The invention relates to a control valve unit for a variation device of a hydrostatic piston engine.
For varying the volumetric displacement of a hydrostatic piston engine it is often necessary to set in a variation apparatus two actuating pressures, which act in opposite directions upon an adjusting piston. From DE 195 40 654 C1, for this purpose, a control valve is known, in which a valve piston is disposed as a valve element in a longitudinally displaceable manner in a valve housing. The valve piston is loadable at its oppositely oriented end faces in each case with a force. By means of an axial movement of the valve piston in one direction, an input pressure port is connected to a first output. At the same time, a second output is connected to a tank port. Upon a movement in the opposite direction, the second output port is connected to the input port and at the same time the first output port is connected to the tank port. In this way, the two actuating pressure chambers acting in opposite directions and connected in each case to an output port may be set to a differential force of adjustable direction and magnitude. The resulting actuating movement of the actuating piston is mechanically coupled back as a feedback force by a feedback element to the valve piston. The actuating movement is transmitted by the feedback element and deflects one of two limbs. The two limbs are connected to one another by a spring, wherein the respective non-deflected limb is supported against a driving pin of the valve piston. In this way, by tensioning of the spring connecting the two limbs the actuating movement is transmitted to the valve piston in such a manner that the resulting force counteracts the deflection of the valve piston.
The described variation device has the drawback that a considerable mechanical outlay is required. Because of the one-piece valve piston, it is moreover necessary to introduce in the valve housing a very precisely constructed bore for receiving the valve piston. At the same time, the one-piece construction of the valve piston is necessary in order given an adjustment of the actuating piston in both directions to be able to summon up in each case a counter-force for the feedback element. Furthermore, considerable standards of accuracy are required of the axial position of the individual control edges because in each case a coupled movement of the two control edges associated with the different actuating pressure chambers occurs.
The underlying object of the invention is to provide a control valve unit for a hydrostatic piston engine that is operationally reliable and easy to manufacture.
The object is achieved by the control valve unit according to the invention having the features of claim 1.
According to claim 1, the control valve unit according to the invention comprises a valve housing having a valve element disposed in a longitudinally displaceable manner therein. The valve element is adjustable from a neutral position in both directions so that a first or a second output port is increasingly connectable to an input port. Simultaneously with the increasing connection of the first or the second output port to the input port, the respective other output port is increasingly connected to a tank volume. According to the invention, in the control valve unit the valve element is composed of a first valve piston and a second valve piston, wherein the two valve pistons act upon one another via an elastic element. It is therefore possible to achieve a coupled adjustment of the entire valve element without any need for a rigid connection of the positions of the respective control edges. In particular, it is possible to bring one of the valve pistons into a position, in which its output port is connected by a large throughflow area to the tank port. At the same time, by virtue of the elastic element the other valve piston remains adjustable in any desired manner. The elastic element therefore allows the relative movement of the two valve pistons relative to one another, wherein however a coupling of the two valve pistons to one another is maintained.
By virtue of the elastic coupling of the first valve piston and the second valve piston it is moreover possible to influence the control response by means of the axial forces acting upon the respective valve pistons. Thus, for example, it is possible to exert an increasing force upon the one valve piston. This force is transmitted to the second valve piston, which is for example likewise loaded with an oppositely directed axial force. While the first valve piston is already being adjusted, at the second valve piston the axial force may gradually be successively reduced. By such a controlled loading of the two valve pistons with in each case a separate actuating force it is possible, for example, for an actuating piston to be hydraulically clamped at all times in an advantageous manner. For this purpose, the elastic element is compressed so that the opening at a control edge of one valve piston may be realized independently of the opening at a control edge of the other valve piston.
Advantageous developments of the control valve unit according to the invention are outlined in the sub-claims.
In particular, it is advantageous to provide for control purposes a hydraulic force, which acts upon an end face of each valve piston and is generated by the pressure effective at the respective output port. In this case, it is further advantageous to allow the hydraulic force to be applied to an end face of the valve piston that is formed on an extension of reduced diameter. This occurs in a particularly advantageous manner by means of a sleeve, into which the two extensions of the valve pistons engage. The sleeve has for each extension a separate control pressure chamber, in which the pressure of the appropriate output port acts upon the end face of the extension. It is particularly advantageous to dispose the sleeve in a longitudinally displaceable manner on the two extensions and hence enable a relative movement between the extensions and the sleeve.
