High Pressure Relief Valve Spring Assembly

A spring assembly for a valve comprising:

• a spring defined by an inner diameter;
• a spring seat including a cup-shaped portion for seating one end of the spring, wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter;
• a ball received within a recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat;
• and
• a disc that prevents the ball from contacting a piston, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the inner diameter of the spring is between 0.90 and 0.98.

A spring and piston assembly for a valve comprising:

• a piston having an outer surface defined by a maximum outer diameter, the outer surface being configured for engagement with a valve closure sleeve, and wherein the piston includes a piston bore defined by a piston inner diameter;
• a spring assembly positioned within the piston bore, the spring assembly including
• a spring,
• a spring seat including a cup-shaped portion for seating one end of the spring,
• a ball received within a recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat;
• and
• a disc that prevents the ball from contacting a piston, wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the disc to the piston inner diameter is between 0.97 and 0.99.

A high pressure relief valve comprising:

• a valve housing defining an internal bore and having a valve inlet configured to be in fluid communication with a pump outlet;
• a closure sleeve at least partially received within the internal bore, the closure sleeve comprising a sleeve body surrounding a center axis, wherein the sleeve body has an internal cavity that is enclosed at the downstream end and open at the upstream end;
• a piston received within the internal cavity, wherein the internal cavity is defined in part by a piston contact surface that is defined by an inner diameter, and wherein the piston includes an outer surface defined by a maximum outer piston diameter and a piston bore that is defined by a piston inner diameter, wherein the piston contact surface slides against the outer surface of the piston;
• a nozzle received within the internal bore of the valve housing and including a nozzle bore having a nozzle inlet in fluid communication with the valve inlet and a nozzle outlet;
• a spring assembly that biases the piston to close the nozzle outlet, wherein the spring assembly includes a spring, a spring seat including a cup-shaped portion for seating one end of the spring, a ball received within a recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat, and a disc that prevents the ball from contacting a piston, and wherein when a system pressure at the nozzle outlet exceeds a predetermined pressure level, a spring biasing load is overcome to open the nozzle outlet to fluidly connect the nozzle to the internal cavity of the closure sleeve;
• and
• wherein the high pressure relief valve includes one or more of the following valve characteristics
• wherein the ball is defined by a ball diameter and wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter and includes a center opening defined by an inner diameter, and wherein a ratio of the inner diameter to the ball diameter is between 0.60 and 0.65,
• wherein the disc is defined by a thickness extending from an upstream side of the disc to a downstream side of the disc, and wherein a ratio of the thickness of the disc to the outer diameter of the disc is between 0.06 and 0.08,
• wherein the recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat is defined by a recess inner diameter and wherein a ratio of the recess inner diameter to the ball diameter is between 1.01 and 1.10,
• wherein the spring is defined by an inner diameter, and wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the inner diameter of the spring is between 0.90 and 0.98,
• wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter and by a length, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the length of the cup-shaped portion is between 4 and 5,
• wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the disc to the piston inner diameter is between 0.97 and 0.99,
• wherein the spring seat is defined by a maximum outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the maximum outer diameter of the spring seat to the piston inner diameter is between 0.8 and 0.9.

A fuel supply system incorporating:

