Conventional valves can have some limitations. For example, in some industrial systems, contaminants entering the system can cause the degradation of the system. For example, in nuclear cooling systems, contaminants can become radioactive, increasing the radioactivity of the system. In another example, a chemical process can become corrupted if contaminants enter the system and undesirably react with the reactants in the system. In another example, various catalysts can become poisoned and unusable if contaminants are allowed to occupy reactive sites on the catalyst. There is a myriad of ways in which contaminants can enter a system.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.
Technologies are described herein for a check valve. In some examples, the check valve includes an encapsulated magnet in a shield. In some examples, external magnets external to the check valve move from a first position to open the check valve to a second position to close the check valve through the interaction of the magnetic fields of the external magnets and the internal magnet. In other examples, the check valve includes an external bellows that provides for the movement of an internal disc.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of technologies in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.
The following detailed description is directed to technologies for a check valve. In some examples, the valve includes a lever internal to the valve and a disc coupled to the lever. The disc, when seated against the valve seat, abates the flow of fluid and when off the valve seat, allows for the flow of fluid. In further examples, the valve includes a pivot allowing the lever to travel from a first position to a second position, wherein the first position is an open position whereby the disc is decoupled from a valve seat and wherein the second position is a closed position whereby the disc is coupled to the valve seat.
To move the valve, in some examples, the valve includes an internal magnet physically coupled to the lever. The internal magnet interacts with one or more magnets that are external to the valve to move the lever and disc from a first position to a second position, and from the second position to the first position. In further examples, to move the valve, the valve includes an internal rod physically coupled to the disc and an external lever enclosed within a deformable or flexible bellows.
In some examples, the check valve can be used in a system operating at a low to high vacuum. Although the presently disclosed subject matter is not limited to any definition of low vacuum or high vacuum, in some examples, a low vacuum can be defined as a pressure of 760 to 25 Torr, a medium vacuum can be defined as a pressure of 25 to 1×10−3 Torr, and a high vacuum can be defined as a pressure of 1×10−3 to 1×10−9 Torr. It should be noted, however, that the presently disclosed subject matter is not limited to use in a system operating at a vacuum.
In some uses, particular metals can be problematic in a vacuum. Metals for use in a vacuum should be resistant to or have a low probability of outgassing, as well as being tolerant to bake-out temperatures. Gas or other materials can be created in a vacuum-based system. For example, molecules of gases and water can be adsorbed on the material surface. Because of this, materials having a low affinity to water may need to be selected. Other materials may sublimate in a vacuum. In addition, gases can be released from porous metals or through cracks and crevices. Traces of lubricants or other cleaning compounds can also be a source of unwanted material in a system at vacuum.
The valve includes a lever 110. The lever 110 is rotatably connected to a pivot 112. The pivot 112 allows for the partial rotational movement of the lever 110 from a first position A, which is an open position and may be called a first configuration, to a second position B, which is a closed position and may be called a second configuration. In some examples, when the lever 110 is in the first position A, fluid may move into the valve 100 from the inlet 102 through the outlet 104.
The valve 100 further includes a valve seat 114 and a valve gasket 116. The valve gasket 116, as well as other gaskets, may be sealable material such as rubber, teflon, and the like. The valve seat 114 and the valve gasket 116 are designed to receive a disc 118 affixed to the lever 110. When in the second position B, the valve seat 114 and the valve gasket 116 are designed to receive the disc 118 to provide for the abatement of fluid moving through the valve 100.
