Methods and apparatus related to a purge valve for a capacitor
AssigneeIoxus, Inc.
InventorsThor E. Eilertsen, Chad Hall, Lothar Franz Bieg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a housing and a purge valve. The housing defines a cavity and a lumen extending from a volume of the cavity to a volume outside the cavity. The purge valve is disposed within the lumen and includes an occlusion member. A portion of the occlusion member has a width substantially equal to a width of an end portion of the lumen such that the portion of the occlusion member is disposed within the end portion of the lumen when the purge valve is in a first configuration. The portion of the occlusion member being disposed outside the end portion of the lumen when the purge valve is in a second configuration.
Claims26
A resealable purge valve apparatus for an energy storage device to pneumatically isolate and release pressure from a first volume of a cavity from a second volume outside the cavity, comprising:
- a housing defining the cavity and a lumen, the lumen defining a pneumatic path extending from the first volume of the cavity to the second volume outside the cavity,
- an occlusion member operably coupled to the housing and movable between a first position, in which the occlusion member obstructs the pneumatic path, and a second position, in which the pneumatic path fluidically couples the first volume of the cavity to the second volume outside the cavity;
- a biased member coupled to the occlusion member to bias the occlusion member, wherein the bias member is a washer;
- an adjustable member coupled to the biased member to adjust a force applied by the bias member on the occlusion member;
- and
- a semi-permeable material having a porosity and covering an end portion of the lumen, the porosity selected to allow predetermined gases to pass therethrough while being impermeable to liquids, wherein the porosity of semi-permeable material is selected to have an average pore size in a range from 2 microns to 10 microns and a thickness in the range from 0.005 inches to 0.030 inches.
A resealable purge valve apparatus for an energy storage device to pneumatically isolate and release pressure from a volume defined by a housing from a volume outside the housing, comprising:
- an occlusion member at least partially disposed within a lumen, the occlusion member to pneumatically isolate the volume defined by the housing from the volume outside the housing when in a first position, the occlusion member movable from its first position to its second position when a pressure within the volume defined by the housing rises above a predetermined pressure;
- at least one biased member disposed adjacent the occlusion member and to bias the occlusion member in the first position, the at least one biased member configured to move the occlusion member from its second position to its first position when the pressure within the volume falls below the predetermined pressure, wherein the at least one biased member is at least one washer;
- a retaining member to keep the occlusion member and the at least one biased member within the lumen, wherein the retaining member is adjustable to modify the predetermined pressure at which the at least one biased member is configured to move the occlusion member from its second position to its first position when the pressure within the volume falls below the predetermined pressure;
- and
- at least one semi-permeable material having an average pore size in the range from 2 microns to 10 microns, and a thickness in the range from 0.005 inches to 0.030 inches, and disposed within the lumen to allow gases to pass therethrough while being impermeable to liquids,
- wherein the volume defined by the housing is in pneumatic communication with the volume outside the housing via the lumen when the occlusion member is in a second position.
A resealable purge valve apparatus for an energy storage device to pneumatically isolate and release pressure from a volume defined by a housing from a volume outside the housing, comprising:
- an occlusion member partially disposed within a lumen, the occlusion member to pneumatically isolate the volume defined by the housing from the volume outside the housing when in a first position, the occlusion member movable from its first position to its second position when a pressure within the volume defined by the housing rises above a predetermined pressure;
- a biased member disposed adjacent the occlusion member to bias the occlusion member in the first position, the biased member configured to move the occlusion member from its second position to its first position when the pressure within the volume falls below the predetermined pressure, wherein the biased member is a washer;
- an adjustable retaining member to keep the occlusion member and the biased member within the lumen, the adjustable retaining member configured to modify a force applied by the biased member on the occlusion member,
- and
- at least one semi-permeable material disposed within the lumen to allow gases to pass therethrough while being impermeable to liquids, the at least one semi-permeable material being selected to have a thickness in the range from 0.005 inches to 0.030 inches,
- wherein the volume defined by the housing is in pneumatic communication with the volume outside the housing via the lumen when the occlusion member is in a second position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.