Coaxial Valve Replaceable Sealing Element

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing coaxial valves face challenges in maintenance due to dirt accumulation on valve seat faces, requiring time-consuming disassembly and replacement, leading to increased downtimes and costs.

Innovation Solution

A coaxial valve design featuring a replaceable sealing element with multiple valve seat faces distributed circumferentially around its axis, allowing for easy lateral removal, cleaning, and reinstallation without disassembling the entire valve housing, and enabling rotation for surface reuse.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the valve seat face is made as a fixed integral part of the valve housing, then the structural integrity and sealing reliability are improved, but the maintenance complexity and downtime increase significantly when cleaning is required

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesealing reliabilityVSAvoidmaintenance downtime
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The valve seat face is segmented from the valve housing and integrated onto a separate sealing element that can be independently removed and cleaned. This allows the sealing element to be detached laterally from the valve housing without disassembling the entire valve structure, enabling quick cleaning and maintenance while preserving sealing reliability through the dedicated sealing element design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The sealing element carrying the valve seat face is extracted as a removable component from the valve housing. This extracted sealing element can be easily removed laterally for cleaning and inspection, significantly reducing maintenance downtime while maintaining reliable sealing through its dedicated sealing function.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Ease of operation

If the entire valve housing is disassembled for cleaning the valve seat, then complete cleaning is achieved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecleaning accessibilityVSAvoidvalve assembly complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The sealing element is segmented as a separate removable component, allowing it to be accessed and cleaned independently without disassembling the entire valve housing. This segmentation provides complete cleaning accessibility to the valve seat face while avoiding the complexity of full valve disassembly.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The sealing element is extracted as a standalone component that can be removed laterally from the valve housing for cleaning purposes. This extraction enables complete cleaning of the valve seat face without requiring complex disassembly of the entire valve assembly, thereby simplifying the maintenance process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Ease of manufacture

If a single valve seat face is provided on the sealing element, then the sealing function is simple and reliable, but the service life is limited due to wear and contamination

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesealing element simplicityVSAvoidvalve seat service life
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSDuration of action of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The sealing element is designed with multiple valve seat faces distributed circumferentially around its axis, enabling it to perform multiple sealing functions. When one valve seat face becomes worn or contaminated, the sealing element can be rotated to present a different valve seat face, effectively extending the service life of the sealing element while maintaining simple and reliable sealing functionality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The sealing element incorporates rotational capability around the flow axis, allowing dynamic repositioning of different valve seat faces. This dynamic feature enables the valve seat faces to be rotated into position as needed, extending service life by allowing multiple uses of the same sealing element before replacement is required.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP2516900B1Coaxial valve having a sealing element
Publication Date: 2020.05.27 SCHNEIDER(DE)
  • EP2516900B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2516900B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2516900B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A coaxial valve (10) has a valve housing (11) with an inlet port (12) and an outlet port (14) for a medium (15) flowing through the coaxial valve. A control tube is movable in its longitudinal direction in the valve housing (11) and interacts with the inlet port (12) and the outlet port (14) such that with the valve (10) opened medium (15) flows through the control tube. A valve seat within said valve housing has a valve seat face, the control tube interacting with the valve seat face in one of its axial end positions for closing the coaxial valve (10). The valve seat face is formed on a replaceable sealing element (22) which is arranged in an opening (19) of the valve housing (11), said opening (19), running essentially transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction.