Fastening bracket for fastening a solenoid valve and assembly comprising the bracket and the solenoid valve

Abstract

A fastening bracket (1) for fastening a solenoid valve (2) to a support body (3) has an annular sector shape and is delimited by an inner face (11) designed to be in contact with a solenoid valve (2) extending along a longitudinal axis (A), a bearing face (12) designed to be in contact with a support body (3) and along which are distributed a plurality of seats (13, 14) designed to accommodate protrusions (9) from a flange (6) of the solenoid valve (2), the fastening bracket (1) being provided with a plurality of holes (15) designed for the passage of respective screws (10), said holes (15) being arranged in said seats (13, 14).

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Title: “Fastening bracket for fastening a solenoid valve and assembly comprising the bracket and the solenoid valve”

[0003] Technical field of the inventions

[0004] The present invention relates to a fastening bracket for fastening a solenoid valve and an assembly comprising the bracket and the solenoid valve.

[0005] Prior art

[0006] Solenoid valves have many fields of application, including in the vehicle sector, where they are subject to vibrations generated by the motor, by resistance to motion, and, for land vehicles, by rolling on the road surface. In general, for this type of application, the solenoid valve is subjected to vibrations at various frequencies.

[0007] In general, a solenoid valve is controlled by a solenoid, which requires an electrical supply and, for this reason, a solenoid valve is fitted with an electrical connector designed to be coupled to a respective electrical connector.

[0008] Furthermore, a solenoid valve is fitted with a fastening flange, which is arranged on the side opposite the connector, is integral with the body of the solenoid valve, and is designed to be fastened to a support body using screws.

[0009] Generally, with a very high vibration load, the solenoid valve can have electrical connection problems that affect the aforementioned connectors. The encountered problems are due to chafing wear or breakage caused by the aforementioned vibrations.

[0010] Subject matter and summary of the invention

[0011] The present invention is intended to provide a fastening bracket that can mitigate the drawbacks of the prior art. The present invention provides a fastening bracket for fastening a solenoid valve to a support body, the fastening bracket having an annular sector shape and being delimited by an inner face designed to be in contact with a solenoid valve extending along a longitudinal axis, a bearing face designed to be in contact with a support body and along which are distributed a plurality of seats designed to accommodate protrusions from a flange of said solenoid valve, the fastening bracket being provided with a plurality of holes designed for the passage of respective screws, said holes being arranged in said seats.

[0012] This makes it simple and cost-effective to provide a hyperstatic fastening that is able to mitigate different types of vibration. The screws arranged in the protrusions provide a fastening of high rigidity.

[0013] In particular, the fastening bracket extends over an arc of approximately 180°, thereby enabling a radial coupling between the fastening bracket and the solenoid valve.

[0014] According to a specific embodiment, the inner face is designed to provide a formfit coupling with the solenoid valve, the form-fit coupling in particular extending over the whole of the inner face along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis. A large contact zone along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis reduces flexural vibrations.

[0015] The seats in the fastening bracket are also designed to provide a coupling with said protrusions and further stabilise the solenoid valve.

[0016] In particular, each seat is thinner than the remaining parts of the fastening bracket, whereas the protrusions have a determined thickness that is less than the total thickness of the fastening bracket, the reduction in thickness of the fastening bracket in the seats being equal to the thickness of the protrusions. This layout enables the protrusions to be effectively clamped between the fastening flange and the support body.

[0017] In particular, each seat has a surface parallel to the bearing surface and designed to provide a large contact zone with said protrusions.

[0018] This provides a large contact zone between the protrusions and the fastening bracket.

[0019] Furthermore, each seat has a face perpendicular to the bearing face, said faces being arranged such as to enable the fastening bracket to be coupled to the solenoid valve in a radial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis.

[0020] To improve the rigidity of the fastening, said seats are uniformly distributed along the fastening bracket.

[0021] The present invention also relates to an assembly formed by a solenoid valve and a fastening bracket able to mitigate the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0022] The present invention provides an assembly formed by a solenoid valve and a fastening bracket of the type identified above, the solenoid valve extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising a cylindrical body, a fastening flange arranged at the base of said cylindrical body, and an electrical connector arranged on the side opposite the fastening flange; the inner face of said fastening bracket having a cylindrical shape designed to provide a form-fit coupling with a cylindrical body of the solenoid valve along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis.

[0023] The form-fit coupling along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis in the fastening zone reduces the oscillations of the solenoid valve and the connector. In particular, the fastening flange comprises a plurality of protrusions designed to provide a plurality of large contact zones between the fastening bracket and the protrusions along a surface perpendicular to the longitudinal axis in said seats. The fastening is thus made along two surfaces that are perpendicular to one another, thereby improving the rigidity of the fastening.

[0024] Short description of the drawings

[0025] To aid comprehension of the present invention, an embodiment of the invention is described below purely as a non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0026] - Figure 1 is a perspective view, with parts removed for clarity, of an assembly of a solenoid valve and a fastening bracket for fastening the solenoid valve according to the present invention;

[0027] - Figure 2 is a perspective view, with parts removed for clarity and on an enlarged scale, of the bracket in Figure 1 ;

[0028] - Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, with parts removed for clarity and on a further enlarged scale, of the assembly in Figure 1 ; and

[0029] - Figure 4 is a plan view, with parts removed for clarity and on an enlarged scale, of the assembly in Figure 1 during a coupling phase. Preferred embodiment of the invention

[0030] In the figure, reference sign 1 denotes a fastening bracket for fastening a solenoid valve 2 to a support body 3, which has a flat face 4 designed to be in contact with the solenoid valve 2 and the fastening flange 1.