To move the lever 110 from the first position A to the second position B, and from the second position B to the first position A, attached to the lever 110 is internal magnet 120 encapsulated within housing 122, which may act as a barrier or shield. The internal magnet 120 may be comprised of various materials. There are various types of magnets that may be used for the internal magnet 120. For example, the internal magnet 120 may be a neodymium-based magnet such as a neodymium iron boron magnet. A neodymium iron boron magnet is composed of rare earth magnetic material and has a high coercive force. Other types of magnets include, but are not limited to, magnets comprising the rare earth magnets and powders thereof. Some materials often contain neodymium, samarium, praseodymium, iron, cobalt, and other alloying elements such as aluminum, boron, carbon, chromium, copper, gallium, hafnium, manganese, niobium, tantalum, titanium, vanadium, zirconium, and the like. It should be noted, however, that the presently disclosed subject matter is not limited to the use of a specific magnet type, as various other types of magnets, including electromagnets, may be used.
Although not limited to any particular material, some materials that may be used for the housing 122 include, but are not limited austenitic stainless steels, mild steel, aluminum and aluminum alloys, aluminum, bronze, nickel, nickel alloys, beryllium, oxygen-free copper, brass, indium, gold, platinum, zirconium, tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, titanium and niobium. In some examples, the thickness of the housing 122 around the internal magnet 120 can vary according to the particular application. For example, in applications in which plasma vapor deposition is used to coat the housing 122, the average thickness of the housing 122 (as measured from an outer surface of the housing 122 to an inner surface of the housing 122 proximate to and abutting the internal magnet 120) can range from 0.25 microns to over 5 microns. In some examples, if the housing 122 thickness can vary depending on the thickness of the material used to encapsulate the internal magnet 120.
The internal magnet 120 is moved by the interaction of the magnetic field of the internal magnet 120 with external magnets 124A and 124B. The external magnets 124A and 124B move from a first position to a second position. The magnetic fields of the external magnets 124A and 124B either move the internal magnet 120 to position A or position B, as shown in further detail in
In a similar manner, when the internal magnet 120 is either attracted to the magnetic field of the external magnet 124B, or repulsed by the magnetic field of the external magnet 124A, or both, the internal magnet 120 moves to position B. Because the housing 122 of the internal magnet 120 is affixed to the lever 110, the magnetic action causes the lever 110 to move to the position B.
To move the lever 110 from an open position (position A as illustrated in
In the example provided in
To move the external magnet 124A and the external magnet 124B from configuration 1 to configuration 2, the actuators 204A and 204B are in electrical communication with a valve controller 202. The valve controller 202 receives instructions, or has instructions stored thereon, for actuating the actuators 204A and 204B. The actuators 204A and 204B can receive power from the valve controller 202, or can receive power from another source (not shown). The actuators 204A and 204B have arms 204A1 and 204B1 attached to the external magnet 124A and the external magnet 124B, respectively, to facilitate the movement.
Turning now to
It also should be understood that the illustrated method 300 can be ended at any time and need not be performed in its entirety. Some or all operations of the method 300, and/or substantially equivalent operations, can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions included on a computer-storage media, as defined herein. The term “computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used in the description and claims, is used expansively herein to include routines, applications, application modules, program modules, programs, components, data structures, algorithms, and the like.
Computer-readable instructions can be implemented on various system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor systems, electronic control units, electronic control modules, programmable logic controllers, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal computers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the like. In some examples, instructions can be provided by a logic hard wired or hard encoded control system using relays, transistors, mosfets, logic gates, and the like. Computer-storage media does not include transitory media.
Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations described herein can be implemented as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system, and/or as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states, operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations, structural devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof. For purposes of illustrating and describing the technologies of the present disclosure, the method 300 disclosed herein is described as being performed by the valve controller 202 and appropriate components of the valve 100, and the actuators 204A and 204B via execution of computer executable instructions. As such, it should be understood that the described configuration is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. Further, the following description of the method 300 is described in relation to
The method 300 begins at operation 302, where the valve controller 202 receives an instruction to open the valve 100. The first instruction comprises instructions to move the external magnet 124A and the external magnet 124B to a first configuration, wherein in the first configuration, the magnetic force between the internal magnet 120, the external magnet 124A, and the external magnet 124B causes the lever 110 coupled to the internal magnet 120 to travel to an open position.