The supply of the pressure prevailing in each case at the output port is effected preferably through pressure medium channels formed in the respective valve pistons.
It is particularly preferred when the two valve pistons are constructed with an identical geometry and disposed in opposite directions to one another in the valve housing.
A preferred embodiment of the control valve unit according to the invention is illustrated in the drawings and explained in detail in the following description. The drawings show:
To make it easier to understand the control valve unit according to the invention,
For varying the volumetric displacement of the hydraulic pump 1, a variation device 3 is provided. The variation device 3 comprises a double-acting cylinder 4, in which an actuating piston 5 is disposed. The actuating piston 5 divides the cylinder 4 into a first actuating pressure chamber 6 and a second actuating pressure chamber 7, wherein the actuating piston 5 is loadable in both actuating pressure chambers 6, 7 with a hydraulic force. Via a piston rod 8 the actuating movement of the actuating piston 5 is transmitted to a variation mechanism of the hydraulic pump 1.
For setting the actuating pressure that is effective in the first actuating pressure chamber 6 and/or the second actuating pressure chamber 7, a control valve unit 9 is provided. The control valve unit 9 is connected by a first actuating pressure line 10 and a second actuating pressure line 11 to the first actuating pressure chamber 6 and the second actuating pressure chamber 7 respectively. By means of the control valve unit 9 the first actuating pressure line 10 and the second actuating pressure line 11 are connectable in each case to a supply pressure channel 12 or a relief line 13.
Thus, for example, in a first end position of a valve element of the control valve unit 9 the first actuating pressure line 10 is connected to the supply pressure channel 12, while the second actuating pressure line 11 is relieved via the relief line 13 into the tank volume 14.
The force for adjusting the control valve unit 9 in the direction of the first end position illustrated in
In order to realize a movement in the opposite direction, a second proportional magnet 16 oriented in the opposite direction to the first proportional magnet 15 receives an actuating signal. As a result of the increasing force by means of the second proportional magnet 16, the valve element of the control valve unit 9 is adjusted in the direction of a second end position, so that increasingly the second actuating pressure line 11 is connected to the supply pressure channel 12 and the first actuating pressure line 10 is connected to the relief line 13. Consequently, the pressure gradient between the first actuating pressure chamber 6 and the second actuating pressure chamber 7 is reversed, and the actuating piston 5 is deflected in the opposite direction, in the illustrated embodiment to the left.
The actuating signals for the proportional magnets 15, 16 are determined by an electronic control unit 17. For this purpose, the electronic control unit 17 is connected by a first control line 18 and a second control line 19 to the first proportional magnet 15 and the second proportional magnet 16. As input variables for the electronic control unit 17, a driving lever selection that is communicated via a signal input line 20 to the electronic control unit 17 is used for example. In addition, for determining the pivoting angle of the hydraulic pump 1 that is to be set, the position of the actuating piston 5 is acquired. For this purpose, there is disposed on the piston rod 8 of the actuating piston 5 a position measuring device 22, the signal of which is communicated via a first signal line 21 to the electronic control unit 17. It is moreover possible for example to provide on the hydraulic pump unit a temperature sensor 24, which communicates a measured temperature in the form of an electrical signal via a second signal line 23 to the electronic control unit 17.
Instead of the proportional magnets 15, 16, other means of generating the actuating forces may be provided. For example, hydraulic forces may act upon end faces of the valve element, these preferably being defined by actuating pressures that are settable by a pilot valve.
In
The two pressure reduction valves 9a and 9b are coupled to one another by a spring 27, so that thrust forces may be transmitted between the valve pistons of the pressure reduction valves 9a, 9b. Instead of the spring 27, another elastic element may be used to couple the two pressure reduction valves 9a and 9b. In
The spring 27, which at the valve piston has a seating surface as a spring cup, is displaced by the movement of the valve piston in the direction of the second pressure reduction valve 9b and loads the valve piston there with a force. If the second pressure reduction valve 9b in the case of a non-energized proportional magnet 16 is already situated in its second end position shown in
At the second pressure reduction valve 9b also, a position of equilibrium is adopted by the valve piston, which arises because of the force of the spring 27, the oppositely directed force of the second proportional magnet 26 and a hydraulic force, which acts upon a second measuring face 29b of the second pressure reduction valve 9b. To generate the hydraulic force at the second measuring face 29b of the second pressure reduction valve 9b, the pressure of the second actuating pressure line 11 is fed through a second actuating pressure channel 11′ to the second measuring face 29b. In the second end position of the second pressure reduction valve 9b, the second actuating pressure line 11 is connected to the relief line 13 and hence relieves the second actuating pressure chamber 7 into the tank volume 14.
