Check valve, air-conditioning apparatus, and method of manufacturing check valve
AssigneeMitsubishi Electric Corporation
InventorsTsukasa TANIGAWA, Hideki TAKEDA
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A check valve includes a container body and a valve body. The container body includes a cylindrical valve-body housing portion, an inlet portion, an outlet portion, and a valve seat. The inlet portion is formed at one end portion of the valve-body housing portion, and the outlet portion is formed at the other end portion of the valve-body hosing portion. The valve seat is protruded at an inner circumferential surface of the valve-body housing portion. The valve body is provided in the container body and movable in the axial direction thereof.
Claims8
A check valve comprising:
- a container body including a cylindrical valve-body housing portion, an inlet portion, an outlet portion, and a valve seat, the inlet portion being formed at one end portion of the valve-body housing portion, the outlet portion being formed at an other end portion of the valve-body housing portion, the valve seat being protruded at an inner circumferential surface of the valve-body housing portion;
- and
- a valve body provided in the container body and movable in an axial direction thereof
- wherein the valve seat is formed integrally with the container body by hydroforming process such that between axial push tools that are pushed from respective opposite ends of a raw tube made of copper, the valve seat has a greater thickness than the valve-body housing portion, and
- the valve-body housing portion is formed to have a nonuniform thickness such that part of the valve-body housing portion is gathered inwardly and the valve-body housing portion is not deformed outwardly from a shape that the raw tube has when the raw tube is not subjected to processing.
(canceled)
A method of manufacturing a check valve, comprising:
- placing a raw tube made of copper such that the raw tube is held in a die;
- pushing axial push tools from respective opposite ends of the raw tube, and fixing the raw tube;
- filling an inside of the raw tube with fluid;
- forming a valve seat at an inner circumferential surface of the raw tube by further pushing the axial push tools from the respective ends of the raw tube, such that between the axial push tools, the valve seat has a greater thickness than part of the raw tube that is other than the valve seat;
- inserting a valve body into the raw tube;
- and
- forming an inlet portion and an outlet portion at respective opposite end portions of the raw tube by tube-reducing processing,
- wherein in the forming the valve seat, the raw tube is formed to have a nonuniform thickness such that part of the raw tube is gathered inwardly and the raw tube is not deformed outwardly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.