FLUID PRESSURE OSCILLATOR

Abstract: A fluid pressure oscillator is provided with a cylinder (10) containing a piston assembly (22). Fluid-­ actuated reciprocation of the piston assembly (22) is controlled by a valve (66) mounted externally of the cylinder (10). The valve (66) is alternately shifted between "advance" and "retract" settings by a reciprocating actuating rod (78) removably received in the cylinder (10). A magent (58) on the piston assembly cooperates with magnetic elements (80, 82) on the actuating rod (78) to automatically reciprocate the latter.

Description: This invention relates to a fluid pressure oscillator of the type used to reciprocate various mechanical devices, and is concerned in particular with an improved arrangement for controlling the operation of such an oscillator. A typical fluid pressure oscillator is disclosed in US-A-2 987 051. Here, the reciprocating movement of a piston assembly is controlled by a relatively complicated valve assembly located inside the cylinder. In order to gain access to the valve assembly when performing repair and/or routine maintenance, the actuator must be almost entirely dismantled and thereafter reassembled. Such procedures are extremely time consuming, and difficult to perform satisfactorily while the oscillator remains mounted in its "on line" operative position on production machinery. Consequently, when repairs or maintenance are required, such an oscillator is normally entirely replaced by a spare oscillator that is either new or that has been subjected to "off line" repairs and/or reconditioning. Oscillators are relatively expensive components, and therefore the need to maintain an inventory of spares significantly increases overall production costs. DE-A-1907678 describes a fluid pressure oscillator as described in the first part of claim 1 which uses magnets in separate external pilot valves and complicated mechanisms to actuate a control valve and regulate the flow of fluid to the cylinder chambers. The aim of the invention is to provide a fluid pressure oscillator having a valve arrangement which is readily accessible and replaceable when the need arises, without having to replace the entire oscillator; and which valve arrangement is simpler in design and more reliable in operation than those employed heretofore in prior art arrangements. As is known from DE-A-1907678, the present invention provides a fluid pressure oscillator comprising a cylinder; a piston assembly including a piston contained within and sub-dividing the interior of the cylinder into first and second chambers, with a piston rod protruding from the piston through one end of the cylinder; a control valve mounted externally of the cylinder and adapted for connection to fluid pressure and return lines, the control valve being connected by conduit means, to first and second cylinder chambers, and an actuator responsive to magnetic force dependent on the relative location of the piston assembly for adjusting the control valve between an advance setting, in which the fluid pressure and return lines are connected respectively to the said first and second chambers and a retract setting, in which the fluid pressure and return lines are connected respectively to the second and first chambers thereby controlling the flow of pressure fluid to and from the chambers in a manner causing the piston assembly to reciprocate relative to the cylinder. In accordance with the invention the actuator is a single rod carrying mutually-spaced magnetic elements and a magnet carried by the piston assembly creates magnetic force on the magnetic elements to shift the actuating rod in opposite directions to adjust the control valve between the advance and retract settings. Advantageously, the control valve is detachably secured to the opposite end of the cylinder, and the actuating rod protrudes through the opposite end of the cylinder and is removably received within the cylinder. In a preferred embodiment a passageway extends axially through the piston, the magnet and the piston rod, and wherein the actuating rod is axially received in the passageway. Conveniently, the control valve and the actuating rod are removable as a unit from the cylinder in a manner permitting the piston assembly to remain undisturbed. A fluid pressure oscillator constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the fluid pressure oscillator; Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, on a greatly enlarged scale, taken through the fluid pressure oscillator shown in Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 are additionally enlarged sectional views taken respectively along lines 3-3 and 4-4 of Figure 2; and Figures 5A and 5B are schematic illustrations showing the valve assembly of the oscillator adjusted respectively to its "advance" and "retract" settings. Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 to 4 show a fluid pressure oscillator having a cylinder 10 whose opposite ends are closed by end caps 12 and 14. The end caps 12 and 14 are held together by tie bolts 16 extending externally of the cylinder 10, and the cylinder is pivotably supported, at 18, on a pair of brackets 20, only one of which is shown in Figure 1. A piston assembly 22 is mounted in the cylinder 10. The piston assembly 22 includes an annular piston 24, which subdivides the cylinder 10 into chambers 26a and 26b. A tubular piston rod 28 protrudes axially from the piston 24, and passes through an opening in the end cap 14. Sealing rings 30 encircle the piston rod 28, the sealing rings being held in place against an interior circular shoulder 32 by means of a bushing 34 threaded into the end cap 14. The bushing 34 contains a sleeve bearing 36 and an additional ring seal 38. The protruding end of the piston rod 28 is closed by an externally-threaded end plug 40. At its opposite end, the piston rod 28 has a shoulder 42 leading to a reduced diameter portion 44 which is threaded externally at its outermost end. A collar 46 is received on the reduced diameter portion 44 against the shoulder 42. One side of the collar 46 has an integral circular nose 48 protruding axially therefrom, and the opposite side of the collar locates a circular piston seal 50. The piston 24 is mounted between the seal 50 and a second, mirror-image seal 52. A sleeve 54, having an enlarged diameter annular head portion 54', is threaded onto the piston rod 28 to hold the collar 46, the piston 24 and the seals 50 and 52 in place. The head portion 54' defines a circular cavity 56 containing an annular permanent magnet 58. The magnet 58 is held in the cavity 56 by a retainer plate 60 secured to the head portion 54' by any convenient means such as machine screws 62. The piston 24 is externally grooved to contain a slide bearing 64 in contact with the interior surface of the cylinder 10. A control valve 66 is removably mounted on the end cap 12. The control valve 66 is adapted for connection to a fluid pressure feed line 68 leading from a pump or other like source of pressurised fluid (not shown), and to a return or drain line 70. The control valve 66 is additionally connected by conduits 72 and 74 leading respectively to the cylinder chambers 26a and 26b. The control valve 66 is of the conventional 4-way type, having an internal spool 76 adapted to be shuttled to-and-fro between an "advance" setting (as shown in Figure 5A) and a "retract" setting (as shown in Figure 5B). When in the advance setting, the spool passages respectively connect the pressure and return lines 68 and 70 to the cylinder chambers 26a and 26b via the conduits 72 and 74, causing the piston assembly 22 to be advanced to the right. When in the retract setting, the spool 76 achieves the opposite result, that is to say the pressure and return lines 68 and 70 are connected, via the conduits 74 and 72, to the chambers 26b and 26a, causing the piston assembly 22 to be retracted in the opposite direction. The spool 76 is shuttled to-and-fro by a tubular actuating rod 78 which protrudes axially from the valve 66 through the end cap 12 and the magnet 58 and into the piston rod 28. The actuating rod 78 contains axially-spaced magnetic elements 80 and 82 interconnected by an internal rod 84. The actuating rod 78 is slidably guided in relation to the cylinder end cap 12 by a bushing 86, and is slidably guided relative to the piston assembly 22 by means of a second bushing 88 inserted into the end of piston rod 28. With the exception of the magnet 58 and the magnetic elements 80 and 82, the remainder of the metallic components are made from non-magnetic metals such as brass or chrome-plated stainless steel. The various seals and guide bushings are typically non-metallic, for example thermo-plastics material or rubber. The magnetic elements can, for example, be made from 430F stainless steel. The oscillator operates in the following manner:- When the control valve spool 76 is set as shown in Figure 5A, pressurised fluid advances the piston assembly 22 to the right, until such time as the attractive force of the magnet 58 pulls the magnetic element 82 of the actuating rod 78 to the left. This causes the spool 76 to be shunted to the position shown in Figure 5B, with the result that the piston assembly 22 is now retracted to the left. This motion will continue until the attractive force of the magnet 58 acts on the magnetic element 80 to shunt the actuating rod 78 and the spool 76 back to the advance setting shown in Figure 5A. In other words, each time the actuating rod 78 and the spool 76 are shunted in one direction by the attractive force of the magnet 58 acting on one or the other of the elements 80 and 82, the piston assembly 22 is reciprocated in the opposite direction. This reciprocating action will continue as long as pressurised fluid is being fed to the control valve 66. In the light of the foregoing, it will now be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention embodies a number of novel and advantageous features. For example, the control valve 66 is arranged entirely externally of the cylinder 10. When repair or replacement of the control valve 66 is required, one need only disconnect the pressure and return lines 68 and 70 and the connecting conduits 72 and 74. Thereafter, as shown by the phantom lines in Figure 1, the control valve 66 (along with the actuating rod 78) can be pulled from the cylinder 10, without disturbing the piston assembly 22. A fresh control valve then can be reinstalled by a reverse procedure. This can be accomplished quickly, while the oscillator remains installed in an "on line" operative position. The means for controlling the reciprocation of the actuating rod 78, and hence the reciprocation of the piston assembly 22 is relatively simple and trouble free. It basically entails a single permanent magnet 58 riding with the piston assembly 22, and a pair of axially-spaced magnetic elements 80 and 82 on the actuating rod 78. The entire assembly is thus easy to maintain, and relatively inexpensive as compared to prior art arrangments involving internal complicated valve arrangements.

