Patent Application
20190293463
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of gas meters, and specifically relates to a wide-range diaphragm gas meter.
For current diaphragm gas meters, it is hard to guarantee the precision during manufacturing as their diaphragms are flexible rubber pieces and their transmission mechanisms are composed of plastic parts. They are made acceptable by changing the gear sleeves of the drive counters, adjusting the number of teeth of the gears and checking with a standard checking device for gas meters. Due to a wide error distribution and limited gear number, the precision adjustment for gas meters has a certain range and shifts. Therefore, the precision is not enough.
The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a wide-range diaphragm gas meter to alleviate the problems of poor measurement accuracy and low precision existing in the diaphragm gas meters in the prior art as a result of poor operational stability of those gas meters.
The present disclosure is realized in the following way.
According to the above purpose, the present disclosure provides a wide-range diaphragm gas meter.
The wide-range diaphragm gas meter includes a movement (machine core), the movement including a diaphragm capsule (diaphragm chamber), two diaphragms, two diaphragm covers, a valve seat, a valve cover, a fine adjustment means and two groups of four-shaft rotation-transfer systems which drive the valve cover to rotate unidirectionally relative to the valve seat under an alternating motion of the two diaphragms, specifically:
The valve seat is connected with the diaphragm capsule. The valve cover is in slidable connection with the valve seat. The diaphragm capsule includes two metering chambers, respectively. The two diaphragms are located in the two metering chambers, respectively. Each of the diaphragms divides the corresponding metering chamber into two metering cavities. Each of the diaphragms is connected with the corresponding four-shaft rotation-transfer system. Each group of the four-shaft rotation-transfer systems includes a connecting rod, a rocking rod, a vertical shaft, a middle shaft, a crank and a center crank wheel having transmission gears. Specifically, the vertical shaft is a first rotating shaft which is in fixed connection with one end of the rocking rod. The other end of the rocking rod is hinged to one end of the connecting rod. A rotation shaft for connecting the rocking rod and the connecting rod is a second rotating shaft. The other end of the connecting rod is hinged to the crank. A center shaft of the crank is a third rotating shaft. The center crank wheel is sleeved on the middle shaft. The middle shaft is a fourth rotating shaft. The valve cover is disposed to be coaxial with the center crank wheel. The rotation of the center crank wheel around the middle shaft causes the valve cover to rotate around the middle shaft synchronously.
The mounting limiting positions of the diaphragms deviate from their optimum limiting positions within a range from −0.5 mm to +0.5 mm. The rocking rod has an angle error within a range from −0.8° to +0.8°. The fine adjustment means is mounted at the center crank wheel to adjust a position of a gas inlet of the valve cover relative to the valve seat when a diaphragm is in a limiting position, such that a gas flow direction is changed before the diaphragm reaches the limiting position and thus pressures at two sides of the diaphragm are balanced and the diaphragm in the metering cavity is in a non-tensioning state, where the limiting position refers to that the third rotating shaft is located in a plane formed by the fourth rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft.
Preferably, the four-shaft rotation-transfer systems further includes a front flag piece and a rear flag piece. One of the diaphragms is in driving connection with one vertical shaft via the front flag piece. The other diaphragm is in driving connection with the other vertical shaft via the rear flag piece. Linear reciprocation of each of the diaphragms causes the corresponding vertical shafts to rotate.
Preferably, the movement further includes a diaphragm support. The diaphragms are mounted in the diaphragm capsule via the diaphragm support.
Preferably, the first rotating shaft, the second rotating shaft, the third rotating shaft and the fourth rotating shaft in each of the four-shaft rotation-transfer systems are parallel with each other and perpendicular to a plane where the center crank wheel is located.
Preferably, the fine adjustment means includes a dial wheel and a pointer body. The center crank wheel is provided to be a pointer disk. A mounting shaft and a hollow cam shaft are mounted on the dial wheel. The mounting shaft and the cam shaft are located at two sides of a plane where the dial wheel is located. The transmission gear is mounted on the cam shaft. The cam shaft, the mounting shaft and the transmission gear are coaxially provided. The crank is mounted on the pointer disk. The pointer disk is further provided with a circle center hole coaxial with the pointer disk, an eccentric hole and successive scale slots. The mounting shaft is inserted in the circle center hole. Two recesses are respectively provided at the upper and lower ends of the eccentric hole, with the recesses communicating with the eccentric hole. The recess at the lower end of the eccentric hole is in communication with the circle center hole. The two recesses are provided opposite to each another, bounded by a diameter of the eccentric hole and in communication with each other. And a recess bottom of the recess at the lower end of the eccentric hole is located between the circle center hole and the eccentric hole.
