Valve Assembly Flat Sealing Surface via Intermediate Sleeve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing valve assemblies with curved sealing surfaces face challenges in achieving a fluid-tight seal due to angular errors in valve positioning, particularly in materials like plastics with fibrous reinforcing materials, where machining is not feasible, leading to costly reworking and potential damage to fillers or reinforcing materials.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an intermediate sleeve that creates a flat sealing surface in contact with the movable valve body, eliminating the need for costly machining and ensuring a reliable seal by maintaining fluid-tight contact with one of the cavities, allowing the valve assembly to be produced more economically and with reduced structural dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a curved sealing surface is used in the housing, then the structural dimensions can be minimized and production simplified, but angular errors in valve positioning prevent optimal sealing contact
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediate sleeve is introduced as a mediator component between the curved sealing surface of the housing and the movable valve body. The sleeve features a curved outer surface that conforms to the housing's sealing surface and a flat inner surface that provides optimal contact for the valve body, thereby mediating the geometric mismatch and ensuring reliable sealing without compromising compact housing dimensions.
2Reliability
If machining is performed on the housing to create a planar sealing surface, then sealing reliability improves, but production costs increase and fibrous reinforcing materials are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate sleeve serves as a mediator that eliminates the need for machining the housing. By providing a flat sealing surface on its inner side, the sleeve ensures reliable sealing contact with the valve body while the housing itself remains unmodified, preserving the integrity of fibrous reinforcing materials and avoiding additional machining costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is segmented into two distinct surfaces: the curved outer surface of the intermediate sleeve that interfaces with the housing, and the flat inner surface that interfaces with the valve body. This segmentation allows each surface to be optimized for its specific function without compromising the other, enabling reliable sealing without machining the housing.
3Reliability
If an intermediate sleeve is added to create a flat sealing surface, then sealing reliability and ease of manufacture improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate sleeve is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it provides a flat sealing surface for the valve body, conforms to the curved housing geometry, ensures fluid-tight contact with the housing cavity, and eliminates the need for machining. This multi-functionality justifies the additional component by consolidating several requirements into a single element.
Data Source
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AI summary
Valve assembly, having a housing (1), two cavities (2, 3) which can optionally be sealed with respect to one another or can be connected to one another, are provided in the housing and serve to guide a fluid, and a valve which has a valve body (5) which can be moved between a closed position and an open position, wherein the valve body bears against a sealing surface in a fluidtight manner when it assumes its closed position and seals the two cavities with respect to one another, and wherein the two cavities are interlinked, and wherein an intermediate sleeve (7) is provided which firstly bears against one of the cavities in a fluidtight manner and secondly provides a sealing surface which extends in a planar manner, is called a sealing seat (8), and against which the valve body bears in its closed position in a fluidtight manner.