PICV Bayonet Cap Alignment for Sealing and Flushing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plumbing fittings face issues with contamination, leakage, and orientation variability due to removable mechanisms, leading to difficulties in maintenance and flushing, and the protective caps are often discarded or misplaced.
Innovation Solution
A plumbing fitting with a pressure independent control valve (PICV) utilizing bayonet fixings to secure the cap, allowing for easier alignment and single-handed manipulation, with captive projections to prevent loss and a protective cap that doubles as a handle and seal, ensuring proper orientation and reduced waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a protective cap is placed over the opening to protect the plumbing fitting during shipping, then the plumbing fitting is protected from contamination, but the protective cap is often discarded on installation increasing waste
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cap is designed to serve multiple functions: it protects the mechanism cavity during shipping and installation, and can be reused as a flushing cap when the mechanism is removed for maintenance or system flushing. This multi-functionality prevents the cap from being discarded, reducing waste while maintaining protection capabilities.
2Ease of repair
If the mechanism is removed from the plumbing fitting for maintenance or flushing, then the mechanism can be serviced or the system flushed, but the cap must be removed requiring fixing means to be released which can be difficult and risky in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing mechanism is segmented into a cap portion and a body portion with separate functional features. The cap includes recesses that receive protrusions from the body, creating a modular connection that can be easily engaged and disengaged. This segmentation allows for simple cap removal and reattachment operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixing features (protrusions and recesses) are extracted from a complex threaded connection and simplified into simple geometric shapes that can be easily engaged by quarter-turn motion. This extraction of the essential locking function removes unnecessary complexity while maintaining secure attachment.
3Stability of the object's composition
If threaded portions are used to secure the mechanism within the body, then the mechanism can be fixed in place, but variation in the orientation of the mechanism occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing connection uses asymmetric protrusions and corresponding recesses that provide both locating and fixing functions. The asymmetric geometry ensures that the cap can only be installed in the correct orientation, eliminating orientation variation while maintaining secure attachment. The protrusions engage with recesses at specific angular positions, providing precise mechanical alignment.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a flushing cap is used to seal the cavity when the mechanism is removed, then the cavity can be sealed for system flushing, but the flushing cap may be misplaced as flushing occurs rarely
Solution Approach 1:
The protective cap is designed to function as both a protective cap during installation and as a flushing cap when the mechanism is removed. The cap's threading and sealing features remain the same in both functions, allowing it to be reused rather than discarded or replaced, ensuring availability when needed for rare flushing operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pressure independent control valve (PICV) comprising, a body having a flow path extending therethrough and a cavity within the flow path to releasably receive a mechanism via an aperture. A cap comprising the mechanism, the cap configured to move between a locked position where the cap is retained on the body and in an unlocked position where the cap is releasable from the body. The cap is retained in the locked position by one or more bayonet fixings.