The pointer tip end of the pointer body is provided with a protrusion for tight engagement within the scale slots. A rotation shaft is provided at a pointer tail end of the pointer body. An engagement portion is provided at a peripheral surface of the rotation shaft. The engagement portion protrudes outwards in a radial direction of the rotation shaft. An engagement groove is provided at a circumferential surface of the mounting shaft. The engagement groove is concave inwards in a radial direction of the mounting shaft. The mounting shaft is connected with the pointer disk through axial positioning of the engagement portion and the engagement groove. An eccentric pin is provided at a lower end of the rotation shaft.
A wheel surface of the dial wheel is provided with an elongated hole. The elongated hole extends in its length along a radial direction of the transmission gear. The eccentric pin is inserted in the elongated hole.
Preferably, each of the recesses is a semicircular recess, and the semicircular recess has a radius greater than a radius of the eccentric hole. The engagement portion is provided to be of a semicircular shape accordingly.
Preferably, the line connecting the rotation shaft and the circle center hole intersects with the line connecting the crank and the circle center hole, with an included angle of the lines being an acute angle. One side surface of the pointer body that is close to the circle center hole is provided to be an arc surface, and the arc surface is concave towards the other side of the pointer body.
Preferably, each vertical shaft is made of a metal material.
Preferably, the wide-range diaphragm gas meter further includes a counter. The output end of the movement is connected with the input end of the counter.
Preferably, the movement includes a transition gear, an axial gear, a gear sleeve and an adjustment gear, the transition gear is connected with the transmission gear via a gear, an output end of the transition gear engages with an input end of the axial gear, an output end of the axial gear engages with an input end of the adjustment gear, an output end of the adjustment gear engages with an input end of the counter.
The present disclosure provides the following beneficial effects.
To sum up, the present disclosure provides a wide-range diaphragm gas meter which has a simple and reasonable structure and is easy to be processed and manufactured, with low manufacturing costs. In addition, the wide-range diaphragm gas meter has a reasonable transmission mechanism where the transmission parts operate stably, safely and reliably. The gas meter has a high measurement accuracy and precision and thus extends the application scope of the wide-range diaphragm gas meter. It is described specifically below.
The wide-range diaphragm gas meter includes a movement for circulating gas. That is, gas enters a metering chamber with a constant volume and exits when the metering chamber is filled with gas. During such process, by the reasonable transmission mechanism, the numbers of times of gas introduction and discharge are converted into volume, and since the transmission mechanism is connected with the counter, the gas flux is reflected and displayed on the counter, realizing gas measurement. During the process of gas introduction and discharge, the gas flow causes the diaphragms to reciprocate in the metering chambers. Such reciprocation of the diaphragms turns the valve cover to rotate and the rotation of the valve cover is transferred to the counter, realizing metering of gas flow. During the motion of the diaphragms, each four-shaft subsystem passes two limiting positions where the diaphragms have to change their motion directions for the four-shaft subsystem to cross the limiting positions. In the present embodiment, a positioning means is used to accurately locate the limiting positions of the diaphragms. After mounting, the mounting limiting positions of the diaphragms deviate from their optimum limiting positions within a range from −0.5 mm to +0.5 mm. The rocking rod has an angle error within a range from −0.8° to +0.8°. Adjust a fine adjustment means to adjust the position of the gas inlet of the valve cover relative to the valve seat when a diaphragm is in a limiting position, and thus adjust the timing of gas introduction or discharge in the metering cavities, so that the gas flow direction is changed before the diaphragm reaches the limiting position. In this case, the pressures at two sides of the diaphragm are balanced, the diaphragm in the metering cavities is in a non-tensioning state, the gas flow is stable, and the fluctuation in gas pressure loss is slight. Therefore, the gas does not waste excess energy on the diaphragm and does not perform work on the diaphragm. This prevents energy loss in the case where the gas performs work on the diaphragms. Hence, the volume of the gas flowing out from the metering cavities is more accurate, i.e. the cyclic volume is more accurate and thus the metering precision is improved.
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, drawings necessary for the embodiments will be briefly described below. It should be understood that the following drawings merely show some embodiments of the disclosure and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope. Other related drawings can be obtained by those ordinarily skilled in the art according to these drawings without paying any creative effort.
For current diaphragm gas meters, it is hard to guarantee the precision during manufacturing as their diaphragms are flexible rubber pieces and their transmission mechanisms are composed of plastic parts. They are made acceptable by changing the gear sleeves of the drive counters, adjusting the number of teeth of the gears and checking with a standard checking device for gas meters. Due to a wide error distribution and limited gear number, the precision adjustment for gas meters has a certain range and shifts. Therefore, the precision is not enough.
