JP3145033B2 - Four-way switching valve - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a four-way switching valve. More specifically, a four-way switching valve for switching the flow path of the refrigerant in an air conditioner that is also used for cooling and heating,
Particularly, the present invention relates to a compact four-way switching valve having a small number of parts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a four-way switching valve has been used for switching the flow path of a refrigerant in an air conditioner for cooling and heating, or for switching the flow path of gas or liquid piping for other industrial equipment or home appliances. Have been.

As a conventional four-way switching valve, for example, there is one shown in FIG.

In the four-way switching valve shown in FIG. 7, a valve body 42 movable left and right is disposed inside a cylindrical main body 41, and an electromagnetic solenoid 43 is provided at one end of the main body 41 as driving means of the valve body 42. (Or hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder)
This is a four-way valve comprising: In this four-way valve, the hook 43 at the end of the rod 43a meshes with the sawtooth-shaped groove 42a on the upper surface of the valve body 42 by horizontally moving the rod 43a of the electromagnetic solenoid 43 as a driving means in the direction of arrow B by magnetic force. As a result, the flow path can be switched by horizontally moving the valve body 42 in the direction of arrow B. Reference numeral 45 denotes a spring for returning the rod 43a in the direction opposite to the arrow B.

[0005]

However, the four-way valve shown in FIG. 7 has a large number of parts, so the manufacturing cost is high, and the whole apparatus is large, so that a large occupied space is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a four-way switching valve capable of reducing the number of parts, reducing manufacturing costs and the like and achieving downsizing. I do.

[0007]

A four-way switching valve according to the present invention comprises: (a) a cylindrical hermetic container having an upper portion hermetically sealed, and a lower portion having an inlet and an outlet, and a pair of through-holes, respectively; And (b) a pair of through holes formed with a communication groove for connecting the discharge port to one of the pair of through holes, and communicating with the inlet and the other through hole, respectively. A disc-shaped valve body having a hole formed therein and rotatably mounted inside the main body; (c) a cylinder provided at an upper portion of the main body so as to communicate with the inside of the main body; (E) a driving rod disposed therein so as to be capable of reciprocating linear movement but not rotating.
A cylindrical converting member fixed to an upper portion of the valve element for converting a linear driving force received by the driving rod into a rotational driving force of the valve element; and (f) a direction in which a pair of magnetic poles are arranged. And (g) an electromagnet provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder such that a pair of magnetic poles are arranged along the direction in which the cylinder extends. A rotation guide projection is provided on one of an inner peripheral surface of the conversion member and an outer peripheral surface of the driving rod, and the rotation guide projection is guided on the other of the inner peripheral surface of the conversion member and the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod. In which a spiral groove is formed.

A linear guide projection is provided on one of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder and the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod, and the linear guide projection is provided on the other of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder and the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod. Preferably, a straight groove extending in the axial direction of the mating cylinder is formed.

Further, it is preferable that a magnetic body is provided near the upper end of the cylinder.

A shaft is fixed inside the main body, and the valve body is rotatably supported by the shaft by inserting the shaft into a through hole formed in the valve body. It is preferable that the shaft is inserted into an insertion hole formed in the cylinder so as to be reciprocally supported by the shaft.

According to the present invention, when the drive rod containing the permanent magnet is linearly moved in the cylinder in the forward or reverse direction by the electromagnet, the linear drive force received by the electromagnet from the electromagnet is obtained. Is converted into rotational driving force of the valve element by a conversion member fixed to the upper part of the valve element, and as a result, the valve element can be rotated in the forward direction or the reverse direction.

The conversion of the driving force is such that, as the driving rod moves linearly, a rotation guide projection provided on one of the driving rod or the conversion member is inserted into a spiral groove formed on the other of the driving rod or the conversion member. This is achieved by being guided and consequently rotating relative to the drive rod along the spiral groove.

Therefore, the structure of the driving force transmitting portion and the like is greatly simplified, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the entire four-way valve can be made compact.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a four-way switching valve according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view showing one embodiment of a four-way switching valve of the present invention, and FIG.
Exploded perspective view of the four-way switching valve of FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a developed view in which a part of the outer surface of the drive rod of FIG. 1 is developed, FIG. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the four-way switching valve of FIG.

In the four-way switching valve shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cylinder 2 is provided at an upper portion of a main body 1, a valve body 3 is rotatably mounted inside the main body 1, and inside the cylinder 2,
A driving rod 4 containing a rod-shaped permanent magnet 5 is housed therein, and an electromagnet 6 for driving the valve element 3 is provided outside the cylinder 2. Further, a surface of the valve element 3 facing the cylinder 2 is provided on the surface thereof. , The conversion member 7 is fixed. In addition, P in FIG. 1 is a pipe. Also, in FIG.
Is the upper side, and the body 1 is the lower side.

