Thermally volume-neutral stroke transmitter, in particular for metering valve without hydraulic compensator

Abstract

In addition to liquid in a thermal volume-neutral stroke transmitter, first and/or second displacement body(ies) is/are positioned in the stroke transmitter, for displacing the liquid. These three materials in the closed system are designed so that the stroke transmitter remains pressure-free during temperature changes.

Claims

1. A stroke transmitter, comprising: an overall housing having a first housing component enclosing a first volume which is variable by displacement of a first effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with a fluid, and a second housing component enclosing a second volume which is variable by displacement of a second effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with the fluid, the overall housing externally delimiting a total volume equal to a first sum of the first and second volumes; a throttling port permitting fluid exchange between the first and second volumes, where a first product formed by a first stroke of the first effective cross-sectional area times a ratio of the first effective cross-sectional area to the second effective cross-sectional area corresponds to a second stroke of the second effective cross-sectional area; and at least one displacement element positioned in the total volume, where the overall housing, the fluid and the at least one displacement element are coordinated to complement one another so that a change in the total volume of the overall housing caused by a change in temperature corresponds to a combined change in fluid volume and at least one displacement element volume caused by the change in temperature.

2. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second housing components is formed by a bellows.

3. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 2, wherein an extension of at least one of the at least one displacement element along one direction of a displacement stroke extends beyond an extension of an associated bellows along the one direction.

4. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bellows has concave protrusions, and wherein respective extensions of a displacement element are produced transversely to a direction of the stroke into the concave protrusions of the bellows associated therewith.

5. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a second product of the total volume times an overall housing volume expansion coefficient corresponds to a second sum of a third product of the fluid volume times a fluid volume expansion coefficient plus respective products of a displacement element volume and a displacement element volume expansion coefficient for each of the displacement elements.

6. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least one section of the overall housing is the at least one displacement element and a section volume of the at least one section is not included in an overall housing volume.

7. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 6, wherein the at least one displacement element includes fused quartz glass, the overall housing includes steel, and the fluid is hydraulic oil.

8. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 6, wherein at least one of the first and second housing components is formed by a cylinder with a piston guided therein.

9. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first and second housing components are formed by two cylinders and two pistons, and wherein the at least one displacement element corresponds to at least one of the two pistons.

10. A metering valve having a stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first effective cross-sectional area is mechanically coupled to an actuator and the second effective cross-sectional area is mechanically coupled to the metering valve.

11. The metering valve as claimed in claim 10, wherein at least one of the first and second effective cross-sectional areas is defined by a head of a piston.

12. The metering valve as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first effective cross-sectional area delimits a first bellows at right angles to a direction of the stroke toward a piezoelectric actuator and/or the second effective cross-sectional area delimits a second bellows at right angles to the direction of the stroke toward the metering valve.

13. The metering valve as claimed in claim 10, further comprising one of a ball and a needle, mechanically coupled to the second effective cross-sectional area, opening and closing the metering valve.

14. The metering valve as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a return spring, positioned between the second effective cross-sectional area and the metering valve, generating a counterforce against an increase in size of the second volume.

15. The metering valve as claimed in claim 10, wherein the fluid is metered into a further volume.

16. The metering valve as claimed in claim 15, wherein the fluid is a gas or gasoline metered into a combustion chamber.

17. A stroke transmitter, comprising: an overall housing having a first housing component enclosing a first volume which is variable by displacement of a first effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with a fluid, and a second housing component enclosing a second volume which is variable by displacement of a second effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with the fluid, the overall housing externally delimiting a total volume equal to a first sum of the first and second volumes, at least one of the first and second housing components being formed by a bellows; a throttling port permitting fluid exchange between the first and second volumes, where a first product formed by a first stroke of the first effective cross-sectional area times a ratio of the first effective cross-sectional area to the second effective cross-sectional area corresponds to a second stroke of the second effective cross-sectional area; and at least one displacement element positioned in the total volume and having an extension along one direction of a displacement stroke extending beyond an extension of an associated bellows along the one direction, where the overall housing, the fluid and the at least one displacement element are coordinated to complement one another so that a change in the total volume of the overall housing caused by a change in temperature corresponds to a combined change in fluid volume and at least one displacement element volume caused by the change in temperature.