In view of this, the designer of the present disclosure designs a wide-range diaphragm gas meter which has a simple and reasonable structure and is easy to be processed and manufactured. In addition, in the wide-range diaphragm gas meter, by adjusting the position of its crank, the gas flow direction changes before the diaphragms turn over during the operation process of its movement. As a result, the pressures at two sides are already balanced before the diaphragms reach the limit positions where they turn over. In this way, the motion of the movement is more stable and the measurement precision is improved.
In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and comprehensively described with reference to the drawings for the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the embodiments described are merely some, but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Normally, the components of the embodiments of the disclosure described and illustrated in the drawings herein can be arranged and designed in various configurations. Hence, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure provided in the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure as claimed, but merely shows the selected embodiments of the present disclosure. All the other embodiments obtained by those ordinarily skilled in the art based on the embodiments provided in the present disclosure, without paying creative efforts, shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
It should be noted that similar reference signs and letters refer to similar items in the following drawings. Therefore, once an item is defined in a drawing, it will not be further defined or explained in the following drawings.
It should also be noted that, in the description of the present disclosure, terms like “provide”, “mount”, “coupled” and “connected” should be interpreted in a broad sense, unless otherwise explicitly specified and defined. For example, a connection could be fixed, detachable, or integrated, or it could be mechanical or electrical, or it could be direct or done indirectly via an intermediate medium, or it could be internal communication between two elements. Those ordinarily skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure according to specific circumstances.
Referring to
The valve seat is connected with the diaphragm capsule 200. The valve cover is in slidable connection with the valve seat. The diaphragm capsule 200 includes two metering chambers. The two diaphragms 300 are located in the two metering chambers, respectively. Each diaphragm 300 divides its corresponding metering chamber into two metering cavities 500, forming a two-diaphragm four-cavity structure. The four metering cavities 500 are divided into two groups, two metering cavities 500 for each group. The two metering cavities 500 in each group introduce and discharge gas alternately. A gas inlet and a gas outlet are provided on the valve cover 400. When the valve cover 400 rotates around the middle shaft under the action of the center crank wheel, the gas inlet of the valve cover 400 is in communication with its corresponding metering cavity 500. At this point, that metering cavity 500 is in a state of introducing gas and the counterpart metering cavity 500 of that metering cavity 500 is in a state of discharging gas. As the two metering cavities 500 are in different states, a pressure difference is created and this pressure difference drives the diaphragms 300 to reciprocate in the metering chambers. The motion of the diaphragms 300 is output to the counter 305 by a transmission assembly. The counter 305 gives numerical values. In this way, the gas flow is obtained. Generally, there are a gas introducing cavity which is in a state of introducing gas and a gas discharging cavity which is in a state of discharging gas in both groups of metering cavities 500, and gas is introduced into the four metering cavities 500 in a reciprocating and alternating manner.
The mounting limiting positions of the diaphragms deviate from their optimum limiting positions within a range from −0.5 mm to +0.5 mm. This means the mounting error of the diaphragms is within a range from −0.5 mm to +0.5 mm, and the angle error of the rocking rod is within a range from −0.8° to +0.8°. Hence, the diaphragms are mounted in a more accurate position, the rocking rod is positioned more accurately and the gas meter has a smaller error and a higher precision during operation. The limiting position refers to that the third rotating shaft is located in the plane formed by the fourth rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft.
The four-shaft rotation-transfer system includes a connecting rod 102, a rocking rod 103, a vertical shaft 106, a middle shaft, a crank 600 and a center crank wheel 101 having transmission gears. The center crank wheel is sleeved on the middle shaft. The valve cover is disposed to be coaxial with the center crank wheel. The rotation of the center crank wheel around the middle shaft causes the valve cover to rotate around the middle shaft synchronously. The output end of each of the diaphragms is connected with its corresponding vertical shaft. The vertical shaft is the first rotating shaft. One end of the rocking rod is sleeved on the vertical shaft and rotates synchronously with the vertical shaft. The other end of the rocking rod is hinged to one end of the connecting rod. A crank is provided on the center crank wheel. The other end of the connecting rod is hinged to the crank. The diaphragms 300 reciprocate in their corresponding metering cavities under the action of gas pressure difference and cause the rocking rod 103 to move. The swing of the rocking rod 103 causes the connecting rod 102 to rotate. The connecting rod 102 is connected with the center crank wheel 101 by the crank 600. The rotation of the two connecting rods 102 causes the center crank wheel 101 to rotate, and thus causes the valve cover 400 to rotate relative to the valve seat. The gas inlet and the gas outlet of the valve cover 400 are in communication with different metering cavities 500 for gas introduction or discharge. Such cycle is repeated.