• a fuel pump having a pump inlet and a pump outlet, the pump inlet being in fluid communication with a fuel supply;
• a metering valve receiving fuel from the fuel pump and directing the fuel to a gas turbine engine;
• and
• a high pressure relief valve upstream of the metering valve and downstream of the pump inlet, the high pressure relief valve being configured to move to an open position once system pressure downstream of the pump outlet exceeds a predetermined pressure level such the fuel can be returned to the pump inlet via the high pressure relief valve, and wherein the high pressure relief valve comprises
• a valve housing defining an internal bore and having a valve inlet configured to be in fluid communication with a pump outlet;
• a closure sleeve at least partially received within the internal bore, the closure sleeve comprising a sleeve body surrounding a center axis, wherein the sleeve body has an internal cavity that is enclosed at the downstream end and open at the upstream end;
• a piston received within the internal cavity, wherein the internal cavity is defined in part by a piston contact surface that is defined by an inner diameter, and wherein the piston includes an outer surface defined by a maximum outer piston diameter and a piston bore that is defined by a piston inner diameter, wherein the piston contact surface slides against the outer surface of the piston;
• a nozzle received within the internal bore of the valve housing and including a nozzle bore having a nozzle inlet in fluid communication with the valve inlet and a nozzle outlet;
• a spring assembly that biases the piston to close the nozzle outlet, wherein the spring assembly includes a spring, a spring seat including a cup-shaped portion for seating one end of the spring, a ball received within a recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat, and a disc that prevents the ball from contacting a piston, and wherein when a system pressure at the nozzle outlet exceeds a predetermined pressure level, a spring biasing load is overcome to open the nozzle outlet to fluidly connect the nozzle to the internal cavity of the closure sleeve;
• and
• wherein the high pressure relief valve includes one or more of the following valve characteristics
• wherein the ball is defined by a ball diameter and wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter and includes a center opening defined by an inner diameter, and wherein a ratio of the inner diameter to the ball diameter is between 0.60 and 0.65,
• wherein the disc is defined by a thickness extending from an upstream side of the disc to a downstream side of the disc, and wherein a ratio of the thickness of the disc to the outer diameter of the disc is between 0.06 and 0.08,
• wherein the recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat is defined by a recess inner diameter and wherein a ratio of the recess inner diameter to the ball diameter is between 1.01 and 1.100,
• wherein the spring is defined by an inner diameter, and wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the inner diameter of the spring is between 0.90 and 0.98,
• wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter and by a length, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the length of the cup-shaped portion is between 4 and 5,
• wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the disc to the piston inner diameter is between 0.97 and 0.99,
• wherein the spring seat is defined by a maximum outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the maximum outer diameter of the spring seat to the piston inner diameter is between 0.8 and 0.9.

A method of installing a component in a high pressure relief valve including the steps of:

• removing at least one component from a spring assembly from a valve housing, the at least one component comprising at least one of a spring, spring seat, ball, and disc that comprise the spring assembly, and
• replacing the removed spring, spring seat, ball, or disc with a replaced spring, spring seat, ball, or disc, wherein a closure sleeve is at least partially received within the valve housing and includes an internal cavity that is enclosed at a downstream end and open at an upstream end, a piston is received within the internal cavity of the closure sleeve, and wherein the piston comprises a cylindrical body having a piston bore configured to receive a spring assembly, and wherein the cylindrical body has a maximum outer diameter that comprises a closure sleeve contact surface and wherein the piston bore is defined by a piston inner diameter, and wherein the spring assembly is received within the piston bore with the spring seat including a cup-shaped portion for seating one end of the spring, and with the ball being received within a recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat, and wherein the disc prevents the ball from contacting a piston;
• and
• wherein if one of the spring, spring seat, ball, or disc that comprise the spring assembly is removed and replaced, the replaced spring, spring seat, ball, or disc has one or more of the corresponding valve characteristics
• wherein the ball is defined by a ball diameter and wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter and includes a center opening defined by an inner diameter, and wherein a ratio of the inner diameter to the ball diameter is between 0.60 and 0.65,
• wherein the disc is defined by a thickness extending from an upstream side of the disc to a downstream side of the disc, and wherein a ratio of the thickness of the disc to the outer diameter of the disc is between 0.06 and 0.08,
• wherein the recess formed within the cup-shaped portion of the spring seat is defined by a recess inner diameter and wherein a ratio of the recess inner diameter to the ball diameter is between 1.01 and 1.10,
• wherein the spring is defined by an inner diameter, and wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the inner diameter of the spring is between 0.90 and 0.98,
• wherein the cup-shaped portion is defined by an outer diameter and by a length, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the cup-shaped portion to the length of the cup-shaped portion is between 4 and 5,
• wherein the disc is defined by an outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the outer diameter of the disc to the piston inner diameter is between 0.97 and 0.99,
• wherein the spring seat is defined by a maximum outer diameter, and wherein a ratio of the maximum outer diameter of the spring seat to the piston inner diameter is between 0.8 and 0.9.