Check Valve Push-Nut Retention for Faster Assembly and Durability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing valve devices, such as those in fuel pumps, face challenges in assembly efficiency due to the need for barbs or swaging to secure the valve body, leading to increased man-hours and potential durability issues from frequent movement.
Innovation Solution
A valve device design featuring a housing with convex portions supporting a flexible valve body, secured by a push nut with a curved outer peripheral end, allowing easy assembly and improved durability through a simple locking mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If grommets with barbs are used to support the valve body, then the valve body can be securely attached to the pump body, but the assembly process becomes difficult and requires more time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the problematic barbed structure from the grommet and replaces it with a separate push nut component. The push nut has a simple cylindrical shape that fits over the convex portion and secures the valve body through friction and geometry, eliminating the need for complex barbed structures while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the attachment function into separate components: the convex portion on the housing provides the mounting structure, the push nut provides the securing mechanism, and the valve body provides the functional element. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and assembled easily without complex integrated structures.
2Reliability
If swaging is performed on the protrusion to support the valve body, then the valve body can be securely attached, but the assembling time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the swaging process entirely by using a push nut that secures the valve body through simple insertion and friction. The push nut fits over the convex portion and creates a secure connection without requiring any deformation or special processing of the housing material.
Solution Approach 2:
The push nut design allows the valve body to be self-securing through the friction fit and geometric constraints between the push nut, convex portion, and valve body hole. No additional fastening operations or specialized tools are needed - the structure secures itself upon assembly.
3Ease of operation
If the valve body is frequently moved by opening/closing operation, then the valve functions properly, but durability at the contact part of the supported portion deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention provides beforehand cushioning by designing the push nut with a curved outer peripheral surface that matches the curvature of the valve body's outer surface. This curved contact surface distributes stresses and prevents stress concentration at sharp edges, reducing wear and damage during frequent opening/closing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies spheroidality by forming the outer peripheral surface of the push nut in a curved shape rather than a flat or sharp-edged geometry. This curved surface contacts the valve body in a distributed manner, reducing stress concentration and improving durability during repeated operational cycles.
Data Source
AI summary
A check valve for opening and closing an intake-side communication passage for fluid, includes a pump body including a partition wall in which the intake-side communication passage and a convex portion are formed, a valve body made of a flexible material, formed in a plate shape including an insertion hole, and configured to open and close the passage as being supported by the convex portion with the convex portion inserted into the insertion hole, and a push nut formed in a disk shape smaller than the valve body and including a hole into which the convex portion is inserted at a center part, and being locked to the convex portion locking the valve body to prevent the valve body from slipping off from the convex portion. An outer peripheral end part of the push nut being in contact with the valve body being formed in a curved surface shape.