In-Place Cleanable Sealing Valve for Sanitizing Flow Paths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealing valves require removal for cleaning and sanitization, leading to inefficiencies and increased maintenance costs, as they often accumulate debris and obstruct fluid flow during these processes.
Innovation Solution
A sealing valve design that allows fluid flow along both inner and outer surfaces in the same distal direction, enabling cleaning and sanitization without removing the valve from the container wall, featuring a main tubular body with a tapering segment, membrane portion, and resilient materials that transition between sealed and open states based on fluid pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional sealing valves are used to maintain seal integrity, then sealing functionality is preserved, but cleaning and sanitization require removal of the valve
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing valve is divided into functional segments: a sealing portion that maintains the seal and a flow path portion that allows cleaning fluid to pass through. This segmentation enables the sealing function to be preserved while allowing access for cleaning operations without removing the entire valve assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
A cleaning fluid flow path is introduced as an intermediary mechanism that passes through the sealing valve structure. This intermediary allows cleaning solutions to reach internal surfaces without requiring removal of the seal, thus maintaining seal integrity while enabling thorough cleaning.
2Reliability
If sealing valves are designed with internal cavities for sealing, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but debris accumulation in pocket-like portions occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The design extracts or eliminates dead-end pocket-like cavities that trap debris. The flow path is configured to ensure continuous fluid movement through all internal surfaces, preventing stagnation and debris accumulation while maintaining effective sealing functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow path is designed to ensure continuous fluid flow along all internal and external surfaces of the sealing valve. This continuous action prevents debris accumulation by constantly moving cleaning solutions through the entire structure, including sealing surfaces, without creating stagnant pockets.
3Reliability
If sealing valves require removal for cleaning, then thorough sanitization can be achieved, but maintenance time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing valve is designed to be self-cleanable through the integrated flow path that allows cleaning solutions to pass through the valve structure itself. The valve serves its own cleaning needs without requiring removal or external intervention, significantly reducing maintenance time and costs while maintaining sanitization quality.
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
Facilitates periodic cleaning and sanitization of sealing valves in place, reducing maintenance time and costs by allowing simultaneous washing of internal and external surfaces with fluid flow, while maintaining the seal integrity.
Implementation Method 1
configured to bend distally when flow-induced pressure gradient is applied thereto by fluid flowing in the distal direction
Implementation Method 2
The membrane valve portion is resiliently biased toward the proximal direction
Implementation Method 3
configured to expand in the radial direction away from the tube extending there-through, when fluid pressure is applied to the distal end
Implementation Method 4
The distal end is made of a resilient flexible material, configured to expand
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to sealing valves that can be mounted within a container wall, enabling controlled fluid flow along both inner and outer surfaces of the sealing valve in the same distal direction.