Patent Application
20200340599
The present invention relates to components of the water purification system, especially the pressure reducing valves in this system.
In the existing water purifier system (e.g. reverse osmosis), external water typically flows through a pressure reducing valve of the system before entering the interior of the system. When the water pressure at the inlet end of the pressure reducing valve becomes higher than a preset value, a movable piston in the pressure reducing valve moves along with the change of the water pressure at the inlet end, so that the water volume flowing through the pressure reducing valve is changed, and even cutting off the water flow when the water pressure at the inlet end reaches the limit, so as to ensure that the water pressure at the outlet end of the pressure reducing valve will not be too high, which prevent the components in the system from being damaged by the excessive water pressure.
Such a pressure reducing valve is also known as a relief pressure valve or a control valve, and various designs have been available, for example, CN205350478U, CN205479563U, CN205383294U, CN203906927U, CN103411009B, and CN206093090U.
The present invention offers a novel pressure reducing valve comprising a valve body, two connectors, an inner seal ring, a piston, a spring element, an outer seal ring and a restriction element. Specifically, the valve body has a water inlet channel, a water outlet channel, a chamber between the water inlet channel and the water outlet channel, a wall separating the chamber and the water inlet channel, and a tube disposed at the wall and connecting the chamber to the water inlet channel, wherein the valve body is an integral structure and entirely made of the hard-plastic material, and that the tube has a front opening toward the water inlet channel and a rear opening toward the chamber.
The two connectors are respectively fixed to the water inlet channel and the water outlet channel of the valve body to respectively connect to a water inlet pipe and to a water outlet pipe.
The piston is sleeved on the tube of the valve body and movable between an original position and a closed position, wherein the piston includes a tubular portion sleeved on the tube, a block that closes off the rear opening of the tube only at the closed position, and multiple connecting ribs separately and radially arranged around the periphery of the block. The two ends of each connecting rib are respectively connected to the tubular portion and the block, and a water flow passage is formed between every two connecting ribs, wherein the piston has an integral structure, and entirely made of TPE material, so that the block is elastic and softer than the tube.
The inner seal ring is sleeved on the tube of the valve body and positioned between the tube and the tubular portion of the piston. The outer seal ring is sleeved on the tubular portion of the piston and positioned between the tubular portion and the valve body.
The spring element is positioned in the chamber of the valve body and resisting the movement of the piston towards the wall with its elastic force. The restriction element is fixed in the valve body for blocking the piston, wherein the restriction element has a through hole connecting the chamber to the water outlet channel.
In an embodiment, the piston of the present invention described above is made of a thermoplastic vulcanized.
In an embodiment, the block of the piston of the present invention described above is partially positioned within the tubular portion and partially outside the tubular portion. Preferably, the radially arranged connecting ribs of the piston described above form a receiving space receiving a portion of the tube of the valve body.
In an embodiment, the restriction element of the present invention described above has multiple protrusions separately and radially arranged around the periphery of the through hole. The protrusions lay against the tubular body of the piston.
In an embodiment, the tube of the present invention described above has a front portion and a rear portion whose outer diameter is smaller than the front portion, so that the junction between the front portion and the rear portion forms a first annular shoulder, the inner seal ring sleeved on the rear portion and against the first annular shoulder. Preferably, the inner diameter of the water outlet channel of the present invention described above is larger than the chamber, so that the junction between the water outlet channel and the chamber forms a second annular shoulder, and the restriction element is positioned inside the chamber and has an annular block laying against the second annular shoulder. More preferably, the valve body has an annular protrusion disposed within the valve body adjacent to the second annular shoulder and extending inwardly with two slopes meeting along an apex, the annular protrusion surrounding the water outlet channel and against the annular block of the restriction element. Moreover, the connector of the water outlet channel of the present invention described above is fixed to the valve body presses the annular block of the restriction element.
The present invention provides a different type of pressure reducing valve, which has few components and is easy to assemble. In particular, it has the piston made of TPE material described above and an integral-structure valve body.
The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which corresponding parts are identified by the same numerals and in which:
Referring now to
As shown in
The two connectors 30 are respectively fixed in the water inlet channel 11 and in the water outlet channel 12 of the valve body 1. Each of the connectors 30 may be a quick connector with a mating seal ring, such as US20030160451A1, or a conventional pipe fitting. In this embodiment, each of the connectors 30 is a quick connector and has clip ring 301 made of the elastic metal, multiple teeth forming on the outer periphery of each clip ring 301. As shown in
The piston 41 is sleeved on the tube 2 of the valve body 1 and movable between an original position shown in
In this embodiment, the TPE material may be the thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV), but is not limited to this. The thermoplastic vulcanizate has the properties both of rubber and of plastic, so that the piston 41 has a structural strength strong enough to maintain its shape without being distorted, and the block 411 is elastic and soft enough to provide a good seal at the closed position.
As shown in
The inner seal ring 40 is sleeved on the tube 2 of the valve body 1 and positioned between the tube 2 and the tubular portion 410 of the piston 41. The outer seal ring 43 is sleeved on the tubular portion 410 of the piston 41 and positioned between the tubular portion 410 and the valve body 1.
The spring element 42 is positioned in the chamber 1 of the valve body 10 and resisting the movement of the piston 41 towards the wall 14 with its elastic force. The spring element 42 is a compression spring sleeved on the tubular portion 410 of the piston 41, and the two ends of the compression spring respectively lay against the wall 14 of the valve body 1 and an annular flange 410a on the tubular portion 410, wherein the compression spring is not the only choice of the spring element 42, that other forms of spring or elastomer may be selected.
As shown in
As shown in
Additionally, although not necessary, as shown in
Preferably, the annular block 63 of the restriction element 6 can be pressed by one of the connectors 30 and its seal ring 31, so that the restriction element 6 is fixed at that position, wherein the annular block 63 of the restriction element 6 is indirectly pressed by the one of the connectors 30 in the foregoing description, and that if the seal ring 31 is not used, one of the connectors 30 can directly press on the annular block 63. In other words, the connector 30 of the water outlet channel 12 fixed to the valve body 2 presses on the annular block 63 of the restriction element 6.
As shown in
The pressure reducing valve of the present invention in a normal state is as shown in
When the water pressure of the water inlet channel 11 of the valve body 1 is higher than a preset pressure (the preset pressure is determined by the elastic force of the spring element 42), the water pressure in the chamber 10 will also be higher than the preset pressure. At the same time, the piston 41 is moved forward by the reverse thrust generated by the water pressure in the chamber 10, that is, moved toward the wall 14 and the spring element 42 is consequently compressed, so that the gap between the block 411 and the rear opening 23 of the tube 2 becomes smaller, or the water flow passage 413 becomes smaller, which makes the water flow lower and the pressure in the chamber 10 decrease. At the same time, the reverse thrust on the piston 41 is correspondingly reduced, so that the piston 41 can be moved backward by the elastic force of the spring element 42, that is, moved toward the restriction element 6 in order to make the water flow higher.
If the water pressure of the water inlet channel 11 is higher than the preset pressure, which makes the water pressure in the chamber 10 equal to or higher than an upper limit value, the piston 41 will receive a greater reverse thrust and be pushed forward to the closed position, as shown in
Preferably, a vent hole 13 may be set on the valve body 1. The vent hole 13 connects the space in which the spring element 42 is located to the external space.
In summary, the pressure reducing valve of the present invention is fully utilized by the industry. Its implementation method has been clearly and fully disclosed in the above embodiments. It will be appreciated that the scope of this invention is to be defined by the appended claims.
