Valve assembly, heat pump system and vehicle

Abstract

A valve assembly, a heat pump system and a vehicle. The valve assembly comprises: a connecting body, which comprises a mounting space, wherein a mounting surface and a first threaded connection portion are provided on an inner side wall of the mounting space; a valve component, which is at least partially arranged in the mounting space, wherein a limiting rib fitted with and abutting against the mounting surface is provided on an outer side wall; and a compression nut, which is sleeved on the valve component and is movably fitted with the valve component, wherein a second threaded connection portion connected to the first threaded connection portion in a threaded manner is provided on an outer side wall, and the limiting rib is located between the mounting surface and the compression nut.

Description

Valve assembly, heat pump system and vehicle

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This disclosure claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the Patent Office of China on December 26, 2023, with application number 202323578248.X and titled “Valve Assembly, Heat Pump System and Vehicle,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this disclosure. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of a valve body compression structure of an electronic expansion valve, and in particular, to a valve assembly, a heat pump system, and a vehicle. Background Art

[0004] In related technologies, electronic expansion valve assemblies are mainly used in air-conditioning systems, such as automobile air-conditioning systems. During the assembly process of the electronic expansion valve assembly, the clamping nut is sleeved on the lower end of the valve component and fixedly connected to the inner screw hole of the valve body through a thread, thereby achieving relative fixation of the valve component and the valve body. The clamping nut is a vertical cylinder. Waste chips will be generated during the process of screwing the clamping nut and the inner screw hole. When disassembling the clamping nut, there is a risk of waste chips falling into the internal flow channel of the valve body, thereby affecting the function of the entire heat pump system.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a valve assembly, a heat pump system, and a vehicle, wherein the valve assembly is capable of reducing the risk of waste chips falling into the internal flow channel of the connecting body, so as to at least partially solve the above technical problems.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the first aspect of the present disclosure provides a valve assembly, comprising: a connecting body, comprising an installation space, the inner side wall of the installation space is provided with a mounting surface and a first threaded connection portion, a valve component, at least partially arranged in the installation space, the outer side wall of the valve component is provided with a limiting rib that cooperates and abuts with the installation surface; and a clamping nut, which is sleeved on the valve component and movably cooperates with the valve component, the outer side wall of the clamping nut is provided with a second threaded connection portion threadedly connected to the first threaded connection portion, wherein the limiting rib is located between the mounting surface and the clamping nut.

[0008] Optionally, the compression nut is made of the same material as the connecting body.

[0009] Optionally, the clamping nut and the connecting body are both made of aluminum alloy.

[0010] Optionally, the outer side wall of the compression nut further includes an operating portion away from the second threaded connection portion and located outside the installation space.

[0011] Optionally, the operating portion is provided with at least one mating surface arranged along the circumferential direction.

[0012] Optionally, the operating portion is provided with six mating surfaces, and the six mating surfaces are connected end to end to form a hexagon.

[0013] Optionally, a sealing member is provided between the lower surface of the limiting rib and the mounting surface.

[0014] Optionally, an inner end of the mounting surface is provided with a mounting groove for mounting a sealing member.

[0015] Optionally, the connecting body is further provided with an inlet connected to the installation space, the valve component is an expansion valve, the expansion valve includes a valve seat, a valve needle assembly and a valve body, the valve seat, valve needle assembly and valve body are arranged in sequence in the installation space along a first direction, and the limiting rib is provided on the valve body.

[0016] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a heat pump system, comprising the above-mentioned valve assembly.

[0017] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle comprising the above-mentioned heat pump system.

[0018] Through the above technical solution, the valve component is movably engaged in the installation space of the connecting body, and the limiting rib of the valve component abuts against the installation surface in the installation space. At the same time, the clamping nut is sleeved on the valve component and movably engaged with the valve component. The second threaded connection part of the clamping nut and the first threaded connection part in the installation space of the connecting body are screwed down and pressed down, so that the end of the clamping nut away from the operating part abuts against the limiting rib, thereby fixing and sealing the valve component and the connecting body. In this way, when disassembling the clamping nut, the risk of waste chips falling into the internal flow channel of the connecting body can be reduced, so that the heat pump system can work stably.

[0019] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be described in detail in the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the following detailed description, they are used to explain the present disclosure but do not constitute a limitation of the present disclosure. In the accompanying drawings:

[0021] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a valve assembly provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a compression nut provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a connection body provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG4 is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of a valve assembly structure provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of a heat pump system provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following describes the specific embodiments of the present disclosure in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0028] In this disclosure, unless otherwise indicated, directional terms such as "inner" and "outer" refer to the outlines of the corresponding components themselves. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used in this disclosure to distinguish one element from another and do not have a sequential or importance relationship. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements.

