Patent Application
20110186759
The invention relates to a valve comprising a housing forming an inlet for entering fluid into the valve, an exit for exit of the fluid from the valve, and a path between the inlet and the exit.
Power transducers are available for various kinds of valves used in industry. These transducers are frequently powered by electric solenoids, by hydraulics, and by pneumatics. Solenoids are simple, cheap and fairly reliable in discrete, stepwise, control of valves between different flow characteristics, typically on/off control. Pneumatic control sometimes lack sufficient strength to control large valves or valves which operate between large pressure differences. Hydraulic control is typically relatively expensive, requires inflexible pipe installations, and the presence of a liquid, and sometimes even flammable, medium is not always desirable.
The power transducers are commonly designed to mate with valves which are originally designed for manual operation. Typically, such valves include a housing with a valve member which is movable e.g. via a stem which extends from the housing. In such valves, the stem penetrates the housing, and various sealing gaskets etc are typically necessary.
It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative to the existing power actuated valves and to facilitate valve designs which can alleviate problems with known transducers. Accordingly, the invention provides a power actuated valve with a transducer comprising a laminate with a film of a dielectric polymer material arranged between first and second layers of an electrically conductive material so that it is elastically deformable in response to an electrical field applied between the layers, wherein the transducer is arranged to provide a ratio between deformation of the film and a flow condition in the path
The laminate which is arranged to function as a transducer is relatively simple and requires in it self no mechanically interacting, rotating or sliding elements. Since an applied electrical field deforms the film elastically, the elastic property of the film provides a build-in spring-force which pushes the transducer back towards a neutral position when the electrical field disappears. Accordingly, the valve may become very reliable and cheap. Due to the build-in spring-force, use of separate spring-elements may be avoided. In addition, the laminate structure is suitable for complete integration within a valve housing, and stems or similar handles which typically extend out of the housing, may thus be avoided depending on the specifically chosen design of the valve.
By transducer is hereby meant that it is capable of converting electrical energy to mechanical energy and reciprocally of converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. This enables the use of the transducer as an actuator which works to change the flow condition through the path when provided with an electrical field between the first and second layers of electrically conductive material, and/or the use of the transducer as a sensor which provides a change of an electrical characteristic, e.g. capacitance between the layers of electrically conductive material, upon a change in the flow condition in the path.
The housing may be provided in any kind of material, e.g. in a hard polymeric material, in metal such as brass or aluminium, or even in a soft polymeric material such as silicone etc. The valve may also include micro channels and may e.g. comprise a silicon wafer, and it may in general be formed in micro scale.
By deflect is herein meant to bend or to deform under influence of a pressure. In case of the film, the deflection is triggered by the pressure from the conductive layers under a force of attraction or repulsion from an electrical field applied between the conductive layers.
By laminate is here meant a product made by two or more layers of material, e.g. bonded together. As an example, the laminate may comprise a non conductive polymer material and a conductive material on each side, where the two kinds of material are bonded e.g. adhesively, by sintering, or simply arranged in contact with each other.
In the following, an electro-active laminate is a laminate with a film of a dielectric polymer material arranged between first and second layers of an electrically conductive material so that it is elastically deformable in response to an electrical field applied between the layers.
By the specification that the transducer is arranged relative to the path to provide a ratio between deformation of the film and a flow condition in the path is meant that the transducer is functionally related to the path so that the deflection causes a change in the flow condition. As it will be described in further details later, the transducer may be arranged in the path or outside the path, and the transducer may cooperate with any kind of movable structure.
The dielectric material could be any material that can sustain an electric field without conducting an electric current, such as a material having a relative permittivity, ε, which is larger than or equal to 2. It could be a polymer, e.g. an elastomer, such as a silicone elastomer, such as a weak adhesive silicone or in general a material which has elatomer like characteristics with respect to elastic deformation. For example, Elastosil RT 625, Elastosil RT 622, Elastosil RT 601 all three from Wacker-Chemie could be used as a dielectric material.
In the present context the term ‘dielectric material’ should be interpreted in particular but not exclusively to mean a material having a relative permittivity, εr, which is larger than or equal to 2.
In the case that a dielectric material which is not an elastomer is used, it should be noted that the dielectric material should have elastomer-like properties, e.g. in terms of elasticity. Thus, the dielectric material should be deformable to such an extent that the composite is capable of deflecting and thereby pushing and/or pulling due to deformations of the dielectric material.
