SOLENOID VALVE ASSEMBLIES

Abstract: A solenoid valve assembly (10) includes a valve body (11) and an outwardly extending core tube assembly (12) com­ prising a core tube, a fixed pole piece (31) and a slidable plunger (32) for actuating a valve (24, 25) in the valve body (11). An electromagnetic coil assembly (14) comprising a flux frame (50) and a cylindrical coil (51) is slidably and removably supported on the core tube, and is secured in place by a con­ tractible ring (15) with a shoulder (82, 84) engaged in a groove (40) in the outer end of the core tube (12). The ring (15) is an injection moulded plastics part and is split, having a tongue and socket interconnection (75, 76) with a plurality of ratchet teeth (90, 91) thereon to provide adjustable constriction of the ring (15). A pair of integral spring fingers (78, 79) are provided on opposite sides of the ring (15) axially to bias the coil assembly (14) against the valve body (11).

Description: This invention relates to solenoid valve assemblies and to means for securing an electromagnetic coil assembly on a core tube of a solenoid valve. Solenoid valve assemblies usually comprise a valve body having a fluid valve therein and an electromagnetic device for actuating the valve in response to an electric current. The electromagnetic device typically comprises a core tube assembly, including a fixed pole piece and a slidable plunger retained in a core tube, and an electromagnetic coil assembly surrounding the core tube to create magnetic flux and movement of the plunger. It is desirable to be able to mount different coil assemblies on the core tube both for replacement purposes, and for selection purposes due to different power requirements for certain valves and applications, and because of the different power sources in existence. It is also desirable, on a production line basis, to be able rapidly and accurately to assemble or interchange coil assemblies on various valve structures, both of which may be slightly different in size due to manufacturing tolerances and the like. It has become common to construct the electromagnetic coil assembly as a unit which can be removed for entire replacement or for replacement of component parts thereof and to facilitate high speed production assembly thereof. Typically, a clip or similar clamping device is employed which engages a groove formed in an outer part of a core tube or the fixed pole piece to secure the coil assembly on the core tube. A spring clip may be used to retain the clip in position and also to create a bias urging the coil assembly against the valve body. This form of assembly provides a device for resiliently mounting the coil assembly and for accommodating the stack up of tolerances of the various component parts. One such prior art example of spring clip for a solenoid valve is described in US patent specification US-A-3 295 079 wherein a dome shaped clip having a central U-shaped yoke is retained in a groove at the outer end of a fixed pole piece, with the periphery of the clip in engagement with the upper surface of the solenoid coil assembly. No circumferential adjustment of the spring clip is possible with this device. Another prior art example is disclosed in US patent specification US-A-3 281 740 wherein a plastics cap is snapped over an integral split collar to secure the collar in a groove of the core tube. This type of clamp relies on the resilient nature of the plastics material yieldably to accommodate dimensional variations of the core tube and housing, but is limited in this regard and typically requires separate spring washers and the like to achieve this function. Moreover, this type of device is essentially a two-part device joined by a connector strap and is subject to breakage due to the severe bending requirement. Further, it can only be applied at the end of a shaft and requires a difficult to mould undercut in its cap configuration. A similar prior art example is shown in US patent specification US-A-3 727 160 wherein a spring clip is slipped over the end of the core tube and retained by an overlying spring arm. The clip is of horseshoe or closed end configurations but provides no circumferential adjustment feature. Other prior art devices are disclosed in US patent specifications US-A-3 818 398 and US-A-4 055 823, both of which utilize a threaded securing member fastened over the end of a shaft. The former is simply a threaded nut while the latter is a two-part device telescopically threaded to interengage with the housing of a coil assembly and a groove in the core tube. Many versions of plastics clamp having interengaging teeth are known in the prior art. One such variation is