Modular Control Valve Insert Sleeve for Standardized Actuator Guiding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing control valve systems face challenges in reducing manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance costs while achieving high quality standards for various fluid flow configurations, particularly with different fluid flow values and valve configurations.
Innovation Solution
An insert arrangement for control valves featuring a modular system with a mounting flange and an adaptable insert sleeve that can be easily customized for specific applications, allowing for a standardized mounting flange to be used with various actuators and valve configurations, reducing the need for complex reworking and enabling cost-effective production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a modular valve housing system with adapter flanges is used to provide different functional configurations, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple components (housing body, housing cover, adapter flanges)
Solution Approach 1:
The insert arrangement combines multiple functions into a single integrated component. The insert includes both the adapter flange functionality and the actuator guide functionality, eliminating the need for separate adapter flanges and guide structures. This universal design allows one component to serve multiple purposes: providing different valve configurations, guiding the actuator, and enabling standardized mounting interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the adapter flange and actuator guide into a single integrated insert component. This combination reduces the total number of parts while maintaining all necessary functions. The insert is inserted into the valve housing and provides both the interface for different valve configurations and the structural guidance for the actuator movement.
2Manufacturing precision
If housing bodies and covers are manufactured as cast parts with complex mechanical reworking, then manufacturing precision is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to complex reworking processes
Solution Approach 1:
The valve system is segmented into standardized housing components and customizable insert components. The housing body and cover are manufactured as standardized cast parts with uniform interfaces, while the specific functional configurations are provided by separate insert components that can be manufactured using simpler processes and then inserted into the standardized housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized interfaces for the housing body and cover are prepared in advance during casting, creating uniform mounting surfaces. The specific functional inserts are then separately manufactured and inserted into these pre-prepared interfaces, eliminating the need for complex post-casting reworking for each configuration.
3Productivity
If standardized housing bodies and covers are used with different adapter flanges, then productivity is improved through standardization, but device complexity increases due to multiple adapter components
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter flange and actuator guide functions are merged into a single insert component. This reduces the number of assembly steps from assembling multiple separate components (housing body, housing cover, adapter flange, guide structure) to assembling fewer integrated components (housing body, housing cover, integrated insert).
Solution Approach 2:
The standardized housing body and cover serve as universal platforms that can accommodate different insert configurations. Each insert provides both the adapter flange interface and the actuator guide functionality, allowing rapid configuration changes without requiring multiple specialized housing variants.
Data Source
AI summary
An insert arrangement may be used with a control valve for adjusting a process fluid flow of a process plant (e.g., a chemical plant, a power plant, a food processing plant) having a valve housing, a housing cover and an actuator. The insert arrangement may include an annular mounting flange which can be inserted between the valve housing and the housing cover. An insert sleeve may be reversibly attachable or attached radially on the inner side of the mounting flange for guiding the actuator.