Universal Refrigeration Valve With Weldable Rims for Leak-Free Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigeration valves are heavy, require specialized connections, and lack corrosion resistance, making them unsuitable for commercial and industrial refrigeration systems, which demand unique materials and pressure capabilities to prevent leakage and ensure safety.
Innovation Solution
A universal refrigeration valve with an investment-cast stainless-steel body and adapter plates, featuring flangeless distal ends with unmachined weldable rims for leak-free integration, allowing for various functions without mechanical connections and minimizing machining steps, weight, and manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If conventional refrigeration valves are used, then they provide basic flow control function, but they are heavy and require specialized connections
Solution Approach 1:
The valve body is designed with a universal configuration that can accommodate multiple adapter plates, allowing a single valve body to perform multiple functions and replace several specialized valves. This reduces overall system weight and simplifies installation by eliminating the need for specialized connections for different valve types.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve system is divided into two independent parts: a universal valve body and interchangeable adapter plates. This segmentation allows the heavy valve body to be used once, while lightweight adapter plates are swapped to achieve different connection types, significantly reducing the weight of replaceable components and simplifying installation.
2Reliability
If conventional refrigeration valves are used, then they provide flow control, but they lack corrosion resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The valve body is constructed from corrosion-resistant materials such as stainless steel or other suitable materials that provide excellent resistance to refrigerant corrosion. The adapter plates use lightweight materials like aluminum that are anodized or coated to prevent corrosion, creating a composite structure that combines corrosion resistance with lightweight properties.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the valve system use different materials optimized for their specific functions: the valve body uses corrosion-resistant materials to handle the refrigerant, while the adapter plates use lightweight materials with surface treatments (anodizing, coating) appropriate for their connection functions, achieving corrosion resistance without unnecessary manufacturing complexity.
3Reliability
If conventional refrigeration valves with mechanical connections are used, then they provide secure mounting, but they are prone to leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The design eliminates mechanical connections (flanges, bolts, gaskets) from the refrigerant flow path by using weldable rim connections. This extraction of mechanical connection elements from the critical sealing path removes the primary sources of leakage while simplifying the connection structure to essentially weldable rims that form continuous seals with the refrigerant flow.
4Adaptability or versatility
If specialized valves for different functions are used, then they provide specific control capabilities, but they increase device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
A single universal valve body design serves as the base for multiple valve functions. By systematically varying the adapter plates that mount to this universal body, the system achieves functional adaptability without increasing the complexity of the main valve body, reducing inventory requirements and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve system is segmented into a standardized universal valve body and interchangeable adapter plates with specific control capabilities. This segmentation allows different functions to be achieved by swapping simple adapter plates rather than replacing entire complex valve assemblies, significantly reducing overall system complexity while maintaining functional versatility.
Data Source
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AI summary
A universal valve for refrigeration systems including an investment-cast, stainless-steel valve body, a piston and one of a plurality of an anodized aluminum adapter plates. Each adapter plate configured to be removed and replaced with another to operate the valve to perform a different function. The investment-cast, stainless steel valve body includes an inlet and an outlet which each include a flangeless distal end configured, as cast, with an unmachined, weldable rim for integration without mechanical connections in a leak-free configuration.