described in US patent specification US-A-3 925 851. However, these are designed primarily for encirclement and clamping of an object such as a hose and none is known which is particularly suited for electromagnetic coil assembly applications in which an axial bias force is also required. According to the present invention there is provided a solenoid valve assembly comprising: a valve body; a core tube assembly affixed to the valve body, the core tube assembly having a member thereof projecting outwardly of the valve body and terminating in an outer end with an annular groove in the outer end; and an electromagnetic coil assembly disposed on the core tube assembly to establish a magnetic field in response to an electrical current to actuate the core tube assembly and a valve in the valve body, the coil assembly having a central opening and being slidable over the member of the core tube assembly; characterised by: a contractible ring encircling the member of the core tube assembly and disposed in the groove to retain the coil assembly, the ring being split and having two interengageable ends; latch means on the ends to secure the ends in an interengaged position; and bias means to urge the ring into engagement with the groove and to bias the coil assembly towards the valve body. The core tube assembly may contain a movable plunger to actuate the valve in the valve body and a stationary pole piece secured at the annular recess. The electromagnetic coil assembly may include a flux frame housing and an electromagnetic coil slidably disposed on the core member and retained by the contractible ring at the location of the recess in the core member. The ring may be an injection moulded unitary plastics part which includes a thin flexible section opposite the free ends so that the ends may be separated sufficiently to pass laterally over the cylindrical surface of the core member and then be drawn together to constrict the ring to a smaller diameter at the location of the recess in the core member. The ring may have a tongue and socket interconnect arrangement at the free ends, both the tongue and socket having a plurality of circumferentially spaced and interengageable teeth forming the latch means and to provide an adjustable diameter interconnect mechanism. The teeth are preferably sloped in opposite directions to facilitate relative sliding movement as the tongue enters the socket, but which interengage and latch to prevent withdrawal of the tongue. A release device can be provided to allow manual separation of the teeth to allow removal and reuse of the ring for maintenance or interchange purposes. The bias means may include a pair of integrally moulded spring fingers on opposite sides of the ring which extend beyond the lower transverse surface of the ring for resilient engagement with the adjacent coil assembly structure resiliently to secure it against the valve housing. The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which like parts are referred to by like references, and in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a solenoid valve assembly according to the invention, showing a clamp ring in an engaged position at the upper portion thereof; Figure 2 is a plan view of the clamp ring removed from the solenoid valve assembly of Figure 1 and in an open position; Figure 3 is an end view of the clamp ring of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the clamp ring of Figure 2 taken along the lines 4-4; Figure 5 is a sectional view of that portion of the clamp ring shown in Figure 4, with the clamp ring in assembled relation in contact with adjacent structure; Figure 6 is a plan view of the clamp ring of Figure 2, but with the clamp ring in a closed condition; Figure 7 is an end view of a portion of the clamp ring of Figure 2, taken along the lines 7-7, and showing an interconnecting socket; Figure 8 is an end view of a portion of the clamp ring of Figure 2, taken along the lines 8-8 and showing an interconnecting tongue; Figure 9 is a sectional view of a portion of the clamp ring of Figure 2, taken along the lines 9-9. Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1 a view in section of an embodiment of solenoid valve assembly 10 according to the present invention, and comprising a valve body 11, a core tube assembly 12, an electromagnetic coil assembly 14 and a contractible clamp ring 15. The valve body 11 is one example of a fluid valve suitable for use with this invention, and comprises an inlet port 16, outlet ports 18 and 19, respective valve seats 20 and 21 and interconnecting passageways. The valve seat 20 is closed by a valve member 24, and the valve seat 21 is closed by a valve member 25 in an alternative manner as depicted in Figure 1 to provide alternative fluid communication between the inlet port 16 and outlet ports 18 and 19. Fitted into an opening in the upper portion of the valve body 11 is the core tube assembly 12 which provides actuation of the valve members 24 and 25 in response to applied magnetic flux acting against valve return spring forces. The core tube assembly 12 comprises a core tube 30, a fixed cylindrical pole piece 31 and a slidable cylindrical plunger 32. In this embodiment, the core tube 30 is a sealed enclosure of tubular configuration, extending outwardly of the valve body 11 to a free end 34. The core tube 30 has a bell mouth 35 and a flange 36 at its inner end, and is retained in an opening in the valve body 11 by a threaded bonnet 38 which forces the flange 36 against an O-ring seal 39. The core tube 30 includes an annular groove 40 at the free end 34 which serves in part to retain the pole piece 31 which includes a corresponding groove therein. The groove 40 is formed by rolling or the like of the periphery of the core tube 30, and thus, will include an upper shoulder 41 forming a ledge axially to retain the clamp ring 15, which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. The lower face of the pole piece 31 includes a shading ring 42 as is well understood in the art. The core tube assembly 12 is completed by the slidable cylindrical plunger 32 which carries the elastomeric valve member 24 in an aperture in the lower face thereof to co-operate with the valve seat 20. The plunger 32 is biased downwardly by a valve spring 45 to a normal lower position with the valve member 24 in engagement with the valve seat 20 establishing a space between the plunger 32 and the pole piece 31. In a similar manner the lower valve member 25 is moved away from the lower valve seat 21 against the bias of a lower return spring 46, being pushed by a valve holder 48 whose legs remain in contact with the lower face of the plunger 32. The valve spring 45 is stronger than the return spring 46 to retain the valve elements in the positions depicted in Figure 1, in the absence of a magnetic flux. Upon creation of such magnetic flux, the plunger 32 will be moved upwardly to close the space between it and the pole piece 31, opening the valve seat 20 and allowing the closing of the valve seat 21. The electromagnetic coil assembly 14 for creating magnetic flux comprises a flux frame 50 and an electromagnetic coil 51 of known generally cylindrical configuration having a central aperture for close sliding engagement over the core tube 30. The coil 51 is energized by electrical current applied through lead wires 52 to develop magnetic flux in the core tube assembly 12. The flux frame 50 also is of known form comprising a fabricated box-like, rigid housing of magnetically permeable material having substantially planar and parallel upper and lower affixed plates 54 and 55 respectively with apertures in each, for slidable placement as a unit over and in close proximity to the core tube 30. The flux frame 50 thus forms an enclosure for the coil 51 and a return path for magnetic flux when the coil 51 is energized. A wave washer 56 is typically positioned between the coil 51 and the upper plate of the flux frame 50 to retain the two as a unit when removed from the assembly 10, and resiliently to urge the coil 51 in a downward direction. A sheet metal cover 58 and a name plate 59, both having an aperture therein through which the core tube 30 protrudes are disposed over one another to complete the enclosure of the coil 51 and to serve as a firm support surface for the clamp ring 15. The clamp ring 15 is best seen in Figures 2 to 9 as comprising an injection moulded unitary plastics part which combines the functions of releasably securing the coil assembly 14 in position and biasing it towards the threaded bonnet 38 of the valve body 11 in a manner which will accommodate circumferential and axial dimensional variations of the core tube 12 and the coil assemby 14. The clamp ring 15 comprises a split, generally ring-shaped, contractible body member 60 having substantially parallel, flat upper and lower surfaces 61 and 62 respectively, and is in the shape of a pair of clamp arms 65 and 66 with adjacent free ends 68 and 69 at the split location. The clamp arms 65 and 66 are joined by a thin flexible section 70 so that the arms 65 and 66 may be pivoted relative to one another to bring the free ends 68 and 69 into closer or further adjacency or to an abutting position as is depicted in Figure 6, where the clamp ring 15 is shown in the fully closed condition. The clamp ring 15 is preferably injection