Rotatable Fluid Reservoir with Peripheral Bleed Channel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional fluid reservoirs are not orientation-independent, as they fail to effectively remove gas and manage fill levels at various orientations, leading to impaired functionality and limited volume compliance.
Innovation Solution
A fluid reservoir design featuring a rotatable housing with a membrane separating a working fluid chamber and a gas chamber, equipped with a bleed channel and port to remove gas independently of orientation, ensuring constant pressure and unlimited volume compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional reservoir with a free surface is used to control pressure levels, then pressure control is achieved, but the reservoir is not orientation independent and cannot effectively remove gas at various orientations
Solution Approach 1:
The reservoir incorporates a rotatable housing that can be selectively rotated into various orientations, allowing the same reservoir structure to adapt to different operational orientations. This dynamic repositioning enables the reservoir to maintain effective gas removal and pressure control regardless of its initial orientation, resolving the contradiction between pressure control reliability and orientation independence.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a rotational degree of freedom (another dimension) to the reservoir system. By allowing the housing to rotate into different orientations, the system gains the ability to adapt to various operational directions while maintaining its pressure control function, thus achieving orientation independence without sacrificing pressure control reliability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a sealed reservoir is used to achieve orientation independence, then orientation independence is achieved, but gas is not effectively eliminated from the system
Solution Approach 1:
The reservoir incorporates a bleed channel and bleed port that provide a dedicated pathway to extract gas from the working fluid chamber. The bleed channel extends along the outer periphery and is fluidically open to the uppermost portion of the working fluid chamber, allowing gas to be continuously removed through the bleed port. This extraction mechanism eliminates gas accumulation while maintaining orientation independence through the rotatable housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The bleed channel acts as an intermediary structure that facilitates gas removal. It provides a dedicated flow path between the working fluid chamber and the bleed port, enabling efficient gas extraction without requiring the reservoir to be in a specific orientation. The bleed channel serves as the mediator that allows gas to be removed while maintaining the sealed, orientation-independent structure.
3Reliability
If the bleed channel is made longer to span more of the outer periphery, then gas removal capability is improved at various orientations, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bleed channel is designed to extend along the outer periphery of the working fluid chamber, utilizing the curved geometry of the chamber. By following the natural curvature and perimeter of the chamber, the bleed channel achieves maximum gas removal coverage with a relatively simple, continuous structure. This curved design allows the channel to span significant portions of the periphery without requiring complex branching or multiple segments, thus improving gas removal capability while minimizing structural 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 enables orientation-independent gas removal and pressure regulation, maintaining constant pressure and accommodating volume changes without significant pressure fluctuations, thus enhancing the reservoir's functionality and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
The membrane is configured to maintain the portion of working fluid in the working fluid chamber at a constant pressure
Implementation Method 2
a bleed channel extending a length along an outer periphery of the working fluid chamber and fluidically open to the working fluid chamber along the length of the bleed channel
Implementation Method 3
a gas chamber, containing a pressurized gas
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A fluid reservoir and associated fluid circulation system and method are disclosed. The fluid reservoir is rotatable into any one of various rotational orientations and includes a housing defining an interior chamber that is divided into a working fluid chamber and a gas chamber by a membrane. An inlet port is fluidically coupled with the working fluid chamber to provide working fluid into the working fluid chamber and an outlet port is fluidically coupled with the working fluid chamber to remove working fluid from the working fluid chamber. A bleed channel extends a length along an outer periphery of the working fluid chamber and is fluidically open to the working fluid chamber along the length of the bleed channel. A bleed port is fluidically coupled with only a portion of the bleed channel and bleeds gas out of the working fluid chamber via the bleed channel. The length of the bleed channel is such that at least a portion of the bleed channel is open to an uppermost portion of the working fluid chamber when the housing is in any one of the various rotational orientations.