Claims: A fluid pressure oscillator comprising a cylinder (10); a piston assembly (22) including a piston (24) contained within and sub-dividing the interior of the cylinder (10) into first and second chambers (26a, 26b), with a piston rod (28) protruding from the piston (24) through one end of the cylinder (10); a control valve (66) mounted externally of the cylinder (10) and adapted for connection to fluid pressure and return lines (68, 70), the control valve (66) being connected by conduit means ( 72, 74), to first and second cylinder chambers (26a, 26b), and an actuator (78) responsive to magnetic force dependent on the relative location of the piston assembly for adjusting the control valve (66) between an advance setting, in which the fluid pressure and return lines (68, 70) are connected respectively to the said first and second chambers (26a, 26b) and a retract setting, in which the fluid pressure and return lines (68, 70) are connected respectively to the second and first chambers (26b, 26a) thereby controlling the flow of pressure fluid to and from the chambers (26a, 26b) in a manner causing the piston assembly (22) to reciprocate relative to the cylinder (10); characterized in that the actuator is a single rod carrying mutually-spaced magnetic elements (80, 82) and a magnet (58) carried by the piston assembly (22), creates magnetic force on the magnetic elements (80, 82) to shift the actuating rod (78) in opposite directions to adjust the control valve (66) between the advance and retract settings. A fluid pressure oscillator as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the control valve (66) is detachably secured to the opposite end of the cylinder (10), and wherein the actuating rod (78) protrudes through the opposite end of the cylinder (10) and is removably received within the cylinder (10). A fluid pressure oscillator as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the actuating rod (78) extends axially through the magnet (58) into the piston rod (28). A fluid pressure oscillator as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein a passageway extends axially through the piston (24), the magnet (58) and the piston rod (28), and wherein the actuating rod (78) is axially received in the passageway. A fluid pressure oscillator as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the control valve (66) and the actuating rod (78) are removable as a unit from the cylinder (10) in a manner permitting the piston assembly (22) to remain undisturbed.

Inventors: GOODNOW, RONALD F.
Applicants: THERMO ELECTRON-WEB SYSTEMS, INC.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B06B1
IPC codes: F15B11, F15B15, B06B1