper motor needs to continue rotating or stop.

8. The flow proportional control valve as described in claim 1, wherein the flow proportional control valve has a valve sleeve, and the first end face of the spindle stops moving upon contact with one end face of the valve sleeve, such that the point at which the spindle stops moving can be used as the reference origin of the system; the valve sleeve has an inner hole that mates with the valve nozzle, allowing the valve nozzle to be pressed in, rotated in, screwed in, etc.; the valve sleeve has multiple outer diameters, including a diameter that mates with the component assembly holes of the valve body and a diameter that can accommodate a sealing ring to prevent fluid leakage from the gap between the valve sleeve and the valve body.

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