Valve Operator Housing Structure for High-Pressure Plastic Assemblies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing valve operator assemblies face challenges in handling high fluid pressures and maintaining structural integrity, particularly when made from lighter materials like plastic, as they often rely on the sidewall to restrict linear motion, which can lead to stress and potential damage.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a housing with a cover that overlaps the sidewall, providing increased structural integrity and using stoppers within the housing to restrict the linear motion of the yoke nut, allowing for the use of lighter materials like plastic without compromising strength, and includes a yoke and yoke nut mechanism to rotate the valve stem.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the housing is made from lighter materials like plastic, then weight is reduced and corrosion resistance is improved, but structural integrity and strength under high pressure deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into two separate components: a body and a cover. The cover is designed to overlap the body's sidewall, creating a distributed structural system that enhances overall strength while allowing the use of lighter plastic materials. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for both weight and strength requirements.
2Device complexity
If the sidewall is used to restrict linear motion of the yoke nut, then device complexity is reduced, but stress on the housing increases and structural integrity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The function of restricting linear motion of the yoke nut is extracted from the housing sidewall and assigned to separate stopper components. This removes the harmful stress concentration from the housing structure while maintaining the necessary motion restriction function, allowing the housing to be designed with simpler, lighter plastic construction.
3Strength
If the cover overlaps the sidewall, then structural integrity and strength are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the housing into body and cover components with an overlapping configuration, the design achieves enhanced structural integrity through a distributed load path. While this requires separate manufacturing of two components, it enables the use of lighter plastic materials and simplifies each individual component's manufacturing process compared to a monolithic design.
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
This configuration enhances the assembly's ability to handle high pressures, reduces stress on the housing, and allows for operation in submerged environments while maintaining stability and corrosion resistance, with potential cost and weight reductions.
Implementation Method 1
The yoke nut may include a yoke nut shaft bore to receive the shaft, and may be linearly movable upon rotation of the shaft, the linear motion of the yoke nut producing a rotational motion of the yoke.
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 2B~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
A valve operator assembly may include a housing, a yoke, and one or more stoppers. The housing is mountable on a valve, and includes a body having a sidewall including a shaft bore, to receive a shaft rotatable within the housing, and a cover having a top member mountable on a top portion of the body and a side portion extending downwards adjacent to and partially overlapping the sidewall. The yoke is operably coupled by a yoke nut to the shaft to impart rotation to a valve stem of the valve when the shaft is rotated. The one or more stoppers are disposed within the housing to restrict the linear motion of the yoke nut.