Integrated Fluid Control Valve for Hydropneumatic Cylinders
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid control valves for hydropneumatic cylinders are complex and large in size due to the individual incorporation of needle valves, flow rate regulating valves, and check valves, making them inconvenient to adjust and use.
Innovation Solution
A fluid control valve design that integrates a needle valve unit, check valve unit, and open/close control unit coaxially within a valve housing, with a piston and compression spring for pressure control, allowing for adjustable opening degrees through a screw coupling or cam mechanism, simplifying the structure and reducing size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If needle valve, flow rate regulating valve, and check valve are individually incorporated inside the valve housing, then the fluid control valve achieves complete control functions, but the structure becomes complicated and large in size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the needle valve unit, flow rate regulating valve unit, and check valve unit into a single integrated valve housing. The needle valve unit and flow rate regulating valve unit share a common valve body structure, and the check valve unit is integrated within the same housing, eliminating the need for separate valve components and reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining complete control functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve housing is designed as a multi-functional unit that simultaneously performs meter-in control (through the needle valve unit), flow rate regulation (through the flow rate regulating valve unit), and backflow prevention (through the check valve unit). This universal design allows a single valve assembly to replace multiple separate valves, reducing device complexity while achieving complete control functionality.
2Reliability
If needle valve, flow rate regulating valve, and check valve are individually incorporated inside the valve housing, then the fluid control valve achieves complete control functions, but the valve housing becomes large in size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a nested structure where the needle valve unit is positioned within the valve housing, the flow rate regulating valve unit is nested within the same housing, and the check valve unit is integrated within the nested arrangement. This nesting approach allows multiple valve functions to be compactly arranged within a smaller overall valve housing volume while maintaining complete control functionality.
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 integrated design results in a simpler, smaller fluid control valve that is easier to use and adjust, with unified functions of needle and flow rate control, enhancing operational convenience and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a compression spring for setting an operating pressure of the piston which is provided at another side of the piston
Implementation Method 2
a needle valve body that opens/closes the throttle hole. The needle valve body is formed on a distal end of a rod that extends linearly along the axis and is freely displaceable along a direction of the axis together with the rod
Implementation Method 3
The check valve unit is configured so as to stop flow of the fluid from the first port toward the second port and permit flow of the fluid from the second port toward the first port
Data Source
AI summary
Inside a valve housing equipped with a first flow path and a second flow path that connect in parallel with a first port and a second port, there are provided a needle valve body that opens/closes a throttle hole in the first flow path, a check valve that opens/closes the second flow path, and a piston that performs an open/close control of the needle valve body through the interaction of the pressure of a fluid introduced into a pressure chamber and the spring force of a compression spring. The needle valve body is formed at the tip of a rod coupled to the piston. Inside the rod and the needle valve body there is formed a conduction hole connecting the throttle hole and the pressure chamber.