Guided Flow Control Valve for Stable Water Meter Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flow control valves in water supply lines face challenges in accurately measuring water flow due to entrained air and water vapor, leading to inaccurate water readings and increased utility bills.
Innovation Solution
A flow control valve design featuring a housing with an inlet, outlet, and flow passage, a spring-biased valve head that moves between closed and open positions, and a guide assembly to constrain radial movement of the valve head, ensuring accurate fluid control until a predetermined pressure is reached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring-biased valve head is used to control fluid flow, then the valve can maintain closed position until predetermined pressure is reached, but radial movement of the valve head may occur causing inaccurate fluid control
Solution Approach 1:
A guide assembly is introduced as an intermediary component between the valve head and the housing. The guide assembly includes guide rails that engage with the valve head to constrain radial movement, allowing the valve head to move only in the axial direction. This mediator ensures accurate fluid control by preventing unwanted radial displacement while maintaining the spring-biased operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide assembly changes the movement parameters of the valve head by constraining radial degrees of freedom. The guide rails are positioned to engage the valve head at specific locations, allowing only axial movement along the flow passage. This parameter change ensures that the valve head follows a precise path, improving fluid control accuracy.
2Ease of operation
If the valve head is allowed to move freely between closed and open positions, then operation is simple, but radial movement causes inaccurate water meter readings
Solution Approach 1:
The guide assembly serves as a mediator that maintains simple operation while improving measurement precision. The guide rails engage the valve head to constrain radial movement, ensuring that the valve head moves only axially between closed and open positions. This constraint prevents radial displacement that would cause inaccurate water meter readings, while the valve remains easy to operate.
3Reliability
If the guide assembly constrains radial movement of the valve head, then fluid control accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide assembly is segmented into multiple guide rails that are distributed around the flow passage. Each guide rail engages a specific portion of the valve head to constrain radial movement. This segmentation allows the complex function of radial constraint to be achieved through multiple simple, modular components rather than a single complex mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide assembly performs multiple functions: it constrains radial movement of the valve head, guides axial movement, and maintains proper positioning of the valve head relative to the seat. By designing a single guide assembly structure that accomplishes these multiple functions, the overall device complexity is reduced compared to having separate mechanisms for each function.
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 valve effectively compresses entrained air and water vapor, improving the accuracy of water meter readings and reducing utility bills by ensuring precise fluid control and minimizing unnecessary fluid flow.
Implementation Method 1
a spring retained within the housing, the spring biasing the valve head to the closed position and configured to maintain the valve head in the closed position until a predetermined pressure is applied to the valve head from fluid at the inlet
Implementation Method 2
the valve head engages the valve seat in the closed position to seal the flow passage
Implementation Method 3
a guide assembly extending along at least a section of the flow passage, the guide assembly configured to engage the valve head to constrain radial movement of the valve head
Implementation Method 4
The valve effectively compresses entrained air and water vapor, improving the accuracy of water meter readings
Data Source
AI summary
Flow control valves may be positioned downstream of water meters to increase pressure and compress entrained water vapour passing through the meters. However, turbulence within such valves can cause the valve's head to move radially, bending a shaft within the valve which may break. Accordingly, there is provided a flow control valve comprising: a housing having a flow passage; a valve seat defined within the flow passage; a valve head moveable to a closed position to engage the valve seat and seal the flow passage; a shaft secured to the valve head; a support slidingly mounting the shaft within the housing; a spring biasing the valve head to the closed position and configured to maintain the valve head in the closed position until a predetermined pressure is applied; and a guide assembly extending along at least a portion of the flow passage to constrain radial movement of the valve head.