Diaphragm Pump Spool Valve Switching Without Spring Mechanisms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional diaphragm pumps with spring mechanisms for oil recovery suffer from increased air consumption, reduced efficiency, and shortened diaphragm life due to air being sucked during oil recovery, especially when dealing with low liquid levels, leading to complex mechanisms and maintenance challenges.
Innovation Solution
A diaphragm pump design that eliminates the spring mechanism, using a spool with disc-shaped portions and a guide bush to smoothly switch compressed air between air chambers, allowing the center rod to reciprocate without springs, and featuring a gasket for easy maintenance and reliable air delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring mechanism (detent mechanism) is used in the valve switching device to prevent the spool from stopping at an intermediate position, then the reliability of the switching is improved, but the device complexity increases and maintenance becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the spring mechanism (detent mechanism) from the valve switching device, extracting the problematic component that caused complexity and maintenance issues. The spool is allowed to stop at intermediate positions without the spring prevention mechanism, simplifying the overall device structure while maintaining functional reliability through the alternative sealing design.
2Device complexity
If the spool stops at an intermediate position, then the mechanism can be simpler, but the switching reliability deteriorates and may cause malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces sealing elements (O-rings or packings) as intermediaries between the spool and the valve body ports. These sealing elements ensure that even when the spool stops at intermediate positions, proper sealing is maintained and air flow is correctly directed, thereby maintaining switching reliability without requiring complex spring mechanisms to prevent intermediate stopping.
3Ease of operation
If throttle control valves are added to control air supply pressure, then the operation control is improved, but the device complexity increases and the throttle valves may interfere with the pilot flow path
Solution Approach 1:
The spool valve is designed to perform multiple functions: it acts as both the main switching valve for air supply to diaphragms and as a flow path controller. By integrating these functions into a single component, the patent avoids adding separate throttle control valves that would increase complexity and potentially interfere with the pilot flow path, while still providing operational control capability.
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
This design simplifies the mechanism, reduces air consumption, enhances efficiency, and extends diaphragm life by ensuring smooth operation and easy maintenance, while maintaining reliable compressed air sealing and switching.
Implementation Method 1
a surface area of each disc-shaped portion that receives a compressed air pressure has a relationship that an upper side of the disc-shaped portion S3> a lower side of the disc-shaped portion S2> an upper side of the disc-shaped portion S1
Implementation Method 2
each disc-shaped portion of the spool includes a sealing functioning as a packing that separates each port with the sleeve
Implementation Method 3
the center rod reciprocates to alternately increase the volume of one operating air chamber and the volume of another operating air chamber in a repeated manner
Data Source
AI summary
To manufacture a diaphragm pump with higher reliability in which the mechanism of a main valve is simplified without a pilot chamber. A diaphragm pump 10 includes paired diaphragms 34 and 44 that define pump chambers 36, 46 and air chambers 32, 42, a main body unit 20 that slidably supports a center rod 120 at a central portion of each diaphragm 34, 44 so as to be capable of reciprocating the center rod 120, and a valve body 80 that houses a spool 100 that switches supply of a fluid to the air chambers 32 and 42 so as to reciprocate the center rod 120, the valve body 80 including a sleeve 84, and the spool 100 that is disposed inside the sleeve 84 to be reciprocated in an axial direction, wherein the spool 100 is composed of a disc-shaped portion S3, a disc-shaped portion S2, and a disc-shaped portion S1, and a surface area of each disc-shaped portion that receives a compressed air pressure has a relationship that an upper side of the disc-shaped portion S3>a lower side of the disc-shaped portion S2>an upper side of the disc-shaped portion S1.