Shape Memory Tube Closure for Passive Conduit Crimping
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for crimping conduit lines to prevent fluid flow are arduous and involve chemically vulnerable materials, requiring breaks in the conduit and active monitoring with electronic or explosive components, which can contaminate or degrade the valve components over time.
Innovation Solution
A passive tube closure valve using shape memory alloy elongated bodies that contract at a threshold temperature to move modifying structures along a passageway, allowing for crimping or modification of conduit lines without active components, thereby preventing fluid flow or cable movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional valves with dissimilar wetted materials are inserted into a break in the conduit line, then fluid flow can be stopped, but the valve components are continuously in contact with the fluid potentially contaminating the fluid and degrading the components over time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the valve body from the conduit line entirely. Instead of inserting a valve into a break in the conduit, the conduit is crimped and sealed while the valve body remains outside the fluid path. This eliminates continuous contact between valve components and the fluid, preventing both fluid contamination and component degradation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a crimping mechanism as an intermediary that applies external force to seal the conduit without requiring the valve body to be in contact with the fluid. The crimping structure acts as a mediator between the external actuation force and the conduit, achieving flow stoppage without fluid-valve component contact.
2Extent of automation
If conventional crimping processes use manually operated valves, electronic components, or explosives to drive structures against the conduit line, then the conduit line can be crushed to close the flow path, but the process requires active monitoring and control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs shape memory alloy (SMA) that automatically responds to temperature changes by changing its crystal structure and contracting. This self-actuating mechanism eliminates the need for manual operation, electronic control systems, or explosive initiation. The SMA material itself serves the function of both actuator and driver, achieving passive automation without complex monitoring or control infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes temperature as a control parameter to trigger the crimping action. By changing the temperature of the shape memory alloy, the material undergoes a phase transformation that causes it to contract and drive the crimping structures against the conduit. This parameter-based activation replaces complex electronic or mechanical control systems with a simple thermal response.
3Ease of manufacture
If the conduit line is broken to insert a valve, then the valve can be installed to stop fluid flow, but the break in the conduit line creates additional vulnerability and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of breaking the conduit to insert a valve (inside-out approach), the invention inverts the sequence by first installing the valve body externally and then crimping the conduit around it. This outside-in approach maintains conduit integrity throughout the installation process and eliminates the need to create breaks in the conduit line.
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 and passive method for modifying conduit lines, reducing contamination risks and eliminating the need for active monitoring, ensuring effective fluid flow prevention and cable management without degrading valve components.
Implementation Method 1
The elongated body comprises a shape memory alloy with a threshold contraction along the first axis at a threshold temperature
Implementation Method 2
contraction of the elongated body can cause the first modifying structure and the second modifying structure to move towards each other
Data Source
AI summary
A passive modification device comprising an elongated body extending along a first axis made of a shape memory alloy with a threshold contraction along the first axis at a threshold temperature. The modification device further comprises a passageway extending along a second axis shaped to surround a conduit line extending along the second axis. The modification device further includes a first modifying structure on a first portion of the passageway and a second modifying structure on a second portion of the passageway opposite the first modifying structure. Contraction of the elongated body can cause the first modifying structure and the second modifying structure to move towards each other; where movement of at least one of the first modifying structure or the second modifying structures can be configured to modify the conduit line. The conduit line may comprise mechanical cables, electrical conductors, optical fibers, or brittle portions that readily shatter.