PROCESS MEDIUM-CONTROLLED REGULATING VALVE

Abstract

A process medium-controlled regulating valve for a liquid throughflow regulator, having a main valve, a pilot valve for controlling a main valve piston, a pilot valve piston which closes the pressure relief line in a closed position, a cleaning wire element which is stationary in the axial direction is guided with hole tolerance through the pilot line, and the pilot line can be moved along the cleaning wire element, which is guided therein, during a stroke adjustment of the main valve piston. The cleaning wire element has an actuating contour which, at least during the stroke adjustment, can be brought into sliding contact with a counter-contour formed on the main valve piston, with the build-up of a transverse force which acts on the cleaning wire element.

Claims

1. A process medium-controlled regulating valve for a liquid throughflow regulator, comprising: a main valve that has a main valve piston with an adjustable stroke in the axial direction; a main valve seat that interacts with the main valve and delimits an outlet chamber radially on an inside and an inlet chamber radially on an outside; a pilot valve for controlling the main valve piston, the pilot valve comprising on a side of the main valve piston which faces away from the main valve seat, a control chamber that is fluidically connected via a pilot line in the main valve piston to the inlet chamber and via a pressure relief line to the outlet chamber, and has a pilot valve piston which closes the pressure relief line in a closed position with a build-up of a closing pressure in a control chamber and with a stroke adjustment of the main valve piston in a closing direction, and which opens the pressure relief line in an open position with pressure equalization between the control chamber and the outlet chamber and with a stroke adjustment of the main valve piston in an opening direction; a cleaning wire element that is stationary in an axial direction is guided with hole tolerance through the pilot line, the pilot line being adapted to be moved along the cleaning wire element, which is guided therein, during a stroke adjustment of the main valve piston, the cleaning wire element having an actuating contour which, at least during the stroke adjustment of the main valve piston, is adapted to be brought into sliding contact with a counter-contour formed on the main valve piston or with the build-up of a transverse force which acts on the cleaning wire element.

2. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning wire element has a wire body which is in particular continuously rectilinear in a wire longitudinal direction and from which the actuating contour projects in the transverse direction.

3. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein the actuating contour is a free wire end of the cleaning wire element, and/or that an opening edge of the pilot line opening is designed as a counter-contour.

4. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning wire element, guided through the pilot line, with its free wire end projects beyond a pilot line opening facing the inlet chamber, and in particular the free wire end of the cleaning wire element is spaced apart by a clearance from the boundary walls of the inlet chamber.

5. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 4, wherein to form the actuating contour the free wire end is offset from the wire body by an oblique angle (?), in particular in a range of 0? to 45?.

6. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning wire element has a round profile or a polygonal profile, in particular a square profile, and in particular the cleaning wire element with the polygonal profile is spirally twisted to increase the scraping properties of the edge.

7. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the cleaning wire element is spirally wound and/or wherein an adjoining free wire end is formed straight with a continuously constant wire cross section.

8. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the cleaning wire element has a wave profile, and wherein a wave height of the wave profile increases in a direction of the pilot line opening facing the inlet chamber.

9. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 3, wherein the free wire end has an angled loop.

10. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein a helical compression spring is supported in the control chamber between the main valve piston and a valve housing wall facing away axially therefrom, and the helical compression spring is extended with the cleaning wire element.

11. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein the main valve seat has a sealing surface, which faces the main valve piston, and the sealing surface is divided into a planar base surface, transverse to the axial direction, and sealing edge projecting therefrom in the direction of the main valve piston.

12. The process medium-controlled regulating valve according to claim 1, wherein the sealing edge is disposed radially on the inside and the base surface radially on the outside, and/or that the base surface acts as a movement stop for limiting the stroke movement of the main valve piston.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a process medium-controlled regulating valve in a side view in a full section view;

[0022] FIGS. 2 and 3 each are detail views from FIG. 1 in the opened state;

[0023] FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial half-section illustration that shows the regulating valve with the main valve open;

[0024] FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 that shows the regulating valve with the main valve closed;

[0025] FIG. 6 to 9 each show different geometric variants of the cleaning wire element; and