The film and the electrically conductive layers may have a relatively uniform thickness, e.g. with a largest thickness which is less than 110 percent of an average thickness of the film, and a smallest thickness which is at least 90 percent of an average thickness of the film. Correspondingly, the first electrically conductive layer may have a largest thickness which is less than 110 percent of an average thickness of the first electrically conductive layer, and a smallest thickness which is at least 90 percent of an average thickness of the first electrically conductive layer. In absolute terms, the electrically conductive layer may have a thickness in the range of 0.01 μm to 0.1 μm, such as in the range of 0.02 μm to 0.09 μm, such as in the range of 0.05 μm to 0.07 μm. Thus, the electrically conductive layer is preferably applied to the film in a very thin layer. This facilitates good performance and facilitates that the electrically conductive layer can follow the corrugated pattern of the surface of the film upon deflection.
The film may have a thickness between 10 μm and 200 μm, such as between 20 μm and 150 μm, such as between 30 μm and 100 μm, such as between 40 μm and 80 μm. In this context, the thickness of the film is defined as the shortest distance from a point on one surface of the film to an intermediate point located halfway between a crest and a trough on a corrugated surface of the film.
The electrically conductive layer may have a resistivity which is less than 10−2 ∩·cm or even less than 10−4 Ω·cm. By providing an electrically conductive layer having a very low resistivity the total resistance of the electrically conductive layer will not become excessive, even if a very long electrically conductive layer is used. Thereby, the response time for conversion between mechanical and electrical energy can be maintained at an acceptable level while allowing a large surface area of the composite, and thereby obtaining a large influence on the flow conditions in the path. In the prior art, it has not been possible to provide corrugated electrically conductive layers with sufficiently low electrical resistance, mainly because it was necessary to select the material for the prior art electrically conductive layer with due consideration to other properties of the material in order to provide the compliance. By the present invention it is therefore made possible to provide compliant electrically conductive layers from a material with a very low resistivity. This allows a large actuation force to be obtained while an acceptable response time of the transducer is maintained.
The electrically conductive layer may preferably be made from a metal or an electrically conductive alloy, e.g. from a metal selected from a group consisting of silver, gold and nickel. Alternatively other suitable metals or electrically conductive alloys may be chosen. Since metals and electrically conductive alloys normally have a very low resistivity, the advantages mentioned above are obtained by making the electrically conductive layer from a metal or an electrically conductive alloy.
The dielectric material may have a resistivity which is larger than 1010 Ω·cm. Preferably, the resistivity of the dielectric material is much higher than the resistivity of the electrically conductive layer, preferably at least 1014-1018 times higher.
To facilitate increased compliance of the transducer in one direction, to facilitate an improved reaction time and therefore an improved performance and controllability of the valve, or potentially to provide an increased lifetime of the transducer, the film may have a surface pattern e.g. forming corrugations which render the length of the electrically conductive layer in a lengthwise direction, longer than the length of the laminate as such in the lengthwise direction—i.e. the surface pattern makes the surface longer than the laminate as such.
The corrugated shape of the electrically conductive layer thereby facilitates that the laminate can be stretched in the lengthwise direction without having to stretch the electrically conductive layer in that direction, but merely by evening out the corrugated shape of the electrically conductive layer. If it requires a larger force to elastically deform the electrically conductive layers than that which is required to deform the film, the corrugated shaped thereby renders the laminate more compliant in that lengthwise direction than in other directions.
According to the invention, the corrugated shape of the electrically conductive layer may be a replica of the surface pattern of the film.
The corrugated pattern may comprise waves forming crests and troughs extending in one common direction, the waves defining an anisotropic characteristic facilitating movement in a direction which is perpendicular to the common direction. According to this embodiment, the crests and troughs resemble standing waves with essentially parallel wave fronts. However, the waves are not necessarily sinusoidal, but could have any suitable shape as long as crests and troughs are defined. According to this embodiment a crest (or a trough) will define substantially linear contour-lines, i.e. lines along a portion of the corrugation with equal height relative to the composite in general. This at least substantially linear line will be at least substantially parallel to similar contour lines formed by other crest and troughs, and the directions of the at least substantially linear lines define the common direction. The common direction defined in this manner has the consequence that anisotropy occurs, and that movement of the composite in a direction perpendicular to the common direction is facilitated, i.e. the composite, or at least an electrically conductive layer arranged on the corrugated surface, is compliant in a direction perpendicular to the common direction.
