Various entities utilize fluid transport systems to transport fluids such as liquids or gases (e.g., natural gas, biogas, etc.). For example, energy developers, petroleum companies, coal mines, landfills, and various other entities may utilize fluid transport systems. It may be desirable to control the flow rate of a fluid through a fluid flow pipe or other component of a fluid transport system.
The present disclosure relates to multi-orifice plate flow valve systems and, in particular, multi-orifice plate flow valve systems configured to easily adjust and/or determine the flow rate of fluid to one of a plurality of settings.
The systems, methods and devices described herein have innovative aspects, no single one of which is indispensable or solely responsible for their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the claims, some of the advantageous features will now be summarized.
In a first embodiment, a flow control valve is described. The flow control valve includes an intake socket, an outlet socket spaced from the intake socket along a flow axis of the flow control valve, a generally circular multi-orifice plate, and a gear wheel mechanism. The multi-orifice plate has a center and a plurality of orifices spaced circumferentially about the center and extending through the multi-orifice plate, wherein each of the plurality of orifices is located at a radial distance from the center of the multi-orifice plate such that each orifice can be positioned along the flow axis between the intake socket and the outlet socket by rotating the multi-orifice plate about the center. The gear wheel mechanism is configured to rotate the multi-orifice plate about the center within a plane generally defined by the multi-orifice plate.
A first orifice of the multi-orifice plate can have a first cross sectional area and a second orifice of the multi-orifice plate can have a second cross sectional area greater than the first cross sectional area. Each of the plurality of orifices can have a cross sectional area different from the cross sectional areas of the other orifices. At least two of the plurality of orifices can have cross sectional areas between 25% and 75% of the cross sectional area of the intake socket. At least one orifice of the multi-orifice plate can have a circular shape. At least one orifice of the multi-orifice plate can have a non-circular shape.
The flow control valve can further include a valve housing at least partially enclosing the multi-orifice plate. The flow control valve can further include a plurality of o-rings sealing disposed about the flow axis between the multi-orifice plate and the valve housing. The multi-orifice plate can further include a plurality of alphanumeric indicators each corresponding to a size of one of the plurality of orifices, the alphanumeric indicators being positioned on the multi-orifice plate such that, when a particular orifice of the plurality of orifices is positioned along the flow axis, the corresponding alphanumeric indicator is visible to an observer through an aperture of the valve housing.
The flow control valve can further include a pressure sensor configured to produce an output indicative of a fluid pressure within an interior space of the flow control valve. The flow control valve can further include processing circuitry configured to calculate a rate of fluid flow through the flow control valve based at least in part on the output of the pressure sensor. The processing circuitry can be configured to calculate the rate of fluid flow based on the output of the pressure sensor and a cross sectional area of an aperture disposed along the flow axis of the flow control valve. The flow control valve can further include a valve position sensor configured to produce an output indicative of a size of an aperture disposed along the flow axis based at least in part on an initial position of the multi-aperture plate and a number of rotations of a portion of the gear wheel mechanism.
The flow control valve can further include a motor coupled to the gear wheel mechanism, wherein the motor is configured to actuate the gear wheel mechanism. A circumferential edge of the multi-orifice plate can include a plurality of cogs configured to engage with a gear of the gear wheel mechanism such that actuation of the gear wheel mechanism results in rotation of the multi-orifice plate.
The above-mentioned aspects, as well as other features, aspects, and advantages of the present technology will now be described in connection with various embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The illustrated embodiments, however, are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and form part of this disclosure. For example, a system or device may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such a system or device may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. Alterations in further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
Descriptions of the necessary parts or elements may be omitted for clarity and conciseness, and like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In the drawings, the size and thickness of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience.
Generally described, aspects of the present disclosure relate to flow valve systems configured to easily adjust and/or determine the flow rate of fluid to one of a plurality of settings. In some aspects, a multi-orifice plate is provided within a flow valve system and configured generally perpendicular to a fluid flow axis. The orifices extending through the plate can be arranged circumferentially around the plate such that an orifice of a desired size can be positioned along the fluid flow axis by rotating the multi-orifice plate so as to control a fluid flow rate through the flow valve system.
The multi-orifice plate flow valve system 100 can be used to control the rate of fluid flow through the flow valve system 100 to one of a plurality of flow rates. In this embodiment, the flow rate is controlled through use of orifices of varying sizes that may be alternatively positioned in-line with the flow axis of the system 100, the flow axis (also referred to herein as a fluid transport path) extending through a central axis of the intake socket 108 and through a central axis of the outlet socket 112. As described below with reference to
A user of the system can adjust a position of the multi-orifice plate 304 to select a desired orifice (and corresponding flow rate) for a flow system in which the valve 100 is implemented. For example, position of the orifices on the multi-orifice plate can be adjusted through rotation of a multi-orifice plate contained within a flange 104. In the embodiment of
As shown in
As shown in
Although sockets 108 and 112 are referred to as the intake and outlet socket, respectively, the system 100 is operable if the direction of fluid flow is the opposite, e.g., 108 functions as an outlet socket and 112 functions as an intake socket.
With continue reference to
As illustrated in
The sizes of the orifices can vary depending on the application. For example, a valve system may have orifices with sizes ranging from 25% to 75% of the pipe opening. As another example, in a fluid delivery system with oversized pipes, a valve system may have orifices with sizes ranging from 25% to 45% of the pipe opening.
