Fluid Valve Fitting with Integrated Bypass and Actuator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid delivery systems for cooling electronic equipment face challenges in preventing coolant spills during connection and disconnection, requiring a reliable and easy-to-use fluid valve fitting that can safely transition between flow-through and bypass states.
Innovation Solution
A fluid valve fitting with an incoming conduit, outgoing conduit, and bypass conduit, featuring inflow, outflow, and bypass valves, along with an actuator assembly that concurrently operates the lock mechanisms and valves to transition between flow-through and bypass states, ensuring secure and spill-free operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fluid valve fitting is designed with multiple valves and lock mechanisms to prevent coolant spills, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple valves (inflow valve, outflow valve, bypass valve) and lock mechanisms into a single integrated valve fitting assembly. All these components work together in a coordinated manner to prevent coolant spills during connection and disconnection operations, thereby achieving high reliability while managing complexity through integration rather than separate components
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism engages the valve stem in the closed position before the actual connection or disconnection occurs. This preliminary action ensures that the valves are already sealed and locked prior to any potential coolant exposure, preventing spills proactively rather than reactively
2Ease of operation
If an actuator assembly is used to concurrently operate multiple valves and lock mechanisms, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator assembly is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously performs multiple operations: it operates the inflow valve, outflow valve, bypass valve, and lock mechanism all through a single actuating motion. This universal actuator reduces the number of separate controls needed, improving ease of operation while consolidating complexity into one integrated component
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple control functions are merged into a single actuator assembly that coordinates the operation of all valves and lock mechanisms through unified mechanical linkages. This consolidation allows a user to control the entire valve fitting system with one action, simplifying the user interface while integrating complex internal mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid valve fitting has an incoming conduit with an inlet, an outlet, and a coupling assembly for its outlet, and an outgoing conduit with an inlet, an outlet, and a coupling assembly for its inlet. The fitting also has a bypass conduit between the incoming and the outgoing conduits, an inflow valve in the incoming conduit, an outflow valve in the outgoing conduit, and a bypass valve in the bypass conduit. An actuator assembly is coupled to lock mechanisms of the coupling assemblies, the inflow valve, the outflow valve, and the bypass valve. Operation of the actuator assembly concurrently operates the lock mechanisms, the inflow valve, the outflow valve, and the bypass valve.