The present invention relates to a valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve, which is installed in an exhaust gas circulation valve for circulating an engine exhaust gas to an intake passage and used for opening and closing a flow passage.
Conventionally, known as an exhaust gas circulation valve for circulating an engine exhaust gas to an intake passage are a poppet type valve adjusting the amount of circulation of an exhaust gas by the reciprocating movement of its valve element made by the reciprocating movement in an axial direction of its support shaft for supporting the valve, and a butterfly type valve adjusting the amount of circulation of an exhaust gas by the rotation of its valve element caused by the rotational movement about the axis, of its support shaft for supporting the valve element.
Moreover, as shown in
For countermeasures against this drawback, in an exhaust gas circulation valve 9 using a butterfly type valve element shown in
Since the conventional butterfly type valve elements are arranged as described above, there is a problem that the particle materials get stuck between the valve seat and the valve element at the time of closing of the valve element to interfere with the opening and closing operation of the valve element, or there is a problem that since the axis of the shaft is situated above the valve seat, a seal surface for between the valve seat and the valve element cannot be formed, which would make it difficult to ensure gas-tightness at the time of closing of the valve element.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to improve the gas-tightly operating characteristic of a valve element by maintaining the entry angle of the valve element to a valve seat at a predetermined value and also to restrain leakage of an exhaust gas during the valve element is closed by providing a seal surface on the axis of the valve seat.
The valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve according to the present invention includes a housing having a fluid passage formed of tubular, a support shaft rotatably provided within the housing, a valve seat formed within the housing, and a valve element for opening and closing the fluid passage by being rotated by the support shaft, the valve element mechanism comprising: a primary eccentricity causing a center of the support shaft to separate from a centerline of a seal surface of the valve seat with which the valve element contacts; a secondary eccentricity causing the center of the support shaft to separate from a center of the outer periphery of the valve element; and a tertiary eccentricity causing an apex of a cone shape defining a seal surface of the valve element and the seal surface of the valve seat to position at a side opposite from the support shaft and to tilt against a centerline of the housing.
According to the present invention, the valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve is arranged to have the primary eccentricity for separating or decentering the centerline of the support shaft from the centerline of the seal surface of the valve seat with which the valve element comes into contact; the secondary eccentricity for separating or decentering the center of the support shaft from the center of the outer periphery of the valve element; and the tertiary eccentricity for positioning the apex of the circular conical shape defining the seal surface of the valve element and the seal surface of the valve seat on the side opposite from the support shaft and also for tilting the apex thereof relative to the centerline of the housing, and thus the tightly operating characteristic of the valve seat with the valve element at the time of closing of the valve element can be enhanced. Further, the particle materials can not be stuck at the time of closing of the valve element, and the smooth opening and closing operation of the valve element can be maintained.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to explain the present invention in more detail.
The composition of the valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve in accordance with the first embodiment will be discussed with reference to
A valve seat 2a projecting from the surface along a diametric direction is integrally molded on the inner peripheral surface of the fluid passage of the housing 2. The valve seat 2a has a tapered shape, and the tip of the tapered shape is provided with a seal surface 2b for tightly contacting the valve element 5. Meanwhile, the valve element 5 has a tapered shape along the outer periphery thereof, and the tip of the tapered shape is equipped with a seal surface 5a for tightly contacting the valve seat 2a. When the valve element 5 is closed, the seal surface 2b of the valve seat 2a and the seal surface 5a of the valve element 5 are brought into tight contact with each other to close the flow passage. It is arranged that the tightly contacting portions of the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a have the same width. In sections I and II of
The exhaust gas circulation valve 1 has a triple-eccentric shape where the housing 2, the support shaft 4, and the valve element 5 each have a center decentered relative to each other. As shown in
The seal surface 2b of the valve seat 2a and the seal surface 5a of the valve element 5 each have a substantially elliptical shape formed when the cone shape 6 defined by the primary eccentricity A, the secondary eccentricity B, and the tertiary eccentricity C is obliquely cut. Further, the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a each are of minor diameter in the substantially elliptical shape in a parallel direction to the support shaft 4 and are of major diameter in the substantially elliptical shape in a perpendicular direction to the support shaft 4. The seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a have a generally elliptical shape formed by obliquely cutting the cone shape 6, and thus a parallel section where the contact surface between the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a perpendicularly intersects the centerline P of the valve element 5, and a taper section where the contact surface between the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a intersects the centerline P of the valve element 5 at an acute angle are formed. To be more specific, in
On each of the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a, a taper surface continuously increasing the angle of inclination from the parallel sections (2b′, 5a′) toward the taper sections (2b″, 5a″) is formed. By the structure, the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a can be provided throughout the inner peripheral surface of the flow passage of the housing 2. Moreover, by forming the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a in a substantially elliptical shape, the engagement and disengagement of the valve element 5 to the valve seat 2a can be smoothly performed. In addition, the cone shape 6 has an apex G as shown in
Furthermore, the seal surface 2b and the seal surface 5a each have or define the same substantially elliptical shape; however, the seal surface 2b is arranged to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the seal surface 5a. On the seal surface 2b formed on the housing 2 exposed to the outside air and the seal surface 5a formed on the valve element 5 that does not contact the outside air, there is a difference in the rate of expansion caused by the heat of the circulating exhaust gas, however, the above structure can cancel off the difference in the rate of expansion. Thereby, the fitting characteristic of the valve element 5 to the valve seat 2a can be improved without greatly losing the gas-tightness therebetween.
Meanwhile as shown in
Then, the structure for suppressing the torque F exerted on the valve element 5 will be shown.
