DEVICE FOR SEALING A VALVE

Abstract

A device for sealing a valve for controlling a coolant of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle is described, which valve is mounted in a cooling system together with a valve housing, wherein the valve housing contains, at the inlet and/or the outlet side, a sealing ring which has an annular wall and a spaced annular lip extending away from the annular wall from a contact point.

Claims

1. A device for sealing a valve for controlling a coolant of an internal combustion engine, which valve is mounted in a cooling system together with a valve housing, wherein the valve housing contains, at an inlet side and/or an outlet side, a sealing ring which has an annular wall and a spaced annular lip extending away from the annular wall from a contact point.

2. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the annular lip extends away from the annular wall at an acute angle.

3. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the annular lip and the annular wall form a V-shaped or U-shaped structure in cross section.

4. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing ring has regions with different internal radii, whereby the sealing ring forms a shoulder.

5. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 4, wherein the sealing ring is elastically deformable as a result of pressure differences at the shoulder and on the annular lip.

6. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the annular lip can be moved away from the annular wall through being subjected to pressure in the direction of the contact point with the annular wall.

7. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing ring is installed together with a spring.

8. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing ring has an internal spring.

9. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 8, wherein the combination of sealing ring and the spring increases the contact pressure of the sealing ring.

10. The device for sealing a valve as claimed in claim 8, wherein the combination of sealing ring and the spring reduces the contact pressure of the sealing ring.

11. The device for sealing a valve, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a contact face of the sealing ring is linear.

12. The device for sealing a valve, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a contact face of the sealing ring is adapted a cylindrical or spherical shape.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0021] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0022] FIGS. 1 to 3 show embodiments of a pressure-assisted sealing system.

[0023] FIGS. 4 and 5 show embodiments of contact-pressure reducing sealing systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] FIG. 1a shows a section through a portion of a cooling system. The cooling system 10 is shown here only in outline. The cooling system 10 must be sealed with respect to a valve housing 1. A sealing ring 3 is arranged between the cooling system 10 and the valve housing 1. The sealing ring 3 has a contact face 11 resting against the valve housing 1. On the side facing away from the valve housing 1 the sealing ring is configured with an annular wall 4 and with an annular lip 5 extending inwardly therefrom at an acute angle towards the cylinder axis Z. Starting from a contact point 6, the annular lip 5 offers a V-shaped groove with the annular wall 4.

[0026] In the exemplary embodiment, the radius of the sealing ring 3 in the region of the contact face 11 is smaller than the radius of the annular wall 4. The sealing ring 3 is in direct contact with a spring ring 7, which is arranged in a recess of the cooling system 10. The sealing ring 3 is preloaded with an axial force by means of the spring ring. In this exemplary arrangement the through-flow follows the arrow F. On the high-pressure side P.sub.H a channel 12 opens along the outside of the sealing ring 3, the high-pressure side of the system applying the pressure P.sub.H to the sealing ring as far as the V-shaped divergence of the sealing lip 5. This causes the annular lip to diverge further and to rest snugly against the contact face of the cooling system. In this context the region with a higher pressure in relation to the low-pressure side P.sub.L is referred to as the high-pressure side, which is intended merely to emphasize the pressure difference.

[0027] The radially diverging annular lip 5 is arranged such that, as a result of the differential pressure between P.sub.H and R.sub.L, the annular lip is pressed more strongly against the adjacent face of the cooling system, and the whole sealing ring 3 is pressed more strongly against the valve housing 1 on account of the projected area.

[0028] As a result of the different internal radii, the sealing ring 3 forms a shoulder with an outer shoulder 14 and an inner shoulder 15. As shown in the drawing, the higher pressure P.sub.H is applied to the outer shoulder 14. This pressure component acts on the shoulder 14, pressing the inner shoulder 15 upward in the drawing toward the cooling system 10. With a suitable pressure, therefore, the inner shoulder 15 also bears against the cooling system and forms a seal in conjunction with the annular lip 5. This construction permits controlled management of the sealing function by means of the pressure difference between P.sub.H and P.sub.L. The pressure difference acting on two different locations of the seal influences the sealing system and can be managed very effectively.

[0029] In this exemplary embodiment the contact face has a cylindrical configuration. As a result of the assistance by the pressure differential, the spring 7 can be designed with lower spring force. FIG. 1b shows a view of the sealing ring according to the invention.

[0030] The embodiment of FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b show an alternative form. The sealing ring 3 is again located between a high-pressure region P.sub.H and a low-pressure region P.sub.L. The sealing ring is preloaded by means of the spring 7. The sealing ring again has an annular wall 4 from which an annular lip 5, starting from the contact point 6, diverges. In this exemplary embodiment the sealing ring has the same radius in the region of the contact face 11 and in the region of the annular wall 4. However, the annular lip does not diverge toward the inside but toward the outside.

[0031] As a result of the pressure difference, the annular lip 5 is pressed against the adjacent sealing face 13 and the whole sealing ring is pressed more strongly against the contact face 11. In this case, too, the pressure difference assists the sealing function of the sealing ring.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment. Here, the sealing ring also has a constant internal radius over its full extent. The annular wall 4 again has an annular lip 5, which in this example diverges from the wall via a U-shaped recess. In this embodiment the annular lip diverges in the axial direction and not in the radial direction.

[0033] In addition, the annular lip is preloaded axially by means of an internal spring 8. As a result of the axial preload, the annular lip 5 seals with respect to the cooling system 10, only indicated here, against the sealing face 13. The increased pressure P.sub.H is applied in the U-shaped gap between annular lip and annular wall, pressing the annular lip against the sealing face 13. The pressure assists the force generated by the internal spring 8 with respect to the cooling system 10, but also against the contact face 11 on the valve housing 1.

[0034] In this exemplary embodiment the contact face has a crowned configuration.

[0035] The arrangement according to FIG. 4a and FIG. 4b shows a sealing ring 3 which, pressed by a spring 7, is seated on a valve body 1 with a contact face 11. The sealing ring has a constant internal radius over its full extent. The annular lip 5 spaced from the annular transformation extends outward against the cooling system 10. The high pressure P.sub.H exerts increased pressure on the sealing ring in the region of the V-shaped divergence. This pressure acts against the spring force of the spring 7. As a result of the pressure on the high-pressure side, a portion of the spring force is compensated and the sealing ring 3 is pressed less strongly against the valve housing 1. Through appropriate design of the force of the spring body, therefore, an overpressure from the high-pressure side can be counteracted in the cooling system, since the sealing system dissipates the pressure via leakage as a result of the reduced contact pressure.

[0036] FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment in which the pressure difference is also used to regulate a specified leakage. The elevated pressure on the pressure side acts on the annular lip 5 so that the pressure works against the spring force of the internal spring 8. Here, too, the dimensioning of the spring and of the pressure system can allow a specified leakage to be achieved, whereby overpressure in the system is mitigated.

[0037] The embodiments illustrated are examples which can be supplemented with well-known modifications by the person skilled in the art. The variants encompass all possible forms of the contact faces, as well as the design of the sealing ring.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0038] 1 Valve housing [0039] 3 Sealing ring [0040] 4 Annular wall [0041] 5 Annular lip [0042] 6 Contact point [0043] 7 Spring [0044] 8 Internal spring [0045] 10 Cooling system [0046] 11 Contact surface [0047] 12 Channel [0048] 13 Sealing face [0049] 14 Outer shoulder [0050] 15 Inner shoulder