Plastic Gate Valve Slider with Edge Flanges for Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gate valves for controlling liquid, sludge, and fecal matter are insufficiently rigid, leading to flexing and potential destruction of gate seals in larger fluid passages.
Innovation Solution
The gate valve incorporates flanges along the opposite straight edges of the slider, made from plastic material, to enhance rigidity and prevent flexing, with the flanges also serving as guiding elements within the valve body's channels, and a metal shaft for secure operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the slider is made thicker to improve rigidity, then the rigidity increases, but the manufacturing cost and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The slider is segmented into a flat central body and separate flange elements extending from opposite edges. This segmentation allows the flanges to provide localized rigidity enhancement without requiring the entire slider to be thickened, thus reducing overall plastic material consumption while maintaining necessary structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
Rigidity is locally enhanced at critical regions where flanges are attached to opposite edges of the slider. This local quality improvement provides the necessary stiffness to prevent flexing during operation without uniformly increasing the slider's thickness and material usage throughout the entire component.
2Strength
If flanges are added to the slider edges, then rigidity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flanges are merged with the slider body as integral components, forming a unified structure that combines the flat slider with edge-mounted flanges. This merging approach provides rigidity enhancement without requiring separate attachment components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The flanges serve multiple functions: they provide structural rigidity to prevent slider flexing, act as guiding elements within the valve body channels, and serve as mounting features for seals. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional components, offsetting the complexity increase from adding flange structures.
3Reliability
If the slider is made more rigid with flanges, then seal integrity is maintained, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slider geometry is modified by adding flanges with specific dimensional parameters (extending perpendicular to the slider face). This parameter change increases rigidity and maintains seal integrity while the flanges are designed with practical dimensions that can be manufactured using standard molding techniques, limiting cost increases.
Data Source
AI summary
A gate valve includes a valve body having a fluid passage for the passage of liquid, sludge and/or fecal matter and a substantially flat slider. The slider is slideable between an opened and a closed position in order to open or block the fluid passage, respectively. The slider includes two opposite straight edges via which the slider is slidably guided in the valve body surrounding it. The slider is substantially made from a plastic material. The slider includes flanges along each of the two opposite straight edges for providing rigidity to the slider.