Actuator and valve block

Abstract

An actuator for a magnet valve, the actuator including a housing including a terminal wall including an opening; and an armature arranged in the housing and movable in an axial linear manner between a first end position and a second end position, wherein the opening is closed by a terminal cover, wherein the terminal cover includes a contour that protrudes at least in a direction towards the armature, and wherein the contour includes a first section that defines the second end position of the armature.

Claims

1. An actuator for a magnet valve, the actuator comprising: a housing including a terminal wall including an opening; and an armature arranged in the housing and movable in an axial linear manner between a first end position and a second end position, wherein the opening is closed and sealed towards ambient exclusively by a terminal cover, wherein an inside of the terminal cover includes a contour that protrudes at least in a direction towards the armature, wherein an outside of the terminal cover is exposed to ambient and includes a concave backside of a first bead that forms the contour, wherein the contour includes a first section that defines the second end position of the armature, wherein a pole tube is arranged in the housing, and wherein the pole tube contacts the terminal cover.

2. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the first section is formed by the first bead that is introduced on a side of the terminal cover that is oriented away from the armature.

3. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the first section is not elastically deformable.

4. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the first section protrudes into the housing in the axial direction to a predetermined depth.

5. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the contour includes a second section that is applied to an outside of the terminal wall.

6. The actuator according to claim 5, wherein the second section is configured elastically deformable.

7. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the terminal cover is made from a non-magnetic weldable material or from stainless steel.

8. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the terminal cover is connected to the housing by laser welding.

9. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the terminal cover includes plural annular contours with differently sized diameters.

10. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the contour of the terminal cover includes a third section forming a second bead that is applied to the pole tube where the pole tube contacts the terminal cover.

11. The actuator according to claim 10, wherein the first bead and the second bead are flush in an axial direction so that the armature and the pole tube are flush in the axial direction when the armature is in the second end position.

12. The actuator according to claim 10, wherein the third section is configured elastically deformable.

13. A valve block, comprising: at least one actuator according to claim 1.

14. The valve block according to claim 13, wherein the at least one actuator includes plural actuators including respective terminal covers and respective housings, and wherein at least one terminal cover of the respective terminal covers includes the contour or a section of the contour which protrudes further into an associated housing of the respective housings than at least one contour or a section of a contour of another terminal cover of the respective terminal covers.

15. A method for producing the actuator according to claim 1, the method comprising: defining the first end position of the armature and the second end position of the armature; selecting the terminal cover with the protruding contour that is oriented towards the armature, wherein a depth of the first section of the protruding contour corresponds to the second end position; and arranging and fixing the terminal cover at the housing.

16. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the terminal cover is made from from sheet metal and welded to and sealed at the housing by a circumferential weld that is arranged with a radially inward offset from a circumferential edge of the terminal cover and with a radially outward offset from the first bead.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages of the invention can be derived from the description and the drawing figures. The invention is subsequently described based on advantageous embodiments with reference to the drawing figures, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a first valve block according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates the detail II of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective exploded view of an actuator according to the invention; and

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a longitudinal sectional view of the actuator of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) FIG. 1 illustrates a valve block 1 according to the invention with a front side 2 and a back side 3. The core piece forms a central block element 4, wherein plural actuators 5 are respectively connected on the front side 2 and the back side 3, thus in particular actuators for pressure control valves. The actuators 5 are fixed on the front side 2 with a first support device 6 and on the back side 3 with a second support device 7.

(7) The actuators 5 largely include standard components and have very similar configurations. However, details of the actuators 5 can differ due to different requirements, e.g. with respect to an inner force effect. A possible embodiment of an actuator 5 is described infra in more detail in FIGS. 2-4. The terms front side 2 and back side 3 are subsequently also used for describing the actuator 5.

