Hygienic Lifting Valve Seal Structure With High-Fill Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing globe valves are not cost-effective and do not meet hygienic requirements, particularly in applications involving food, beverages, and pharmaceutical products, due to complex sealing mechanisms and potential contamination risks.
Innovation Solution
A globe valve design featuring a sealing arrangement with a first and second part connected by grooves and a clamping gap, filled to a high degree, with a seal comprising legs that provide a secure sealing contact with the valve seat, ensuring high hygienic properties and ease of production, and a threaded connection that guides force effectively to prevent contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex sealing mechanism with multiple grooves and detachable parts is used, then the sealing effect is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing arrangement is divided into a first part and a second part that are detachably connected. The first groove is formed in the first part, while the second groove and clamping gap are formed between the first and second parts. This segmentation allows for simplified manufacturing of individual parts while achieving complex sealing functionality when assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal with multiple legs is nested within the sealing arrangement structure. The first leg is accommodated in the first groove, the second leg in the second groove, and the third leg in the clamping gap. This nesting approach allows the seal to be contained within the structured arrangement while maintaining high sealing effectiveness.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional sealing designs with lower fill levels are used, then the manufacturing is simpler, but the hygienic properties and contamination resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing arrangement is designed to achieve a high fill level (over 95%) in specific critical areas: the first groove, the second groove, and the clamping gap. This localized high-fill design ensures hygienic properties and contamination resistance where most needed, while maintaining overall manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of accepting contamination risks as inevitable in traditional designs, the invention inverts the approach by designing the sealing arrangement to actively prevent contamination through high fill levels that eliminate gaps and crevices where contaminants could accumulate.
3Ease of operation
If a detachable connection between sealing parts is used, then the assembly and maintenance become easier, but the potential for contamination and reliability issues increase
Solution Approach 1:
The first groove, second groove, and clamping gap are pre-formed in the first and second parts during manufacturing, ready to receive the seal legs. This preliminary preparation ensures that when the detachable connection is assembled, the seal is immediately positioned correctly to achieve high sealing reliability without contamination risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal with its three legs acts as an intermediary element that connects and seals between the first and second parts. The first leg in the first groove, second leg in the second groove, and third leg in the clamping gap create a continuous sealing path that maintains reliability despite the detachable nature of the connection.
4Reliability
If the seal is pressed into grooves during operation, then the sealing contact is maintained, but the hygienic properties deteriorate due to potential contamination in groove areas
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing arrangement extends into multiple dimensions with grooves oriented in different directions (first groove in one orientation, second groove and clamping gap in another). This multi-dimensional arrangement allows the seal to maintain contact with the valve seat while the high fill levels prevent contamination accumulation in the groove areas.
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 achieves a cost-effective, reliable, and hygienic sealing solution with a high sealing effect and resistance to contamination, ensuring efficient operation and easy assembly, with a filling level of over 95% in the grooves and clamping gap, enhancing the valve's operational reliability.
Implementation Method 1
the elastic extensibility of the sealing elements should allow the valve element to be pushed through the corresponding valve seat with some external force, and the sealing elements should return to their original shape during valve operation
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4
AI summary
The invention relates to a lifting valve having a first connector, a second connector, a passage which connects the first connector to the second connector and is surrounded by a valve seat (6), and a closing element (7) which can be brought into sealing contact with the valve seat, and an actuating drive for bringing about the sealing contact. In order to provide an inexpensive hygienic valve, it is proposed that the closing element (7) has a seal arrangement with a first part (14) and a second part (15) which is connected releasably to the first part, a first groove (16) which is configured in the first part, a second groove (17) and a clamping gap (18), wherein the second groove and the clamping gap are formed between the first part and the second part, and a seal (13) is received with a first limb (21), a second limb (22) and a third limb (23) in the seal arrangement, and the first groove, the second groove and the clamping gap are filled with as high a degree of filling as possible, wherein the first limb is received in the first groove, the second limb is received in the second groove, and the third limb is received in the clamping gap. The invention likewise relates to a seal for a lifting valve.