BALL VALVE WITH INTERNAL SEAL ARRANGEMENT, IN PARTICULAR FOR USE IN MOTOR VEHICLE REFRIGERANT CIRCUITS

Abstract

A ball valve with internal sealing arrangement for use in motor vehicle refrigerant circuits The ball valve includes an actuator, a shaft with shaft bearing, a ball with a ball passage conduit, and a valve housing with refrigerant connections. The ball is supported in the valve housing in a floating manner and is arranged between two ball seal seats. A first ball seal seat is received by the valve housing and is supported in a sealing manner against the valve housing by a first sealing seat seal. A second ball seal seat is received by a closure part in the opposing valve housing and is supported in a sealing manner against the valve housing by a second sealing seat seal. A first expansion notch and a second expansion notch extend from the ball passage conduit toward a chamber formed in the valve housing.

Claims

1. A ball valve with internal sealing arrangement, for use in motor vehicle refrigerant circuits, comprising: an actuator; a shaft with a shaft bearing; a ball with a ball passage conduit; and a valve housing with refrigerant connections, wherein the ball is supported in the valve housing in a floating manner and the ball is arranged between two ball seal seats, wherein a first one of the ball seal seats is received by the valve housing and is supported in a sealing manner against the valve housing by a first sealing seat seal, and a second one of the ball seal seats is received by a closure part in the valve housing and is supported in a sealing manner against the valve housing by a second sealing seat seal, wherein a first expansion notch and a second expansion notch extend from the ball passage conduit toward a chamber formed in the valve housing, wherein only the ball is housed in the chamber and the first one of the ball seal seats and the second one of the ball seal seats and the first sealing seat seal and the second sealing seat seal are disposed outside the chamber.

2. The ball valve according to claim 1, wherein the first one of the ball seal seats and the second one of the ball seal seats are constructed as hollow cylindrical rings whose inside has a ball seal surface corresponding to the ball, wherein the ball seal surface is constructed as a ball zone.

3. The ball valve according to claim 1, characterized in that the first sealing seat seal and the second sealing seat seal are arranged in the axial direction between the first one of the ball seal seats and the second one of the ball seal seats and the valve housing or the closure part.

4. The ball valve according to claim 1, wherein a closure part seal is arranged in a radial direction between the valve housing and the closure part.

5. The ball valve according to claim 4, wherein the closure part is arranged by an outer threading in a corresponding inner threading in the valve housing.

6. The ball valve according to claim 1, wherein a nose is arranged on the shaft that transfers a rotary positioning movement of the shaft via an engagement notch in the ball onto the ball.

7. The ball valve according to claim 6, wherein the engagement notch is constructed in such a manner during an engagement of the nose in a position vertical to a direction of flowthrough that a play is present.

8. The ball valve according to claim 1, wherein the ball further comprises an expansion notch that extends from the ball passage conduit toward the chamber on an outside of the ball and by means of which a flowthrough cross section can be reduced for an expansion of a fluid flowing through the ball valve.

9. The ball valve according to claim 8, wherein the expansion notch is designed corresponding up to a bevel of the ball of 65° to 70°.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Other details, features and advantages of embodiments of the invention result from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference made to the associated drawings. In the drawings:

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a cross section of a ball valve;

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a cross section through the valve housing of a ball valve and shows the valve body in 100% passage position;

[0028] FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the ball valve in the expansion position;

[0029] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of a ball valve with its essential components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a ball valve 1 in cross section with its essential components. The ball valve 1 comprises an actuator 2 that rotates a shaft 3 in accordance with a desired degree of flowthrough of the valve. The shaft 3 is connected by a nose 20 to the ball 4, wherein the nose 20 engages in an engagement notch 21 in the ball 4. The engagement notch 21 is dimensioned in such a manner in its width that the nose 20 has play in the notch, as result of which the ball 4 is designed so that it can be shiftably arranged on the axis of the direction of flow within certain limits, which is an advantageous design for the floating support of the ball 4. The ball passage conduit 16 is constructed in the ball 4 through which conduit the fluid flows from the valve inlet to the valve outlet in the open valve position of the ball valve 1. In the shown embodiment of the ball valve 1 for refrigerant systems the inlet and outlet of the valve are designed as refrigerant connection 15.

[0031] The shaft 3 is supported in a shaft bearing 5 in such a manner that it can rotate about its axis. The shaft bearing 5 comprises an external shaft seal 6 and an internal shaft seal 7 between which a fluid shaft seal 8 is constructed. The sealing arrangement of external shaft seal 6, internal shaft seal 7 and intermediate fluid shaft seal 8 has the task of preventing the escape of liquid flowing through the ball valve 1 via the play of the shaft 3 in the shaft bearing 5. This sealing system is also designated as an external double sealing system and is decisive for the external leakage rate of the ball valve 1.