18. A stroke transmitter, comprising: an overall housing formed of at least steel and having a first housing component enclosing a first volume which is variable by displacement of a first effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with hydraulic oil, and a second housing component enclosing a second volume which is variable by displacement of a second effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with the hydraulic oil, the overall housing externally delimiting a total volume equal to a first sum of the first and second volumes; a throttling port permitting fluid exchange between the first and second volumes, where a first product formed by a first stroke of the first effective cross-sectional area times a ratio of the first effective cross-sectional area to the second effective cross-sectional area corresponds to a second stroke of the second effective cross-sectional area; and at least one displacement element including fused quartz glass, positioned in the total volume and having an extension along one direction of a displacement stroke extending beyond an extension of an associated bellows along the one direction, where the overall housing, the fluid and the at least one displacement element are coordinated to complement one another so that a change in the total volume of the overall housing caused by a change in temperature corresponds to a combined change in fluid volume and at least one displacement element volume caused by the change in temperature.

19. A stroke transmitter, comprising: an overall housing having a first housing component enclosing a first volume which is variable by displacement of a first effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with a fluid, and a second housing component enclosing a second volume which is variable by displacement of a second effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with the fluid, the overall housing externally delimiting a total volume equal to a first sum of the first and second volumes, at least one of the first and second housing components being formed by a bellows having concave protrusions; a throttling port permitting fluid exchange between the first and second volumes, where a first product formed by a first stroke of the first effective cross-sectional area times a ratio of the first effective cross-sectional area to the second effective cross-sectional area corresponds to a second stroke of the second effective cross-sectional area; and at least one displacement element positioned in the total volume having respective extensions produced transversely to a direction of at least one of the first and second stroke into the concave protrusions of the bellows associated therewith, where the overall housing, the fluid and the at least one displacement element are coordinated to complement one another so that a change in the total volume of the overall housing caused by a change in temperature corresponds to a combined change in fluid volume and at least one displacement element volume caused by the change in temperature.

20. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 19, wherein the at least one displacement element includes fused quartz glass, the overall housing includes steel, and the fluid is hydraulic oil.

21. A stroke transmitter, comprising: an overall housing having a first housing component enclosing a first volume which is variable by displacement of a first effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with a fluid, and a second housing component enclosing a second volume which is variable by displacement of a second effective cross-sectional area and which is filled with the fluid, the overall housing externally delimiting a total volume equal to a first sum of the first and second volumes, at least one of the first and second housing components being formed by a bellows having concave protrusions; a throttling port permitting fluid exchange between the first and second volumes, where a first product formed by a first stroke of the first effective cross-sectional area times a ratio of the first effective cross-sectional area to the second effective cross-sectional area corresponds to a second stroke of the second effective cross-sectional area; and at least one displacement element positioned in the total volume and having an extension along one direction of a displacement stroke extending into the concave protrusions of the associated bellows and beyond an extension of an associated bellows along the one direction, where the overall housing, the fluid and the at least one displacement element are coordinated to complement one another so that a change in the total volume of the overall housing caused by a change in temperature corresponds to a combined change in fluid volume and at least one displacement element volume caused by the change in temperature.

