Spool valve
AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorAkihiro Ueki
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spool valve includes a groove defined in the spool and a notch. A line A is drawn to extend through a communication zone a provided upon communication of the notch which is disposed at a distal end of the line A and defined in a step of a spool with an input port to form a 69° angle with respect to an L-axis. Fluid flowing into the groove through the communication zone a upon communication of the notch with the input port, does not collide with other portions of the spool before colliding with a bottom of the groove. Therefore, the flow of the fluid along the L-axis causes a flow force applied to the spool to be suppressed resulting in a decreased load on an actuator. The notch makes it is possible to ensure the stable operation of a spool valve, while preventing the self-induced vibration of the spool.
Claims7
A spool valve comprising:
- a valve housing having a valve bore;
- an input port and an output port axially disposed from each other and defined in said valve housing and opening into said valve bore;
- a spool received in said valve bore for sliding movement in an axial direction;
- a first land and a second land formed on said spool and axially disposed from each other;
- a groove defined in said spool and connected to said first and second lands through first and second steps;
- a notch cutout portion from said first step;
- and
- an actuator that drives said spool in the axial direction, so that said input port is put into communication with said groove;
- wherein a fluid flowing into said groove through said input port is discharged from said output port through said groove, and a concave curved face is formed on a bottom of said groove;
- and wherein said notch in said spool is formed so that a line which extends through a communication zone provided upon communication of said notch with said input port and which forms a free flow-in angle of a jet formed by said notch, points to a portion of said curved face displaced from a smallest-diameter portion toward said first step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.