During the operation of the movement 100, the two diaphragms 300 both have two limiting positions. The limiting position refers to that the third rotating shaft is located in the plane formed by the fourth rotating shaft and the second rotating shaft. To cross the limiting positions, the diaphragms 300 change their motion directions by turning them over. In the prior art, when the diaphragm 300 reach a limiting position, the gas pressure difference between two metering cavities 500, which are cooperating, exerts zero moment on the center crank wheel 101. A diaphragm 300 in a limiting position is completely caused to cross its limiting position through the rotation of the center crank wheel 101 caused by the motion of the other diaphragm 300 individually. Such transmission mode results in a poor motion stability of the diaphragms 300 in limiting positions, decreased accuracy and decreased measurement precision of the gas meter. A zero moment means the case where the rotation point of the connecting rod 102 and the crank 600 (point C in
In view of this, the wide-range diaphragm gas meter provided by the present embodiment includes a fine adjustment means which is configured to adjust the position of the gas inlet of the valve cover relative to the valve seat when a diaphragm is in a limiting position. In mounting a diaphragm gas meter, the limiting positions of the diaphragms are accurately located by a positioning means in a way that the deviation of the mounting limiting positions from the optimum limiting positions of the diaphragms is within a range from −0.5 mm to +0.5 mm, the angle error of the rocking rod is within a range from −0.8° to +0.8°. Further, by adjusting the position of the gas inlet of the valve cover relative to the valve seat when a diaphragm is in a limiting position, through adjusting a fine adjustment means, meaning that the limiting angle a can be changed by the fine adjustment means, the timing of gas introduction or discharge may be adjusted in the metering cavities, so that the gas flow direction is changed before the diaphragm reaches the limiting position. In this case, the pressures at two sides of the diaphragm are balanced, the diaphragm in the metering cavity is in a non-tensioning state, the gas flow is stable, and the fluctuation in gas pressure loss is slight. The valve cover 400 opens the inlet of the metering cavity 500 yet to be emptied before the diaphragm reaches the limiting position, and thus the gas flow direction changes before the diaphragm 300 turns over, so that the pressures at two sides of the diaphragm 300 are already balanced before the diaphragm reaches the limiting position. This leads to a more stable motion of the movement 100 and improves the measurement precision.
The diaphragm in its limiting position crosses its limiting position not only by means of the motion of the other diaphragm, but also by the flowing action of the gas in its two corresponding metering cavities. This reduces the loss of energy during that the diaphragm is caused to crossing its limiting position, improves the measurement accuracy and the measurement precision of the gas meter. And when the diaphragm is in its limiting position, the diaphragm is in a non-tensioning state. That is to say, during the entire motion process of the diaphragm, the gas does not perform work on it, and therefore, the diaphragm does not consume excess energy, improving the accuracy of cyclic volume. And the difference between the gas volume entering the metering cavities and the metered volume is reduced, further improving the accuracy and measurement precision of the gas meter.
In a preferred solution of the embodiment, each of the four-shaft rotation-transfer system further includes a front flag piece 104 and a rear flag piece 105. One of the diaphragms 300 is in driving connection with one vertical shaft 106 via the front flag piece 104. The other diaphragm 300 is in driving connection with another vertical shaft 106 via the rear flag piece 105. The linear reciprocation of the diaphragms 300 causes their corresponding vertical shafts 106 to rotate. The diaphragms 300 are connected with their corresponding vertical shafts 106 via the front flag piece 104 or the rear flag piece 105 and in turn are connected with the rocking rod 103 via the vertical shafts 106, so the motion of the diaphragms 300 causes the four-shaft rotation-transfer systems to move, realizing the rotation of the valve cover 400 relative to the valve seat. The front flag piece 104, the rear flag piece 105, the rocking rod 103 and the connecting rod 102 are precisely positioned in mounting, the components well cooperate with each other and the cyclic volume is highly accurate. Therefore, the accuracy of the gas meter is improved.
In a preferred solution of the embodiment, the movement 100 further includes a diaphragm support 107. The diaphragms 300 are mounted in the diaphragm capsule 200 via the diaphragm support 107. It is easy to mount the diaphragms 300. And the diaphragms 300 can be mounted in position precisely, which improves the mounting precision for the entire mechanism and improves the operation stability of the movement 100 and the metering precision of the wide-range diaphragm gas meter.
