VALVE ASSEMBLY, IN PARTICULAR FOR MOTORIZED VEHICLES, WITH ROTATABLE VALVE BODY WITH IMPROVED IMPERMEABILITY

Abstract

A valve assembly for influencing operating fluid flows in a motorized vehicle, where the valve assembly includes: A valve housing with a main housing body and a housing lid, A fluid line arrangement with at least two fluid lines, A valve body configured as tapering along an actuating axis which is accommodated rotatably about the actuating axis between at least two fluid lines of the fluid line arrangement in such a way that through rotation of the valve body about the actuating axis, a flow-connection state of the at least two fluid lines proceeding in different spatial regions with each other is modifiable, and A pre-tensioning means arranged between the housing lid and the valve body which loads the valve body along the actuating axis,
wherein it is provided that between the valve body and the main housing body there is arranged a guide shell surrounding the valve body, where the valve body is loaded through the pre-tensioning means towards the guide shell along a first pre-tensioning force path, where the guide shell is loaded through the housing lid towards the main housing body along a second pre-tensioning force path.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A valve assembly for influencing operating fluid flows, in particular cooling fluid flows, especially preferably cooling liquid flows, in a motorized vehicle, where the valve assembly comprises: a valve housing with a main housing body and a housing lid connected with the main housing body, where in the valve housing there is configured a valve body accommodating space which is enclosed by the main housing body and the housing lid, a fluid line arrangement with at least two fluid lines, which starting from the valve body accommodating space proceed in different spatial regions, a valve body configured as tapering along an actuating axis, which is accommodated rotatably about the actuating axis in the valve body accommodating space between at least two fluid lines of the fluid line arrangement proceeding in different spatial regions in such a way that through rotation of the valve body about the actuating axis a flow-connection state of the at least two fluid lines of the fluid line arrangement proceeding in different spatial regions with each other is modifiable, and a pre-tensioning means which loads the valve body along the actuating axis in the tapering direction, where the pre-tensioning means is arranged between the housing lid and the valve body arranged is, wherein between the valve body and the main housing body there is arranged a guide shell which surrounds the valve body, where the valve body is loaded through the pre-tensioning means along a first pre-tensioning force path towards the guide shell, where the guide shell is loaded through the housing lid towards the main housing body along a second pre-tensioning force path different from the first pre-tensioning force path.

17. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the guide shell is supported physically at the housing lid directly or indirectly under interposition of an intermediate component.

18. The valve assembly according to claim 17, wherein the guide shell is directly or indirectly in abutting engagement with the housing lid.

19. The valve assembly according to claim 17, wherein the guide shell is directly or indirectly in positive-locking engagement with the housing lid.

20. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein on the side of the guide shell facing away from the valve body there is arranged additionally a shell gasket in order to seal the regions formed by the guide shell of the at least two fluid lines of the fluid line arrangement proceeding in different spatial regions against the main housing body, where the shell gasket is pressure-loaded under force mediation of the guide shell.

21. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the position of the housing lid relative to the main housing body determines the pressure loading of the shell gasket through the guide shell.

22. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the axial position of the housing lid relative to the main housing body determines the pressure loading of the shell gasket through the guide shell.

23. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the position of the housing lid relative to the main housing body determines the loading of the valve body through the pre-tensioning means towards the guide shell.

24. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the axial position of the housing lid relative to the main housing body determines the loading of the valve body through the pre-tensioning means towards the guide shell.

25. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the housing lid is firmly bonded relative to the main housing body.

26. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the housing lid is at least one of fused or welded to the main housing body.

27. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the housing lid is joined with the main housing body by positive locking.

28. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the housing lid is joined with the main housing body with a catch or snap-fit.

29. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein in the first pre-tensioning force path between the housing lid and the pre-tensioning means and/or between the pre-tensioning means and the valve body there is arranged a bearing component.

30. The valve assembly according to claim 29, wherein the bearing component is formed at least section-wise or completely from an elastomer.

31. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein between the valve body and the guide shell there is arranged an abutment component immovably relative to the guide shell.

32. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein at least one section of the main housing body which encloses the valve body accommodating space is configured in one piece.

33. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein a section of the main housing body which encloses the valve body accommodating space is configured in at least two parts.

34. The valve assembly according to claim 16, wherein the main housing body is formed from a section of a duct component in which fluid lines of the fluid line arrangement are configured.