moulded of polysulphone thermoplastic material which is a hard rigid polymer having very stable characteristics, but could be formed of other materials as well and by other maufacturing techniques. In one size of the embodiment the thickness of the clamp ring 15 between the surfaces 61 and 62 is about 5 mm (0.2 inch) with an overall width in the closed condition of about 25 mm (1 inch). The width of the flexible section 70 is about 1.25 mm (0.05 inch) and this provides sufficient flexibility so that the clamp arms 65 and 66 may be opened sufficiently to clear the diameter of the core tube 30 as well as being closed to a condition in which the free ends 68 and 69 are in abutment. The clamp ring 15 is moulded in the condition depicted in Figure 2 so that if the clamp arms 65 and 66 are moved to any other position, there will be a restoring force tending to return the clamp arms 65 and 66 to the position shown. This force is provided by the flexure of the flexible section 70 and, as will be described, is utilized in retaining the clamp ring 15 in its clamped condition. The clamp ring 15 further comprises an adjustable securing means comprising an interconnecting device formed by a tongue 75 and a socket 76 at the free ends 68 and 69, and an axial bias means comprising a pair of spring fingers 78 and 79 in the centre portion of the clamp arms 65 and 66. The clamp ring 15 further comprises a central opening 80 which in the closed condition depicted in Figure 6 is substantially circular and of a size substantially the same as the outside diameter of the core tube 30. A pair of arcuate ledges 82 and 84, of lesser thickness than the clamp ring 15, extend inwardly of the opening 80 for a substantial part of the circumference of the opening 80, and are radially sized to be snugly received in the groove 40 of the core tube 30. As best seen in Figures 1 and 9, the ledges 82 and 84 are curved at their upper surfaces 85 to conform to the curved shoulder 41 of the groove 40, however this is not a necessity, and a more squared configuration would serve as well. In this embodiment central opening 80, in the closed condition, would be about 13 mm (0.5 inch). The adjustable securing means for the clamp ring 15 is best seen in Figures 2, 7 and 8, and comprises the slightly curved tongue 75 projecting from the end face of the free end 69 towards and slightly spaced from the free end 68. As seen in Figure 8, the tongue 75 is generally of rectangular cross-section configuration and includes a small upstanding, similarly curved ridge 88 at its inner margin. The tongue 75 is formed generally on a curve having its centre of curvature at the centre of the flexible section 70. The securing means further comprises the corresponding curved socket 76 in the free end 68 of the clamp arm 65, also of rectangular cross-sectional configuration and having an upper groove 89 at the inner margin, so that the socket 76 and the groove 89 slidably receive the tongue 75 and the ridge 88 as the clamp arms 65 and 66 are closed. Both the tongue 75 and the socket 76 include a plurality of axially extending, circumferentially spaced teeth 90 and 91 respectively, at their outer margins which interengage and latch when the tongue 75 is inserted in the socket 76, to prevent withdrawal of the tongue 75. The teeth 90 and 91 extend parallel to one another the full thickness of the tongue 75 and the socket 76, respectively, and are sloped to allow the teeth 90 and 91 to slide over one another as the tongue 75 is inserted in the socket 76, but to intermesh with the substantially radial surfaces of the teeth 90 and 91 in engagement, preventing withdrawal of the tongue 75. As previously noted, the tongue 75 is urged outwardly of the socket 76 by the bias of the flexible section 70 so that the teeth 90 and 91 are retained in firm interengagement. As best seen in Figure 2, the teeth 90 on the tongue 75 have radial faces and are sloped towards the free end 69, while the teeth 91 in the socket 76 also have radial faces, but are sloped in the opposite direction towards the inner end of the socket 76. The teeth 90 and 91 are evenly distributed circumferentially of the tongue 75 and the socket 76, and it will be apparent that the tongue 75 may be inserted to any one of many discrete positions with various numbers of the teeth 90 and 91 in interengagement. This provides a device for adjustment of the spacing of the clamp arms 65 and 66, and thus, the size of the central opening 80 to accommodate tolerance variations in the diameter of the core tube 30 and the depth of the retaining groove 40. The tongue 75 and the socket 76 are closely sized for a snug fit throughout their extent