Flow Divider Jet-Intensifier Ball-Track Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing high-pressure nozzles for industrial cleaning and drilling applications face inefficiencies in flow and effectiveness due to continuous flow patterns, which can hinder the egress of cut or broken material and lead to potential damage to buried cables and pipes during hydroexcavation.
Innovation Solution
A flow tube design incorporating a ball-track assembly that creates an interrupted flow pattern by rotating balls, generating pressure/energy gradients and allowing for easier egress of debris while maintaining high cutting action at the trailing edge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a continuous flow pattern is used in high-pressure nozzles, then the jet maintains steady pressure, but the egress of cut or broken material is hindered and cleaning effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by introducing an interrupter element that creates pulsed or intermittent flow patterns instead of continuous flow. This periodic interruption allows debris to be ejected during low-pressure phases while maintaining high-pressure impact during active phases, resolving the contradiction between cleaning effectiveness and debris egress.
Solution Approach 2:
The continuous flow is segmented into discrete pulses through the interrupter element. This segmentation breaks the uniform flow into controlled intervals, allowing debris removal between pulses while maintaining cutting action during pulses, thereby improving both cleaning effectiveness and debris egress.
2Productivity
If a straight jet is used for hydroexcavation, then cutting performance is excellent, but potential damage to buried cables and pipes occurs due to focused water jet
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using an interrupter element that creates zones of different flow characteristics within the jet. The interrupter creates alternating high-pressure and low-pressure zones, allowing focused cutting action at specific locations while reducing impact on surrounding areas, thus protecting buried utilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The periodic interruption of the jet creates temporal variations in pressure distribution. During active phases, concentrated cutting power is delivered; during interruption phases, reduced pressure allows debris egress and minimizes damage risk to surrounding utilities, resolving the contradiction between cutting performance and utility protection.
3Power
If high-pressure water is delivered continuously, then jet energy is maintained, but debris evacuation is hampered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses periodic action to alternate between high-power jet delivery phases and debris evacuation phases. The interrupter element creates rhythmic pulsing that maintains average jet energy while providing periodic low-pressure intervals for efficient debris removal, resolving the contradiction between power maintenance and evacuation effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The interrupted flow pattern maintains continuity of useful action by ensuring that both cutting/ cleaning action and debris evacuation occur in a continuous cycle without complete stoppage. The pulsing flow ensures that productive work is continuously performed while periodically allowing debris removal, maintaining overall productivity.
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 interrupted flow pattern significantly enhances cleaning, cutting, and boring performance by up to 500% compared to traditional continuous flow nozzles, facilitating the evacuation of debris and maintaining high energy impact on surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
A flow tube design incorporating a ball-track assembly that creates an interrupted flow pattern by rotating balls, generating pressure/energy gradients
Implementation Method 2
High-pressure waterjets and related equipment serve a broad array of industrial cleaning, surface preparation, cutting, and boring/drilling applications
Implementation Method 3
The nozzle's design is crucial to effectively and efficiently produce maximum jet energy for optimum results in the desired application
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a flow insert and improved flow tube, such as a nozzle, that divides flow by generating an interrupted flow pattern, including pressure/energy gradients, in the otherwise uninterrupted flow of high pressure water through the nozzle. Cutting, cleaning, and boring performance is substantially improved. The interrupted flow pattern can provide for egress of cut or broken material to get out of the way, so cutting or cleaning action is not hampered by a continuous flow of high-pressure water. One or more balls circumferentially rotating around a ball-track assembly having a track support within the flow tube causes the flow interruption. When the flow is interrupted, the interruption's trailing edge (that is, the flow's restarting edge after the interruption) provides stronger cutting action than a continuous solid jet. The flow tube can be used for a broad array of industrial cleaning, surface preparation, cutting, and boring/drilling applications.