[0031] The solenoid valve 2 comprises a cylindrical body 5 extending along a longitudinal axis A, a fastening flange 6 and a cover 7 comprising, in turn, an electrical connector 8, which is arranged at the opposite end of the fastening flange 6 and extends radially with respect to the longitudinal axis A. The fastening flange 6 is designed to be in contact with the flat face 4 of the support body 3 and has protrusions 9 (only one of which is shown in Figure 1), each extending radially with respect to the longitudinal axis A and having a through hole or an opening to accommodate a screw 10.

[0032] In this case, there are three protrusions 9 spaced apart about the longitudinal axis A by an arc of approximately 90°.

[0033] The fastening bracket 2 is designed to be coupled to the solenoid valve 2 and fastened to the support body using the screws 10.

[0034] The fastening bracket 1 extends over approximately 180° about the longitudinal axis A and is designed to provide a large contact zone with both the solenoid valve 2 and the support body.

[0035] With reference to Figure 2, the fastening bracket 1 has an annular sector shape and is delimited by an inner face 11 designed to be in contact with the cylindrical body 5 of the solenoid valve 2 (Figure 1), a bearing face 12 designed to be in contact with the support body 3 and along which are distributed a plurality of seats 13 and 14 designed to accommodate the protrusions 9 from the flange 6 of the solenoid valve 2.

[0036] The fastening bracket 1 has a plurality of holes 15, which are designed to allow the passage of the screws 10 and are arranged in the seats 13 and 14.

[0037] The inner face 11 has a cylindrical shape and is designed to provide a form-fit coupling with the cylindrical body 5 of the solenoid valve 2 over the whole of the inner face 11 so as to provide a large contact zone along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis A.

[0038] The fastening bracket 1 comprises three seats 13 and 14 uniformly distributed along the arc of the fastening bracket 1 and, in this case, two end seats 13 and a central seat 14. The end seats 13 and the central seat 14 are zones of the fastening bracket 1 with reduced thickness and are delimited by respective faces 16 parallel to the bearing face 12. Each end seat 13 has a face 17 perpendicular to the face 16, whereas the central seat 14 has a shaped face 18 perpendicular to the face 16. With reference to Figure 3, the extent of the reduction in the thickness of the fastening bracket 1 at the seats 13 and 14 is equal to the thickness of the protrusions 9 so as to provide a large contact zone between the faces 16 of the fastening bracket 1 and the protrusions 9 along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis A of the solenoid valve 2 and to clamp the protrusions 9 between the fastening flange 1 and the support body 3 in said seats 13 and 14. Furthermore, the support face 12 of the fastening flange 1 defines a large contact zone between the fastening flange 1 and the flat face 4 of the support body 3 along the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis A.

[0039] In fact, the connection between the solenoid valve 2 and the support body 3 is hyperstatic and essentially provides two large contact zones along two surfaces that are perpendicular to one another.

[0040] Figure 4 shows the radial configuration of the protrusions 9 and the fact that the faces 17 and 18 enable the fastening bracket 1 to be coupled with the solenoid valve 2 by inserting the fastening bracket 1 in the radial direction D.

[0041] It is evident that modifications and variations may be made to the embodiment described and illustrated without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the present invention, as defined in the attached claims.

Claims

Claims1 . Fastening bracket for fastening a solenoid valve to a support body, the fastening bracket (1) having an annular sector shape and being delimited by an inner face (11) designed to be in contact with a solenoid valve (2) extending along a longitudinal axis (A), a bearing face (12) designed to be in contact with a support body (3) and along which are distributed a plurality of seats (13, 14) designed to accommodate protrusions (9) from a flange (6) of said solenoid valve (2), the fastening bracket (1) being provided with a plurality of holes (15) designed for the passage of respective screws (10), said holes (15) being arranged in said seats (13, 14).

2. Fastening bracket according to Claim 1 that extends over an arc of approximately 180°.

3. Fastening bracket according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner face (11) is designed to provide a form-fit coupling with the solenoid valve (2), the form-fit coupling in particular extending over the whole of the inner face (12) along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis (A).

4. Fastening bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said seats (13, 14) are designed to provide a coupling with said protrusions (9).

5. Fastening bracket according to Claim 4, wherein each seat (13; 14) is thinner than the remaining parts of the fastening bracket (1) whereas the protrusions (9) have a determined thickness that is less than the total thickness of the fastening bracket (1), the reduction in thickness of the fastening bracket (1) in the seats (13, 14) being equal to the thickness of the protrusions (9).

6. Fastening bracket according to Claim 4 or 5, wherein each seat has a surface (16) parallel to the bearing surface (12) and designed to provide a largecontact zone with said protrusions (9).

7. Fastening bracket according to any one of Claims 4 to 6, wherein each seat (13, 14) comprises a face (17, 18) perpendicular to the bearing face (17, 18), said faces being arranged such as to enable the fastening bracket (1) to be coupled to the solenoid valve (2) in a radial direction (D) with respect to the longitudinal axis (A).

8. Fastening bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said seats (13, 14) are uniformly distributed along the fastening bracket (1).

9. Assembly formed by a solenoid valve and a fastening bracket according to any of the preceding claims, the solenoid valve (2) extending along a longitudinal axis (A) and comprising a cylindrical body (5), a fastening flange (6) arranged at the base of said cylindrical body, and an electrical connector (8) arranged on the side opposite the fastening flange (6); the inner face (11) of said fastening bracket having a cylindrical shape designed to provide a form-fit coupling with the cylindrical body (5) along a surface parallel to the longitudinal axis (A).

10. Assembly according to Claim 9, wherein the fastening flange (6) comprises a plurality of protrusions (9) designed to provide a plurality of large contact zones between the fastening bracket (1) and the protrusions (9) along a surface perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (A) in said seats (13, 14).

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