Rail Coupling Sleeve Valve Seat for Easier Sealing Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing compressed air coupling devices in rail vehicles have complex structures, leading to high susceptibility to malfunctions, high production costs, and large space requirements, with difficult access to wearing parts and potential deposits in the valve housing area.
Innovation Solution
A coupling device with a sliding sleeve and valve body that forms a valve seat, allowing the valve seat to be shifted outside the housing for easy actuation and maintenance, reducing the need for additional components and simplifying the structure while ensuring reliable sealing against dust and water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a multi-part structure with separate sleeves and valve bodies is used to ensure sealing, then sealing reliability is improved, but device complexity and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the sliding sleeve and valve body into a single integrated component. The sliding sleeve is designed with an integrated valve body that includes the valve seat, eliminating the need for separate sealing interfaces between multiple parts. This integration maintains sealing reliability while significantly reducing device complexity and the number of assembly interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding sleeve is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as both the sealing element and the valve body, and also serves as the actuating component. This multi-functionality reduces the overall number of components needed while maintaining the required sealing performance.
2Reliability
If a multi-part structure with separate sleeves and valve bodies is used, then sealing is improved, but maintenance difficulty and repair costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the valve body into the sliding sleeve, the patent creates a single replaceable unit. This means that during maintenance, the entire integrated component can be replaced as one unit rather than requiring disassembly and reassembly of multiple separate parts, significantly simplifying the repair process.
3Reliability
If the valve seat is positioned inside the valve housing, then sealing is improved, but accessibility for maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning the valve seat inside the housing as in conventional designs, the patent inverts the arrangement by making the sliding sleeve itself the valve body with the valve seat formed on it. This allows the valve seat to be accessible from the outside when the coupling is in the uncoupled position, enabling easy maintenance while maintaining sealing functionality.
4Reliability
If additional auxiliary air lines and controls are used for actuation, then actuation reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding sleeve is designed to be directly actuated by the coupling action itself. When the coupling halves are brought together, the sliding sleeves are pushed directly by the mechanical force of coupling, eliminating the need for separate auxiliary air lines or control systems. This self-actuating mechanism maintains reliability while reducing 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 solution provides a reliable, cost-effective, and space-efficient coupling device with reduced maintenance complexity, enabling quick replacement of wearing parts and effective protection against environmental ingress, while allowing large volume flows of compressed air or pressure medium.
Implementation Method 1
can be pressed onto the valve seat in order to shut off the flow cross section, in particular by means of a spring element
Implementation Method 2
the sliding sleeve can be brought into contact with a sliding sleeve of an identical coupling device or a differently constructed coupling device, so that the sliding sleeves are pushed in the direction of their respective housing
Data Source
Figure 1a~1c
Figure 1d~1e
Figure 1f~1g
AI summary
The invention relates to a coupling device for a compressed-air coupling or pressure-medium coupling in a rail vehicle, comprising: a housing; a sliding sleeve, which is slidably mounted in the housing and protrudes from the housing at an axial end; a valve body, which cooperates with a valve seat in order to form a valve, which selectively blocks or opens a flow cross-section. The coupling device according to the invention is characterized in that the sliding sleeve forms the valve seat.