[0029] As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the first aspect of the present disclosure provides a valve assembly 100, which includes a clamping nut 1, a connecting body 2 and a valve component 3. The connecting body 2 includes an installation space 21. For example, the installation space 21 can be a through hole or a bottom-closed assembly groove. In this embodiment, the installation space 21 is selected as a through hole. The inner wall of the installation space 21 is provided with a mounting surface 22 and a first threaded connection portion 23. The valve component 3 is at least partially arranged in the installation space 21, and the outer wall of the valve component 3 is provided with a limiting rib 31 that cooperates and abuts with the mounting surface 22; the clamping nut 1 is sleeved on the valve component 3 and movably cooperates with the valve component 3. The outer wall of the clamping nut 1 is provided with a second threaded connection portion 11 threadedly connected to the first threaded connection portion 23, wherein the limiting rib 31 is located between the mounting surface 22 and the clamping nut 1.

[0030] Through the above technical solution, the valve component 3 is movably fitted in the installation space 21 of the connecting body 2, and the limiting rib 31 of the valve component 3 abuts against the installation surface 22 in the installation space 21. At the same time, the clamping nut 1 is sleeved between the valve component 3 and the connecting body 2. The tool and the operating part 12 are cooperated to make the second threaded connection part 11 of the clamping nut 1 and the first threaded connection part 23 in the installation space 21 of the connecting body 2 threadedly tightened and pressed down, so that the end of the clamping nut 1 away from the operating part 12 abuts against the limiting rib 31, thereby fixing and sealing the valve component 3 and the connecting body 2. In this way, when disassembling the clamping nut 1, the risk of waste chips falling into the internal flow channel of the connecting body 2 can be reduced, so that the heat pump system can work stably.

[0031] It should be noted that the connecting body 2 is usually made of aluminum, and the clamping nut or valve body is generally made of steel. Since the hardness of steel is greater than that of aluminum, during the process of threading, the hard steel will cut the soft aluminum, thereby generating aluminum chips. In order to avoid the generation of debris caused by the clamping nut 1 and the connecting body 2 cutting each other during threaded engagement due to different materials, in some feasible methods, the clamping nut 1 and the connecting body 2 are made of the same material. For example, the clamping nut 1 and the connecting body 2 are both made of aluminum alloy, so that both the clamping nut 1 and the connecting body 2 use aluminum alloy, and the hardness of the two is consistent, thereby avoiding the generation of debris caused by the softer material being cut due to different hardness during thread cutting. During the process of thread disassembly, if the debris falls into the internal flow channel of the connecting body 2, it will affect the function of the entire heat pump system 200.

[0032] In order to facilitate the adjustment and disassembly of the clamping nut 1, in some feasible embodiments, the outer wall of the clamping nut 1 also includes an operating portion 12 away from the second threaded connection portion 11 and located outside the installation space 21, thereby increasing the operating space of the clamping nut 1. When the clamping nut 1 needs to be disassembled, a tool can be used to cooperate with the operating portion 12 located outside the installation space 21, and the tool can be rotated forward or reversed to tighten or loosen the clamping nut 1.

[0033] In addition, in order to further facilitate the adjustment and disassembly of the clamping nut 1, in some feasible methods, the operating part 12 is provided with at least one mating surface 13 arranged along the circumferential direction. In this way, commonly used tools such as pipe clamps and wrenches can be used to cooperate with the operating part 12, so that the operating part 12 of the clamping nut 1 as a whole is used as the force-bearing part to adjust the screwing in or out of the clamping nut 1, so that the clamping nut 1 can be tightened to fix or loosen the connecting body 2 and the valve component 3.

[0034] In addition, in order to further facilitate the adjustment and disassembly of the clamping nut 1, in some feasible embodiments, the operating portion 12 is provided with six mating surfaces 13, and the six mating surfaces 13 are connected end to end to form a hexagonal shape, so that the clamping nut 1 can be rotated with a conventional hexagonal wrench.

[0035] Of course, the above-mentioned hexagonal configuration of the operating portion 12 is merely illustrative. In some practicable embodiments, the operating portion 12 may also be quadrangular.

[0036] In order to facilitate the sealed connection between the valve component 3 and the connecting body 2, in some feasible embodiments, a seal 4 is further provided between the lower surface of the limiting rib 31 and the mounting surface 22. For example, a mounting groove 5 for installing the seal 4 can be provided on the mounting surface 22. The seal 4 can be an annular rubber gasket, so that when the tightening nut 1 is rotated and pressed down, the limiting rib 31 presses the annular rubber gasket to form a seal with the mounting surface 22.

[0037] In addition, in order to prevent debris from flowing into the flow channel of the connecting body 2 when the clamping nut 1 is disassembled, in some feasible methods, the inner end of the mounting surface 22 is provided with a mounting groove 5 for installing the seal 4, and the inner side refers to the side close to the central axis of the mounting space 21 as the inner side, and the side away from the central axis of the mounting space 21 as the outer side. Therefore, when the clamping nut 1 is disassembled, the channel between the clamping nut 1 and the connecting body 2 and the flow channel is blocked due to the setting of the seal 4, so that the debris generated by the thread cutting of the clamping nut 1 and the connecting body 2 will be blocked by the seal 4, thereby preventing the debris from directly entering the flow channel and affecting the normal operation of the valve assembly 100.