In the composition shown in
Furthermore, when an automatically valve closing mechanism (not shown) for automatically closing the valve element 5 is provided in the exhaust gas circulation valve 1, the torque F exerted on the valve element 5 may be adjusted so as to become smaller than the automatic valve closing force of the automatically valve closing mechanism by adjusting the amount of removal of the valve element edge 5b. Moreover, in
As discussed above, in accordance with the first embodiment, the valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve is arranged by a triple-eccentric shape, and thus the seal surface of the valve seat and the seal surface of the valve element each forming a circumference within the housing can be provided.
Furthermore, in accordance with the first embodiment, by setting the entry angle of the valve element when the seal surface of the valve element tightly contacts the seal surface of the valve seat at 5 degrees or more and 80 degrees or less, the tightly operating characteristic between the valve seat and the valve element at the time of closing of the valve element can be improved. Furthermore, the particle materials contained in the circulating exhaust gas can be prevented from being stuck between the valve element and the valve seat at the time of closing of the valve element, and thus a smooth opening and closing operation of the valve element can be maintained.
Moreover, in accordance with the first embodiment, the support shaft is arranged to be disposed on the downstream side with respect to the flow of the circulating exhaust gas, and thus the soot or the like contained in the circulating exhaust gas is prevented from entering the bearing section of the support shaft or other sections, enabling a smooth opening and closing operation of the valve element to be continued.
Additionally, in accordance with the first embodiment, the valve seat is arranged to project inwardly from the housing, it becomes easy to process the seal surface of the valve seat. Further, the seal surfaces of the valve seat and the valve element are arranged to have substantially the same width to each other, process time for working each seal surface can be minimized.
Moreover, in accordance with the first embodiment, as to the valve element having a triple-eccentric shape asymmetrical relative to the support shaft, since the edge of the valve element on the side where the valve element has a larger area with respect to the support shaft as the center is removed, the torque exerted on the support shaft by the face pressure received by the valve element from the flow of the circulating exhaust gas, can be adjusted. Furthermore, even under high pressure in the exhaust gas circulation valve, the valve element can be operated at any opening with a small driving force.
In addition, in accordance with the first embodiment, the support shaft is arranged to be plated with chromium or the like over the surface thereof, and thus the deposition of the soot or the like contained in the circulating exhaust gas over the support shaft is reduced.
In the first embodiment discussed above, the edge of the valve element on the side where the valve element has a larger area with respect to the support shaft as the center is arranged to be removed; however, the edge of the valve element on the side where the element has a smaller area with respect to the support shaft as the center is arranged to be expanded to increase the area thereof. Also in that case, the face pressure received by the valve element becomes uniform, thus enabling the torque exerted on the support shaft to be adjusted.
In the first embodiment mentioned above, the arrangement where the valve element edge is removed in order to adjust the torque exerted on the support shaft is shown; however, in the valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve in accordance with the second embodiment, the arrangement is shown where the torque exerted on the support shaft is suppressed by a circularly conical shape similar to a cone shape formed by triple eccentricity.
a) shows a first cone shape 6 and a second cone shape 7. The first cone shape 6 shows a cone shape formed by the triple eccentricity shown in the first embodiment discussed above. Meanwhile, the second cone shape 7 in accordance with the second embodiment is a cone shape having a shape similar to but smaller than the first cone shape 6. The apex of the second cone shape 7 is located on the centerline of the cone shape 6 and has the inclination of triple eccentricity similar to that of the cone shape 6.
As shown in
On the other hand, tangent T, forming the second cone shape 7, to the taper sections (2b″, 8a″) of the seal surface 2b of the valve seat 2a and the seal surface 8a of the valve element 8, having the maximum inclination, is arranged to be located inwardly in the first cone shape 6, from tangent U, forming the first cone shape 6, to the taper sections (2b″, 5a″) of the seal surface 2b of the valve seat 2a and the seal surface 5a of the valve element 5, having the maximum inclination. The second cone shape 7 and the first cone shape 6 have a similar shape to each other, and thus the tangent T and the tangent U are parallel to each other.
As shown in
The seal surface 2b of the valve seat 2a and the seal surface 8a of the valve element 8 each have a substantially elliptical shape formed when the second cone shape 7 is obliquely cut. The substantially elliptical shape is shown in
Further, the first cone shape 6 and the second cone shape 7 are in the similarity shape. Thus, the entry angle D of the valve element 8 when the seal surface 2b of the valve seat 2a and the seal surface 8a of the valve element 8 tightly contact each other can be set at 5 degrees or more and 80 degrees or less, and the tightly contacting characteristic between the valve seat 2a and the valve element 8 is not deteriorated.
As discussed above, in accordance with the second embodiment, it is arranged that the second cone shape having a shape similar to the first cone shape formed by the triple eccentricity, and each of the seal surfaces of the valve seat and the valve element is formed along a general ellipse formed when the second cone shape is obliquely cut. Thus, setting the entry angle of the valve element relative to the valve seat at a predetermined value or more becomes possible, and the tightly contacting characteristic of the valve seat with the valve element is not deteriorated. Furthermore, the asymmetry of the valve element with the support shaft as the center reduces, and thus the face pressure received by the valve element from the flow of the circulating exhaust gas can be made uniform, enabling the torque exerted on the support shaft to be suppressed to the minimum.
As discussed above, the valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve according to the present invention is arranged such that the tightly operating characteristic between the valve seat and the valve element at the time of closing of the valve element is enhanced by the triple-eccentric structure, particle materials are prevented from being stuck at the time of closing of the valve element, and a smoothly opening and closing operation of the valve element can be maintained and thereby circulate the exhaust gas to the intake passage without leaking the gas. Thus, the valve element mechanism for an exhaust gas circulation valve is suitable for use in an exhaust gas circulation valve for a vehicle or the equivalent.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-307290 | Nov 2007 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2008/001703 | 6/30/2008 | WO | 00 | 2/26/2010 |