(8) FIG. 2 illustrates a section of the valve block 1 of FIG. 1. Out of the components shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 only shows a portion of the central block element 4 and of the actuators 5 on the front side 2 of the valve block 1. Thus, an actuator 5 and additionally a slide 8 and a spring element 9 are illustrated separate from the valve block 1. The slide 8 and the spring element 9 are functionally associated with the separately illustrated actuator 5 which is referred to in the subsequent description.

(9) The actuator 5 includes a housing device 10 with a housing 11 and a terminal cover 12 and additional elements which are described infra with respect to FIGS. 3 and/or 4. In the illustrated embodiment the housing 11 is cylindrical and the terminal cover 12 is configured circular or plate shaped. Additionally the actuator 5 includes a first power connection 13 and a second power connection 14 that extend from a protective device 15 and a terminal plate 16. Further details of the actuator 5 are illustrated in FIG. 3.

(10) FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of the actuator 5 that is illustrated in FIG. 2 by itself. Out of the components that are already illustrated in FIG. 2 again the housing 11, the terminal cover 12, the power connections 13, 14 and the associated protective device 15 and the terminal cover 16 are shown. Additionally FIG. 3 illustrates the following components starting from the front side 2, a coil 17 that is connected with the power connections 13, 14, a pole tube 18, an armature 19, a damper insert 20, a plunger 21, and a plug connector 22.

(11) FIG. 4 illustrates the actuator of FIG. 3 in a longitudinal sectional view. All illustrated components were already described with reference to FIG. 3 and are only partially provided with reference numerals in FIG. 4. It is evident from FIG. 4 that the housing 11 forms a terminal wall 23 on the front side 2 together with the terminal cover 12 and the armature 19 is arranged movable in the housing 11, in particular within the pole tube 18 between a first end position 24 and a second end position 25.

(12) The terminal cover 12 includes an inner wall 26 and an outer wall 27, wherein the inner wall 26 is oriented towards the back side 3 and the outer wall 27 is oriented towards the front side 2. Thus, the terminal cover 12 is connected to the front side 3 of the housing 11 by a weld 28. The weld 28 is run from the outer wall 27 through the terminal cover 12 to the inner wall 26 and further to the housing 11 in an annular shape and performed by laser welding.

(13) Additionally the terminal cover 12 includes two annular sections 29, 30 of a contour that protrude from the inner wall 26 in this embodiment, in particular a first section 29 and a third section 30. Thus, the first section 19 has a smaller ring radius than the third section 30. The first section 29 is applied to the armature 19 when the armature is in the illustrated second end position 25.

(14) Another possible end position of the armature 19 is the first end position 24 which is indicated by a dashed line. More precisely the side of the armature 19 that is oriented towards the terminal cover 12 corresponds to the dashed line when the armature 19 is in the first end position 24. The third section 30 is thus applied to the pole tube 18.

(15) It is appreciated that the section 30 is a third section and not a second section. In another embodiment that is not illustrated herein the front side 2 of the housing 11 is configured to extend to the armature 19 when the armature 19 is in its second end position 25 so that a section of the contour of the terminal cover does not contact the pole tube 18 but the housing 11. This section that contacts the housing is defined as the second section in the claims and in the preceding description. In order to keep the entire description consistent this terminology is also maintained in the figure description.

(16) The sections 29 and 30 of the contour are formed by introducing two beads 31, 32 on an outside wall 27 of the terminal cover 12. Thus, a first bead 31 forms the first section 29 and a second bead 32 forms the third section 30 of the contour. The first bead 31 is configured stiff so that the first section 29 of the contour thus formed provides a firm stop for the armature 19. The second bead 32 of the contour is configured soft or elastically deformable so that the third section 30 of the contour thus formed can contact and seal at the pole tube 18, or at the housing 11 in another embodiment.

(17) All features described and shown in particular embodiments can be used within the spirit and scope of the invention in various combinations at will at will to achieve their advantageous effects. The scope of patent protection is defined by the appended claims and is not limited by the features described in the description or illustrated in the drawing figure.