Pendulum Crash Shut-Off Valve for Fast Gas Flow Interruption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shut-off valves in vehicles such as caravans and motorhomes do not respond quickly enough to accelerations and may have high flow resistance, leading to potential gas leaks during accidents.
Innovation Solution
A shut-off valve with a pendulum-mounted inertial body that is preloaded into a closed state, featuring a support element to maintain the closed position after triggering, ensuring rapid return to the open state and minimizing flow resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a traditional ball-type inertial body is used in a shut-off valve, then the valve can respond to accelerations, but the response time is too slow and flow resistance is high
Solution Approach 1:
The inertial body is designed as a pendulum mechanism that can dynamically swing between positions rather than simply moving linearly. The pendulum arm rotates about an axis, allowing rapid response to acceleration forces while maintaining a streamlined position during normal flow, thus reducing flow resistance while improving response speed
Solution Approach 2:
The design changes the physical configuration of the inertial body from a traditional ball to a pendulum mechanism with specific geometric parameters. The pendulum arm length, mass distribution, and pivot point are optimized to achieve rapid angular acceleration in response to g-forces, improving response time while the streamlined shape reduces flow resistance
2Reliability
If the closure device is preloaded into the closed state, then the valve ensures rapid closure during accidents, but the valve may have high flow resistance during normal operation
Solution Approach 1:
The closure device is preloaded into the closed state by a spring mechanism, ready to quickly open when needed. The spring stores potential energy that can be rapidly converted to kinetic energy to push the closure device open, ensuring rapid response during accidents while allowing full flow when open
3Reliability
If a support element is added to maintain the closed position after triggering, then the valve remains reliably closed, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support element is integrated with the existing closure device structure rather than being a separate component. The support element works in conjunction with the spring mechanism and inertial body to maintain the closed position, combining multiple functions into a unified structure that provides stability without significantly increasing overall device complexity
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 ensures rapid and reliable closure of the valve during high accelerations, preventing gas leaks and allowing for a compact, efficient, and reliable gas flow control system.
Implementation Method 1
a pendulum-mounted inertial body... The inertial body is configured to be moved from the rest position to the deflected position by an occurring acceleration force when a predetermined acceleration is exceeded
Implementation Method 2
The inertial body is configured to automatically return from the deflected position to the rest position
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention relates to a shut-off valve (200, 300), preferably a crash valve, for interrupting a gas flow, comprising: a gas inlet (202); a gas outlet (204); a closing device (206) arranged in the flow direction between the gas inlet and the gas outlet; a pivotally mounted inertial element (210); wherein the closing device (206) is movable along a direction of movement from an open position to a closed position; wherein the closing device (206) is biased into the closed state; wherein the closing device (206) has a support element, preferably a structure projecting in the direction of movement, which is moved together with the closing device (206) so that the support element assumes a first position in the open state and a second position in the closed state;wherein the inertial body (210) is configured to assume a rest position in which the inertial body (210) is aligned parallel to a first axis defined by the direction of movement of the locking device (206), and a deflected position in which the inertial body (210) is inclined with respect to the first axis; wherein the inertial body (210) is configured to return automatically from the deflected position to the rest position; wherein in the rest position the inertial body (210) holds the support element in the first position, so that the locking device (206) is prevented from returning to the closed position;and wherein the inertial body (210) is arranged such that, upon exceeding a predetermined acceleration, it is moved from the rest position to the deflected position by an accelerating force, so that the support element assumes the second position and the locking device the closed state.