Guide-Roller Pinch Valve for Stable Tube Positioning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pinch valves for fluid control in medical and pharmaceutical applications suffer from issues such as tube migration leading to wear and inconsistent pinches, as well as requiring multiple designs for different tube diameters, with existing solutions failing to adequately address these problems.
Innovation Solution
A pinch valve design featuring a housing with pinch bars and guide rollers that translate linearly to compress a flexible tube, with rollers positioned to maintain the tube away from the housing walls, allowing for various tube sizes and reducing wear through guided compression.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an open block style housing is used to accommodate a wide range of flexible tube diameters, then adaptability is improved, but tube location control deteriorates causing lateral migration and wear
Solution Approach 1:
Guide rollers are introduced as intermediary elements between the housing and the flexible tube. These rollers actively guide the tube through the housing, preventing lateral migration while maintaining compatibility with various tube diameters. The rollers serve as a mediating mechanism that resolves the conflict between housing openness and tube stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rollers are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing them to adapt dynamically to different tube diameters and positions. This dynamic capability enables the same housing design to work with various tube sizes while maintaining consistent guidance and preventing wear.
2Reliability
If a rigid housing is used to hold the flexible tube in a fixed and centered location, then tube location stability is improved, but tube wear due to longitudinal movement deteriorates and multiple design variants are required
Solution Approach 1:
The guide roller system provides a universal solution that works across multiple tube diameters within a single housing design. Rather than requiring different rigid housing variants for different tube sizes, the rollers accommodate various diameters through their rolling contact mechanism, making the housing universally applicable.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rollers act as an intermediary between the rigid housing structure and the flexible tube, allowing the rigid housing to maintain its position-stabilizing function while the rollers handle the adaptation to different tube diameters and prevent direct wear contact.
3Reliability
If a flexible elastomeric housing is used to reduce tube wear from longitudinal movement, then tube wear is reduced, but friction during tube installation and replacement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rollers serve as intermediary elements that replace direct contact between the elastomeric housing and the flexible tube during operation. This mediation reduces friction during tube installation and replacement while still providing the wear-reduction benefits of the elastomeric material during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The rolling contact mechanism of the guide rollers substitutes for the sliding friction that would occur between the elastomeric housing and the tube during installation. This mechanical substitution reduces the force required for tube installation and replacement while maintaining wear protection during operation.
4Area of stationary object
If guide rollers are positioned close to the housing wall to maximize space utilization, then housing space efficiency is improved, but tube migration toward the wall increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rollers are positioned at specific locations within the housing that optimize both space utilization and tube guidance. By strategically placing rollers at critical points rather than uniformly distributing them, the design achieves effective tube guidance while maximizing the remaining space for fluid flow and housing functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rollers mediate between the housing wall and the flexible tube, allowing them to be positioned in space-efficient locations while still preventing direct contact and migration. The rollers act as a buffer that enables close positioning without the harmful effects of direct wall contact.
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
The design effectively prevents tube wear and maintains consistent pinches across different tube diameters by using guide rollers to keep the tube spaced from the housing walls, enhancing durability and versatility.
Implementation Method 1
friction between the elastomeric housing and the flexible tube can present some difficulties feeding the flexible tube through the pinch valve housing
Implementation Method 2
an actuator configured to linearly translate the first and second pinch bars relative to one another along a translation axis to pinch a flexible tube extending through an opening of the housing
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
A pinch valve includes a housing, first and second pinch bars, an actuator, a first front roller and a first rear roller. The actuator translates the first and second pinch bars relative to one another along a translation axis to pinch a flexible tube extending through an opening of the housing. The first front roller and the first rear roller are spaced from one another in the direction of a longitudinal axis. The first front roller extends transverse the opening and is positioned longitudinally upstream from the first and second pinch bars and the first rear roller extends transverse the opening and is positioned longitudinally downstream from the first and second pinch bars. The housing includes a first wall bordering the opening. A first plane lying tangent to the first front roller and the first rear roller is spaced inward from the first wall of the housing.