The method 300 continues to operation 304, where the valve controller 202 receives an instruction to close the valve 100. The second instruction comprises instructions to move the external magnet 124A and the external magnet 124B to a second configuration, wherein in the second configuration, the magnetic force between the internal magnet 120, the external magnet 124A, and the external magnet 124B causes the lever 110 coupled to the internal magnet 120 to travel to a closed position. The method 300 thereafter ends.
The computer architecture 400 illustrated in
The mass storage device 412 is connected to the CPU 402 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 410. The mass storage device 412 and its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer architecture 400. Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available computer storage media or communication media that can be accessed by the computer architecture 400.
Communication media includes computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics changed or set in a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
By way of example, and not limitation, computer storage media may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid-state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer architecture 400. For purposes the claims, a “computer storage medium” or “computer-readable storage medium,” and variations thereof, do not include waves, signals, and/or other transitory and/or intangible communication media, per se. For the purposes of the claims, “computer-readable storage medium,” and variations thereof, refers to one or more types of articles of manufacture.
According to various configurations, the computer architecture 400 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through a network such as the network 440. The computer architecture 400 may connect to the network 440 through a network interface unit 414 connected to the bus 410. It should be appreciated that the network interface unit 414 also may be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems. The computer architecture 400 also may include an input/output controller 416 for receiving and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown in
It should be appreciated that the software components described herein may, when loaded into the CPU 402 and executed, transform the CPU 402 and the overall computer architecture 400 from a general-purpose computing system into a special-purpose computing system customized to facilitate the functionality presented herein. The CPU 402 may be constructed from any number of transistors or other discrete circuit elements, which may individually or collectively assume any number of states. More specifically, the CPU 402 may operate as a finite-state machine, in response to executable instructions contained within the software modules disclosed herein. These computer-executable instructions may transform the CPU 402 by specifying how the CPU 402 transitions between states, thereby transforming the transistors or other discrete hardware elements constituting the CPU 402.
Encoding the software modules presented herein also may transform the physical structure of the computer-readable media presented herein. The specific transformation of physical structure may depend on various factors, in different implementations of this description. Examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to, the technology used to implement the computer-readable media, whether the computer-readable media is characterized as primary or secondary storage, and the like. For example, if the computer-readable media is implemented as semiconductor-based memory, the software disclosed herein may be encoded on the computer-readable media by transforming the physical state of the semiconductor memory. For example, the software may transform the state of transistors, capacitors, or other discrete circuit elements constituting the semiconductor memory. The software also may transform the physical state of such components in order to store data thereupon.
As another example, the computer-readable media disclosed herein may be implemented using magnetic or optical technology. In such implementations, the software presented herein may transform the physical state of magnetic or optical media, when the software is encoded therein. These transformations may include altering the magnetic characteristics of particular locations within given magnetic media. These transformations also may include altering the physical features or characteristics of particular locations within given optical media, to change the optical characteristics of those locations. Other transformations of physical media are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the present description, with the foregoing examples provided only to facilitate this discussion.
In light of the above, it should be appreciated that many types of physical transformations take place in the computer architecture 400 in order to store and execute the software components presented herein. It also should be appreciated that the computer architecture 400 may include other types of computing devices, including hand-held computers, embedded computer systems, personal digital assistants, and other types of computing devices known to those skilled in the art. It is also contemplated that the computer architecture 400 may not include all of the components shown in
The valve includes a lever 510. The lever 510 is rotatably connected to a pivot 512. The pivot 512 allows for the partial rotational movement of the lever 510 from a closed position (illustrated in
To move the valve 500 from the closed position illustrated in
Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies for a solenoid valve having a fully encapsulated magnetic core have been disclosed herein. It is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described herein. Rather, the specific features or acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes can be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example configurations and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, aspects of which are set forth in the following claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2019/053265 | 9/26/2019 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62737621 | Sep 2018 | US |