The variations of the raised and depressed surface portions may be relatively macroscopic and easily detected by the naked eye of a human being, and they may be the result of a deliberate act by the manufacturer. The periodic variations may include marks or imprints caused by one or more joints formed on a roller used for manufacturing the film. Alternatively or additionally, the periodic variations may occur on a substantially microscopic scale. In this case, the periodic variations may be of the order of magnitude of manufacturing tolerances of the tool, such as a roller, used during manufacture of the film. Even if it is intended and attempted to provide a perfect roller, having a perfect pattern, there will in practice always be small variations in the pattern defined by the roller due to manufacturing tolerances. Regardless of how small such variations are, they will cause periodical variations to occur on a film being produced by repeatedly using the roller. In this way the film may have two kinds of periodic variations, a first being the imprinted surface pattern of structures such as corrugations being shaped perpendicular to the film, this could be called the sub-pattern of variations, and further due to the repeated imprinting of the same roller or a negative plate for imprinting, a super-pattern arises of repeated sub-patterns.
Manufacturing the film by repeatedly using the same shape defining element, allows the film to be manufactured in any desired length, merely by using the shape defining element a number of times which results in the desired length. Thereby the size of the composite along a length direction is not limited by the dimensions of the tools used for the manufacturing process. This is very advantageous. The film may be produced and stored on a roll, and afterwards, the film may be unrolled while the electrically conductive layer or layers are applied to the film.
Each wave in the corrugated surface may define a height being a shortest distance between a crest and neighbouring troughs. In this case each wave may define a largest wave having a height of at most 110 percent of an average wave height, and/or each wave may define a smallest wave having a height of at least 90 percent of an average wave height. According to this embodiment, variations in the height of the waves are very small, i.e. a very uniform pattern is obtained
According to one embodiment, an average wave height of the waves may be between ⅓ μm and 20 μm, such as between 1 μm and 15 μm, such as between 2 μm and 10 μm, such as between 4 μm and 8 μm.
In one embodiment, the height of the waves are varying e.g. so that the height increases from a small initial height with an increasing height towards a higher end height. In this respect, the laminate may e.g. be rolled so that the wave with the initial height is in the centre of the rolled actuator or at the periphery of the rolled actuator.
Alternatively or additionally, the waves may have a wavelength defined as the shortest distance between two crests, and the ratio between an average height of the waves and an average wavelength may be between 1/30 and 2, such as between 1/20 and 1.5, such as between 1/10 and 1.
The waves may have an average wavelength in the range of 1 μm to 20 μm, such as in the range of 2 μm to 15 μm, such as in the range of 5 μm to 10 μm.
A ratio between an average height of the waves and an average thickness of the film may be between 1/50 and ½, such as between 1/40 and ⅓, such as between 1/30 and ¼, such as between 1/20 and ⅕.
The second electrically conductive layer may, like the first layer, have a surface pattern, e.g. including a corrugated shape which could be provided as a replica of a surface pattern of the film. Alternatively, the second electrically conductive layer is substantially flat. If the second electrically conductive layer is flat, the composite will only have compliance on one of its two surfaces while the second electrically conductive layer tends to prevent elongation of the other surface. This provides a composite which bends when an electrical potential is applied across the two electrically conductive layers.
One way of making the laminate is by combining several composites into a multilayer composite with a laminated structure. Each composite layer may comprise:
In this structure, an electrode group structure may be defined, such that every second electrically conductive layer becomes an electrode of a first group and every each intermediate electrically conductive layer becomes an electrode of a second group of electrodes. A potential difference between the electrodes of the two groups will cause a deformation of the film layers located there between, and the composite is therefore electro-active. In such a layered configuration, a last layer will remain inactive. Accordingly, a multilayer composite with three layers comprises 2 active layers, a multilayer composite with 10 layers comprises 9 active layers, etc.
According to one embodiment, the raised and depressed surface portions of the surface pattern of the film of each composite layer may have a shape and/or a size which varies periodically along at least one direction of the front surface. This has already been explained above.
If the electrically conductive layers are deposited on front surfaces of the films, it may be an advantage to arrange the layers with the rear surfaces towards each other. In this way, the multilayer composite becomes less vulnerable to faults in the film. If the film in one layer has a defect which enables short circuiting of electrodes on opposite surfaces thereof, it would be very unlikely if the layer which is arranged with its rear surface against the film in question has a defect at the same location. In other words, at least one of the two films provides electrical separation of the two electrically conductive layers.
