Coolant Valve Flow Path Design to Prevent Bore Clogging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional coolant valves for motor vehicles are prone to malfunction due to impurity deposition in through-going bores and chambers, which compromises the pressure-balancing function and movability, leading to sluggish operation and potential clogging.
Innovation Solution
A coolant valve design featuring a control body with an annular protrusion and axial groove that acts as a dirt trap, combined with a protective particle screen to prevent impurities from entering through-going bores, ensuring that the main flow is directed away from these bores and reducing particle deposition, thereby maintaining the pressure-balancing function and movability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If through-going bores are provided in the control body for pressure balancing, then switching time is reduced, but impurities deposit in the bores and chamber causing clogging and malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a particle screen as an intermediary component positioned at the inlet of the control body. This screen acts as a mediator that allows coolant flow to pass through while intercepting and retaining impurities before they can enter the through-going bores and chamber, thus preserving the pressure balancing function while preventing clogging
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the harmful impurities from the coolant flow by using a particle screen that separates and removes particles from the flow path. This extraction prevents impurities from entering critical areas (through-going bores and chamber) while maintaining the necessary coolant flow for pressure balancing
2Productivity
If coolant flow with impurities passes through the valve, then cooling function is provided, but particles deposit in the chamber and bores leading to sluggish operation
Solution Approach 1:
The particle screen serves as an intermediary that allows the coolant flow to maintain its cooling function while preventing particles from reaching the control body's internal passages. The screen mediates between the need for coolant flow and the need to prevent particle deposition
3Reliability
If the chamber behind the control body is filled with particles, then pressure balancing fails, but adding a dirt pocket groove does not prevent bore clogging
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than adding complex structural features like dirt pocket grooves, the patent uses a particle screen as a simpler intermediary component that prevents particles from entering the chamber and bores in the first place, maintaining pressure balancing function without increasing structural complexity
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
The design effectively reduces the influx of impurities into the chamber, preventing clogging and maintaining the valve's functional capability over a longer period, ensuring reliable operation even under pressure fluctuations.
Implementation Method 1
an axial groove is formed at the outlet branch caused by the particle load of the coolant flow, which axial groove is configured so that it is open towards the housing for defining a dirt pocket where dirt from the coolant can be collected
Implementation Method 2
the through-going bores in the control body here serve for a pressure balance between the side of the control body facing the valve seat and the side of the control body facing away from the valve seat
Data Source
AI summary
A coolant valve for a motor vehicle. The coolant valve includes a housing with an inlet and an outlet, a valve seat which surrounds a flow cross-section formed between the inlet and the outlet, and a control body which is placeable on and liftable off the valve seat via an actuator. The control body has through-going bores via which the inlet is continuously connected to a chamber on a side of the control body which faces away from the inlet, a first annular protrusion which axially extends towards the valve seat and via which the control body is placed on the valve seat, a wall which extends radially between the first annular protrusion and the through-going bores, and an axial groove which extends in a circumferential direction and which is delimited radially to an outside by the first annular protrusion and radially to an inside by the wall.