Rotary disc valve

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12013048-B2
Application number	US-202117551859-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2021
Priority date	Dec 15, 2021
Publication date	Jun 18, 2024
Grant date	Jun 18, 2024

Abstract

A rotary disc valve is used in a fluid delivery system to control flow of fluid between multiple ports. The valve may include a valve body having multiple ports that are connected to the system. In addition, the valve may include a diverter and seal assembly that are disposed in the valve body. The diverter is configured to rotate about a rotational axis and to control fluid flow through the valve body. The valve is free of an axial compression spring, and the valve body, the lid and the diverter are shaped and dimensioned so that an interference fit exists between the lid and the diverter that results in compression of the seal assembly between the diverter and the base.

First claim

I claim:

1. A valve comprising:
a valve body including
a sidewall,
a base that closes one end of the sidewall, and
valve ports, each valve port defining an opening in the sidewall;

a lid that closes an end of the sidewall that is opposite the base, the lid comprising a central opening, the lid, the sidewall and the base cooperating to define a chamber;
a diverter disposed in the chamber, the diverter configured to control fluid flow through the valve body, the diverter including
a diverter sealing surface that faces toward the base,
a diverter outer surface that is opposed to the diverter sealing surface and faces the lid,
diverter through openings that extend between the diverter sealing surface and the diverter outer surface, and
a shaft that protrudes from the diverter outer surface in a direction perpendicular to the diverter sealing surface, the shaft extending through the central opening and configured to be connected to an actuator that drives the diverter to rotate about a rotational axis; and

a seal assembly disposed in the chamber between the diverter sealing surface and the base,
wherein the valve body, the lid and the diverter are shaped and dimensioned so that the lid and the diverter are in direct contact in such a way that an interference fit exists between the lid and the diverter that results in compression of the seal assembly between the diverter and the base.

2. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the valve is free of an elastic element between the lid and the diverter that is configured to compress the seal assembly between the base and the diverter.

3. The valve of claim 1 , wherein
the lid includes a concave portion, and a lip that protrudes radially outward from a periphery of the concave portion, and
a periphery of the diverter includes a diverter flange that abuts the lip in such a way as to provide the interference fit between the lid and the diverter.

4. The valve of claim 3 , wherein
the lip includes an inner portion that adjoins the concave portion, and an outer portion that includes a peripheral edge of the lid,
the inner portion abuts the diverter flange, and
the outer portion abuts an end of the sidewall.

5. The valve of claim 4 , wherein an axial dimension of the inner portion is different than an axial dimension of the outer portion.

6. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the lid includes a concave portion,
a lip that protrudes outward from a periphery of the concave portion, and a gusset that extends between an outer surface of the concave portion and the lip.

7. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the seal assembly is fixed relative to the base and prevents fluid flow between the diverter and the valve body and between abutting portions of the diverter sealing surface and the seal sealing surface.

8. The valve of claim 1 , wherein
the seal assembly comprises a first sealing element stacked with a second sealing element in a direction parallel to the rotational axis.

9. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the seal assembly comprises:
a first sealing element disposed between the diverter and the base, the first sealing element including a seal sealing surface that faces toward the diverter sealing surface, the first sealing element being a first material;
a second sealing element disposed between the first sealing element and the base, the second sealing element including a seal outer surface that is opposed to the seal sealing surface and faces toward the base, the second sealing element being a second material; and
seal through openings that extend between the seal sealing surface and the seal outer surface,

wherein
the second material has greater elasticity than the first material.

10. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the diverter is configured to control id flow through the valve body in such a way that
a) fluid enters the diverter via at least one diverter through opening in a first direction that is parallel to the rotational axis, and
b) fluid exits the diverter via at least one diverter through opening in a second direction that is parallel to the rotational axis, the second direction being opposite the first direction.

11. The valve of claim 1 , wherein the diverter is configured to control fluid flow through the valve body in such a way that, between entering and exiting, fluid flows over a portion of the diverter outer surface.

12. The valve of claim 1 , wherein
the seal assembly comprises:
a first sealing element disposed between the diverter and the base; and
a second sealing element disposed between the first sealing element and the base, and

the valve comprises:
a first static seal formed between the first sealing element and the second sealing element,
a second static seal formed between the second sealing element and the base, and
a dynamic seal formed between the first sealing element and the diverter.

13. The valve of claim 12 , wherein the diverter sealing surface is a planar surface that confronts and directly contacts under axial load a planar surface of the first sealing element, thereby realizing the dynamic seal.

14. The valve of claim 1 , wherein
the seal assembly comprises:
a first seal subassembly disposed between the diverter and the base; and
a second seal subassembly disposed between the first seal subassembly and the base, the second seal subassembly being in a stacked configuration with respect to the first seal subassembly,

the first seal subassembly comprises:
a first elastic element disposed between the diverter and the base; and
a first seal plate disposed between the first elastic element and the base,

the second seal subassembly comprises:
a second seal plate disposed between the first seal subassembly and the base; and
a second elastic element disposed between the second seal plate and the base, and

a dynamic seal is disposed between abutting surfaces of the first seal plate and the second seal plate.

15. A valve comprising:
a valve body including
a sidewall,
a base that closes one end of the sidewall, and
valve ports, each valve port defining an opening in the sidewall;

a lid that closes an open end of the sidewall, the lid, the sidewall and the base cooperating to define a chamber, the lid including a concave portion, and a lip that protrudes radially outward from a periphery of the concave portion;
a diverter disposed in the chamber, the diverter configured to control fluid flow through the valve body, the diverter including
a diverter sealing surface that faces toward the base,
a diverter outer surface that is opposed to the diverter sealing surface and faces the lid,
diverter through openings that extend between the diverter sealing surface and the diverter outer surface,
a shaft that protrudes from the diverter outer surface in a direction perpendicular to the diverter sealing surface, the shaft extending through the central opening and configured to be connected to an actuator that drives the diverter to rotate about a rotational axis; and

a seal assembly disposed in the chamber between the diverter sealing surface and the base,
wherein the lip directly contacts the diverter in such a way that an axial load is applied to the diverter, and the axial load results in compression of the seal assembly between the diverter and the base.

16. The valve of claim 15 , wherein
a periphery of the diverter includes a diverter flange that abuts the lip in such a way as to provide an interference fit between the lid and the diverter.

17. The valve of claim 15 , wherein
the seal assembly comprises:
a first sealing eleme

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert
• Robert Bosch Llc

Inventors

• Chapman Thomas

Classifications

• Y10T137/86871

  Plug · CPC title

• Y10T137/86863

  Rotary valve unit · CPC title

• F16K11/085

  with cylindrical plug · CPC title

• F16K11/074 Primary

  with flat sealing faces · CPC title

• F16K27/065

  with cylindrical plugs · CPC title