The multilayer composite can be made by a multiple layer coating technique wherein each layer is coated directly on top of the previous layer, or it can be made by “dry” lamination of finished film layers on top of each other.
The multilayer composite can be made by arranging the composite layers in a stack and by applying an electrical potential difference between each adjacent electrically conductive layer in the stack so that the layers are biased towards each other while they are simultaneously flattened out. Due to the physical or characteristic properties of the film, the above method may bond the layers together. As an alternative or in addition, the layers may be bonded by an adhesive arranged between each layer. The adhesive should preferably be selected not to dampen the compliance of the multilayer structure. Accordingly, it may be preferred to select the same material for the film and adhesive, or at least to select an adhesive with a modulus of elasticity being less than the modulus of elasticity of the film.
The composite layers in the multilayer composite should preferably be identical to ensure a homogeneous deformation of the multilayer composite throughout all layers, when an electrical field is applied. Furthermore, it may be an advantage to provide the corrugated pattern of each layer either in such a way that wave crests of one layer are adjacent to wave crests of the adjacent layer or in such a way that wave crests of one layer are adjacent to troughs of the adjacent layer.
The transducer may change the path in different ways. In one example, the valve comprises a valve element, e.g. shaped to form a ball-valve, a butterfly-valve, a gate-valve, a diaphragm-valve, a rotary-valve, a needle-valve, a pinch-valve, a spool-valve, flapper-nozzle valve, or a seat-valve. In this embodiment, the transducer may be arranged to move the valve element relative to the housing. Often, traditional valves of the above listed kind comprise a spring-force structure which pushes the valve element towards a neutral position. In this kind of valve, the transducer can be arranged to counteract the force from the spring-force structure to move the valve element away from the neutral position. Since the transducer comprises a film of an elastically deformable polymer material, the transducer itself, i.e. the film thereof, may constitute the spring-force structure and thus provide a neutral position without use of additional elements. When an electrical field is applied to the conductive layers, the film deforms against the elastic forces build into the film, and the valve moves away from neutral. When the electrical field ends, the build-in elastic property forces the valve back to the neutral position.
In an alternative embodiment, the laminate itself is arranged at least partly in the path so that deformation of the film changes the flow properties in the path, e.g. by reducing a cross sectional size of the path or by causing the path to be more or less tortuous, or by opening and closing a port or valve seat. In this embodiment, a separate valve element could be unnecessary, and the valve may become very simple in structure. In a very simple embodiment, the flow path is blocked and unblocked depending on the deformation of the film so that a flow there through is either prevented or enabled depending on the electrical field applied to the conductive layers.
The transducer may be provided so that the deformation causes a change in the volume or so that the deformation changes the shape without changing the volume. A change of volume may e.g. be obtained by including in the film, a compressible gas, e.g. regular air.
The housing can be made with various geometries. In one example, the housing forms the path and a port or seat through which the path extends. In this example, the transducer, or a separate valve element can be arranged to cover the port to a various degree in response to deformation of the film. The transducer may e.g. comprise a sealing member of a resilient material.
A larger deformation and an increased force from the transducer may be obtained by rolling the laminate to form an elongated, stick-shaped, transducer, e.g. a cylindrical transducer with a cross-sectional shape and size which is constant throughout its length, or a tubular transducer with an outer surface facing outwardly away from the transducer and an inner surface facing inwardly towards an inner conduit inside the transducer.
According to a preferred embodiment the laminate may have been rolled to form a coiled pattern of dielectric material and electrodes, the rolled laminate thereby forming the transducer. In the present context, the term ‘coiled pattern’ should be interpreted to mean that a cross section of the transducer exhibits a flat, spiral-like pattern of electrodes and dielectric material. Thus, the rolled transducer resembles a Swiss roll or part of a Swiss roll.
Traditionally, transducers based on a body of polymer between electrode layers operate with a higher performance when the polymer is pre-strained. The pre-strain can be obtained by stretching the laminate or the rolled structure obtained by rolling of the laminate by use of a spring structure. In the rolled embodiment, the transducer is preferably designed by rolling or spooling of a laminate of potentially unlimited length in a thick-walled column-like self-supporting structure. Such a self-supporting structure may become sufficiently strong to prevent buckling during normal operation of the valve. By rolling of the laminate into a rolled structure, it may be possible to avoid pre-straining of the laminate and the self-supporting structure may therefore become very simple to manufacture.
