US 9,797,519 B2Granted

Micro-valve

AssigneeFritz Gyger AG

InventorsFritz Gyger, Reto Gyger

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Abstract

The invention relates to a micro-valve (1) comprising a valve ball (2), a valve seat (3) and a nozzle (14). In said valve, the valve seat (3) comprises a sealing region (5) and an outlet region (6) and guide means (40) are provided on the valve seat. The guide element is configured in the valve seat (3) in the form of a guide region (4) or a one-piece guide element (40) located in the vicinity of the valve seat (3). The micro-valves according to the invention exhibit substantial improvements with respect to dynamics, life cycle and stream pattern, In first embodiments, increased wear-resistance is achieved by the integration of guide means, in the form of a guide region (4), into the valve seat, optimizing the dimensions of the transition angle, guide angle and discharge angle. In versions comprising a one-piece guide element (40), wear is reduced by the fact that the ball primarily carries out a sealing function and a guide function to a lesser degree.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A micro-valve (1) comprising:

a valve ball (2) formed of sapphire, a valve seat (3) formed of ruby, and a nozzle (14);
a stationary armature (18);
a mobile armature (16) including the valve ball (2) disposed at an end of the mobile armature (16) that is opposite the stationary armature (18), the mobile armature movable with respect to the stationary armature to move the valve ball (2) and open the micro-valve (1);
a guide element (40) including an upper guide area (43) divided from a wider lower circular-cylindrical accommodation area (42) by a step (41) formed in an inner wall of the guide element (40), wherein the valve seat (3) is sealed within the accommodation area (42) with a surface abutting the step (41), and a guide sleeve of the armature (16) is movably disposed within the upper guide area (43);
fluid channels between the inner wall of the guide element and the guide sleeve of the armature, wherein a medium flows through the fluid channels, over the mobile armature, through the valve seat and out through the nozzle;
the valve seat (3) including a sealing area (5), an outlet area (6) between and extending at an angle with respect to each of the sealing area (5) and the nozzle (14), and a guide area (4) forming an upper recess (7) between the valve ball (2) and the valve seat (3) when the micro-valve (1) is closed and seated in contact with the sealing area (5);
the sealing area (5) including a first concave profile;
the guide area (4) including a second concave profile;
a transition connecting the second concave profile of the guide area (4) to the first concave profile of the sealing area (5) and comprising a transition angle of less than 10°;
and
wherein the outlet area (6) forms a lower recess (13) for the valve ball (2) when the micro-valve (1) is closed, and the angle of the outlet area (6) to the sealing area (5) forms a release angle (12) of 15°-25°.

8 more elements

A micro-valve (1) comprising:

a valve housing;
a valve ball (2);
an electromagnetically movable mobile armature (16) within the valve housing and including the valve ball and a guide sleeve (51) adjacent the valve ball (2), wherein an electromagnetic switching operation of the mobile armature (16) comprises a speed from 1000 Hz to 5000 Hz;
a valve seat (3) and a nozzle (14) at the end of the valve housing, wherein the valve seat (3) has a sealing area (5) adapted to receive the valve ball (2) in a closed position, and an outlet area (6) between the sealing area (15) and the nozzle (14);
a guide means comprising:
a guide area (4) arranged on the valve seat and wherein the guide area (4) forms an upper recess (7) for the valve ball (2) and for the sealing area (5) when the micro-valve (1) is closed, and at the same time has a transition to the sealing area (5) comprising a transition angle (8) between the sealing area (5) and the guide area (4) of a maximum of 10°;
and
a guide element (40) connecting and sealing the valve seat (3) to the valve housing, the guide element (40) including an upper guide area (43) divided from a lower accommodation area (42) by a step (41) formed in an inner wall of the guide element (40), wherein the accommodation area (42) is wider than the upper guide area (43) and the valve seat (3) is disposed within the accommodation area (42), and the mobile armature (16) is movably disposed within the upper guide area (43);
and
fluid channels (45) formed in the upper guide area (43) between the inner wall of the guide element (40) and the guide sleeve (51) of the mobile armature (16), wherein a medium flows through the fluid channels (45), over the mobile armature (16), through the valve seat (3) and out through the nozzle (14);
wherein the guide area (4) has an essentially concave profile and the sealing area (5) of the valve seat (3) has an essentially concave profile, the valve ball (2) is in sealed contact with the sealing area (5) when the micro-valve (1) is closed, and wherein each of the valve ball (2) and the valve seat (3) is formed from a gemstone to form a hard-material pair.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.