Flush Valve Diaphragm Sealing Ring Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flush valve diaphragms often fail to ensure correct positioning of the bypass orifice during installation, leading to inadequate sealing and pressure drop issues, which affect the performance of flush valves in water closets and urinals.
Innovation Solution
A diaphragm design featuring a sealing ring with a recessed area that engages in a keyed relationship with the valve body, ensuring accurate and consistent positioning of the bypass orifice, along with protruding ribs for structural support and fluid direction, to establish a reliable seal between the diaphragm and the valve body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a conventional diaphragm design without positioning features is used, then the diaphragm structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the bypass orifice positioning is inaccurate and inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The diaphragm's own sealing ring structure provides the positioning function through the recessed area, eliminating the need for separate positioning features on the valve body. The recessed area in the sealing ring self-aligns with the protrusion during installation, ensuring accurate bypass orifice positioning without requiring additional components or complex assembly procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning function is moved from the valve body (traditional approach) to the sealing ring of the diaphragm itself. By creating a recessed area in the sealing ring that engages with a protrusion on the valve body, the positioning constraint is established in a different dimensional context, allowing for more precise angular positioning of the bypass orifice relative to the valve body features.
2Reliability
If the bypass orifice is misaligned with the valve body, then the diaphragm structure remains simple, but the sealing performance and pressure drop are inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing ring's recessed area serves dual purposes: it provides the sealing function and simultaneously establishes the correct positioning of the bypass orifice. During installation, the recessed area engages with the protrusion on the valve body, automatically aligning the bypass orifice at the predetermined angular position (90 or 135 degrees) relative to valve body features, ensuring proper pressure drop and sealing performance without requiring separate positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The recessed area in the sealing ring creates an asymmetric geometric feature that provides a unique angular orientation. This asymmetric positioning feature ensures that the bypass orifice is positioned at a specific angle (90 or 135 degrees) relative to the valve body, preventing misalignment and ensuring reliable sealing performance and proper pressure differential across the diaphragm.
3Manufacturing precision
If a keyed relationship with predetermined angular positioning is implemented, then the bypass orifice positioning accuracy is improved, but the installation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The recessed area in the sealing ring and the corresponding protrusion on the valve body create a self-aligning keyed relationship. During installation, the diaphragm is simply inserted into the valve body, and the recessed area automatically engages with the protrusion, positioning the bypass orifice at the correct angle (90 or 135 degrees) without requiring complex alignment procedures or specialized installation tools. The keyed relationship guides the installation process rather than complicating it.
Data Source
AI summary
A diaphragm for use in a diaphragm-type flush valve includes a flexible diaphragm body having a first side and a second side and an outer periphery, a center passageway defined in the diaphragm body, a bypass orifice defined in the diaphragm body, and a sealing ring attached to the outer periphery of the flexible diaphragm body. The sealing ring defines an outer circumferential surface of the diaphragm. The outer circumferential surface of the sealing ring defines a recessed area. The recessed area is configured to be positioned in a keyed relationship with a flush valve body.