Servo-Actuated Hydraulic Valve With Removable Inlet Filter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hydraulic servo-actuated valves with two-way operating members are prone to clogging when used with water that is not perfectly clean, leading to operational issues and requiring laborious filter cleaning processes.
Innovation Solution
A hydraulic servo-actuated valve design featuring a self-cleaning filter holder with a removable filter and labyrinth dissipator, allowing for easy filter cleaning and replacement without disassembling the lid or actuator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a two-way operating member is used to control the valve, then the valve cost is reduced, but the valve becomes prone to clogging when used with imperfectly clean water
Solution Approach 1:
The filter assembly is segmented into a filter element and a filter holder that can be independently removed. This allows the filter to be cleaned or replaced without disassembling the entire valve body or actuator, maintaining low manufacturing costs while improving reliability by enabling easy maintenance of the clogging-prone filter component
Solution Approach 2:
The filter assembly is extracted as a separate removable component from the valve body. The filter holder can be unscrewed from the valve body and the filter element removed from the holder, allowing the filter to be taken out for cleaning without affecting the main valve structure. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining the simple two-way operating member design while adding easy-maintenance filtration capability
2Reliability
If a self-cleaning filter is implemented, then clogging resistance is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional cleaning mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The filter assembly is designed to be self-service through its removable structure. The filter holder can be easily unscrewed and the filter element removed for cleaning by the user without requiring complex automated cleaning mechanisms. This achieves clogging resistance through user-maintained filtration while avoiding increased device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The filter element is extracted as a separate removable component from the filter holder, which itself can be removed from the valve body. This simple extraction design allows the filter to be cleaned or replaced without complex mechanisms, maintaining reliability while avoiding device complexity
3Device complexity
If the filter is integrated into the valve body, then the valve structure is simplified, but filter maintenance becomes laborious requiring lid disassembly
Solution Approach 1:
The filtration system is segmented into three independent components: the valve body, the filter holder, and the filter element. The filter holder is designed with external threads that allow it to be unscrewed from the valve body without removing the lid or actuator. This segmentation maintains relatively simple valve structure while dramatically improving filter maintenance ease
Solution Approach 2:
The filter assembly is extracted from the integrated valve body structure as a separate removable component. The filter holder can be unscrewed and the filter element removed for cleaning without affecting the main valve structure or requiring lid disassembly. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining simple valve structure while enabling easy filter maintenance
4Ease of operation
If a removable filter holder is added, then filter maintenance ease is improved, but the valve structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The filter holder serves multiple functions: it holds the filter element, provides a removable interface for filter maintenance, and seals the inlet duct opening when the filter is removed. This multi-functionality justifies the added structural component by consolidating several functions into one element, improving filter maintenance ease while minimizing the increase in overall valve structure 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 valve effectively reduces soiling and clogging issues when used with imperfectly clean water, allowing for quick and easy filter maintenance, thus maintaining operational efficiency and reducing costs.
Implementation Method 1
the filter tends to clog up upstream but to remain clean downstream because of the large pressure difference which is formed between the upstream portion of the filter surface, which is directly hit by the fluid, and the downstream portion
Implementation Method 2
the labyrinth dissipator creates, at the inlet of the actuating chamber, a tortuous path which reduces the inflow rate
Data Source
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AI summary
Servo-actuated hydraulic valve comprising a valve body (1), an actuator (2) and a lid (3), the valve body (1) comprising an inlet duct (4), an outlet duct (6), a main opening (8) arranged on the valve body (1) between the inlet duct (4) and the outlet duct (6), the actuator (2) being arranged at the main opening (8), the lid (3), together with the actuator (2), delimiting an actuating chamber (14), said actuator (2) being adapted to perform an actuating movement between an open position and a closed position, said valve being adapted to connect a two-way operating member (13) that is adapted to control the opening and closing of the connection between the actuating chamber (14) and the outlet duct (6), said valve comprising a removable filter holder (9) arranged on the inlet duct (4), and a filter (20) arranged on the filter holder (9), the filter (20) penetrating into the inlet duct (4).