U.S. patent application number 11/440630 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-21 for solenoid valve for a coolant circuit.
This patent application is currently assigned to BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate GmbH. Invention is credited to Rolf Kordon.
Application Number | 20060207668 11/440630 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7667354 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060207668 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kordon; Rolf |
September 21, 2006 |
Solenoid valve for a coolant circuit
Abstract
A solenoid valve for a coolant circuit including a valve body
having at least one inlet and at least one outlet for the coolant.
A valve member is displaceable in the interior of the valve body
between two switching positions for the solenoid valve. At least
one outlet is formed by a capillary tube.
Inventors: |
Kordon; Rolf; (Giengen,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JOHN T. WINBURN
100 BOSCH BOULEVARD
NEW BERN
NC
28562
US
|
Assignee: |
BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate
GmbH
Munich
DE
|
Family ID: |
7667354 |
Appl. No.: |
11/440630 |
Filed: |
May 25, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10460441 |
Jun 12, 2003 |
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11440630 |
May 25, 2006 |
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PCT/EP01/14718 |
Dec 13, 2001 |
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10460441 |
Jun 12, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
137/625.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16K 31/082 20130101;
Y10T 137/86895 20150401; F25B 5/00 20130101; F25B 43/003 20130101;
F25B 41/37 20210101; F16K 11/044 20130101; F16K 31/0627 20130101;
F25B 41/31 20210101; F25B 2341/062 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
137/625.5 |
International
Class: |
F16K 11/044 20060101
F16K011/044 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 15, 2000 |
DE |
100 62 665.3 |
Claims
1. A solenoid valve for a coolant circuit, comprising: a valve body
with an inlet and at least one coolant outlet; a valve member in
said valve body displaceable between two positions corresponding to
two switching positions of the solenoid valve; and said coolant
outlet formed by a capillary tube.
2. The solenoid valve according to claim 1, including the
dimensions of said capillary tube are sized such that when coolant
passes through the valve, the pressure drop between a beginning and
an end of said capillary tube is a multiple of the pressure drop
between said valve body inlet and the beginning of said capillary
tube.
3. The solenoid valve according to claim 1, including said valve
body having a pair of coolant outlets, each said outlet formed by a
capillary tube.
4. The solenoid valve according to claim 3, including each said
coolant outlet is arranged at a longitudinal end of said valve body
and said inlet is arranged centrally on said valve body and
including a longitudinal coil for generating a magnetic field in
the longitudinal direction in said valve body.
5. The solenoid valve according to claim 4, including said valve
body is arranged outside said longitudinal coil and said coil
including at least a pair of pole pieces in contact with said valve
body for coupling in a magnetic field parallel to the longitudinal
axis of said valve body.
6. The solenoid valve according to claim 1, including said inlet is
formed by an outlet pipe of a coolant drier joined to said valve
body.
7. The solenoid valve according to claim 1, including an end of
said capillary tube opens into an evaporator.
8. The solenoid valve according to claim 3, including an end of
each said capillary tube opens into a separate evaporator.
9. A solenoid valve for a coolant circuit, comprising: a valve body
with an inlet and at least a pair of coolant outlets, each said
outlet formed by a capillary tube and each arranged at a
longitudinal end of said valve body, with said inlet being arranged
centrally on said valve body, and including a longitudinal coil for
generating a magnetic field in the longitudinal direction in said
valve body, and with said valve body arranged outside said
longitudinal coil; a valve member located in said valve body
displaceable between two positions of the solenoid valve; an outlet
pipe of a coolant drier joining the coolant drier to the valve body
and forming said inlet thereof; and the dimensions of each said
capillary tube being sized such that when coolant passes through
the valve, the pressure drop between a beginning and an end of each
said capillary tubes is a multiple of the pressure drop between
said valve body inlet and the beginning of said capillary tube.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 10/460,441, filed Jun. 12, 2003, which claims priority to
International Application No. PCT/EP01/14718, filed Dec. 13, 2001,
which designated the United States and claims priority to German
patent application No. 100 62 665.3, filed Dec. 15, 2000; the prior
applications are herewith incorporated by reference in their
entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a solenoid valve for a
coolant circuit, with a valve body that has an inlet and at least
one outlet for the coolant, and a valve member that can be
displaced in the interior of the valve body between two positions
that respectively correspond to the different switching positions
of the solenoid valve.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Such a solenoid valve is used to control the coolant flow in
the coolant circuit or, in cases where the solenoid valve is
designed as a directional path valve with several outlets, to
switch a coolant flow to one or the other of at least two
evaporators of the coolant circuit.
