Low-drag sealing method for thermal management valve

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9897217-B2
Application number	US-201414787075-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2014
Priority date	May 17, 2013
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

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, wherein the face seal piston has an inner surface that is smooth and does not have any ridges or grooves;
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;
a quad-seal located within said circumferential groove for creating a seal between said bore a 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, wherein the quad-seal further includes two points of contact with the face seal piston, thereby creating a squeezing effect that centers the face seal piston in the bore;
a spring seat formed on the at least one bore, such that the spring seat extends into the at least one bore above the face seal piston;
a spring having one end in contact with said face seal piston and a second end in contact with the spring seat, wherein the spring applies force on the face seal piston in the direction of the rotor; and
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.

2. 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.

3. The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 2 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.

4. The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 2 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.

5. 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.

6. The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 5 wherein the low-friction material is formed with or into a surface of the material of the face seal piston.

7. The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 5 wherein the low-friction material is one selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene, ceramic, nylon, high density polyethylene and graphite.

8. The low-drag seal arrangement of claim 5 wherein the low-friction material is any type of material having a static friction coefficient equal to or less than 0.04.

Assignees

• Magna Powertrain Usa Inc

Inventors

• Greene Darrell F

Classifications

• F16K5/201 Primary

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

• F16K11/0876

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

• F16K11/085

  with cylindrical plug · CPC title