In
In communication with the first supply pressure channel portion 12a is a first annular chamber 31a, which is formed around a portion of reduced diameter of the first valve piston 32a. The first valve piston 32a is disposed in a recess in the form of a through bore 33 of the valve housing 34 of the control valve unit 9. The second valve piston 32b is disposed in the opposite direction in the bore 33.
The bore 33 has a radially widened region that forms a second annular chamber 35a around the first valve piston 32a. A further, radially widened region of the bore 33 forms a third annular chamber 36, which in the illustrated embodiment is designed jointly for both pressure reduction valves 9a, 9b and connected in a non-illustrated manner to the relief line 13.
In axial direction the first annular chamber 31a is delimited by a first portion 37a that is formed on the first valve piston 32a. Formed on the first valve piston 32a at a distance from the first portion 37a of the first valve piston 32a is a second portion 38a. Formed on the first valve piston 32a between the two portions 37a and 38a is a further region of reduced radial extent. The distance between the control edges, which are formed on mutually remote peripheral edges of the two portions 37a, 38a, is less than the axial extent of the second annular chamber 35a. In dependence upon the axial position of the first valve piston 32a, the first portion 37a and/or the second portion 38a interact in a sealing manner with the bore 33. In the first end position of the first valve piston 32a illustrated in
The second annular chamber 35a is connected to the first actuating pressure line 10, which is not illustrated in
At its side facing the third annular chamber 36 the first valve piston 32a has a first extension 39a. The first extension 39a is preferably of a cylindrical design, wherein the free end may have a phase, and projects a slight distance into a sleeve 40. The sleeve 40 is slipped in an identical manner over a second extension 39b of the second valve piston 32b, wherein by the extension 39a and the sleeve 40 and/or the extension 39b and the sleeve 40 the internal volume of the sleeve 40 is closed to form a first control pressure chamber 42a and a second control pressure chamber 42b respectively. For this purpose, a partition 41 is disposed in the sleeve 40.
Formed on the end face of the first extension 39a is the first measuring face 29a, upon which the pressure prevailing in the second annular chamber 35a acts via an actuating pressure channel 10′, which is only partially visible in
The first proportional magnet 15 is preferably screwed by means of a first threaded connection 43a into the valve housing 34 and acts via a tappet upon a first end face 44a, which is formed on the end of the first valve piston 32a facing the outside of the valve housing 34. When an actuating signal is supplied through a non-illustrated signal line to the first proportional magnet 15, the proportional magnet 15 generates upon the end face 44a of the first valve piston 32a an actuating force that displaces the first valve piston 32a to the right in FIG. 2. Thus, the first portion 37a and the second portion 38a are displaced to the right until the second portion 38a interacts in a sealing manner with the bore 33 and hence interrupts the connection between the second annular chamber 35a and the third annular chamber 36.
At the same time, the first portion 37a is displaced into the region of the second annular chamber 35a, so that the corresponding control edge releases a throughflow connection between the first portion 37a and the bore 33. The pressure prevailing in the first supply pressure channel portion 12a is therefore increasingly effective also in the second annular chamber 35a, so that pressure medium flows into the first actuating pressure chamber 6. The rising pressure in the second annular chamber 35a is fed through the first actuating pressure channel 10′ to the first control pressure chamber 42a in the displaceable sleeve 40 and acts there upon the first measuring face 29a. As a result of the rising pressure a hydraulic force is generated, which counteracts the actuating force of the first proportional magnet 15. The first valve piston 32a therefore adopts a position of equilibrium, in which the hydraulic force at the first measuring face 29a jointly with the force of the spring 27 compensates the actuating force of the proportional magnet 15.
As a result of the rising pressure in the first control pressure chamber 42a, the sleeve 40 and the spring 27 are displaced to the right in
The seating surfaces 45a, 45b are provided on a collar formed on the valve piston 32a, 32b. The length of the sleeve 40 is preferably so dimensioned that both valve pistons 32a and 32b may be brought by a force of the proportional magnets 15, 16 into their respective first end position, in which the respective supply pressure channel portions 12a, 12 are connected to the second annular chamber 35a of the first pressure reduction valve 9a and to the second annular chamber 35b of the second pressure reduction valve 9b respectively. The displacement of the sleeve 40 and the spring 27 is effected until a corresponding counter-force is applied up by the second valve piston 32b.