35. The valve assembly according to claim 33, wherein the section of the main housing body which encloses the valve body accommodating space exhibits an upper shell and a lower shell connected with the upper shell, where the housing lid is connected with the upper shell and/or with the lower shell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0053] The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof and wherein:

[0054] FIG. 1A rough schematic longitudinal section view through an embodiment according to the invention of a valve assembly in a sectional plane which contains the actuating axis.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0055] Referring now to the drawing wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting the same, in FIG. 1, an embodiment according to the invention of the valve assembly of the present application is depicted in rough schematic form and labelled generally by 10. The valve assembly 10 comprises a valve housing 12 with a main housing body 14 and a housing lid 16. The main housing body 14 and the housing lid 16 bound a valve body accommodating space 18, in which a valve body 20 is accommodated rotatably about an actuating axis B.

[0056] The main housing body 14 is configured in the depicted embodiment example integrally with a duct component 22, in which there are configured fluid lines 24 of a fluid line arrangement 26 which lead to the valve body accommodating space 18 and away from the latter. More precisely, the duct component 22 is formed from an upper shell 22a and a lower shell 22b, which preferably are each injection-molded and which are firmly bonded with each other through a synthetic material welding method. The fluid lines 24 configured in the duct component 22 are configured as longer, preferably by at least twice, especially preferably by at least three times, longer than the flow path through the valve body accommodating space 18.

[0057] The main housing body 14, which in the depicted embodiment example is formed solely by the lower shell 22b, exhibits a conical section 14a which tapers in the direction away from the housing lid 16. The main housing body 14 exhibits besides a bottom section 14b which closes up the valve body accommodating space 18 on the side axially opposite to the housing lid 16 axial.

[0058] Between the valve body 20 and the main housing body 14 there is arranged a guide shell 28, such that the valve body 20 does not come directly in contact with the main housing body 14. The guide shell 28 is likewise injection-molded and is made with high precision, i.e. with small fabrication tolerances. The use of such a guide shell 28 with small shape and dimensional tolerances allows the rest of the valve housing 12 to be formed by means of injection molding with large fabrication tolerances and thereby cost-effectively.

[0059] The guide shell 28, which in order to achieve high component strength is preferably made from a filled thermoplastic synthetic, is accommodated in the valve body accommodating space 18 immovably relative to the main housing body 14. This means that the valve body 20 rotates about the actuating axis B not only relative to the main housing body 14 but also relative to the guide shell 28. The guide shell 28 can be accommodated in the main housing body 14 immovably, in particular in a non-twistable manner, relative to the latter by means of frictional engagement and/or positive locking and/or through an adhesive agent.

[0060] In order to fill and/or seal as the case may be the gap arising in many cases between the guide shell 28 with small shape and dimensional tolerances and the main housing body 14 and/or the lower shell 22b respectively with large fabrication tolerances, there is arranged between the guide shell 28 and the main housing body 14 a shell gasket 30. The shell gasket 30 is arranged immovably relative to the guide shell 28 and thereby also relative to the main housing body 14. The shell gasket 30 is deformable only between the guide shell 28 and the main housing body 14 in order to ensure its sealing effect.

[0061] The shell gasket 30 can be provided as a component separate from the guide shell 28 or as a component injected outside onto the guide shell 28.

[0062] In order, furthermore, to reduce the friction between the valve body 20 and the guide shell 28 and to seal gaps that may potentially exist there, between the valve body 20 and the guide shell 28 there is arranged an abutment component 32. The abutment component 32, which preferably is arranged as a separate component, is likewise arranged at the guide shell 28 immovably relative to the guide shell 28, in particular in a non-twistable manner about the actuating axis B. The abutment component 32 can be arranged at the guide shell 28 immovably, in particular in a non-twistable manner, relative to the latter by means of adhesive agents, frictional engagement, or positive locking.

[0063] Like the main housing body 14, the guide shell 28, the shell gasket 30, and the abutment component 32 too not only taper conically away from the housing lid 16, but also are configured as jar-shaped with a bottom 28b, 30b, and 32b respectively parallel to the bottom section 14b of the main housing body 14. The individual bottoms 28b, 30b, and 32b respectively can be arranged at a distance from one another or can touch one another, as for example the bottom 30b touches the bottom 14b in FIG. 1. Neighboring conical sections 28a, 30a, and 32a respectively abut against one another. Furthermore, the conical section 30a of the shell gasket 30 also abuts against the inner surface of the conical section 14a of the main housing body 14. Hereby there is achieved impermeability of the valve assembly 10 around the apertures 34 through which the fluid lines 24 are connected with the valve body accommodating space 18.

