Fluid Control Valve with Conical Shaft for Compact Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid control valves are bulky and costly due to the need for a machined through hole and a rotatable ball, which increases manufacturing costs and axial length, while also facing challenges in maintaining sealing performance when parallelism between the valve body and seat is not constant.
Innovation Solution
A compact fluid control valve design featuring a shaft member with a reduced diameter first region and a second region that abuts a recessed holding member, allowing the valve body to swing and maintain sealing over the entire circumference of the valve seat, with an O-ring for additional sealing and alignment, reducing manufacturing complexity and length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rotatable ball and machined through hole are provided in the shaft member, then sealing performance is improved, but manufacturing costs increase and axial length increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the rotatable ball and machined through hole from the shaft member structure. Instead of using a complex ball mechanism, the patent employs a simpler shaft member with a conical surface that directly abuts the valve body, achieving the same sealing function without the additional components that increase manufacturing complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using a ball that rotates within a through hole to achieve sealing, the invention inverts the approach by using a conical surface on the shaft member that abuts directly against the valve body. This reversal of the sealing mechanism eliminates the need for the through hole and ball, simplifying the structure while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
2Reliability
If a rotatable ball and space for accommodating the ball are provided, then sealing performance is improved, but axial length increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the rotatable ball and its accommodating space from the shaft member structure. Instead of using a complex ball mechanism, the patent employs a simpler shaft member with a conical surface that directly abuts the valve body, achieving the same sealing function without the additional components that increase axial length.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using a ball that rotates within a through hole to achieve sealing, the invention inverts the approach by using a conical surface on the shaft member that abuts directly against the valve body. This reversal of the sealing mechanism eliminates the need for the through hole and ball, shortening the axial length while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
3Reliability
If the valve body is pressed against the valve seat over the entire circumference, then sealing performance is improved, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs the self-service principle by designing the shaft member with a conical surface that automatically centers and presses the valve body against the valve seat when the shaft is actuated. This self-centering action ensures uniform sealing pressure over the entire circumference without requiring additional complex mechanisms such as adjustment devices or multiple sealing elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid control valve includes: a shaft member that moves along an axis of the shaft by a driving force from a driving source connected to one end of the shaft member; a holding member including a bottomed tubular portion into which the other end of the shaft member is inserted with a radial predetermined gap and which has a recess formed to be recessed radially inward from a surface of the tubular portion, and a valve body formed by fixing a sealing member to an outer periphery of a flat plate shaped main body portion that extends radially outward from the tubular portion; a housing that includes an inlet and an outlet of a fluid, has an annular valve seat on which the valve body abuts to block a communication between the inlet and the outlet, and accommodates the shaft member and the holding member.