The main body 1 is formed of a cylindrical container having a valve seat integrally provided in a lower portion, and an inlet 1a and an outlet 1b, and a pair of first through holes 1b are provided in a lower portion corresponding to the valve seat.
c, a second through hole 1d is formed. Note that the main body 1 and the valve seat may be separately manufactured and connected with good airtightness. Further, the main body 1 of this embodiment has an upper opening, and the upper opening 1e is sealed by a lid 2a of a cylinder 2 described later. Further, a shaft 8 is provided at a lower portion of the main body 1 inward along the axial direction of the main body 1. The shaft 8 has a function of a rotating shaft of the valve body 3 and a function of supporting the driving rod 4 so as to be able to reciprocate. The main body 1 is made of a material having pressure resistance and corrosion resistance, specifically, SUS304.
Etc. When the main body 1 of FIG. 1 is manufactured, for example, four through holes of the same diameter are formed in the lower part of the cylindrical container on the same circumference around the shaft 8 for every π / 2 (rad). Is produced. In this embodiment, the inlet 1a, the outlet 1b, and the pair of through-holes 1c, 1d have been described by using holes of the same diameter on the same circumference as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is needless to say that the size, arrangement, and the like may be appropriately changed.

The cylinder 2 is a cylindrical body whose upper part is closed and whose lower part is opened.
It communicates with the inside. In addition, a lid 2 for sealing the upper opening 1e of the main body 1 is provided at the lower edge of the cylinder 2.
a is provided integrally. Further, a flange 2b is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the lid 2a by laser welding. Therefore, if the upper opening 1e of the main body 1 is sealed by the lid 2a while fitting the flange 2b to the upper part of the main body 1, the inside of the main body 1 can be completely sealed, and as a result, the refrigerant Fluid leakage can be prevented. In order to improve the sealing performance of the upper part of the main body 1, packing may be provided on the lower surface of the lid 2a and the inner peripheral surface of the flange 2b. Further, the lid 2a may be manufactured separately from the cylinder 2.

In the vicinity of the lower end of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 2, a linear guide projection 9 is provided to be engaged with a linear groove 11 on the drive rod 4 described later.

An annular groove 2c is formed on the outer periphery near the upper end of the cylinder 2, and a C-shaped ring 10 made of a magnetic material such as iron is fitted in the annular groove 2c. Since the C-shaped ring 10 is made of a magnetic material, even if the power of the electromagnet 6 is turned off, the permanent magnet 5 built in the driving rod 4 attempts to attract the C-shaped ring 10, so that the driving rod 4 has its own weight. Does not drop (acts as a mechanical latch, so to speak). In the present embodiment, the C-shaped ring 10 that can be easily attached and detached has been described as an example of the magnetic body for preventing the drive rod 4 from dropping.
An annular ring made of a magnetic material may be fitted around the upper end of the cylinder 2, or a band-shaped or linear member made of a magnetic material may be wound.

The cylinder 2 is made of a material having pressure resistance and corrosion resistance, and the magnetic force of the electromagnet 6 acts on the drive rod 4 inside the cylinder 2 (specifically, the permanent magnet 5 inside the drive rod 4). For example, SU as a material that does not prevent
It is manufactured from S304 and the like.

The valve body 3 is a thick disk made of a material such as nylon 6 or nylon 11 which is easy to slide inside the main body 1 and has good airtightness. Moreover, the valve body 3
The outlet 1b of the main body 1 is provided on the lower surface of the pair of through holes 1.
communication groove 3a for conducting to either one of c and 1d
Is formed, and the inlet 1a and the other through hole 1 are formed.
A pair of through holes 3b, 3c communicating with c, 1d, respectively, are formed. Further, the valve element 3 shown in FIGS.
Has a through hole 3d at the center. This through hole 3
By inserting the shaft 8 inside the main body 1 into d, the valve body 3 is rotatably mounted inside the main body 1 without shaking. In the present embodiment, an example in which the valve element 3 is rotatably supported by the shaft 8 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the inner diameter of the main body 1 and the valve element 3
If the outer diameter of the valve body 3 is substantially the same, the valve body 3 can be rotatably supported by simply inserting the valve body 3 inside the main body 1 without the shaft 8.