The laminate may be rolled around an axially extending axis to form a transducer of an elongated shape extending in the axial direction. The rolled laminate may form a tubular member. This should be understood in such a manner that the rolled laminate defines an outer surface and an inner surface facing a hollow interior cavity of the rolled laminate. Thus, the transducer in this case forms a ‘tube’, but the ‘tube’ may have any suitable shape.
In the case that the rolled transducer forms a tubular member, the rolled laminate may form a member of a substantially cylindrical or cylindrical-like shape. In the present context the term ‘cylindrical-like shape’ should be interpreted to mean a shape defining a longitudinal axis, and where a cross section of the member along a plane which is at least substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis will have a size and a shape which is at least substantially independent of the position along the longitudinal axis. Thus, according to this embodiment the cross section may have an at least substantially circular shape, thereby defining a tubular member of a substantially cylindrical shape. However, it is preferred that the cross section has a non-circular shape, such as an elliptical shape, an oval shape, a rectangular shape, or even an unsymmetrical shape. A non-circular shape is preferred because it is desired to change the cross sectional area of the transducer during operation, while maintaining an at least substantially constant circumference of the cross section. In the case that the cross section has a circular shape this is not possible, since a circular shape with a constant circumference is not able to change its area. Accordingly, a non-circular shape is preferred.
The rolled transducer may define a cross sectional area, A, being the area of the part of the cross section of the rolled transducer where the material forming the rolled transducer is positioned, and A may be within the range 10 mm2 to 40000 mm2, such as within the range 50 mm2 to 2000 mm2, such as within the range 75 mm2 to 1500 mm2, such as within the range 100 mm2 to 1000 mm2, such as within the range 200 mm2 to 700 mm2. Thus, A may be regarded as the size of the part of the total cross sectional area of the rolled transducer, which is ‘occupied’ by the transducer. In other words, A is the cross sectional area which is delimited on one side by the outer surface and on the other side by the inner surface facing the hollow cavity of the rolled structure.
The rolled laminate may define a radius of gyration, rg, given by
where I is the area moment of inertia of the rolled transducer, and rg may be within the range 5 mm to 100 mm, such as within the range 10 mm to 75 mm, such as within the range 25 mm to 50 mm. The radius of gyration, rg, reflects a distance from a centre axis running along the longitudinal axis of the tubular member which, if the entire cross section of the rolled transducer was located at that distance from the centre axis, it would result in the same moment of inertia, I.
Furthermore, the rolled laminate may define a slenderness ratio, λ, given by λ=L/rg, where L is an axial length of the rolled laminate, and λ may be smaller than 20, such as smaller than 10. Thus, the slenderness ratio, λ, reflects the ratio between the axial length of the rolled laminate and the radius defined above. Accordingly, if λ is high the axial length is large as compared to the radius, and the rolled laminate will thereby appear to be a ‘slender’ object. On the other hand, if λ is low the length is small as compared to the radius, and the rolled transducer will thereby appear to be a ‘fat’ object, hence the term ‘slenderness ratio’. An object having a low slenderness ratio tends to exhibit more stiffness than an object having a high slenderness ratio. Accordingly, in a rolled laminate having a low slenderness ratio buckling during actuation is avoided, or at least reduced considerably.
The rolled laminate may define a wall thickness, t, and the ratio t/rg may be within the range 1/1000 to 2, such as within the range 1/500-1, such as within the range 1/300-2/3. This ratio reflects how thin or thick the wall defined by the rolled laminate is as compared to the total size of the rolled laminate. If the ratio is high the wall thickness is large, and the hollow cavity defined by the rolled transducer is relatively small. On the other hand, if the ratio is low the wall thickness is small, and the hollow cavity defined by the rolled laminate is relatively large.
Alternatively or additionally, the rolled laminate may have a wall thickness, t, and may comprise a number of windings, n, being in the range of 5 to 100 windings per mm wall thickness, such as in the range 10 to 50 windings per mm wall thickness. The larger this number is, the thinner the unrolled laminate has to be. A large number of windings of a thin film allows a given actuation force to be achieved with a lower potential difference between the electrodes as compared to similar transducers having a smaller number of windings of a thicker film, i.e. having the same or a similar cross sectional area. This is a great advantage.
