Separate Piston Rod and Measuring Piston for Prover Load Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional piston provers face issues with excessive load on the measuring piston due to the integrated piston rod, leading to difficult movement and accurate measurement challenges, and have a complex structure with many parts, making maintenance difficult and costly.
Innovation Solution
A piston prover design where the measuring piston and piston rod are separately constructed, allowing smooth movement without excessive load, with the piston rod moving the measuring piston back to its standby position and then being accommodated in a hydraulic cylinder, and using magnetic material detection and air vent valves for simplified operation and reduced parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the piston rod is integrally secured to the measuring piston, then the piston rod can effectively return the measuring piston to its original position, but the piston rod works as a resistance to impede the rotation of the measuring piston, imposing an excessive load on the measuring piston
Solution Approach 1:
The piston rod and measuring piston are separated into independent components. The measuring piston can rotate freely during measurement without the piston rod attached, eliminating the resistive effect. The piston rod only engages to push the measuring piston back to its original position after measurement, maintaining reliability while reducing harmful loads during the measurement phase.
2Ease of operation
If the measuring piston and piston rod are separately constructed, then the measuring piston can move smoothly without excessive load, but a mechanism is needed to connect them during return stroke
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between the piston rod and measuring piston is dynamic rather than static. The measuring piston has a through-hole that allows the piston rod to engage when needed for the return stroke and disengage during measurement. This dynamic connection mechanism enables smooth movement during measurement while providing the necessary connection for returning the piston to its original position.
3Reliability
If conventional piston provers are used, then the piston can be returned to original position, but the structure is complex with many parts, making maintenance difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The prover is divided into separable components: the measuring piston, piston rod, measurement cylinder, and hydraulic cylinder. Each component can be independently inspected, maintained, or replaced. The measuring piston can be removed from the measurement cylinder, and the piston rod can be separated from the hydraulic cylinder, significantly simplifying maintenance procedures and reducing costs while maintaining the reliability of the piston return 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
Enables smooth movement of the measuring piston for accurate measurements while reducing the number of parts and costs, simplifying the structure and maintenance processes.
Implementation Method 1
the piston rod moves the measuring piston from downstream to upstream to set the measuring piston at the predetermined measurement standby position
Data Source
AI summary
A piston prover comprises a measurement cylinder; a hydraulic cylinder coupled with a downstream end of the measurement cylinder; a measuring piston that moves a predetermined distance through the measurement cylinder during a measurement due to a fluid flow to eject a reference volume of fluid; and a piston rod that is movably in the hydraulic cylinder, wherein the measuring piston and the piston rod are separately constructed. When returning the measuring piston to a predetermined upstream measurement standby position, the piston rod moves the measuring piston to set the measuring piston at the predetermined measurement standby position, and thereafter only the piston rod is moved from upstream to downstream and is accommodated in the hydraulic cylinder.