The present invention claims benefit and priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. TW 103121659, filed on Jun. 24, 2014, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fluid valve, and more particularly to a fluid valve having a modular shaft sealing structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A fluid valve is provided on a fluid channel, as shown in
In industrial application of fluid valves, the valve body and shaft need to be resistant to high-temperature, solvent or corrosive fluids, and therefore are often made of heat-resistant, indissoluble materials, such as metals. Nevertheless, since metals become worn as they have contacted each other for a long time, and metal normally have larger thermal expansion coefficients, gaps are easily created between the shaft and the valve body, or the shaft may easily be stuck in the valve body. Accordingly, in a common fluid valve, a shaft seal groove 922 is formed between the shaft 94 and the valve body 92, and several annular shaft seal rings 96 are placed in the shaft seal groove 922, such that a sealing structure for the shaft 94 is formed. The shaft seal rings 96 are often made of softer materials with smaller thermal expansion coefficients, such as graphite. As such, the jamming of the shaft 94 and the valve body 92 due to wear or drastic expansion and contraction may be reduced. Please refer to
In addition, in a case that the fluid valve has been used for a long period of time, if wastage occurs to the shaft seal rings 96 due to wear or corrosion by fluid, gaps may be created between the shaft 94 and the valve body 92, fluid thereby may leak via the gaps.
Thus, the shaft seal rings 96 within the shaft seal groove 922 need to be periodically cleaned and replaced for maintaining the normal operation of the fluid valve. However, as can be seen from
In view of this, it is an urgent objective to be achieved to provide a shaft sealing structure, which can solve the problem of unbalanced loads, as well as having advantages of cleaning convenience and small space occupation.
In order to solve the abovementioned problem, a major objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid valve with a sealing structure that produces pushing forces in the shaft seal groove, so that gaps will not occur to the shaft seal ring due to wastage, and the sealing structure can be rapidly replaced when the shaft seal ring or other shaft seal components are badly worn.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid valve with a sealing structure, wherein the spring in the module is able to continuously provide pushing forces, so that gaps will be less prone to occur to the shaft seal components between the shaft and the valve body, and leakage of fluid from the gaps can be prevented.
Still another major objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid valve with a sealing structure, wherein an old module can be withdrawn with a new one inserted when a worn shaft seal component needs to be replaced, so that the maintenance time for the fluid valve can be reduced, and cost of labor or loss caused by shutdowns can be minimized.
Yet another major objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid valve with a sealing structure, wherein the inner surface and outer surface of the shaft ring are respectively provided with opposing inner groove and outer groove, resulting in an H-shaped cross section of the shaft ring. Such structure renders the shaft ring advantageous in being not prone to be deformed. In addition, the inner groove and outer groove of the shaft ring are respectively provide an O-ring, so that the shaft ring has strength and keeps a tight sealing with the wall.
According to the requirements above, the present invention provides a fluid valve including a valve body, a shaft, a valve disc and a modular shaft sealing structure. The valve body has a first accommodating space and a second accommodating space, the first accommodating space is located above the second accommodating space and in communication with the second accommodating space. The modular shaft sealing structure has a third accommodating space and is provided in the first accommodating space. The valve disc is provided in the second accommodating space. The shaft is provided in the third accommodating space and in connection with the valve disc, so that the valve disc can be actuated by controlling the shaft. The modular shaft sealing structure comprises: a carrier detachably provided in the first accommodating space and forming a fourth accommodating space through two opposing ends of the valve body, a projecting confinement section being provided on the inner side of one end of the carrier close to the valve disc; and a plurality of shaft seal rings provided in the fourth accommodating space in a stacked manner and positioned above the confinement section, the inner sides of the shaft seal rings being combined to enclose the third accommodating space.
The present invention further provides a fluid valve comprising a valve body, a shaft, a valve disc and a modular shaft sealing structure. The valve body has a first accommodating space and a second accommodating space. The first accommodating space is located above the second accommodating space and in communication with the second accommodating space. The modular shaft sealing structure has a third accommodating space and is provided in the first accommodating space. The valve disc is provided in the second accommodating space. The shaft is provided in the third accommodating space and in connection with the valve disc, so that the valve disc can be actuated by controlling the shaft. The modular shaft sealing structure comprises: a carrier detachably provided in the first accommodating space and forming a fourth accommodating space through two opposing ends of the valve body, a projecting first confinement section being provided on the inner side of one end of the carrier close to the valve disc; a liner detachably provided on an end the fourth accommodating space close to the valve disc, an outer edge of the liner being provided with a projecting second confinement section, the second confinement section and the first confinement section resting against each other; and a plurality of first shaft seal rings provided in the fourth accommodating space in a stacked manner and positioned above the liner, the inner sides of the first shaft seal rings being combined to enclose the third accommodating space.
The present invention discloses a fluid valve with a modular shaft sealing structure, characterized by the modular shaft sealing structure. Therefore, the following description of the present invention does not illustrate the details of the other components in the fluid valve, but those skilled in the art will still understand the operational principles of the present invention. In addition, it is intended that the reference drawings of the present invention schematically present structures related to the technical features of the present invention, and is not necessarily drawn to scale.
Please refer to
Please refer to
The liner 161 has a hollow columnar body. It is disposed at the lower end in the accommodation space 1600 of the carrier 160, and is also adjacent to the valve disc 18. The outer edge of the upper end of the liner 161 is provided with a projecting confinement section 1610. The lower edge of the confinement section 1610 and the upper edge of the confinement section 1601 of the carrier 160 rest against each other, so that the liner 161 can be disposed at the bottom of the accommodation space 1600 of the carrier 160, with a portion of the liner 161 projecting from the lower end of the carrier 160. In another embodiment, the liner 161 and the carrier 160 are integrally formed, or the carrier 160 and the liner 161 are one-piece formed.