[0032] The ball 4 is supported regarding the internal seal in or between two ball seal seats 9, wherein the ball seal seat 9 is supported in a floating manner in the valve housing 13 and the closure part 17 is supported in a floating manner via a sealing seat ring 10 in the axial direction. The term axial direction denotes, unless nothing else is determined, the longitudinal axis of the valve body 13, along which the flowthrough of the ball valve 1 takes place.

[0033] FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show the essential components of the valve with the refrigerant connections 15, the valve housing 13 and the seal seats 9 with associated sealing seat seals 10 in different operating situations or switching positions.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows the valve housing 13 of the ball valve in section and the top view onto the fluid passage. The refrigerant connections 15 on both sides of the passage can be a fluid input as well as a fluid output and clarify the bidirectional possibility of flowthrough for the fluid. The valve housing 13 has a recess in the form of the chamber 12 in which the ball 4 is arranged. The ball 4 comprises the ball passage conduit 16 that, given the appropriate switching according to FIG. 2, shows the maximal flowthrough cross section through the valve. Ball 4 is tightly held on both sides by a ball seal seat 9 and the ball seal seats are sealed and supported against the valve housing 13 and against the closure part 17 in each case by a sealing ring 10. The sealing rings 10 are loaded in the axial direction, which means that the sealing force acts in the axial direction and the sealing rings 10 are pressed or pre-tensioned between two radial circular ring surfaces on the front sides of the ball seal seats 9. Therefore, the sealing takes place in the axial and radial direction. A ball sealing seat 9 guided in the axial direction, is positively received by the valve housing 13 and the opposite ball sealing seat 9, guided in the axial direction, is positively received by the closure part 17.

[0035] The hollow cylindrical closing part 17 is screwed in by an external threading into the valve housing 13 with a corresponding internal threading and can therefore be finely positioned axially as a function of the threading pitch. Sealing force is applied on the sealing seat seals 10 arranged on the front sides of the ball seal seats 9 by screwing in the closure part 17. The closure part 17 comprises a closure part seal 22 on its outer circumference that seals the closing part 17 against the valve housing 13. The arrangement of the closure part seal 22 on the circumference of the closure part 17 makes possible the axial shifting of the closure part 17 in the valve housing 13 with the simultaneous sealing of the parts against one another.

[0036] An expansion notch 14 is formed in the ball 4 on the surface of the ball which is formed tapering from the ball passage conduit 16 in the rotational plane of the ball along the circumference.

[0037] In FIG. 3, the ball 4 is rotated in such a manner in the chamber 12 that the flowthrough cross section of the valve is reduced to a limited range of the expansion notch 14, also designated as the flowthrough notch. As can be recognized, the chamber 12 has the fluid system pressure of the fluid flowing through the valve.

[0038] The refrigerant in the valve position according to FIG. 3 therefore flows from a refrigerant connection 15 via the expansion notch 14 into the chamber 12, through the ball passage conduit 16 to the opposite chamber 12 and to the expansion notch 14 on the other end of the conduit 16 and through the latter to the outlet of the refrigerant connection 15 on the other side of the valve.

[0039] FIG. 4 shows a ball valve 1 in an exploded view. The main components, the actuator 2, the valve housing 13, the shaft 3 with the nose 20 and the ball 4 are supplemented by the components of the bearing for the shaft 3 with the shaft bearing 5, by the associated external and internal shaft seals 6 and 7 as well as the fluid shaft seal 8 with the membrane 11. The ball 4 is supported in the embodiment shown by opposingly placed ball sealing seats 9 that for their part are supported in a sealing manner by a sealing seat seal 10 opposite the valve housing 13 or on the other side opposite the closure part 17. The closure part seal 22 completes the shown components of the ball valve 1.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0040] 1 ball valve [0041] 2 actuator [0042] 3 shaft [0043] 4 ball [0044] 5 shaft bearing [0045] 6 external shaft seal [0046] 7 internal shaft seal [0047] 8 fluid shaft seal [0048] 9 ball seal seat [0049] 10 sealing seat seal [0050] 11 membrane [0051] 12 chamber [0052] 13 valve housing [0053] 14 expansion notch [0054] 15 refrigerant connection [0055] 16 ball passage conduit [0056] 17 closure part [0057] 20 nose [0058] 21 engagement notch [0059] 22 closure part seal