In a preferred solution of the embodiment, the first rotating shaft, the second rotating shaft, the third rotating shaft and the fourth rotating shaft in each of the four-shaft rotation-transfer system are parallel with each other and perpendicular to the plane where the center crank wheel is located. Therefore, the gas meter operates stably and the transmission is more flexible. In the gas meter provided by the present embodiment, by improving the positional accuracy of the front flag piece 104, the rear flag piece 105, the rocking rod 103 and the connecting rod 102 during mounting the gas meter, the accuracy of the limiting positions is guaranteed for the diaphragms 300, and the diaphragms are in a non-tensioning state all the time during motion, which improves the accuracy of the cyclic volume and thus guarantees the measurement accuracy of the gas meter. The gas meter provided by the present embodiment has high accuracy, because a fine adjustment means is used to make minor adjustment. Such adjustment is highly precise. Thus, a gas meter with high accuracy and precision is provided.
Referring to
The pointer tip end of the pointer body 204 is provided with a protrusion for tight engagement within the scale slots 215. A rotation shaft 205 is provided at the pointer tail end of the pointer body 204. An engagement portion 211 is provided at the peripheral surface of the rotation shaft 205. The engagement portion 211 protrudes outwards in the radial direction of the rotation shaft 205. An engagement groove 201 is provided at the circumferential surface of the mounting shaft 213. The engagement groove 201 is concave inwards in the radial direction of the mounting shaft 213. The mounting shaft 213 is connected with the pointer disk through axial positioning of the engagement portion 211 and the engagement groove 201. An eccentric pin 208 is provided at the lower end of the rotation shaft 205.
An elongated hole 207 is provided on the wheel surface of the dial wheel 206. The elongated hole 207 extends in its length along the radial direction of the transmission gear. The eccentric pin 208 is inserted in the elongated hole 207.
When the pointer body 204 is turned, the pointer body 204 rotates about the axis of the rotation shaft 205 relative to the pointer disk. In the meantime, the eccentric pin 208 at the lower end of the rotation shaft 205 moves. Since the eccentric pin 208 is located in the elongated hole 207 on the dial wheel 206, the dial wheel 206 is inserted in the pointer disk via the mounting shaft. A connecting plate connected with the valve cover 400 by insertion is provided on the cam shaft. And the connecting plate is located below the transmission gear. The eccentric pin 208, while rotating, experiences resistance from the side walls of the elongated hole 207. The dial wheel 206 does not rotate synchronously with the eccentric pin 208, so the acting force of the eccentric pin 208 is transferred by itself to the rotation shaft 205, and as the peripheral surface of the rotation shaft 205 is attached to the inner wall of the eccentric hole 202, with a function that they push against each other. In this way, the rotation shaft 205 pushing against the pointer disk is realized, so that the sliding of the eccentric pin 208 in the elongated hole 207 causes the pointer disk to rotate around the mounting shaft. The crank 600 is in fixed connection with the pointer disk. As a result, the position of the crank 600 is changed, leading to a change in the position of the valve cover 400, a change in the limiting angle a, and a change in the position where the gas inlet and the gas outlet of the valve cover 400 are in communication with the metering cavities 500. Therefore, the metering precision is improved for the gas meter.
Referring to
In a preferred solution of the embodiment, the line connecting the rotation shaft 205 and the circle center hole 216 intersects with the line connecting the crank 600 and the circle center hole 216, with an included angle of the lines being an acute angle. The side surface of the pointer body 204 that is close to the circle center hole 216 is provided to be an arc surface 214. The arc surface 214 is concave toward the other side of the pointer body. As one side of the pointer body 204 is an arc surface 214, during the rotation of the pointer body 204, when the pointer body 204 rotates toward the crank 600, the crank 600 can be located in the concave arc surface 214. The pointer body 204 rotates in a large range, which means a large range of adjustment, so a gas meter with higher precision may be obtained during adjustment.
Referring to
Referring to
The diaphragms 300 provided by the present embodiment are made by adhering polyester yarns. The valve cover 400 is made of modified phenolic resin by injection moulding. The diaphragm support 107, the front flag piece 104, the rear flag piece 105, the rocking rod 103, the connecting rod 102, the pointer disk, the pointer body, the center crank wheel 101 and the diaphragm capsule 200 are all made of POM plastics by injection moulding. To improve the mounting precision, the vertical shafts 106 are preferably made of a metal material.
The above description only shows the preferable embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Various modifications and variations of the present disclosure will occur to those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent replacements and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall be encompassed by the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201610326337.0 | May 2016 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2016/103552 | 10/27/2016 | WO | 00 |
