Angular Offset Isolation Valve Manifold for Compact Fluid Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional isolation valve manifolds are bulky, difficult to install, especially in confined spaces, and require significant clearance for manual operation, making them inefficient and heavy, which can strain connections in fluid flow pipelines.
Innovation Solution
A compact isolation valve manifold design with angularly offset valve cavities and chambers, eliminating the need for cross-drilled passages, allowing for easier assembly and reduced material usage, and featuring a cylindrical body for simpler manufacturing and reduced weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional manifolds are machined from a parallelepiped body with cross-drilled passages, then fluid communication between chambers is achieved, but the manifold becomes bulky and difficult to install in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a conventional parallelepiped body with cross-drilled passages to a cylindrical body where valve cavities are arranged angularly around the central axis. This dimensional reorganization allows fluid communication between chambers through angular positioning rather than cross-drilling, reducing overall manifold volume while simplifying manufacturing through rotational symmetry and standard cylindrical machining operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs asymmetric angular offset positioning of valve cavities around the cylindrical body's central axis. The first and second valve cavities are positioned at different angular locations, allowing compact arrangement of isolation and bleed valves without requiring cross-drilled passages through the body, thereby reducing manifold size while maintaining ease of manufacture.
2Ease of operation
If sufficient clearance is provided around each valve handle for manual operation, then ease of operation is improved, but the manifold becomes bulkier and more difficult to install
Solution Approach 1:
The patent arranges valve cavities angularly around the cylindrical body's central axis, positioning isolation and bleed valves in different angular directions. This spatial distribution allows valve handles to be operated in different planes, providing sufficient clearance for manual operation without increasing the manifold's linear footprint, as the valves are distributed circumferentially rather than linearly.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple branch pipes and reducers are disposed along the main flow conduit, then sensor isolation capability is improved, but the device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal manifold configuration where the cylindrical body with angularly positioned valve cavities can accommodate multiple isolation and bleed valves in a standardized arrangement. This multi-functional design provides sensor isolation capability for multiple sensors simultaneously while maintaining a compact, simplified structure that reduces overall device complexity compared to multiple separate branch pipes and reducers.
Data Source
Figure 1~4
Figure 5~10
Figure 11~13
AI summary
An isolation valve manifold for interconnecting a fluid flow conduit (10) and a sensor (14) for sensing a fluid flow characteristic is designed to operate as a block and bleed valve. The manifold body has an inlet (21) and an outlet (22), an outlet bleed port (27) and first and second valve cavities (25,26). The first valve cavity is for receipt of a first isolation valve (13) and defines a first isolation valve chamber (25b). The second valve cavity is for receipt of a bleed valve (15) and defines a bleed valve chamber (26b) that forms part of the fluid path. The first and second valve cavities are angularly offset and arranged such that the bleed valve and isolation valve chambers intersect one another so as to define a first opening (36) that provides fluid communication between the bleed valve chamber and the isolation valve chamber. This eliminates the need for cross-drillings between the valve chambers and provides for a compact arrangement in which the valves can be operated easily without interference between them.