Pressure Reducer Plastic Housing Metal Insert
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pressure reducers for gas enrichment of drinking water with carbon dioxide, especially those using a continuous process without a storage container, face challenges in cost-effectiveness and safety due to the use of metal materials, which can be costly and heavy, while plastic alternatives have short service lives and require metal coatings to ensure quality and safety.
Innovation Solution
A pressure reducer design featuring a plastic housing with a separately manufactured metal or glass fiber reinforced polyamide insert, which forms the high-pressure sealing surface, allowing for cost-effective production while maintaining quality and safety standards by isolating high-stress areas with precise, replaceable metal components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the housing is made of plastic, then material costs and component weight are reduced, but the service life under high stress becomes short
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure reducer is divided into two material zones: a plastic housing for low-stress areas and a metal insert for high-stress areas. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific functional requirements, achieving cost reduction while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite construction combining plastic and metal materials in a single pressure reducer assembly. The metal insert provides the necessary strength and durability for high-pressure sealing, while the plastic housing provides cost-effective manufacturing and weight reduction.
2Reliability
If metal coating is applied to plastic surfaces, then quality and safety requirements are met, but cost savings are partially or completely sacrificed
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of coating the entire plastic housing with metal, only the specific high-stress sealing surfaces are replaced with metal insert components. This extraction approach applies metal material only where absolutely necessary, minimizing cost while ensuring quality and safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure reducer features local quality differentiation where critical sealing surfaces have metal construction for durability, while non-critical areas use plastic for cost efficiency. This localized approach to material selection optimizes the balance between cost and performance.
3Reliability
If the housing and control body are made of metal, then durability and safety are ensured, but material costs and component weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure reducer is segmented into metal components for high-stress areas (insert with sealing surfaces) and plastic components for low-stress areas (housing, actuating piston). This segmentation significantly reduces overall weight while maintaining durability where required.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite construction using both metal and plastic materials achieves a weight reduction compared to all-metal designs, while the metal insert ensures durability and safety for the critical pressure reduction 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
This design achieves significant cost savings while ensuring the reliability and quality of pressure reduction, with the plastic housing reducing material and processing costs and the metal insert providing durability and replaceability for high-pressure areas, thus addressing the limitations of both metal and plastic materials in conventional designs.
Implementation Method 1
an axially displaceable control body (24) arranged in the housing and spring-loaded in the closing direction by means of a first spring (26)
Implementation Method 2
An axially displaceable actuating piston (34) arranged in the housing for mechanical actuation of the control body (24) and spring-loaded by means of a second spring (36) in order to move the control body (24) in the opening direction depending on the pressure in the expansion chamber (22)
Implementation Method 3
In the housing (12), in the flow path between the inlet (14) and outlet (18), an expansion chamber (22) is provided for expanding the enrichment gas to a reduced pressure
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a pressure reducer 10, in particular for enriching drinking water with carbon dioxide, comprising a housing 12 with an axially movable spring-loaded control body 24 in order to close a connection between an inlet 14 and an expansion chamber 22. The housing is equipped with an axially movable spring-loaded actuating piston 34 in order to displace the control body against the spring load of the control body dependent on the pressure in the expansion chamber and to open the connection. According to the invention, the housing is made of plastic, and the pressure reducer comprises a separately made insert 40, in particular made of metal, in particular brass, or a suitable plastic, in particular a glass fiber-reinforced polyamide. The insert is fixed between the inlet and the expansion chamber in the plastic housing. Said insert has a guiding bore 44, which is connected to the inlet and which supports the control body, and a connecting bore 46, which adjoins the guiding bore and which opens into the expansion chamber. The insert forms an annular shoulder surface between the connecting bore and the guiding bore, said shoulder surface interacting as a seating surface 32 with the seal 28 on the control body.