The mechanical and electrostatic properties of an electro-active web are used as a basis to estimate actuator force per unit area and stroke. Rolled laminates as described above are made by rolling/spooling very thin composite layers, e.g. having a thickness within the micrometers range. A typical transducer of this type can be made of laminate which is wound in thousands of windings.
When activated, direct/push transducers convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. Part of this energy is stored in the form of potential energy in the transducer material and is available again for use when the transducer is discharged. The remaining part of mechanical energy is effectively available for actuation. Complete conversion of this remaining part of the mechanical energy into actuation energy is only possible if the transducer structure is reinforced against mechanical instabilities, such as well known buckling due to axial compression. This can be done by reinforcing the cross sectional area of the transducer on one hand and then optimising the length of the transducer according to Euler's theory.
The optimisation process starts by defining the level of force required for a given valve. Then based on the actuator force per unit area, it is possible to estimate the necessary cross sectional area to reach that level of force.
Stabilisation of the transducer against any mechanical instability requires reinforcing its cross section by increasing its area moment of inertia of the cross section, I. Low values of I result in less stable structures and high values of I result in very stable structures against buckling. The design parameter for reinforcing the structure is the radius of gyration
which relates cross section, A, and area moment of inertia, I. Low values of rg result in less stable transducer structures and high values of rg result in highly stable transducer structures. After having defined optimum ranges for both area, A, and radius of gyration, rg, it is possible to define the optimum range for the rolled transducer wall thickness, t, with respect to rg in the form of t/rg. Area, A, radius, rg, and wall thickness, t, are the design parameters for reinforcing the transducer cross section for maximum stability. Low values of t/rg result in highly stable transducer structures and high values of t/rg result in less stable transducer structures.
Once the ranges of the cross section parameters have been determined, it is necessary to estimate the maximum length, L, of the transducer, for which buckling by axial compression does not occur for the required level of force. Slenderness ratio, λ, as defined above, is the commonly used parameter in relation with Euler's theory. Low values of λ result in highly stable transducer structures and high values of λ result in less stable transducer structures against buckling.
Once all design parameters for the optimum working direct transducer have been determined, it is possible to estimate the total number of windings that are necessary to build the transducer based on the transducer wall thickness, t, and the number of windings per millimetre, n, for a given electro-active web with a specific thickness in the micrometer range.
The rolled transducer may comprise a centre rod arranged in such a manner that the transducer is rolled around the centre rod, the centre rod having a modulus of elasticity which is lower than a modulus of elasticity of the dielectric material. According to this embodiment the hollow cavity defined by the tubular member may be filled by the centre rod, or the centre rod may be hollow, i.e. it may have a tubular structure. The centre rod may support the rolled transducer. However, it is important that the modulus of elasticity of the centre rod is lower than the modulus of elasticity of the dielectric material in order to prevent that the centre rod inhibits the function of the transducer.
Alternatively or additionally, the rolled transducer may comprise a centre rod arranged in such a manner that the transducer is rolled around the centre rod, and the centre rod may have an outer surface abutting the rolled transducer, said outer surface having a friction which allows the rolled transducer to slide along said outer surface during actuation of the transducer. The centre rod could, in this case, e.g. be a spring or similar elastically deformable element. Since the rolled transducer is allowed to slide along the outer surface of the centre rod, the presence of the centre rod will not inhibit elongation of the transducer along a longitudinal direction defined by the centre rod, and the operation of the transducer will thereby not be inhibited by the presence of the centre rod due to the low friction characteristics of the centre rod.
The transducer which comprises a rolled laminate may have an area moment of inertia of the cross section which is at least 50 times an area moment of inertia of the cross section of an un-rolled transducer, such as at least 75 times, such as at least 100 times. According to the present invention, this increased area moment of inertia is preferably obtained by rolling the transducer with a sufficient number of windings to achieve the desired area moment of inertia of the rolled structure. Thus, even though the unrolled transducer is preferably very thin, and therefore must be expected to have a very low area moment of inertia, a desired area moment of inertia of the rolled transducer can be obtained simply by rolling the transducer with a sufficient number of windings. The area moment of inertia of the rolled transducer should preferably be sufficient to prevent buckling of the transducer during normal operation.
Thus, the rolled transducer may have a number of windings sufficient to achieve an area moment of inertia of the cross section of the rolled transducer which is at least 50 times an average of an area moment of inertia of the cross section of an un-rolled transducer, such as at least 75 times, such as at least 100 times.
