Eccentric Roller Pinch Valve for Precise Tube Pressure Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pinch valves suffer from non-proportional load loss with pinch height, narrow plunger width, and imprecise control, limiting their effectiveness in controlling pressure over a wide range, especially at low flow rates and for precise applications.
Innovation Solution
A pressure control pinch valve using an eccentric roller with a peripheral contact surface that compresses the flexible tube against a fixed support, allowing for gradual pinching and precise control, with a wide active surface and automated rotation for enhanced precision and interchangeability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If a narrow plunger is used to minimize actuation power, then the linear actuator power is reduced, but the pressure drop control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional narrow linear plunger with a roller having a cylindrical shape. This curvature allows the roller to compress the tube over a larger surface area during rotation, increasing the pressure drop for a given actuation displacement while maintaining moderate actuation power requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from linear actuation (1D) to rotational actuation (2D/3D). The roller rotates around an axis perpendicular to the tube axis, converting rotational motion into radial compression force. This dimensional change allows gradual pressure control through rotation angle while maintaining compact actuation power.
2Measurement precision
If the active surface width is increased to improve pressure control precision, then the pressure drop control precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The roller serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as the actuating element, the compression element, and the wide active surface element. By integrating these functions into a single rotating component, the patent achieves precise pressure control over a wide area without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The roller is designed to rotate dynamically, allowing the active compression surface to engage the tube at different positions during rotation. This dynamic operation enables precise pressure control through angular position while maintaining a compact structural footprint.
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
Enables high-precision, reliable pressure control across a wide range, with increased pressure drop for a given pinch height, and simplified architecture for easy adaptation to various tube diameters, facilitating precise and reliable control in applications like tangential flow filtration.
Implementation Method 1
a roller rotating around an axis which is eccentric to the center of the roller and provided with a peripheral contact surface exerting a force directly on the tube so as to gradually compress the tube against the fixed support during a rotation of the roller
Data Source
AI summary
A pressure control pinch valve for a flexible tube, includes a fixed support cooperating with one side of a flexible tube to be controlled, a dynamic pressure arranged on the opposite side to the fixed support and able to pinch the tube in order to control the pressure therein, the dynamic pressure being composed of a rotating roller that is mounted so as to rotate about an off-center axis with respect to the center of the roller and is provided with a peripheral contact surface exerting a force directly on the tube.