The driving rod 4 is a rod-shaped body made of a material such as nylon 6 or nylon 11 as a material which is easy to slide inside the cylinder 2 and has excellent wear resistance and does not hinder the action of the magnetic force by the electromagnet 6. A permanent magnet 5 such as a ferrite magnet is incorporated therein so that the direction in which the pair of magnetic poles are arranged is along the direction in which the cylinder 2 extends. The permanent magnet 5 is embedded in the cylinder 2 by being embedded at the time of forming the drive rod. further,
The drive rod 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has an insertion hole 4a formed at the center. The insertion hole 4 a is formed at least as long as the height of the conversion member 7. By inserting the shaft 8 inside the main body 1 into the insertion hole 4a, the drive rod 4 is supported in the cylinder 2 so as to be able to reciprocate without wobbling. In this embodiment, an example has been described in which the driving rod 4 is supported by the shaft 8 so as to be able to reciprocate. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If the diameters are almost the same, it is only necessary to insert the drive rod 4 inside the cylinder 2 without the shaft 8.

A pair of spiral grooves 12 for guiding a pair of rotation guide projections 13 on the conversion member 7 described later are formed in a lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod 4 (see FIGS. 2 to 3). ). The rotation guide projection 13 has a π in which the spiral groove 12 is formed.
It can rotate relative to the drive rod 4 within a range of an angle of / 2 (rad).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the drive rod 4 has a linear groove 11 extending in the axial direction of the cylinder 2 on the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod 4. The linear guide projection 9 on the cylinder 2 side is engaged with the linear groove 11. Thereby, the drive rod 4 can reciprocate linearly inside the cylinder 2 but cannot rotate. Although not particularly limited in the present invention, in this embodiment, the linear groove 11 extends from the lower end of the drive rod 4 and ends near the middle of the drive rod 4, so that the drive rod 4
Can be partially pulled out of the cylinder 2, but is locked by the linear guide projection 9 at the upper end portion of the linear groove 11 even when trying to completely pull it out. Therefore, the engagement of the linear guide projection 9 and the linear groove 11 prevents the drive rod 4 from being pulled out of the cylinder 2. In this embodiment,
A linear guide projection 9 is protruded from the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 2,
In addition, the example in which the linear groove 11 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod 4 has been described. On the contrary, the linear groove 11 (or a slit penetrating the peripheral surface of the cylinder 2) is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 2. Even when the linear guide projection 9 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod 4, the same operation as described above can be achieved. Also,
In this embodiment, the combination of the linear guide projection and the linear groove
Although the drive rod 4 is reciprocally linearly movable and non-rotatable, the present invention is not limited to this, and various other embodiments may be employed. For example, the shape of the upper portion of each of the cylinder 2 and the drive rod 4 may be rectangular in cross section or flat.

The conversion member 7 is a cylindrical member for converting a linear driving force received by the driving rod 4 from the electromagnet 6 into a rotational driving force of the valve body 3. It is fixed, and is produced, for example, by integrally molding with the valve body 3. If the valve body 3 and the conversion member 7 are integrally formed, the number of parts is reduced, and the structure of the driving force transmitting portion is simplified. In the vicinity of the upper end of the inner peripheral surface of the conversion member 7, a pair of rotation guide projections 13 which are guided by the spiral groove 12 on the drive rod 4 side are provided in a protruding manner.

The electromagnet 6 is provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder 2 so that the direction in which the pair of magnetic poles are arranged is along the direction in which the cylinder 2 extends. The electromagnet 6 is fixed by inserting the central through hole 6a into the outer periphery of the cylinder 2 and then fitting the C-shaped ring 10 into the annular groove 2c of the cylinder 2.

In the four-way switching valve configured as described above, the drive rod 4 having the built-in permanent magnet 5 is linearly moved in the cylinder 2 by the electromagnet 6 in the forward or reverse direction. The linear driving force that the rod 4 receives from the electromagnet 6 is converted into the rotational driving force of the valve element 3 by the conversion member 7 fixed on the upper part of the valve element 3, and as a result, the valve element 3
Can be rotated in the forward or reverse direction. The moving direction of the cylinder 2 can be easily switched by changing the direction of the current flowing through the electromagnet 6.

This conversion of the driving force is performed by
This is performed as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the conversion member 7 is cut away, but the rotation guide projection 13 is assumed to be fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the conversion member 7.

First, as the drive rod 4 moves linearly in the direction of arrow A, the rotation guide projection 13 protruding from the inner peripheral surface of the conversion member 7 becomes a spiral groove 12 formed in the drive rod 4.
As a result, it rotates relative to the drive rod 4 in the direction of arrow D along the spiral groove 12.
As a result, the conversion member 7 and the valve element 3 rotate in the direction of the arrow D together with the rotation guide projection 13. When the drive rod 4 moves in the direction opposite to the arrow A, the rotation guide projection 13, the conversion member 7, and the valve element 3 rotate in the direction opposite to the arrow D.

In this embodiment, an example is described in which the rotation guide projection 13 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the conversion member 7 and the spiral groove 12 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod 4. ,
Conversely, even if the spiral groove 12 (or a slit penetrating the peripheral surface of the converting member 7) is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the converting member 7 and the rotation guide projection 13 is projected on the outer peripheral surface of the driving rod 4, A similar effect can be achieved.