As mentioned above, in the accommodating space 1600, the plurality of shaft seal rings 162a, the shaft ring 163a, the spring 165, the shaft ring 163b and the plurality of shaft seal rings 162b are sequentially configured above the liner 161, wherein the inner and outer surfaces of the shaft rings 163a and 163b are provided with corresponding inner groove 1630 and outer groove 1631, respectively. Thus, the shaft rings 163a and 163b are H-shaped in cross section. With such structure, the shaft rings 163a and 163b are advantageous in being not prone to be deformed. Each of the inner groove 1630 and outer groove 1631 of the shaft rings 163a and 163b is provide with and O-ring 164, which provides the shaft rings 163a and 163b stronger structures and maintains a tight sealing with the walls of the carrier 160 and shaft 140.
The shaft seal rings 162a and 162b, the shaft rings 163a and 163b, and the spring 165 are annular. The inner diameter of the liner 161 is consistent with these components. Apparently, the inner edges of these stacked components will join together and construct an accommodating space 140. Each of the upper and lower ends of the accommodating space 140 is provided with an opening, which allows the shaft 14 to be accommodated in the accommodating space 140. The shaft 14 is inserted from the upper opening of the accommodating space 140 at the upper end of the carrier 160, through the accommodating space 140, and exists from the lower opening of the accommodating space 140 and the lower end of the carrier 160, so as to be connected to the valve disc 18. The shaft 14 further includes a cap 17. When the shaft 14 is installed in the accommodating space 140, the cap 17 will cover the upper opening of the accommodating space 1600 at the upper end of the carrier 160 (i.e., cover the opening of the accommodating space 1600 at the end of the carrier 160 away from the valve disc 18), and the carrier 160 is fixed to the cap 17, such that components e.g. the shaft seal rings 162a and 162b, the shaft rings 163a and 163b, and the spring 165 are sealed in the accommodating space 1600. Moreover, the cap 17 is provided at the end of the carrier 160 away from the valve disc 18. In the aforementioned embodiment, the spring 165 may be a wave spring, and the shaft seal rings 162a and 162b are compressible materials, such as graphite.
In this embodiment, if the spring 165 is a wave spring as shown in
As shown in
Compared to common shaft sealing structures, the aforementioned shaft sealing structures 16 and 16a are additionally provided with the spring 165 and shaft rings 163a and 163b. The spring 165 can vertically push other components. Therefore, when other annular components around the shaft 14 are worn after being used for a long time, the pushing force of the spring 165 will squeeze those annular components, and those squeezed components slightly deform, thereby prevent gaps from presenting between the shaft 14 and the carrier 160 due to the wear. Thus, the effect of balancing the loads of the shaft sealing structure can be achieved.
As shown in
Next, please refer to
In another embodiment, the modular shaft sealing structure 16 in the fluid valve 1 of the present invention may not be provided with the shaft rings 163a and 163b and spring 165. In such embodiment, the modular shaft sealing structure 16 can still be detached from the fluid valve 1 and replaced.
Next, please refer to
It should be noted that, in the case of using a fixed shaft sealing structures 16, 16′ or 16a in the fluid valve 1 of the present invention instead of a detachable modular shaft sealing structure, the shaft sealing structure 16, 16′ or 16a in the fluid valve 1 may not include the carrier 160 and the liner 161. In such case, the shaft sealing structure 16, 16′ or 16a is constructed by the shaft seal rings 162a and 162b, the shaft rings 163a and 163b, and the spring 165. In this embodiment, the shaft sealing structure 16, 16′ or 16a still produces effect of load balancing although it cannot be integrally from the fluid valve 1 and replaced.
According the modular shaft sealing structures 16, 16′ and 16a of the fluid valve 1 provided by the present invention, the springs 165, 165′ and the shaft rings 163a, 163b and 163′ enable the loads on the sealing structure around the shaft 14 to be balanced in the fluid valve 1. Therefore, the modular shaft sealing structures 16, 16′ and 16a enable respective components to be combined more tightly. Also, In a case that gaps present due to the wearing of respective components after being used for a long time, the modular shaft sealing structures 16, 16′ and 16a can produce pushing forces for making the components slightly deformed to fill the gaps, so as to reduce fluid leakage through the gaps between the shaft 14 and the valve body 12.
According to the present invention, the modular shaft sealing structure 16, 16′ or 16a of the fluid valve may be taken out of the shaft seal groove 122, and further separated from the valve body 12 of the fluid valve. Thus, technicians maintaining the fluid valve 1 can easily remove and renew components in the carrier 160, or even place a modular shaft sealing structure 16, 16′ or 16a in the shaft seal groove 122 after removing another modular shaft sealing structure 16, 16′ or 16a. This will significantly reduce the maintenance time for the fluid valve 1. Also, the carrier 160 is reusable after the components carried therein are removed, so as to be environment friendly.
Additionally, while the fluid valve 1 exemplarily shown in
The abovementioned are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and shall not be used to limit the scope of the appended claims. Further, those skilled in the art will understand from the description set forth, and practice the present invention according thereto. Thus, other equivalent alterations and modifications which are completed without departing from the spirit disclosed by the present invention should be included in the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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103121659 | Jun 2014 | TW | national |