Patent Application
20070164249
This application claims the benefit of German patent application 10 2006 003 259.4 filed Jan. 19, 2006, herein incorporated by reference.
The invention relates to a method for producing valve housings. More particularly, the invention relates to such a method performed by cutting sections off an extruded billet material and by working into the sections inlet and outlet conduits, which are substantially arranged in a common plane, and for producing a receiving bore, which extends transversely to the inlet conduits and is substantially arranged in a common plane, for at least one valve element. The invention further relates to a valve housing.
It is known to arrange the valve corresponding to FIGS. 5 and 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,837 in a valve housing which was produced from a section of an extruded billet material. A receiving bore, which extends in the extruding direction, is worked into the section cut off the billet material. Further bores are worked transversely thereto into the section and terminate in the receiving bore and are used as inlet conduits and outlet conduits. The extruded billet material has an essentially rectangular base body, which is provided with partially cylindrical thickenings on both sides, in whose area the receiving bore for the valve element is attached.
An object of the invention to reduce the production costs and in particular the costs for the material of the valve housing of the type described above.
This object is addressed in that the billet material is shaped as a substantially parallelepiped base body with protruding ribs, with the inlet conduits and outlet conduits opening at the ribs.
The invention makes it possible to substantially reduce the amount of material used in the production of such valve housings. This is a considerable advantage, in particular when the valve housings are employed as thermostatic valves in motor vehicles, since these thermostatic valves are required in large numbers.
In an embodiment of the invention, the rib in the area of at least one inlet conduit and/or outlet conduit is reshaped into a peg which is provided with an exterior thread. The reshaping of a rib after the section constituting the valve housing has been cut off the billet material requires a relative small outlay and results in only a small amount of waste material. It is therefore possible without a large outlay to provide a peg with an exterior thread which can be used for attaching a connecting line by means of a union nut. For some applications this is of considerable advantage, in particular also for holding the valve housing and/or connecting lines.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the inlet conduits and/or the outlet conduits and/or the receiving bores for several valve housings are cut into the billet material, prior to being subsequently divided into individual valve housings. In this manner, it is possible to considerably reduce the number of chucking operations for machining processes required for cutting the inlet conduits, the outlet conduits and the receiving bore. Thus, it is possible to further reduce the production costs.
The object of the invention is addressed in connection with a valve housing such that the billet material is profiled and provided with ribs which project away from a substantially parallelepiped base body and at which the inlet and outlet conduits open.
In a preferred embodiment, the receiving bore, as well as the inlet conduits and the outlet conduits, extend transversely in regard to the extrusion direction of the billet material. It is possible in this manner to provide inlet conduits, outlet conduits and the receiving bore in the billet material, which only subsequently is divided into individual valve housings. In this way, it is possible to considerably reduce the number of chucking operations for machining processes in the course of cutting the inlet conduits, the outlet conduits and the receiving bore, because of which the production time can be correspondingly reduced.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention ensue from the following description of the embodiments represented in the drawings.
The profiled cast or extruded element 10 represented in
The profiled element 10 has a parallelepiped base body, from the flat sides of which ribs 15, 16, 17, 18 protrude, which extend in the longitudinal direction (extrusion direction). In the exemplary embodiment, the profiled element 10 has an H-shaped cross section, in which pairs of the ribs 15, 18 and 16, 17 are located opposite each other. It is of course possible to provide a different arrangement of the ribs 15 to 18, in particular an arrangement in which the ribs are not located in pairs opposite each other, but are offset in respect to each other.
A receiving bore 20, which extends transversely in respect to the extrusion direction, and therefore also transversely in respect to the longitudinal direction of the ribs 15 to 18, has been cut into each section 12, 13, 14 of the base body from the direction of a narrow side. In the exemplary embodiment, a thermostatic actuating element is arranged in the receiving bore 20, which contains a housing 21 filled with an expandable material whose volume changes as a function of temperature. Depending on the temperature, a working piston, not represented, is extended from the housing 21 and is supported on a plug 22 which closes the receiving bore. The plug 22 is provided with a sealing ring 23. The sealing ring 23 is maintained in the receiving bore 20 by means of a retaining ring 24. The housing 21 of the thermostatic actuating element is spring-loaded by means of a restoring spring, which acts on the housing opposite the extension direction of the non-visible piston in the direction toward the plug 22. The restoring spring 25 is supported on the closed end of the receiving bore 20 of the valve housing 11.
A valve slider element 26 is fixedly connected with the housing 21 of the thermostatic actuating element and is guided in the receiving bore 20. In the cold state, i.e. as long as the working piston of the thermostatic actuating element has not yet been extended from the housing 21, the valve slider element 26 blocks the connection between an inlet conduit 27 and an outlet conduit 28 located opposite the latter. The inlet conduit 27 starts in the rib 17. The outlet conduit 28 starts in the rib 16. A further inlet conduit 29 and a further outlet conduit 30 start in the ribs 15 and 18. The inlet conduits 27, 29, the outlet conduits 28, 30 and the receiving bore 20 are substantially located on a common plane extending perpendicularly in relation to the longitudinal direction of the ribs 15, 16, 17, 18, i.e. in relation to the extrusion direction. Interior threads 31 have been respectively cut into the inlet conduit 27, the outlet conduit 28 and the inlet conduit 29. In the exemplary embodiment in accordance with
In connection with the exemplary embodiment in accordance with
The valves represented in
It will therefore be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, the present invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2006 003 259.4 | Jan 2006 | DE | national |