[0064] The abutment component 32 is formed, in order to reduce the friction effect with the valve body 20 abutting against it, from a low-friction material such as for example PTFE. Other materials, as quoted in the descriptive introduction, are likewise possible for forming the abutment component 32.

[0065] With the exception of the apertures 34, the guide shell 28, the shell gasket 30, and the abutment component 32 proceed in a circumferential direction in a closed manner about the actuating axis B.

[0066] In the depicted example, the valve body 20 is injection-molded from PPS filled with glass particles. Instead of the glass particles, glass fibers can also be used as filling material. Instead of the PPS, PPA can also be used as a thermoplastic synthetic. The guide shell 28 is preferably made from the same material as the valve body 20.

[0067] In order to achieve the best possible sealing effect, the shell gasket 30 is preferably made from an elastomer, for example from synthetic or natural rubber or from EPDM or FKM.

[0068] The valve housing 12, that is, in particular the upper shell 22a and the lower shell 22b of the duct component 22, is made from a low-cost thermoplastic material, for example from a polyolefin, such as for example polypropylene or a polyethylene. The thermoplastic material can, to increase strength, be filled, for example with glass fibers and/or with glass particles or with other reinforcing fibers or particles. The housing lid 16 is preferably made from the same material as the duct component 22, i.e. as the main housing body 14.

[0069] The valve body 20 comprises a valve body section 20a with a conical envelope, which is accommodated directly in the valve body accommodating space 18. Integrally with the valve body section 20a there is formed an actuation section 20b projecting from the former along the actuating axis B, which penetrates through the housing lid 16 and thus can be reached from outside for the transmission of torque. A surrounding seal 35 seals the actuation section 20b against a sleeve section 16g of the housing lid 16 which is penetrated through by the actuation section 20b.

[0070] The housing lid 16 can be connected in various ways with the duct component 22 and consequently with the main housing body 14. As depicted in FIG. 1 on the left side of the actuating axis B at the connecting point V1, the housing lid 16 can be connected with the main housing body 14 through welding, fusing, or gluing. Since in the present case the main housing body 14 is formed only by the lower shell 22b, the housing lid 16 is also connected only with the lower shell 22b. If the upper shell 22a of the duct component 22 also contributes to forming the main housing body 14, the housing lid 16 can additionally or alternatively be connected with the upper shell 22a, for example through welding, fusing, or gluing. Among the firmly bonded connections, the welded connection and/or the fused connection, as the case may be, is preferred to the glued connection since through the fusing of welded points on the housing lid 16 on the one hand and on the main housing body 14 on the other, the axial position of the main housing body 14 along the actuating axis B relative to the main housing body 14 and/or to the duct component 22 respectively is adjustable for the duration of the later operation.

[0071] In order to produce the preferable welded connection, a welding projection 16a on the housing lid can be connected with a welding projection 14c on the main housing body 14, where the welding projections 16a and 14c are preferably fused with each other on the end faces.

[0072] Additionally or alternatively, the housing lid 16 can be latched to the main housing body 14, as depicted on the right side of the actuating axis B at the connecting point V2. To this end there can be configured at the housing lid 16 a connecting projection 16b, from which there projects a latching projection 16c. The latching projection 16c can engage in positive locking with a latching recess 14d in a connecting projection 14e of the main housing body 14. In a kinematic reversal of the positively locked latching connection, the connecting projection 14e can also exhibit the latching projection, which engages with a latching recess on the connecting projection 16b of the housing lid 16.

[0073] Preferably the projections: welding projections 16a and 14c and the connecting projections 16b and 14e, extend predominantly or completely in the axial direction along the actuating axis B and to a smaller extent or none in the radial direction orthogonally to the actuating axis B. The projections can surround the actuating axis B section-wise or completely.

[0074] The latching projection 16c preferably extends predominantly or completely in the radial direction.