When the four-way switching valve of this embodiment is actually used as a means for switching the flow path of an air conditioner, there is an air conditioning system shown in FIGS.

For example, in the case of the cooling mode, as shown in FIG. 5, the refrigerant such as Freon pumped by the compressor COMP is supplied to the four-way switching valve 14 of the present embodiment through the inlet 1a of the main body 1 and the valve. The capacitor COND is introduced into the main body 1 (see FIG. 1) through the through hole 3c of the body 3 and passes through the inside of the main body 1 through the through hole 3b of the valve body 3 and the second through hole 1d of the main body 1. To be condensed. Next, the condensed refrigerant is sent to an evaporator EVA on the indoor side to be expanded, and the interior of the room is cooled by an endothermic effect at that time. After that, the refrigerant after heat absorption is sent inside the four-way switching valve 14 in the order of the first through hole 1c of the main body 1, the communication groove 3a of the valve body 3, and the discharge port 1b of the main body 1, and returns to the compressor COMP again. Thereafter, the above-described circulation path is followed, and cooling is continued.

FIG. 6 shows the state in the heating mode. In the heating mode, the indoor evaporator EVA condenses the refrigerant, and the outdoor condenser COND expands the refrigerant. First, the refrigerant pumped by the compressor COMP is introduced at the four-way switching valve 14 from the inlet 1a and the through hole 3b, passes through the inside of the main body 1, passes through the first through hole 1c and the through hole 3c, Evaporator EVA on the indoor side
To be condensed and then radiated heat indoors to heat the room. Next, the condensed refrigerant is sent to the condenser COND on the outdoor side and expanded. After that, the expanded refrigerant flows inside the four-way switching valve 14,
The second through hole 1d, the communication groove 3a, and the discharge port 1b return to the compressor COMP again, and follow the above-described circulation path.

The switching of the flow path can be easily performed by rotating the valve body 3 in a predetermined direction as in the above-described embodiment, so that the switching operation between cooling and heating can be performed smoothly. .

[0035]

According to the present invention, since the permanent magnet is built in the drive rod, the number of parts is small, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and the size can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory sectional view showing one embodiment of a four-way switching valve of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the four-way switching valve of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a developed view in which a part of an outer surface of the drive rod of FIG. 1 is developed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cutaway perspective view of an essential part for explaining operations of a drive rod and a valve element.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of a cooling mode in the operation of the four-way switching valve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of a heating mode in the operation of the four-way switching valve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional four-way switching valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 1a Inlet 1b Outlet 1c 1st through-hole 1d 2nd through-hole 2 Cylinder 3 Valve 3a Communication groove 3b Through-hole 3c Through-hole 4 Drive rod 5 Permanent magnet 6 Electromagnet 7 Conversion member 12 Spiral groove 13 Rotation guide projection 14 Four-way switching valve

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16K 31/04-31/06 F16K 11/07-11/087

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main body comprising a cylindrical closed container having an upper part hermetically sealed and having an inlet and an outlet at a lower part, and a pair of through-holes, respectively. A communication groove for conducting to one of the pair of through-holes is formed, and a pair of through-holes communicating with the introduction port and the other through-hole are formed, and are rotatable inside the main body. A disc-shaped valve attached to the
(C) a cylinder provided at an upper portion of the main body so as to communicate with the inside of the main body, and (d) a driving rod arranged inside the cylinder so as to be capable of reciprocating linear movement but not rotating. e) a cylindrical converting member fixed to the upper part of the valve element for converting a linear driving force received by the driving rod into a rotational driving force of the valve element; and (f) a pair of magnetic poles. (G) a pair of magnetic poles are provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder such that the pair of magnetic poles are arranged along the direction in which the cylinder extends; An electromagnet, wherein a rotation guide projection is provided on one of an inner peripheral surface of the conversion member and an outer peripheral surface of the driving rod, and the rotation guide projection is provided on the other of the inner peripheral surface of the conversion member and the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod. Spiral groove is formed for guiding A four-way switching valve characterized by being made. 2. A linear guide projection is provided on one of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder and the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod, and the linear guide projection is formed on the other of the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder and the outer peripheral surface of the drive rod. 2. The four-way switching valve according to claim 1, wherein a straight groove extending in the axial direction of the mating cylinder is formed. 3. The four-way switching valve according to claim 1, wherein a magnetic body is provided near an upper end of the cylinder. 4. A shaft is fixed inside the main body, the valve body is rotatably supported by the shaft by inserting the shaft into a through hole formed in the valve body, and the cylinder is supported by the cylinder. 2. The four-way switching valve according to claim 1, wherein said shaft is inserted into an insertion hole formed in said cylinder so as to be reciprocally movable by said shaft.