Low-drag sealing method for thermal management valve

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016109031-A1
Application number	US-201414787075-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 16, 2014
Priority date	May 17, 2013
Publication date	Apr 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A low-drag seal arrangement for a thermal management valve including a housing having a chamber and at least one bore for flowing a fluid medium through the at least one bore between a location exterior of the housing and the chamber of the housing. A rotor is configured to rotate within the chamber of the housing relative to the bore. The rotor moves between a closed position where the flow of fluid medium through the at least one bore is blocked, an open position where the fluid medium flows through the at least one bore and an intermediate position where the flow of fluid medium through the at least one bore is partially restricted by the rotor's position relative to the bore. The low-drag seal arrangement also includes a face seal piston positioned within the at least one bore and configured to move axially within the bore.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A low-drag seal arrangement for a thermal management valve comprising:
a housing having at least one bore for flowing a fluid medium through said at least one bore; a rotor configured to rotate relative to said at least one bore between a closed position where the flow of fluid medium through said bore is blocked, an open position where fluid medium flows through said at least one bore and an intermediate position where the flow of fluid medium through said at least one bore is partially blocked by said rotor position relative to said at least one bore; a face seal piston positioned within said at least one bore and configured to move axially within said at least one bore, wherein said face seal piston has a portion coated with low-friction material, said portion being in selective engagement with said rotor when said rotor moves to said closed position or said intermediate position; a circumferential groove formed in said bore, wherein said circumferential groove circumscribes a portion of said face seal piston when said face seal piston is positioned in said at least one bore; and a quad-seal located within said circumferential groove for creating a seal between said bore an said face seal piston, wherein said face seal piston slides bi-directionally through said quad-seal as said face seal piston moves within said bore and said quad-seal maintains a sealed connection between said bore and said face seal piston during said axial movement of said face seal piston within said bore.

2 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 1 wherein said quad-seal has two points of contact with said face seal piston.

3 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 1 further comprising a resilient member contacting said face seal piston and applying force on said face seal piston in the direction of said rotor.

4 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 3 wherein said resilient member is a spring having one end in contact with said face seal piston and a second end in contact with a spring seat formed on a wall of said bore.

5 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 1 further comprising a shaft extending through said housing and connected to said rotor, wherein said shaft rotates about a longitudinal axis and is rotatably supported by bearings positioned on walls of the housing and the shaft rotates in order to move the rotor between the closed position, the open position and the intermediate position.

6 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 5 wherein said rotor further comprises a passage formed on a surface wherein said passage aligns with the face seal piston when the rotor is in the open position, thereby allowing fluid medium to flow through the at least one bore of the face seal piston.

7 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 5 wherein the shaft has an actuation end extending outside of the housing for interacting with an actuator that controls the rotation of the shaft and rotor about the axis.

8 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 1 further comprising a seal contact area between the outer surface of the face seal piston and the quad-seal and a low-friction material coats a portion of the face seal piston in the contact area in order to reduce the amount of friction generated in the contact area.

9 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 8 wherein the low-friction material is formed with or into a surface of the material of the face seal piston.

10 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 8 wherein the low-friction material is one selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene, ceramic, nylon, high density polyethylene and graphite.

11 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 8 wherein the low-friction material is any type of material having a static friction coefficient equal to or less than 0.04.

12 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 1 wherein the face seal piston has a reduced diameter portion that reduces a contact area between the face seal piston and rotor, wherein the reduced contact area allows high pressure located above the rotor flowing through the bore toward the rotor to focus the high pressure into the inner diameter of the face seal piston in order to make a more absolute seal between the face seal piston and rotor when the face seal piston is in the closed position.

13 . A low-drag seal arrangement for a thermal management valve comprising:
a housing having an outlet bore disposed through the housing for flowing a fluid medium through the outlet bore from a chamber; a first inlet bore and a second inlet bore formed through the housing and fluidly connected to said chamber for flowing fluid medium from said chamber through said first inlet bore and said second inlet bore; a rotor configured to rotate within said chamber relative to said outlet bore, said first inlet bore and said second inlet bore and said rotor rotates between a closed position where the flow of fluid medium through said housing is blocked, an open position where fluid medium flows through said housing and an intermediate position where the flow of fluid medium through said housing is partially blocked by said rotor relative to said first inlet bore and said second inlet bore; a first face seal piston positioned within said first inlet bore and configured to move axially within said first inlet bore, wherein said first face seal piston has a portion coated with low-friction material, said portion being in selective engagement with said rotor when said rotor moves to said closed position or said intermediate position; a circumferential groove formed on a surface of the first face seal piston and circumscribes a portion the first face seal piston, wherein there is a quad-seal located in the circumferential groove for creating a seal between the first inlet bore and the first face seal piston as said first face seal piston slides bidirectionally through said quad seal and maintains a sealed connection between the first inlet bore and the first face seal piston; and a second face seal piston positioned within said second inlet bore and configured to move axially within said second inlet bore, wherein said second face seal piston has a portion coated with low-friction material, said portion being in selective engagement with said rotor moves to said closed position or said intermediate position wherein the second face seal piston has a circumferential groove formed on a surface of the second face seal piston and circumscribes a portion the second face seal piston.

14 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 13 wherein said quad-seal has two points of contact with said face seal piston.

15 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 13 further comprising:
a first resilient member contacting said first face seal piston and applying force on said first face seal piston in the direction of said rotor; and
a second resilient member contacting said second face seal piston and applying force on said second face seal piston in the direction of said rotor.

16 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 15 wherein said first resilient member and said second resilient member are each a spring having one end in contact with a respective one of said first face seal piston and said second face seal piston and a second end in contact with a spring seat formed on a wall on a respective one of said first inlet bore and said second inlet bore.

17 . The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 13 further comprising a shaft extending through said housing and connected to said rotor, wherein said shaft rotates about a longitudinal axis and is

Assignees

• Greene Darrell
• Magna Powertrain Usa Inc

Inventors

• Greene Darrell F

Classifications

• F16K11/085

  with cylindrical plug · CPC title

• F16K11/0876

  one connecting conduit having the same axis as the spindle · CPC title

• F16K5/201 Primary

  with the housing or parts of the housing mechanically pressing the seal against the plug · CPC title