Top-entry floating ball valve high pressure alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
High fluid pressures can cause the ball in a floating ball valve assembly to become misaligned, leading to potential leakage and wear issues, which existing valve designs fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A top-entry floating ball valve assembly with coaxial bores and no spring to hold the ball in place, allowing for operation at high pressures without the ball pushing against a spring, and enabling internal component installation and maintenance through a top opening without special tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring is used to hold the ball in place, then the ball alignment is maintained at low pressures, but the ball becomes misaligned at high pressures causing leakage and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the spring from the valve assembly entirely. Instead of using a spring to hold the ball, the design relies on the coaxial alignment of the ball bore with the valve body bores and the floating ball mechanism itself to maintain proper alignment even under high pressure conditions, thereby eliminating the leakage and wear problems associated with spring-based designs
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than using an active component (spring) to push the ball into alignment, the invention inverts the approach by using passive geometric alignment (coaxial bores) and fluid pressure itself to maintain the ball in the correct position, allowing the system to work with the pressure rather than against it
2Ease of repair
If the valve is designed for easy maintenance through top entry, then assembly and maintenance become simpler, but the structural complexity may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The valve is divided into separable components (body, ball assembly, seat assembly) that can be independently accessed through the top entry opening. This segmentation allows each component to be removed, inspected, and replaced without affecting the entire valve structure, simplifying maintenance while maintaining a relatively simple overall design
Solution Approach 2:
The top entry opening serves multiple functions: it is used for initial assembly of internal components, for routine maintenance and inspection, and for replacement of wear parts. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate access points or complex disassembly procedures, achieving ease of repair without adding structural complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A ball valve includes a body and a ball subassembly. The body includes a first bore extending partially through the body from a first flange of the body along a first axis, the flange defining an opening, a second bore extending in along a second axis from the first bore to a second flange, wherein the second axis is transverse to the first axis, and a third bore extending along the second axis, opposite the second bore, from the first bore to a third flange. The ball subassembly is configured to be inserted into first bore of the body through the opening. The ball subassembly includes a ball having a ball bore extending through the ball. The ball is configured to rotate about the first axis to open and close the ball valve such that the ball bore is substantially aligned with the second axis when the ball valve is open, and wherein the ball bore is substantially transverse to the second axis when the valve is closed.