22. The stroke transmitter as claimed in claim 21, wherein the at least one displacement element includes fused quartz glass, the overall housing includes steel, and the fluid is hydraulic oil.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and other aspects and advantages will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a first exemplary embodiment of a metering valve;

(3) FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a stroke transmitter;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second exemplary embodiment of a metering valve;

(5) FIG. 4 a perspective view of cubes referenced in describing determination of a volume of a displacement element;

(6) FIG. 5 is a cross section of an exemplary embodiment of a stroke transmitter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(7) Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

(8) FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a metering valve. FIG. 1 illustrates a functional principle of a metering valve in a schematic representation. A piston 3 having a surface area A1 is guided in a cylinder 2 and is driven directly by an actuator 1. A further piston 5 having a surface area A2 is connected to the valve needle 6. A volume 4 between the pistons is filled with a fluid, in most cases oil, and has a channel or connecting line having a throttling port 8. The throttling port 8 is integrated into the channel section in order to suppress vibrations. When the actuator 1 moves by a stroke x1, a specific fluid volume, namely x1*A1, is displaced by the piston 2, the fluid volume also moving the piston 5 through the bore by a stroke x2. The equation x2=x1*A1/A2 applies. A deflection amplification, that is to say a ratio of actuator stroke x1 to needle stroke x2, can be achieved as a function of the chosen area ratios. A large volume of fluid, in particular gas, can be metered quickly and precisely with the aid of a combination of a high-speed piezoelectric actuator 1 and the stroke transmitter concept according to FIG. 1. This requirement will become increasingly important in the future in the case of internal combustion engines that use for example gas or gasoline. For example, FIG. 1 shows a gas inlet labeled with reference sign 15, a combustion chamber labeled with reference sign reference sign 16, a metering valve labeled with reference sign reference sign 13, and the stroke transmitter labeled with reference sign 11. FIG. 1 shows an overall housing which externally delimits a total volume 4 made up of the sum of a first volume 4a and a second volume 4b. In this arrangement the overall housing is embodied by a first cylinder 2 and a first piston 3 guided therein and by a second cylinder 2a and a second piston 5 guided therein.

(9) FIG. 2 shows a more detailed view of an exemplary embodiment of a stroke transmitter. A stroke transmitter concept is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 2. A further connection bore 9 for producing a more rapid pressure equalization is shown in addition. The connection establishes a constant pressure in the connected chambers. This has the advantage that changes in length and volume caused by changes in temperature can be compensated for.

(10) When an actuator 1 is actuated, the pressure in the chamber 4 increases and the piston 5 moves. On account of the operating principle of the system, oil is discharged through annular gaps. This leads to a diminishing volume over time and consequently to a loss of stroke, which is also referred to as drift. A further disadvantage is the friction between the pistons 3 and 5 and the respective associated cylinders 2 and 2a. This friction leads on the one hand to a stroke loss and on the other hand a piston can seize, which is to say it can become immovably jammed in the cylinder. Reference sign 7 designates an annular gap between piston 3 and cylinder 2. Reference sign 10 designates an annular gap between piston 5 and cylinder 2a. Reference sign 9 designates an additional connection bore for producing rapid pressure equalization. Reference sign 8 designates a throttling port (orifice) according to FIG. 1. The problems of such stroke transmitters are wear and tear and drift. It was possible to alleviate wear and tear in stroke transmitters and metering valves by coating contact surfaces, usually with diamond-like carbon (DLC). However, coating is an additional operation which is both time-consuming and expensive. Stroke loss due to gap flow cannot be eliminated using known techniques.

(11) FIG. 3 shows a first exemplary embodiment of a metering valve. A possible design has for example two metal bellows 20 and 22 which are filled with a fluid and are connected by a throttling port 8. Reference sign 4 designates the sum of the respective internal spaces of the two bellows 20 and 22 and accordingly constitutes what is termed a hydraulic volume. When the actuator 1 is actuated and in so doing expands for example, the pressure in the first metal bellows 20 increases. The pressure is propagated by the throttling port 8 and causes the second metal bellows 22 to move a needle or ball against the force of a return spring 26 and thus open an injector. In the process the stroke of the actuator 1 is amplified in accordance with the cross-sections of the metal bellows 20 and 22. This arrangement therefore acts as a hydraulic stroke transmitter. Such an arrangement requires no moving piston and in this way circumvents friction problems associated therewith, as described hereinabove. A continuously open mode of operation is also possible with an arrangement of the type, since the pressure built up by the actuator 1 is sustained, and consequently no drift behavior is established. According to this embodiment variant of a stroke transmitter 11 for actuating a metering valve 13, which is based on the use of metal bellows 20 and 22 instead of metal cylinders and metal pistons, friction and drift characteristics no longer exist according to this concept.

