System and method for forming a diaphragm by three-dimensional printing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10857777-B2
Application number	US-201615271424-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2016
Priority date	Oct 12, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, and methods are directed toward manufacturing a diaphragm using three-dimensional printing techniques.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method of manufacturing a flexible diaphragm for use in an actuator, comprising:
forming at least a portion of the flexible diaphragm with a three-dimensional printer, wherein the flexible diaphragm includes an upper ply and a lower ply,
wherein the step of forming the flexible diaphragm comprises:
forming a central region from a first material;
forming a bellows region connected to and surrounding the central region from the first material or a second material different from the first material; and
forming a peripheral region connected to and surrounding the bellows region from the second material, wherein the peripheral region comprises a plurality of bolt holes extending therethrough; and

embedding a reinforcement ring between the bellows region and the plurality of bolt holes, such that the reinforcement ring surrounds the central region, the reinforcement ring formed of a third material that is stiffer than the first material and the second material,
wherein the reinforcement ring is embedded between the upper ply and the lower ply.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the entire flexible diaphragm is formed with the three-dimensional printer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein less than the entire flexible diaphragm is formed with the three-dimensional printer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of forming includes:
forming the upper ply with the first material within the central region of the flexible diaphragm; and
forming the upper ply with the second material within the peripheral region of the flexible diaphragm.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the upper ply and/or the lower ply of the flexible diaphragm comprises a plurality of layers, and the step of forming includes:
forming the central region of a first layer from the first material;
forming the bellows region of the first layer; and
forming the peripheral region of the first layer from the second material.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material has a first characteristic and the second material has a second characteristic.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material has a first elasticity and the second material has a second elasticity.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material is more flexible than the second material.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second material has a higher tensile strength than the first material.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first material comprises an elastomer material and the second material comprises a plastic material.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of forming comprises:
creating a computer readable three-dimensional model of the flexible diaphragm;
loading the three-dimensional model to the three-dimensional printer;
assigning one or more materials to be used to print the flexible diaphragm; and
printing the flexible diaphragm with the three-dimensional printer from the three-dimensional model and the assigned materials,
wherein the step of printing comprises:
printing the central region from the first material,
printing the bellows region from the first material or the second material; and
printing the peripheral region from the second material.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of forming comprises:
printing a first portion of the flexible diaphragm to form a flexible body; and
printing a second portion of the flexible diaphragm to form the reinforcement ring.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first portion is formed with an elastomeric material, and the second portion is formed with a plastic material.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the flexible body comprises at least one continuous ply and the reinforcement ring comprises at least one discontinuous ply.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining specifications for the diaphragm from a valve actuator; and
creating the three-dimensional model based on the obtained specifications.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of obtaining is performed after the valve actuator has been installed in a process piping line.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the step of obtaining includes the step of temporarily shutting down any processes run through the process piping line.

18. A method of manufacturing a flexible diaphragm for use in an actuator, comprising:
obtaining a computer readable three-dimensional model of the flexible diaphragm at a three-dimensional printer including one or more print cartridges of materials for forming the flexible diaphragm; and
forming at least a portion of the flexible diaphragm with the one or more print cartridges using the computer readable three-dimensional model,
wherein the step of forming comprises:
forming a central region with a first material from a first print cartridge of material;
forming a bellows region connected to and surrounding the central region with the first material or a second material from a second print cartridge of material, the second material being different from the first material; and
forming a peripheral region connected to and surrounding the bellows region with the second material, the peripheral region comprising a plurality of bolt holes extending therethrough; and

embedding a reinforcement ring between the bellows region and the plurality of bolt holes, such that the reinforcement ring surrounds the central region, the reinforcement ring formed of a third material that is stiffer than the first material and the second material,
wherein the reinforcement ring does not extend beyond the plurality of bolt holes.

19. A method of manufacturing a flexible diaphragm for use in an actuator, comprising:
forming at least a portion of the flexible diaphragm with a three-dimensional printer,
wherein the flexible diaphragm comprises a plurality of plies and the step of forming comprises:
creating a computer readable three-dimensional model of the flexible diaphragm;
loading the three-dimensional model to the three-dimensional printer;
assigning one or more materials to be used to print the flexible diaphragm; and
printing the flexible diaphragm with the three-dimensional printer from the three-dimensional model and the assigned materials, and

wherein the step of printing comprises:
printing a lower ply of the plurality of plies;
embedding a reinforcement ring onto the lower ply; and
after the embedding, printing an upper ply of the plurality of plies on top of the reinforcement ring, such that the reinforcement ring is embedded between the upper ply and the lower ply, and

wherein the flexible diaphragm comprises a central region, a bellows region connected to and surrounding the central region, and a peripheral region connected to and surrounding the bellows region, the peripheral region comprising a plurality of bolt holes extending therethrough, and
wherein the reinforcement ring is embedded between the bellows region and the plurality of bolt holes, such that the reinforcement ring surrounds the central region.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the upper ply is formed with a first material within the central region and with a second material in the peripheral region.

Assignees

• Emerson Process Man Regulator Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Durant Tony A
• West James M
• Kotragouda Basappa Madhusudhan Reddy
• Plummer David O
• Quinn Nathan A

Classifications

• B33Y70/00

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• F16J3/02 Primary

  Diaphragms · CPC title

• B33Y30/00 Primary

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title

• B33Y40/00

  Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling · CPC title

• B29C64/336 Primary

  of two or more materials · CPC title