Also as illustrated in
In the exemplary implementation, the crank cylinder 332 of the handle 120 is connected to a first external gear wheel 320 through an opening in the gear/motor protective cover 124 along a crank cylinder axis 360. The crank cylinder 332 is substantially cylindrical in shape. The longitudinal axis 356 of the crank cylinder 332 is aligned with the center of the substantially circular external gear wheel 320. Rotating the handle 120 in a circular motion causes the crank cylinder 332 and the external gear wheel 320 to spin around the central longitudinal axis 356 of the crank cylinder 332.
The first external gear wheel 320 has cogs around its outer circumference. A second external gear wheel 316 is substantially circular in shape and has matching cogs around its outer circumference. When assembled in an operational configuration (e.g., a portion of the gears of each of the wheels 320 and 316 are engaged), the first and the second external gear wheels 320, 316 interface such that the rotational motion of the first external gear wheel 320 causes the second external gear wheel 316 to spin around its central axis, thus translating motion about the central longitudinal axis of the crank cylinder 332 to motion about a substantially orthogonal axis 352.
The second external gear wheel 316 has a female configuration with an aperture around a central axis 352. An internal gear wheel 312 has a male configuration with a cylindrical protrusion around a central axis 348. When assembled in an operational configuration, the cylindrical protrusion of the internal gear wheel mates with the aperture of the second external gear wheel through an opening 336 in the lower flange 104b (e.g., the axes 348 and 352 are aligned with the central axis 344 through opening 336). This mating can transfer the spinning motion of the second external gear wheel 316 to the internal gear wheel 312 such that the two gear wheels can spin together.
The internal gear wheel 312 has cogs around its outer circumference, matching the cogs of the multi-orifice plate 304. When assembled in an operational configuration (e.g., the internal gear wheel 312 interfaces with the multi-orifice plate 304), spinning motion of the internal gear wheel can cause the multi-orifice plate 304 to rotate about its axis 340.
Thus, through the chain reaction of a series of wheel gears, the circular motion of the handle 120 translates to a rotational motion of the multi-orifice plate 304. This in turn moves an orifice on the multi-orifice plate 304 into or out of the apertures of sockets 108 and 112, e.g., into or out of the transport path.
Although various figures in the present application illustrate the first external gear wheel 320, the second external gear wheel 316, and the motor gear wheel 324 with bevel gears, other gear types (e.g., spiral bevel, hypoid, etc.) can be used. Similarly, the internal gear wheel 312 and the multi-orifice plate 304 can have one of various types of gears, e.g., spur, helical, double helical, etc.
The valve system 100 can rotate the multi-orifice plate via manual rotation of the handle 120 and/or via rotation driven by a motor 328, e.g., an electric motor. For example, the motor 328 can be oriented so that its shaft is substantially aligned with the axis 352 and connects with the motor gear wheel 324. When the motor is actuated, its shaft rotates and the motor gear wheel also rotates around the axis 324. When assembled in an operational configuration (e.g., the motor gear wheel 324 interfaces with the first external gear wheel 320), the rotation of the motor gear wheel causes the first external gear wheel to rotate along the axis 356. Through the chain reaction described above, the motor 328 can cause rotation of the multi-orifice plate 304.
A valve system can also provide sensing capability to determine a position of the multi-orifice plate. For example, with information of the initial relative positions of the multi-orifice plate 304 and a gear wheel (e.g., 324, 320, 316, or 312) as well as the relative gear ratios of the various gears in the chain, the position of the multi-orifice plate can be determined from the position and count of the number of rotations of the gear wheel (e.g., 324, 320, 316, or 312). With such sensing capability, the position of the multi-orifice plate 304 and the flow rate can be provided to a remote user through a communication channel; a user does not need to rely on the setting indicator 208 to determine a present flow rate. For example, the flow rate can be provided via a wired or wireless communication channel.
In some embodiments, a pressure transducer can be provided in the outlet socket 112 or elsewhere within an interior portion of the flow valve system 100 to enable calculation of a fluid flow rate through the system based on the size of the orifice and the measured pressure. Thus, the valve system 100 can advantageously support both flow control and flow rate determination. The pressure measurement can be provided to a remote user through the communication channel. An embodiment can have the pressure measurement and/or the sensing capability.
Referring now to
The embodiments described above are examples of the system and method. The following claims define the scope of the invention and include the full range of equivalents to which the recited elements of the claims are entitled.
The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the systems, devices, and methods disclosed herein. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the devices and methods can be practiced in many ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the technology with which that terminology is associated. The scope of the disclosure should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.
With respect to the use of any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
In general, the microprocessors, computing device, and/or processing circuitry discussed herein may each include on or more “components” or “modules,” wherein generally refer to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, Lua, C or C++. A software module can be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or can be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules can be callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or can be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software modules configured for execution on computing devices can be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a compact disc, digital video disc, flash drive, magnetic disc, or any other tangible medium, or as a digital download (and can be originally stored in a compressed or installable format that requires installation, decompression or decryption prior to execution). Such software code can be stored, partially or fully, on a memory device of the executing computing device, for execution by the computing device. Software instructions can be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that hardware modules can be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or can be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules or computing device functionality described herein are preferably implemented as software modules, but can be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modules described herein refer to logical modules that can be combined with other modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physical organization or storage.
The term “non-transitory media,” and similar terms, as used herein refers to any media that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Such non-transitory media can comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of non-transitory media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid state drive, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip or cartridge, and networked versions of the same.
It is noted that the examples may be described as a process. Although the operations may be described as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel, or concurrently, and the process can be repeated. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc.
The previous description of the disclosed implementations is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosed process and system. Various modifications to these implementations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosed process and system. Thus, the present disclosed process and system is not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/348,454, filed Jun. 10, 2016, entitled “MULTI-ORIFICE PLATE FLOW VALVE,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62348454 | Jun 2016 | US |