(12) However, a concept of this type, as illustrated in FIG. 3, has a disadvantage of a change in temperature, such that undesired leakages can ensue. Accordingly, in addition to the fluid in the bellows 20 and 22 as well as in the connection line, a first displacement element and/or a second displacement element with respective displacement volume V.sub.V and respective volume expansion coefficient .sub.V are/is in each case incorporated into or positioned in an arrangement according to FIG. 3 in at least one of the bellows 20 and 22 in order to displace the fluid. In this way, for example, a stronger expansion of a fluid than the expansion of a housing of the first and/or second volume is compensated for in that a compensation element has a volume expansion coefficient which is so small that the expansion is compensated by the fluid. A precise calculation of these dependencies is shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 3 shows an overall housing which externally delimits a total volume 4 made up of the sum of a first volume 4a and a second volume 4b. In this arrangement the overall housing is embodied by a first bellows 20 and a second bellows 22. Accordingly, the total volume 4, which can also be referred to as the hydraulic volume, is the entire internal space of the two bellows 20 and 22 combined.

(13) FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of determination of the volume of a respective displacement element. FIG. 4 shows a self-contained system which is composed of three materials and which can always be designed in such a way that it remains free of pressure or free of stresses when changes in temperature occur. In this case reference sign 30 designates a housing, reference sign 32 designates a fluid, and reference sign 34 designates a displacement element. A first or second volume can essentially be provided as desired by a housing 30. The embodiments of the housing are particularly advantageously in the form of pistons or bellows. A particularly advantageous housing material is in particular steel. Other metals can also be used. Based on subsequent calculations the fluid 32 is particularly advantageously a hydraulic oil and the material of the displacement element 34 is particularly advantageously glass, in particular fused quartz glass. The basis for the calculation and the choice of materials based thereon is the following compensation condition for a change in temperature T:
V.sub.B.sub.BT=V.sub.F.sub.FT+V.sub.V.sub.VT(0)

(14) The displacement element volume is therefore calculated as
V.sub.V=(V.sub.B.sub.BV.sub.F.sub.F)/.sub.V(1)
V.sub.B=volume of bellows
V.sub.F=volume of fluid
V.sub.V=volume of displacement element
.sub.B=volume expansion coefficient
y.sub.F=volume expansion coefficient of fluid
.sub.V=volume expansion coefficient of displacement element

(15) Examples of Suitable Volume Expansion Coefficients:

(16) Fluids such as the silicone oils mainly employed in metering valves have a volume expansion coefficient of typically 500 . . . 100010.sup.6/K. That is very large compared to steel, which is generally used as housing material.

(17) Steel as a typical housing material has =30-48*10.sup.6/K

(18) Displacement elements should have a small volume expansion coefficient. This is satisfied by glass for example with =1.5-3*10.sup.6/K. The first and the second volume may be provided by a housing 30. Pistons or bellows can be particularly advantageous embodiments of housings 30. A fluid for a stroke transmitter may be, for example, hydraulic oil. According to a derivation as illustrated in FIG. 4, fused quartz glass is suitable in particular as a material for a first displacement element in the first volume and/or the second displacement element in the associated second volume.