[0026] FIG. 10 is an enlarged half-sectional view that shows the main valve seat with an additional sealing edge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The structure and the basic operation of the process medium-controlled regulating valve will be described first for easier understanding of the invention with use of FIGS. 1 to 3. For reasons of clarity, a cleaning wire 3 guided through a pilot line 1 and a helical compression spring 41 disposed in a control chamber 5 are omitted in FIGS. 1 to 3 and shown only in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0028] The regulating valve shown in FIG. 1 comprises a main valve 11 (FIG. 2), with which a liquid throughflow between an inlet chamber 13 and an outlet chamber 15 can be regulated, and a pilot valve 17 controlling main valve 11 (FIG. 3), which can be used as a control component for main valve 11. Main valve 11 shown in FIG. 1 is made up of a main valve piston 21, with an adjustable stroke in the axial direction in a valve housing 19, and of a main valve seat 23 which interacts therewith. In FIG. 1, main valve piston 21 is shown in its open position, as a result of which a valve gap 25 is exposed for throughflow regulation. Inlet chamber 13 is disposed radially outside the hollow cylindrical main valve seat 23, whereas outlet chamber 15 is located radially inside main valve seat 23.

[0029] Main valve piston 21 is designed in two parts in FIG. 1, specifically, with a lower elastic membrane 27 to which a membrane plate 29, which is rigid in comparison thereto, is attached. Membrane 27 is fixed radially on the outside on valve housing 19. Control chamber 5 is located on the side of main valve piston 21, which side faces away from main valve seat 23 in the axial direction. This is fluidically connected via pilot line 1, integrated in main valve piston 21, to inlet chamber 13 and via a pressure relief line 31 to outlet chamber 15.

[0030] In addition, pilot valve 17 (FIG. 3) has a pilot valve piston 33, which is manually stroke-adjustable in the axial direction, specifically, in accordance with FIG. 1, either by means of a pushbutton 35 or alternatively with the aid of a rotary knob 37. In FIG. 1, pilot valve piston 33 is guided centrally through pressure relief line 31 in main valve piston 21. Depending on the manual actuation of the regulating valve, pilot valve piston 33 can be shifted between a closed position and an open position as well as into a regulating intermediate position. In FIG. 1, pilot valve piston 33 is shown in its open position, in which pressure relief line 31 is opened. A pressure equalization results in this way between control chamber 5 and outlet chamber 15. Accordingly, in FIG. 1 or 2, main valve piston 21, as shown, is moved upward in an opening direction due to the water pressure present in inlet chamber 13.

[0031] As is apparent from FIG. 4, in addition, a helical compression spring 41 is disposed in control chamber 5, which spring extends concentrically around pilot valve piston 33 and is supported between main valve piston 21 and an axially opposite valve housing wall 43.

[0032] Further variants of cleaning wire 3 are shown in FIGS. 6 to 9. Thus, in FIG. 6 cleaning wire 3 does not have a round profile but a square profile. To increase the scraping properties, the square profile is spirally twisted. In FIG. 7, cleaning wire 3 is spirally wound on its wire body 49. As in the previous embodiments, the adjoining free wire end 45 is formed straight with a continuously constant wire cross section. In FIG. 8, cleaning wire 3 has a wave profile 53 on its wire body 49. The wave height of wave profile 53 increases in the direction of pilot line opening 47 facing inlet chamber 13. In FIG. 9, the free wire end 45 is no longer straight but with an angled loop 55.

[0033] A further exemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 10 which is to be regarded as an alternative to the preceding exemplary embodiments or forms a refinement thereof. Thus, according to FIG. 10, main valve seat 23 has a sealing surface 57 facing main valve piston 21, which is divided in two, specifically, into a planar base surface 59, transverse to the axial direction, and a sealing edge 61 projecting in the direction of main valve piston 21. Sealing edge 61 is disposed radially on the inside and base surface 59 radially on the outside. Base surface 59 acts as a movement stop for limiting the stroke movement of main valve piston 21.

[0034] As an alternative to the variant shown in FIG. 10, sealing edge 61 can also be disposed radially on the outside and base surface 59 radially on the inside. Furthermore, when viewed in the radial direction, sealing edge 61 can also be disposed centrally, i.e., be bounded both radially on the outside and radially on the inside by planar base surface 59.

[0035] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.