According to one embodiment, positive and negative electrodes may be arranged on the same surface of the dielectric material in a pattern, and the transducer may be formed by rolling the dielectric material having the electrodes arranged thereon in such a manner that the rolled transducer defines layers where, in each layer, a positive electrode is arranged opposite a negative electrode with dielectric material there between. According to this embodiment the transducer may preferably be manufactured by providing a long film of dielectric material and depositing the electrodes on one surface of the film. The electrodes may, e.g., be arranged in an alternating manner along a longitudinal direction of the long film. The long film may then be rolled in such a manner that a part of the film having a positive electrode positioned thereon will be arranged adjacent to a part of the film belonging to an immediately previous winding and having a negative electrode thereon. Thereby the positive and the negative electrodes will be arranged opposite each other with a part of the dielectric film there between. Accordingly, a transducer is formed when the film is rolled.
The laminate may e.g. be rolled relative to a surface pattern of at least one of the layers so that the deformation of the film causes radial expansion of the transducer. This could be obtained with a pattern of corrugations extending parallel to an axis around which the laminate is rolled. Alternatively, the laminate could be rolled relative to a surface pattern of at least one of the layers so that the deformation of the film causes axial expansion of the transducer and thus variable distance between axially opposite end faces of the transducer. This could be obtained with a pattern of corrugations extending perpendicularly to the axis around which the laminate is rolled so that the crests and chests of the corrugations extend circumferentially around the transducer.
One of the end faces could comprise a sealing member which is shaped to cooperate with the previously mentioned port or seat of the housing. The sealing member may e.g. be an o-ring arranged in a recess in one of the end faces.
If the transducer is tubular, the housing may comprise a tubular outer element forming a conduit, and an inner element arranged in the conduit. The tubular shaped transducer could be arranged between an inner surface of the outer element and an outer surface of the inner element. An outer surface of the tubular transducer could be sealed to the inner surface of the outer element and an inner surface of the tubular transducer could be sealed to the outer surface of the inner element so that a fluid would be prevented from passing between the outer element and the transducer and also be prevented from passing between the inner element and the transducer. To establish a flow through the valve, the inner element could also be tubular or at least hollow, and it may be provided with at least one passage from an opening in the outer surface of the inner element to an opening in an inner surface of the inner element. The transducer could thus be arranged so that it selectively covers the opening and uncovers the opening when the film is deformed. The transducer may also constitute at least a part of the inner element. As an example, the transducer may itself be tubular with a number of openings through the laminate so that a fluid can flow from outside the tubular transducer and into the inner conduit in the tubular transducer. In this embodiment, the inner conduit may house a closing-element around which the transducer may squeeze when the film is deformed, and the openings through the wall of the transducer may thus be blocked by the closing-element.
In the following, different embodiments of the invention will be described in further details with reference to the drawing in which:
As illustrated in
The transducer is made from a laminate with a film of a dielectric polymer material arranged between first and second layers of an electrically conductive material so that it is elastically deformable in response to an electrical field applied between the layers. The laminate is rolled and therefore has a tubular shape with wall around an inner cavity 8.
First and second connectors 9, 10 are provided to apply the electrical field to the layers.
A fluid flow through the valve is symbolized by the bolded arrows in
The valve opens and closes by movement of the valve member 7 in the direction of the path 6. This is enabled in a very simple manner by arrangement of the transducer inside the path, and this is possible due to the very simple and robust structure of the transducer.
The laminate is provided so that it is easier to deform in one, compliant, direction than in other directions. The laminate is further provided with an anisotropic characteristic so that it is less compliant in one specific direction than in other directions. As illustrated in
By selection of a conductive material which requires a larger force to deform elastically than that required to deform the polymer material, and by application of the conductive material throughout the transverse direction indicated by the bold arrows 14, 15, i.e. parallel to the direction in which the crests and troughs of the waves extend, the laminate becomes anisotropic. By anisotropic is meant that the laminate is compliant in the longitudinal direction and non-compliant in the transverse direction.
The laminate structure illustrated in
The transducer in
In addition to the use of the transducer for controlling the flow through the valve, the transducer may also be used for determining pressure of a fluid flowing in the valve and thus, for a known flow system, for determining flow speed etc. for the system in question. This will be described in further details with reference to
In the sixth embodiment, one of the elements 35 or both of the elements 35, 36 could be made directly from an electro-active laminate. When the polymer deflects, holes in the laminate 35 are shifted slightly which brings the holes out of line with holes in the other element 36.
