Valve device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10539100-B2
Application number	US-201716081454-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 27, 2017
Priority date	Mar 3, 2016
Publication date	Jan 21, 2020
Grant date	Jan 21, 2020

Abstract

A valve device includes a shaft, a valve body, and a housing including a valve opening. An outwardly facing surface of the valve body is out of contact with the housing and a valve-facing surface is in contact with the housing in a fully closed state in which the valve body closes the valve opening. A valve seal surface includes a first valve seal surface protruding in a valve closing direction and a second valve seal surface recessed in a valve opening direction. A first seal distance in a radial direction from an outer diameter end of the first valve seal surface to a rotation axis is shorter than a second seal distance in the radial direction from an outer diameter end of the second valve seal surface to the rotation axis. The first valve seal surface and the second valve seal surface each have at least a curved surface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A valve device, comprising:
a shaft to rotate in response to an operation;
a valve body to rotate integrally with the shaft and to have an outer peripheral surface provided with at least a part of a cylindrical surface or a spherical surface; and
a housing including a valve opening in a valve chamber to rotatably store the valve body, the valve opening to be opened and closed by the valve body, wherein
when a direction along a radius of the shaft is expressed as a radial direction including a direction to an outer diameter and a direction to an inner diameter, a surface of the valve body facing in a direction to the outer diameter is expressed as an outwardly facing surface, a direction in which the valve body rotates about the shaft is expressed as a rotational direction, and a surface of the valve body facing in the rotational direction is expressed as a valve-facing surface, the outwardly facing surface of the valve body is to be out of contact with the housing and the valve-facing surface is to be in contact with the housing in a fully closed state in which the valve body closes the valve opening,
when the rotational direction toward a direction in which the valve body closes the valve opening is expressed as a valve closing direction, the rotational direction toward a direction in which the valve body opens the valve opening is expressed as a valve opening direction, a surface of the valve-facing surface making contact with the housing in the fully closed state is expressed as a valve seal surface, and a surface of the housing where contact with the valve seal surface is expressed as a housing seal surface, the valve seal surface includes a first valve seal surface that protrudes in the valve closing direction and a second valve seal surface that is recessed in the valve opening direction,
when a rotation center of the shaft and the valve body is expressed as a rotation axis, a distance in the radial direction from an outer diameter end of the first valve seal surface to the rotation axis is expressed as a first seal distance, and a distance in the radial direction from an outer diameter end of the second valve seal surface to the rotation axis is expressed as a second seal distance, the first seal distance is shorter than the second seal distance, and
the first valve seal surface and the second valve seal surface each have at least a curved surface.

2. The valve device according to claim 1 , wherein
each of the first valve seal surface and the second valve seal surface is a cylindrical surface, and
a center of a cylinder constituting the first valve seal surface and a center of a cylinder constituting the second valve seal surface fall on each other.

3. The valve device according to claim 2 , wherein
a radius of the cylinder constituting the second valve seal surface is larger than a radius of the cylinder constituting the first valve seal surface.

4. The valve device according to claim 1 , wherein
each of the first valve seal surface and the second valve seal surface is a cylindrical surface, and
when a center of an outer peripheral surface of the valve body in the rotational direction is expressed as a valve body center line, a center of a cylinder constituting the first valve seal surface is positioned off the valve body center line in the valve opening direction while a center of a cylinder constituting the second valve seal surface is positioned off the valve body center line in the valve closing direction.

5. The valve device according to claim 1 , wherein
the valve body includes a valve throttle surface opposing an inner wall surface of the valve chamber with a clearance in between in the fully closed state, and
when a face of the valve throttle surface at one end in the valve closing direction is expressed as a first valve throttle surface and a face at one end in the valve opening direction is expressed as a second valve throttle surface, a distance in the radial direction from the first valve throttle surface to the rotation axis is expressed as a first valve throttle distance, and a distance in the radial direction from the second valve throttle surface to the rotation axis is expressed as a second valve throttle distance, the first valve throttle distance is shorter than the second valve throttle distance.

6. The valve device according to claim 1 , wherein
the housing includes an upstream passage to introduce a fluid outside the housing into the valve chamber, and a downstream passage to introduce a fluid in the valve chamber to an outside of the housing in addition to a passage communicating with the valve opening,
a channel center of the upstream passage and a channel center of the downstream passage are on a same straight line,
when an extending direction of the channel center of the upstream passage and the channel center of the downstream passage is expressed as an x-axis direction, the rotation axis is set in a y-axis direction perpendicular to the x-axis direction,
when a direction perpendicular to both of the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction is expressed as a z-axis direction, the rotation axis is positioned off the channel center of the upstream passage and the channel center of the downstream passage in the z-axis direction, and
when a straight line passing the rotation axis and extending in the z-axis direction is expressed as a virtual line, a center of the valve opening is positioned off the virtual line in the x-axis direction.

7. The valve device according to claim 6 , wherein
the upstream passage and the downstream passage are a part of an intake passage introducing intake air to an engine,
the valve opening is an end of an EGR passage through which a part of an exhaust gas discharged from the engine is returned to the intake passage as an EGR gas, and
the valve body adjusts an opening degree of the EGR passage and an opening degree of the upstream passage when a rotational angle of the shaft is changed.

8. The valve device according to claim 1 , wherein
when an extending direction of the rotation axis is expressed as a y-axis direction, the valve seal surface is in a shape of an arc combined with a straight line parallel to the y-axis direction when the valve body is viewed in a direction to the outer diameter.

9. The valve device according to claim 1 , wherein
a seal member is provided to at least one of the valve seal surface and the housing seal surface.

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Hayashi Hideki
• Moritani Yuichiro

Classifications

• F16K3/22

  with sealing faces shaped as surfaces of solids of revolution (F16K13/02 takes precedence; with resilient valve members F16K3/28) · CPC title

• F02M26/21

  with EGR valves located at or near the connection to the intake system · CPC title

• F16K11/076

  with sealing faces shaped as surfaces of solids of revolution · CPC title

• F02M26/72

  Housings · CPC title

• F02M26/70 Primary

  Flap valves; Rotary valves; Sliding valves; Resilient valves · CPC title