[0004] A solenoid valve of the type described above is known from
DE 37 18 94 A1.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The object of the invention is to provide a solenoid valve
of the type specified above that allows simpler, faster and
therefore more economically-priced construction of a coolant
circuit compared with solenoid valves known so far.
[0006] The present invention includes at least one outlet of the
solenoid valve according to the invention is formed by a capillary
tube, the solenoid valve thus can at the same time fulfill the task
of a pressure-relieving element for the coolant which is supplied
at high pressure. This reduces the number of parts which must be
joined together during the manufacture of a coolant circuit and the
number of connection points between them. This results in savings
in production time and costs without the need to accept cutbacks in
the quality of the coolant circuit. On the contrary, the reduced
number of joints reduces the risk of leakages in the coolant
circuit.
[0007] So that the capillary tube forming the outlet of the
solenoid valve can also fulfill the task of a press-relieving
element for the coolant under high pressure, it is desirable that
the pressure drop between the beginning and end of the capillary
tube is a multiple of the pressure drop between the inlet of the
solenoid valve and the beginning of the capillary tube. In other
words, the pressure drop at the valve seat of the solenoid valve is
largely negligible compared with that in the capillary tube.
[0008] The solenoid valve preferably has two outlets which are each
formed by a capillary tube. Such a solenoid valve allows the
selective operation of two connected evaporators, e.g. a cooling
area and a freezing area of a combined refrigerating device.
[0009] Each outlet is more appropriately arranged at a longitudinal
end of a valve body and the inlet is arranged centrally on the
valve body, and a coil is provided for generating a magnetic field
in the longitudinal direction of the valve body. This allows the
valve member to be simply controlled with the aid of a single
magnetic field by means of linear forward and backward
movement.
[0010] In order to supply the magnetic field in the valve body, the
valve body is preferably arranged outside the interior of the coil
and the coil has two pole pieces in contact with the valve body.
With such an arrangement it is also possible to repair or change
the coil after the coolant circuit has been fully installed without
the need to break the coolant circuit for this purpose.
[0011] A further simplification of the structure of the coolant
circuit and reduction in the number of parts is obtained if the
inlet of the solenoid valve is formed by an outlet pipe section of
a coolant drier joined to the valve body, which is usually provided
in the coolant circuit of a refrigerating device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0012] Further features and advantages of the invention are
obtained from the following description of an embodiment with
reference to the drawings, wherein:
[0013] FIGS. 1 and 2 show two views of a valve body of a solenoid
valve according to the invention;
[0014] FIGS. 3 and 4 show two views of a housing of the solenoid
valve according to the invention with the coil installed therein in
the perspective respectively corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 or
2;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a view of the solenoid valve after joining
together in a perspective corresponding to that in FIG. 1 and FIG.
3; and
[0016] FIG. 6 is a top view of the solenoid valve from FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] FIGS. 1 and 2 show the valve body 1 of a solenoid valve 100
according to the invention in two views from mutually perpendicular
directions. The valve body 1 is shown in a partly cutaway view in
FIG. 2 in order to explain its mode of operation better. A chamber
2 in the interior of the valve body 1 is bounded at two ends by
valve seats 3 each having a central hole 102, 104 which forms the
outlet 4 of the valve 100. A tube 106 of the valve body 1 is
tapered towards its two ends 108, 110 and capillary tubes 5 are
tightly soldered into the end openings 112, 114 of the valve body
1. The capillary tubes 5 are provided to be each connected to an
evaporator of the coolant circuit (not illustrated), typically an
evaporator assigned to the cooling area and an evaporator assigned
to the freezing area of a combination refrigerating device (not
illustrated). The length and diameter of the capillary tubes 5 on
the one hand and the through cross-sections in the valve body 1 on
the other hand are matched one to the other so that the pressure
drop at a capillary tube 5 through which coolant flows is at least
twice and preferably a multiple of the pressure drop in the valve
body 1.
[0018] An inlet pipe 6 coming from a drier 9, having a diameter
larger than that of the capillary tube 5, is soldered onto an inlet
7 of the valve body 1, which opens centrally into the chamber
2.