(19) FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a stroke transmitter 11. Reference sign 30 designates a housing in which are integrated in particular a first bellows 20 and a displacement element 34. A connection bore 9 leads from the first volume to the second volume, that is to say from the first bellows 20 to the second bellows 22. A second displacement element 36 is integrated in the second volume produced by the second bellows 22. In order to satisfy the equations (0) and (1), the first displacement element 34 and its volume are sufficiently large to ensure that the first volume is almost entirely filled by the first displacement element 34. However, the associated fluid 32 is effectively present. In other words, all the conditions according to the calculation as illustrated in FIG. 4 are fulfilled in the upper first volume and the lower second volume of FIG. 5. The first volume in FIG. 5 is provided by the housing 30 and the first bellows. The lower second volume is provided by the second bellows 22. According to FIG. 5, the extension of the upper displacement element 34 extends along the direction of a stroke beyond the extension of the associated bellows 20 along the direction. Furthermore, respective extensions of the first displacement element 34 are produced transversely to the direction of a stroke into concave protrusions of the associated bellows 20. A stroke is effected in the axial direction of the first displacement element 34 and of the second displacement element 36. In order to implement a metering valve by the stroke transmitter 11 according to FIG. 5, an upper first effective cross-sectional area is mechanically connected to an actuator 1 and a second effective cross-sectional area is mechanically connected to a lower metering valve 13. An advantageous embodiment variant of an actuator 1 is a piezoelectric actuator.

(20) The strokes of the effective cross-sectional areas lie for example in the micrometer range. In this way only very small corresponding displacements of the effective cross-sectional areas take place in axial directions of the bellows. This enables stroke transmitters to be referred to also as virtually mechanically motionless. Furthermore, combinations of bellows with cylinder-piston systems are possible. For example, a first housing component can be produced by a piston guided in a cylinder and a second housing component can be produced by a bellows, wherein a first displacement element can then be the piston associated with the cylinder and a second displacement element can be positioned in the bellows.

(21) FIG. 5 taken in conjunction with FIG. 3 shows a first volume 4a which is variable by a first effective cross-sectional area A1 and which is enclosed by a first housing component 20, and a second volume 4b which is variable by a second effective cross-sectional area A2 and which is enclosed by a second housing component 22, the volumes being filled with a fluid 32 and produced in a fluid exchange with one another by a throttling port 8 in such a way that a stroke of the second effective cross-sectional area A2 corresponds to the product of a stroke of the first effective cross-sectional area A1 with a ratio formed from the first effective cross-sectional area A1 to the second effective cross-sectional area A2. A total volume 4 made up of the sum of first volume 4a and second volume 4b is delimited externally by an overall housing. First housing component 20 and second housing component 22 produce the overall housing. In addition a line of the throttling port 8 can also be taken into account. Two displacement elements 34 and 36 are positioned in the total volume 4. The overall housing 20 and 22, the fluid 32 and all of the displacement elements 34 and 36 are coordinated to complement one another in such a way that a change in volume of the overall housing 20 and 22 caused by a change in temperature corresponds to a combined change in volume of the fluid 32 and of all of the displacement elements, and specifically 34 and 36 in this case, brought about as a result of the change in temperature.

(22) FIG. 4 taken in conjunction with FIG. 2 shows that instead of bellows, pistons 3 and 5 in cylinders 2 and 2a are equally suitable as an embodiment variant. The first housing component can then be produced for example by a first cylinder 2 and a first piston 3 guided therein, and/or the second housing component can be produced by a second cylinder 2a and a second piston 5 guided therein. A displacement element (not shown in FIG. 2) can for example be incorporated in the first volume 4a. Furthermore, at least one of the two pistons 3 and 5 can additionally or alternatively be the at least one displacement element, in which case the piston is then associated in terms of volume and volume expansion coefficient, not with the overall housing, but with the displacement elements. In other words, a piston 3 can, according to this embodiment variant, additionally take on the function of a displacement element. In a coordinated arrangement, the overall housing would for example expand strongly in the event of a temperature increase, while the piston 3 would expand only to a limited extent. An oil contained in the total volume 4 can then expand without an increase in pressure.

(23) A description has been provided with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof and examples, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the claims which may include the phrase at least one of A, B and C as an alternative expression that means one or more of A, B and C may be used, contrary to the holding in Superguide v. DIRECTV, 358 F3d 870, 69 USPQ2d 1865 (Fed. Cir. 2004).