EP0165407A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Flow control valve with piero-electric actuator
Assignee: NIPPON ENLARGING COLOR Inc
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Filing: 1985-04-22
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-04-22
Abstract
Abstract @ A flow control valve comprises a valve chamber having an inlet and an outlet for a fluid to be controlled, a valve seat provided in the valve chamber on a side of the outlet, a valve body provided in the valve chamber and adapted to abut against the valve seat, and driving means including a piezo-electric unit of laminated piezo-electric elements or bimorph type piezo-electric elements deformable in response to voltage applied to the unit so as to drive the valve body toward and away from the valve seat to close and open the valve. According to the invention, the valve body is driven by the driving unit of the piezo-electric elements having high frequency responsibility so as to precisely control the fluid flow in short interval of time. The driving force of the driving means is very strong of the order of several Kg to ensure the positive operation of the control valve so as to increase its reliability. Furthermore, the strong driving force need not provide damping means for a vibration system of the valve and therefore makes simple in construction the control valve itself.
Inventors
- 👤 Toshio Sato
- 👤 Masahiko Akashi
- 👤 Norio Iwasaki
- 👤 Taro Suenaga
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 11:13
CPC Classifications
F; F16; F16K; F16K31/00; F16K31/004; F16K31/007; G; G05; G05D; G05D7/00; G05D7/06; G05D7/0617; G05D7/0629; G05D7/0635; H; H10; H10N; H10N30/00; H10N30/20; H10N30/204; H10N30/2041; H10N30/50; H10N30/503; H10N30/80; H10N30/87; H10N30/871; H10N30/88
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
95 words
A flow control valve comprising a valve chamber having an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe for a fluid to be controlled, a valve seat provided in said valve chamber on a side of the outlet pipe, a valve body provided in said valve chamber and. having one end in opposition to said valve seat, and driving means including a piezo-electric unit deformable in response to voltage applied to the unit so as to drive said valve body toward and away from the valve seat to close and open an opening of said valve seat.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
95 words
A flow control valve comprising a valve chamber having an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe for a fluid to be controlled, a valve seat provided in said valve chamber on a side of the outlet pipe, a valve body provided in said valve chamber and. having one end in opposition to said valve seat, and driving means including a piezo-electric unit deformable in response to voltage applied to the unit so as to drive said valve body toward and away from the valve seat to close and open an opening of said valve seat.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
82 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 1, wherein said piezo-electric unit comprises a plurality of piezo-electric elements and a plurality of thin electrode plates, these elements and plates being alternately laminated to form a unitary bar-like body, and lead wires connecting every other said electrode plates in parallel for applying simultaneously to all said piezo-electric elements bias voltage for determining a zero point of fluid flow and control voltage in a direction opposite to that of said bias voltage.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 2, wherein said piezo-electric elements are in the form of circular discs and the electrode plates are thin circular discs each having at its outer periphery a connection piece integrally formed therewith.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
178 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 2, wherein the number of said piezo-electric elements is m times as many as 2 n- 1 where m is a positive integral number, one or more, and n is a positive integral number, two or more and equal to the number of bits of binary coded control signals, and said piezo-electric elements are divided into groups whose number is equal to the number of said bits, the number of the piezo-electric elements in one said group being m x 2 i-1 where i is an order of the groups, and said lead wires being connected to said element such that the voltage is applicable in parallel to the piezo-electric elements in each said group independently from the other groups in a manner that when all the bits are "0", a zero point of the fluid flow is set and when the bit is "I", the piezo-electric elements in the group corresponding to the bit is driven in a direction opposite to that when the bias voltage is applied.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 3, wherein said electrode plates are arranged so as to angularly shift about their axes little by little, so that said connection pieces extending spirally about said unitary bar-like body.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
71 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 2, wherein said piezo-electric unit is made by steps of pulverizing a crystalline piezo-electric material, kneading the pulverized material with a paste, extending the kneaded material to form a piezo-electric sheet, printing electrode films on both surfaces of said piezo-electric sheet to form a composite unit, punching the composite unit to obtain discs having said connection pieces and then sintering the discs.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 1, wherein said valve body is elongated as long as possible and supported in a sleeve to prevent the valve body from swinging.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
56 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 1, wherein said piezo-electric unit comprises a bimorph type piezo-electric element which is bent when voltage is applied thereto, pivotal means for supporting ends of the piezo-electric element to permit the ends to tilt and a joining unit for connecting said valve body to said piezo-electric element.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
86 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 8, wherein said pivotal means comprises guide blocks fitted on ends of said element and having ridges, a U-shaped holder made of a long leaf spring having a pair of perpendicularly bent ends, and receiving blocks formed with V-shaped grooves and fixed to said bent ends of said U-shaped holder so as to receiving said ridges of the guide blocks in the V-shaped grooves in the receiving blocks, thereby permitting the ends of the element to tilt.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
59 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 8, wherein said joining unit comprises first and second supports located on both sides of the piezo-electric element and embracing a center of the element, one of said supports carrying said valve body, and resilient means for resiliently urging said first and second supports to said center of the element.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 10, wherein said resilient means comprises a V-shaped leaf spring whose center portion engages one of said supports and whose ends engage guide rods slidably passing through said one of the supports and planted in the other of said supports.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
12, A flow control valve as set forth in claim 10, wherein a damper is provided between said U-shaped holder and one of said first and second supports on the side of the U-shaped holder.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
60 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 8, wherein said pivotal means comprises supports each having a V-shaped cross-section in which each end of said driving plate is fitted, support shafts each integrally jointed to a surface of said support opposite to the driving plate, and a U-shaped holder having bent ends each rotatably supporting said support shaft.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
74 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 8, wherein said pivotal means comprises receiving blocks each fitted on one end of said element and formed with a V-shaped groove on opposite side of the element, and a U-shaped holder having two pair of support pieces integral therewith to embrace said guide blocks and bent ends each having a guide block formed with a ridge engaging said V-shaped groove of said receiving block.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
A flow control valve as set forth in claim 8, wherein said valve body and said bimorph type piezo-electric element are connected through a damper plate.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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