Gas Booster Piston Valve Arrangement Minimize Dead Volume
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas boosters face challenges in achieving high pressure levels while maintaining a lightweight and compact design, as they often require heavy components or consume significant volumes of gas to power the booster, limiting their efficiency and portability.
Innovation Solution
The gas booster design incorporates a piston assembly with a unique valve arrangement and a cam mechanism to minimize dead volume and distribute torque efficiently, using a smaller and lighter motor to achieve high output pressure levels, and includes a mechanical advantage device like a planetary gear set to amplify torque and reduce motor size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If a gas booster is designed to produce high pressure levels, then the output pressure is improved, but the weight of the booster increases due to heavy components like hydraulic pumps or large electric motors
Solution Approach 1:
The gas booster is divided into multiple cylinders (first cylinder, second cylinder, third cylinder) with separate piston assemblies. Each cylinder handles a portion of the compression task, allowing the system to achieve high output pressure without requiring a single oversized motor or pump, thus reducing overall weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The piston assemblies are positioned within the cylindrical bores, with check valves nested at the ends of the bores. The cam mechanism rotates to simultaneously control multiple pistons. This nested arrangement maximizes space utilization and reduces the overall footprint and weight of the booster while maintaining high pressure capability.
2Stress or pressure
If a gas booster uses hydraulic pumps to generate drive pressure, then high pressure output is achieved, but the booster becomes excessively heavy
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using heavy hydraulic pumps, the invention employs a cam mechanism that converts rotational motion into reciprocating piston motion. The cam rotates to directly drive the pistons through mechanical contact, eliminating the need for hydraulic fluid systems and heavy pumps, thus achieving high drive pressure with significantly reduced weight.
3Stress or pressure
If a gas booster uses a larger electric motor to achieve high pressure levels, then the output pressure is improved, but the booster weight and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The compression task is segmented across three cylinders with separate piston assemblies. Each piston contributes to the overall pressure generation, allowing the use of a smaller electric motor that would be insufficient for a single-cylinder high-pressure system. This segmentation reduces both motor size and overall booster volume.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple piston assemblies operating in parallel within the same housing are merged to achieve high pressure output. The combined effect of three pistons driven by a single cam mechanism allows a smaller motor to produce the equivalent pressure of a much larger single-piston system, reducing overall volume.
4Ease of manufacture
If check valves are positioned away from the piston, then valve operation is simplified, but dead volume in the cavity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The check valves are positioned at the extreme ends of the cylindrical bores, creating localized sealing zones. This positioning ensures that when pistons reach their terminal positions, the check valves seal immediately against the port openings, minimizing the volume of trapped gas (dead volume) while maintaining simple valve operation through pressure differential alone.
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
This configuration allows for the production of high pressure gas at high volumes with reduced weight and size, enhancing the efficiency and portability of the gas booster, suitable for applications such as pressure controllers and calibrators.
Implementation Method 1
a piston that is moveable in the bore of the at least one cylinder thereby forming a cavity that expands and contracts in response to the piston moving within the bore. The cavity may be configured to receive a gas at a first pressure level via a first port and to output the gas at a second pressure level
Implementation Method 2
a first check valve located proximate the first port and a second check valve located proximate the second port. The first check valve may selectively permit the gas to enter the cavity through the first port, and the second check valve may selectively permit the gas to exit the cavity though the second port
Data Source
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AI summary
A gas booster comprising: at least one cylinder (142) having a bore (144) therein; a piston (140) moveable in the bore of the at least one cylinder thereby forming a cavity (146) that expands and contracts in response to the piston moving within the bore, wherein the cavity is configured to receive a gas at a first pressure level via a first port (170) and to output the gas at a second pressure level via a second port (172); a mechanism (152) configured to cause the piston to move within the bore from a first position to a second position; a first check valve (174) having a planar, sealing member located proximate the first port, the first check valve selectively permitting the gas to enter the cavity through the first port; and a second check valve (176) located proximate the second port, the second check valve selectively permitting the gas to exit the cavity though the second port; wherein the first and second check valves are configured and arranged so as to minimize the dead volume of the cavity when the piston has attained the second position.