Upon a deflection of the first valve piston 32a by means of an actuating force of the first proportional magnet 15, the spring 27, which is slipped over the sleeve 40 and is freely movable on the sleeve 40, is loaded with a force oriented in the direction of the second valve piston 32b. In the embodiment illustrated in
In order to enable a delayed relief of the second actuating pressure chamber 7, it may however also be provided that first by means of the second proportional magnet 16 an actuating force is exerted upon the second valve piston 32b, so that a connection between the third annular chamber 36 and the second annular chamber 35b of the second pressure reduction valve 9b is still interrupted, while by means of the first pressure reducing valve 9a a pressure is already being built up in the first actuating pressure chamber 6. This has the advantage that the actuating piston 5 is hydraulically clamped at all times during a variation.
Once a sufficiently high pressure has been generated in the actuating pressure chamber 6, the signal for the second proportional magnet 16 is reduced, so that by means of the force of the spring 27 and the hydraulic differential force upon the sleeve 40 the second valve piston 32b is displaced in the direction of the end position illustrated in
The above explanations apply equally to a deflection of the control valve unit 9 in the opposite direction.
In
In the illustrated embodiment of
The first annular chamber 31a, 31b of the first pressure reduction valve 9a and/or of the second pressure reduction valve 9b is delimited in the direction of the proportional magnet 15 and/or of the proportional magnet 16 by a region that interacts in a sealing manner with the bore 33. Along this seal a slight leakage flow develops because the first annular chambers 31a, 31b are loaded in each case with the supply pressure. For removal of the leakage fluid, in each case a leakage oil channel portion 46a, 46b is provided, which opens out into a leakage oil bore 46. The leakage oil bore 46 is connected to the relief line 13, so that the leakage fluid that arises may flow off in the direction of the tank volume 14. The leakage oil bore 46 is introduced as a blind hole from one end into the valve housing 34 and sealed by means of a stopper 47.
As has already been explained, the supply pressure channel 12 in the illustrated embodiment of the control valve unit 9 is introduced as a groove in a side wall of the valve housing 34. The groove is closed through abutment with a housing portion of a non-illustrated variation device. In order to keep the valve housing 34 in a defined position relative to the housing portion of the variation device, locating pins 48a, 48b are provided in the valve housing 34. For fixing purposes, threads 49a, 49b are disposed, with which the control valve unit 9 is screw-connected at the variation device 3.
In
In
A second region that is reduced in its radial extent is likewise formed between the first portion 37 and the second portion 38. At the side remote from the first end 56 the extension 39 is formed adjacent to the second portion 38. The extension 39 is further reduced in its diameter compared to the reduced region 57 and its end face is designed as measuring face 42, which, when loaded with the discharge-side pressure, generates a force in the opposite direction to the actuating force of the magnet that lies, in terms of magnitude, in the region of the force that may be generated by the magnets. By means of the diameter of the extension 39 it is therefore possible for the hydraulic force acting upon the valve piston 32 to be adapted to the proportional magnets used. At the mutually remote edges of the first portion 37 and the second portion 38 a first control edge 58 and a second control edge 59 are formed. At the first and the second control edge 58, 59, upon displacement of the valve piston 42 in the bore 33, the throughflow connections are produced between the first annular chambers 31a, 31b and the second annular chambers 35a, 35b and/or the second annular chambers 35a, 35b and the third annular chamber 36.
In the sectional view of the valve piston 32, the actuating pressure channel 10′ and/or 11′ may be seen. The actuating pressure channel 10′ and/or 11′ comprises a transverse bore 62 that is disposed in the region between the first portion 37 and the second portion 38. The transverse bore 62 is therefore in permanent communication with the second annular chamber 35 and carries the discharge-side pressure of the reduction valve 9a and/or 9b. In order to feed the pressure carried in the transverse bore 62 to the measuring face 42, there is formed in axial direction in the extension 39 a longitudinal bore 63, which in the illustrated first embodiment of a valve piston 32 in
In
The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. Rather, the individual features of the embodiments may be combined with one another in any desired manner.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2005 037 619.3 | Aug 2005 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2006/007742 | 8/4/2006 | WO | 00 | 11/27/2007 |