[0038] It can be understood that the connecting body 2 is also provided with an inlet 24 connected to the installation space 21, the valve component 3 is an expansion valve, the expansion valve includes a valve seat 32, a valve needle assembly 33 and a valve body 34, the valve seat 32, the valve needle assembly 33 and the valve body 34 are arranged in sequence in the installation space 21 along the first direction X, and the limiting rib 31 is provided on the valve body 34, the limiting rib 31 abuts on the mounting surface 22 and is tightened by the clamping nut 1 to fix the valve body 34 in the installation space 21 of the connecting body 2, the first direction X can refer to the vertical upward direction of Figure 4, and the direction of the arrow in Figure 4 refers to the flow direction of the medium. The medium enters the connecting body 2 through the inlet 24, flows out through the gap between the valve needle assembly 33 and the valve seat 32, and flows out through the valve port of the valve seat 32.

[0039] As shown in Figure 5, the second aspect of the present disclosure provides a heat pump system 200, which includes the above-mentioned valve assembly 100. The valve component 3 and the connecting body 2 can be relatively fixed by the clamping nut 1 in the valve assembly 100. The clamping nut 1 is sleeved on the outer periphery of the valve component 3 and is matched with the operating part 12 through a tool so that the connecting part of the clamping nut 1 is rotated to make the limiting rib 31 of the valve component 3 abut against the mounting surface 22 of the connecting body 2. In this way, the valve component 3 and the connecting body 2 can be fixed by the clamping nut 1 without setting a special installation tool, thereby facilitating the installation of the valve assembly 100 in the heat pump system 200. It is understandable that the above-mentioned heat pump system 200 also includes other necessary components, such as a compressor 210, a heat exchanger, an evaporator 220 and a condenser 230.

[0040] As shown in FIG6 , a third aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle 1000 including the aforementioned heat pump system 200. Vehicle 1000 may include a new energy vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. The valve component 3 and the connecting body 2 are secured by the aforementioned compression nut 1, facilitating installation of the valve assembly 100 within the heat pump system 200. It will be appreciated that the aforementioned vehicle 1000 includes all the benefits of the heat pump system 200 and will not be further elaborated upon herein.

[0041] The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present disclosure, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and these simple modifications all fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0042] It should also be noted that the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the present disclosure will not further describe various possible combinations.

[0043] In addition, the various embodiments of the present disclosure may be arbitrarily combined, and as long as they do not violate the concept of the present disclosure, they should also be regarded as the contents disclosed by the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A valve assembly (100), characterized in that, Comprising: A connecting body (2), including an installation space (21), the inner side wall of the installation space (21) being provided with an installation surface (22) and a first threaded connection portion (23); A valve member (3), at least partially disposed within the installation space (21), the outer side wall of the valve member (3) being provided with a limiting rib (31) that cooperates and abuts against the installation surface (22); and A compression nut (1), sleeved on the valve member (3) and movably cooperating with the valve member (3), the outer side wall of the compression nut (1) being provided with a second threaded connection portion (11) that is threadedly connected to the first threaded connection portion (23); Wherein, the limiting rib (31) is located between the installation surface (22) and the compression nut (1).

2. The valve assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that The compression nut (1) is made of the same material as the connecting body (2).

3. The valve assembly according to claim 2, wherein Both the compression nut (1) and the connecting body (2) are made of aluminum alloy.

4. The valve assembly according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The outer side wall of the compression nut (1) further includes an operation portion (12) that is away from the second threaded connection portion (11) and is located outside the installation space (21).

5. The valve assembly according to claim 4, wherein The operation portion (12) is at least provided with a cooperating surface (13) arranged circumferentially.

6. The valve assembly according to claim 5, wherein, The operation portion (12) is provided with six cooperating surfaces (13), and the six cooperating surfaces (13) are connected end to end to form a hexagon.

7. The valve assembly according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, A sealing member (4) is further provided between the lower surface of the limiting rib (31) and the installation surface (22).

8. The valve assembly according to claim 7, wherein The inner end of the installation surface (22) is provided with an installation groove (5) for installing the sealing member (4).

9. The valve assembly according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The valve member (3) is an expansion valve, the expansion valve including a valve seat (32), a valve needle assembly (33), and a valve body (34), the valve seat (32), the valve needle assembly (33), and the valve body (34) being arranged in sequence along a first direction (X) within the installation space (21), and the limiting rib (31) being provided on the valve body (34).

10. A heat pump system (200), characterized in that, Comprising the valve assembly (100) according to any one of claims 1-9.

11. A vehicle (1000), characterized in that, Comprising the heat pump system (200) according to claim 10.

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