In
In
The control system is capable of applying a known bias voltage between the layers and simultaneously to determine the capacitance of the laminate. According to the reference characteristic for the valve, the applied bias voltage should provide a theoretical orifice effective flow area and thus a theoretical capacitance of the laminate. By the simultaneous measurement of the capacitance, the control system is capable of deriving an actually obtained orifice effective flow area and to adjust the bias voltage until a desired flow area is obtained.
The control system comprises data storage capacity 86 in which a ratio between an orifice effective flow area versus actuator capacitance is specified. In a most simple embodiment, the ratio is stored as discrete values. A computing device 87 communicates with the data storage 86 and determines based on a desired orifice area, a theoretical bias voltage 88 by which the film is theoretically deflected to cause the desired orifice area. The computing device communicates the theoretical bias voltage to an error correction device 89 from which the bias source 90 receives input for setting a high voltage bias signal to the actuating device 91. The actuating device 91 comprises a laminate of the kind already described, and in the diagram, such a laminate corresponds to a capacitor.
In addition to the bias signal, the bias source 90 provides, via the connection 92, a low voltage test signal which is applied to the laminate simultaneously with the bias signal. The filter 93 extracts the low voltage signal from the high voltage signal, and the capacitance measuring device 94 determines the actual capacitance of the laminate actuating device 91.
The capacitance is determined while the film is deflected by the high voltage bias signal and therefore, the capacitance indicates how much the film was deflected by the bias signal. In the illustrated embodiment, the capacitance is converted into feedback signal 95, in this case in form of a comparative bias voltage, i.e. a bias voltage which, with the reference characteristics of the valve, would have provided that deflection of the film which actually occurred and which was determined by measuring of the capacitance. The comparative bias voltage is subtracted from the determined bias voltage in the correction device 89 and the resulting corrected bias voltage 96 is received by the bias source 90.
In general, the feedback signal 95 can be manipulated in various ways via amplifies and converters of different kind.
The capacitance measuring device may also be implemented in a regular computer system, and it may include, without being limited to, any of the following measuring principles: AC Power, AC Voltage, RMS Power, Peak detectors, Log detectors, RSSI, Impedance, Pulse Measuring circuit or Spectral Measuring circuit.
The setting voltage that provides the high voltage bias signal to the actuator is typically greater than 300 Volts and less than 10 kV. An example would be 500 to 2.5 kV high voltage. The Low voltage test signal would typically be between 1 and 10 V, an example would be 3 to 5V. The High voltage actuator control signal is typically DC to low frequency less than 1 KHz repetition rate, an example would be 50 Hz. The AC test signal is generally at a frequency rate considerably higher than the actuator, usually by a factor of 10 away from the actuator repetition rate. An actuator with a 2.5 kV signal, with a 10 Hz repetition rate, could have an AC test signal of 5V and 1 KHz repetition rate.
The data processing structure may further be adapted to use the determined area of the orifice to provide flow specific information. Such information may be based on information in a second data file which describes a ratio between the area of the orifice and pressure drop over the valve, flow speed for a specific fluid etc.
Furthermore, the control system may be adapted to control the valve for dosing purposes. As an example, the control system may be capable of reading a user request with respect to the flow. As an example, this may be a desired pressure drop, a desired flow speed, or a desired dose of a fluid medium which is released through the valve. Based on the request, the control system controls applies a bias voltage to the first and second electrically conductive layers while the capacitance is measured. In this way the area of the orifice is determined and by use of the data in the first and second data files, the request may be fulfilled.
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For control of the valve, the control system may derive from the measured capacitance, a specific deflection of the film. From the known bias voltage and the specific deflection, the control system may determine which load and thus pressure which is applied on the valve. By use of a model of the flow and pressure conditions for a valve which operate on a specific fluid, the control system may further provide specific flow data such as a flow rate etc.
While the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to a particular embodiment thereof, it should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications to this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA 2008 00621 | Apr 2008 | DK | national |
This application is entitled to the benefit of and incorporates by reference essential subject matter disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/DK2009/000097 filed on Apr. 30, 2009 and Danish Patent Application No. PA 2008 00621 filed on Apr. 30, 2008.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DK2009/000097 | 4/30/2009 | WO | 00 | 4/26/2011 |