[0019] A valve member 8 in the form of a cylindrical body 116 made
of ferromagnetic material is displaceable in the chamber 2 between
two end positions at the valve seats 3 in which it respectively
closes one of the two outlets 4.
[0020] FIGS. 3 and 4 show views of a housing 12 provided to
accommodate the valve body 1 in respectively the same perspectives
as those in FIGS. 1 and 2. The housing 12 can be manufactured, for
example, by injection moulding from plastic, e.g. from
polypropylene. The housing 12 includes a substantially rectangular
main body 13 which is open at one side, located at the top in FIGS.
3 and 4. A large and a small cover section 14, 15 are joined to the
upper edge of the main body 13 by means of film hinges 118, 120 on
opposite sides.
[0021] Two opposite walls 122, 124 of the main body 13 each have a
U-shaped cut-out 16 which runs in a semicircular fashion in its
lower region. The size of the cut-out 16 is such that the valve
body 1 can be inserted therein with a small amount of play.
[0022] To the right of a line X-X in FIG. 3 the main body 13 is
shown in cutaway view. In its interior 126 can be seen a
substantially cylindrical coil 17 with two contact tabs 18 for the
power supply (not illustrated) to the coil, which engage in a
chamber 19 moulded onto the main body 13 at the bottom. The chamber
19 has a window 20 through which a connector 21 can be inserted and
can make contact with the contact tabs 18.
[0023] Two iron castings 22 shown by dashed lines in FIG. 4 are
riveted onto the core of the coil 17. At their ends away from the
coil core, the iron castings 22 form two pole pieces 23 in the form
of semi-cylindrical grooves which, after attachment of the valve
body 1, abut against the valve body 1.
[0024] The two cover sections 14, 15 are constructed such that
after attachment of the valve body 1, they can be clipped shut and
located, as shown in FIG. 5. The cover sections 14, 15 completely
cover the upper side of the housing 12 except for a circular hole
128 bounded by both cover sections 14, 15, that accommodates the
inlet pipe 6 as shown in FIG. 6. For locking the housing 12 in the
closed state the large cover section 14 is provided with two
locking lances 24 which in the closed state engage in eyes 25 on
the opposite wall of the main body 13. The small cover section 15
is provided with projections (not illustrated) which in the closed
state of the cover are covered by the large cover section 14. Thus,
both cover sections are held closed by locating the large cover
section 14 in the eyes 25.
[0025] Moulded onto the large cover section 14 complementary to the
cut-outs 16 of the main body 13 are semi-circularly cut-out
cross-pieces 28 which together with the cut-outs 16 encompass the
valve body 1 when the cover is closed. By this means and by the
inlet pipe 6 being held in the circular hole 128 formed by the two
cover sections 14, 15, the valve body 1 is completely fixed in the
housing 12.
[0026] At least one of the cover sections 14, 15 has a projection
26 directed into the interior of the housing 12 when the cover is
closed, which holds a permanent magnet 27. In each case the size of
the projection 26 is such that the permanent magnet 27 comes to lie
approximately at the height of the axis of the valve body 1 which
connects the two capillary tubes 5 when the cover is closed. In
this case, one pole of the permanent magnet 27 is facing the valve
body 1; if two magnets are used, like poles of these magnets
respectively face one another on either side of the valve body 1.
The permanent magnet 27 generates a substantially axially oriented
magnetic field in the chamber 2, which holds the valve member 8
respectively in contact with that valve seat 3 in whose vicinity it
is located. If a current surge of suitable polarity is applied to
the coil 17, this generates in the chamber 2 a magnetic field in
the opposite direction to the induced magnetisation of the valve
member 8, which moves the valve member 8 to the opposite valve seat
3. Thus, the valve 100 can be switched by applying pulses of
alternating polarity to the coil 17.
[0027] The valve 100 according to the invention simplifies the
structure of a coolant circuit (not illustrated) since the number
of parts is reduced by directly joining the valve body 1 to the
capillary tubes 5 which are used as a pressure-relieving element
for the coolant. As a result of the valve 100 being joined directly
to the drier 9, these two elements can be installed jointly as a
compact unit. This also helps to simplify the structure of the
coolant circuit (not illustrated).
* * * * *