[0075] The valve body 20 is supported at the housing lid 16 in a first region 36 by a pre-tensioning means 38, for instance a spring component, and pre-tensioned axially in the direction away from the housing lid 16. The pre-tensioning means 38 transmits its force directly to an annular bearing component 40 with a preferably L-shaped cross-section, in particular a bearing component made from a polymer or an elastomer, which abuts against the larger-diameter end face of the valve body section 20a. Through the pre-tensioning force of the pre-tensioning means 38, the valve body section 20a is pre-tensioned towards the abutment component 32 and via the latter towards the guide shell 28, towards the shell gasket 30, and finally towards the main housing body 14, in particular towards its conical section 14a. Consequently there exists a first pre-tensioning force path VK1, from the first region 36 of the housing lid 16 via the valve body 20 up to the conical main housing body 14.

[0076] The guide shell 28, and with it the shell gasket 30, can in an especially simple embodiment to be pre-tensioned only via the pre-tensioning means 38 towards the main housing body 14.

[0077] The guide shell 28 can be connected, preferably positively-locked connected, with the housing lid 16 in an advantageous manner into a common assembly 42, for instance through a latching connection shown at the connecting point V3. Then the guide shell 28 can advantageously be fitted as an assembly 42 in a single working step together with the housing lid 16.

[0078] To this end the housing lid 16 can, as depicted on the left side of the actuating axis B in FIG. 1, exhibit in a second region 44 different from the first region 36 a coupling projection 16d, which interacts in positive locking with a coupling projection 28c of the guide shell 28. In the depicted case, for example, the coupling projection 16d exhibits a latching lug 16e projecting radially from the coupling projection 16d which engages with a latching aperture 28d in the coupling projection 28c of the guide shell 28. The coupling projection 28c preferably proceeds in a closed manner, with the exception of the latching apertures 28d, about the actuating axis B and forms as it were a coupling projection sleeve. The depiction in FIG. 1 notwithstanding, the coupling projection 28c can exhibit the latching lug and the coupling projection 16d the latching aperture.

[0079] Especially preferably, the latching lug 16e has an abutment surface 16f, in particular an abutment surface 16f pointing away from the housing lid 16 axially along the actuating axis B, which in the completely assembled state is in abutting engagement with an edge of the latching aperture 28d, thus producing a loading of the guide shell 28 in the direction towards the main housing body 14, and/or in the tapering direction or away from the housing lid 16 respectively, independently from the pre-tensioning means 38.

[0080] The second region 44 is situated at a radial distance from the actuating axis B which differs quantitatively from the radial distance of the first region 36 from the actuating axis B. Therefore the first region 36 and the second region 44 differ from one another.

[0081] Through the described abutting engagement of the abutment surface 16f of the latching lug 16e of the housing lid 16 with a counter-abutment surface at the guide shell 28, in particular at the edge of the latching aperture 28d, the guide shell 28 can be loaded along a second pre-tensioning force path VK2 starting from the second region 44 of the housing lid 16 towards the main housing body 14, in particular towards its conical section 14a. Through this loading, the shell gasket 30 arranged between the guide shell 28 and the main housing body 14 can be quantitatively so loaded that it deploys its optimal sealing effect.

[0082] Additionally or alternatively to the abutting engagement of the latching lug 16e with a counter-abutment surface of the guide shell 28 there can, as depicted in FIG. 1 on the right side of the actuating axis B, a section of the guide shell 28, for example a coupling projection sleeve 28c′ be in simple abutting engagement with a second region 44′ of the housing lid 16, for instance by an end face 28e being in abutting engagement with an inner surface of the housing lid 16. Then an alternative or additional second pre-tensioning force path VK2′ can proceed from the second region 44′ via the guide shell 28 and the shell gasket 30 to the main housing body 14.

[0083] Through the provision of first and second pre-tensioning force paths VK1 and VK2 and/or VK2′, the guide shell 28 can be applied with a greater force against the shell gasket 30 and thereby against the main housing body 14 than the force with which the valve body 20 or more precisely the valve body section 20a is pressed against its abutment surface, i.e. in the present case against the abutment component 32. Thereby the force needed to actuate the valve body 20 about the actuating axis B or the torque needed for this purpose, as the case may be, can be adjusted independently of the loading of the guide shell 28 against the main housing body 14. Consequently the valve body 20 can be pre-tensioned with a smaller force against the abutment component 32 and thereby in the direction towards the main housing body 14 than the guide shell 28.

[0084] While considerable emphasis has been placed on the preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated that other embodiments, and equivalences thereof, can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments described above can be combined to form yet other embodiments of the invention of this application. Accordingly, it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.