Flapper Servo Valve Assembly Without Brazed Nozzle Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional single-stage flapper type servo valve assemblies are complex, expensive, and time-intensive to manufacture, requiring precise air gaps and brazed connections, which complicates the manufacturing process and increases costs.
Innovation Solution
A simplified servo valve design featuring a magnetic coil and core drive assembly that moves an elongate flapper member axially, eliminating the need for brazed connections and precise air gaps, and allowing the nozzles to be formed integrally within the valve body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional single-stage flapper type servo valve assemblies use brazed connections and precise air gaps, then manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper member is integrally formed with the valve body as a single piece, eliminating the need for separate brazed connections between flapper and valve body. This merging of components reduces assembly complexity while maintaining structural integrity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex brazing process and precise air gap requirements are extracted/eliminated from the design. The integral construction removes the need for separate flapper component and its associated joining processes, simplifying manufacturing while ensuring reliability.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional servo valves use separate nozzle components with brazed connections, then flow control precision is improved, but manufacturing time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzles are integrally formed with the valve body as a single component, eliminating separate nozzle assembly and brazing operations. This maintains precise flow control geometry while dramatically improving manufacturing efficiency by reducing assembly steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The nozzle geometry is pre-formed as part of the integral valve body structure, so precise flow control features are already in place during the primary manufacturing process, eliminating the need for subsequent separate nozzle installation and alignment operations.
3Measurement precision
If conventional flapper assemblies require precise air gaps, then valve accuracy is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper and valve body are merged into a single integral component, eliminating the air gap between them. This removes the need for precise air gap maintenance while preserving accurate flow control through the integrated geometry design.
Solution Approach 2:
The air gap requirement is extracted/eliminated from the design by creating direct contact between flapper and valve body surfaces. This simplifies manufacturing by removing the need for precise gap control while maintaining valve accuracy through integral construction.
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 solution reduces manufacturing complexity and costs, while maintaining accuracy and reliability, by simplifying the assembly process and eliminating the need for precise air gaps and separate nozzle components.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic coil and core passing through the coil and configured to move axially with respect to the coil when the coil is powered by a current dependent on the control signal
Data Source
AI summary
A servo valve includes a fluid transfer valve assembly comprising a valve body having a supply port and a control port (C1). The valve body has first and second nozzles and a drive member therebetween, arranged to regulate flow of fluid from the supply port to the control port in response to a control signal. The assembly also includes a drive assembly comprising a magnetic coil and a core passing through the coil and configured to move axially with respect to the coil when the coil is powered by a current dependent on the control signal, the drive assembly arranged to move the drive member relative to the first and second nozzles in response to the control signal.