Bellows Accumulator Venting Structure for Fire-Induced Pressure Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
In hydraulic accumulators, high temperatures from fires can cause the elastic sealing member to melt and fail, leading to increased gas pressure and potential housing rupture due to the inability to release pressure effectively.
Innovation Solution
The accumulator design incorporates a spacer with communication passages and groove portions between the bellows cap and housing, creating a pressure release flow passage that prevents contact and allows fluid to flow out, even when the elastic sealing member fails, thereby managing pressure and preventing housing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sealing member with an elastic body is used to close the fluid inlet/outlet passage, then sealing reliability is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to high-temperature damage from fires
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is pre-installed in the bellows cap to create a pressure release flow passage before any emergency occurs. This preliminary structural arrangement ensures that when high temperature damages the elastic body, the pressure release path is already in place to prevent housing rupture
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer acts as a protective measure that cushions against the harmful effects of high temperature by providing an alternative pressure release path. When the elastic body fails due to fire, the spacer-prepared flow passage prevents catastrophic pressure buildup in the housing
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the elastic body melts and burns out due to high temperature, then the sealing function is lost, but pressure release becomes possible through the spacer
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer serves as an intermediary structure that mediates between the bellows cap and housing. When the elastic body sealing member fails, the spacer's communication passages provide an intermediate pressure release path, allowing controlled pressure relief without direct contact between the bellows cap and housing sealing face
3Reliability
If the bellows cap contacts the sealing face directly, then pressure is sealed, but pressure cannot be released in emergency situations
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer segments the space between the bellows cap and housing into distinct regions: a pressure release flow passage through the spacer and a sealing region. This segmentation allows the system to maintain sealing capability while providing a dedicated pressure release path when needed
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically transitions between sealing mode (when elastic body is intact) and pressure release mode (when elastic body fails). The spacer enables this dynamic adaptation by providing a latent pressure release path that activates only when the sealing function is compromised
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design effectively releases pressure from the accumulator housing during high-temperature events, preventing rupture and ensuring the accumulator's integrity by maintaining a flow path for fluid release, even when the sealing member is compromised.
Implementation Method 1
by the elastic member forming the sealing member being melt and burnt out due to a high temperature
Implementation Method 2
the bellows main body is expanded and contracted so as to balance gas pressure in the gas chamber and liquid pressure in the liquid chamber
Implementation Method 3
the bellows is expanded by the gas pressure in the bellows, and the sealing member is brought into close contact with a sealing face provided in the liquid chamber
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The present invention is to provide an accumulator in which pressure in a housing can be released when a temperature becomes high due to fire, etc. The accumulator 1 includes a housing 2 having a sealing face 25 and a fluid inlet/outlet passage 24; and a bellows 3 fixed at one end to the housing 2 such that an inner space of the housing 2 is hermetically partitioned by the bellows 3 into an interior and an exterior of the bellows 3. The bellows 3 includes a bellows main body 31 capable of expanding and contracting and a bellows cap 32 provided with a sealing member 36 covered with an elastic body 36 that is opposed to and capable of being closely attached to the sealing face 25 of the housing 2. The fluid inlet/outlet passage 24 of the housing 3 is closed upon a close attachment of the elastic body 35 to the sealing face 25. The accumulator 1 further includes a spacer 34 placed between the housing 2 and the bellows cap 32 so as to surround the sealing member 36. The spacer 34 has a communication passage 37 providing communication between an inside and an outside of the spacer 34.