so that when the tongue 75 is inserted, the teeth 90 and 91 will be in substantially full intermeshing engagement and will be so retained to resist pull out of the tongue 75. Upon insertion of the tongue 75, the sloping faces of the teeth 90 and 91 will interengage and tend to cam (outwardly) an outer wall 94 of the free end 68 which has the teeth 91 formed therein until the teeth 90 are able to slide thereover to a closed condition. The outer wall 94 is otherwise securely fixed to the inner portion of the free end 68 by a lower ledge 95 which spans the opening of the socket 76 and which is received in a corresponding recess (not shown) beneath the tongue 75 in the free end 69, when the clamp ring 15 is in the closed condition. Such structure is particularly suited for injection moulding techniques, whereby moulds may be relatively axially moved and undercut configurations are avoided. Flexture of the outer wall 94 also provides a device for disengagement of the teeth 90 and 91 upon desired separation of the clamp arms 65 and 66 and removal of the clamp ring 15. A slot 98 is provided for this purpose, the slot 98 extending through the upper surface 61 of the free end 68 in a curve generally matching the curvature of the socket 76, for a circumferential extent slightly less than that of the socket 76. The slot 98 is central of the socket 76 and adjacent to the teeth 91, and is arranged so that when the blade of a screwdriver or other appropriate flat tool is inserted and twisted the outer wall 94 will be urged outwardly relative to the remainder of the free end 68 until disengagement of the teeth 90 and 91 occurs. At this time, the tongue 75 will be released and the clamp arms 65 and 66 separated, under the urging of the flexible section 70 or by manually applied force. The outer wall 94 is sufficiently thin and the material of the clamp ring 15 sufficiently flexible to accommodate this flexure without permanent distortion, and the outer wall 94 will be returned to its original position upon removal of the tool so that the clamp ring 15 may be reused. During such disengagement, the tongue 75 is prevented from following such outward distortion of the outer wall 94 by the engagement of the ridge 88 in the groove 90, which assures disengagement of the teeth 90 and 91. The spring fingers 78 and 79 are best seen in Figures 2, 4 and 5. The description will be limited primarily to the spring 78, although a similar function is obtained in the spring 79. The spring fingers 78 and 79 are disposed centrally in respective clamp arms 65 and 66, and from the bottom surface 62 of the clamp ring 15 for engagement with the name plate 59 or some other similar part of the structure of the coil assembly 14. The spring finger 78 comprises an integrally moulded finger of extended length having a base portion 100 emanating from the upper surface 61 of the clamp ring 15 and a tip 101 at the free end thereof which projects below the lower surface 62. The spring finger 78 is in the form of a tapered and curved lever and is subject to flexure substantially evenly throughout its length in response to an exially applied bending moment. The spring finger 78 is integrally moulded with the clamp ring 15, being formed in the intersection of a generally rectangular slot 104 in the upper surface 61 and slightly larger corresponding slot 105 in the lower surface 62. The spring finger 78 is of generally rectangular cross-section tapering from the thicker base portion 100 to the thinner tip 101, and with a constant width of about 2 mm (0.08 inch) which is also the width dimension of the upper slot 104. The length of the spring finger 78 from the base portion 100 to the tip 101 is about 7.5 mm (0.30 inch) and the tip 101 is designed to project about 1.25 mm (0.05 inch) below the lower surface 62. As can be seen in Figures 2 and 4, the spring fingers 78 and 79 can be formed integrally with the clamp ring 15 by injection moulding techniques in a preferred embodiment. In the assembled condition as depicted in Figure 5, the tip 101 of the spring finger 78 is in engagement with the adjacent structure of the coil assembly 14, in this instance being the name plate 59 lying on the plate 54 and the flux frame 50. The spring finger 78 is deformed throughout its length to a condition wherein the tip 101 is partially recessed in the lower slot 105, thereby exerting a bias in attempting to return to its relaxed position depicted in Figure 4. This bias urges the clamp ring 15 upwardly against the shoulder 41 of the groove 40 in the core tube 30 through the engagement of the ledges 82 and 84 and urges the adjacent structure 59 forming a part of the coil assembly 14, downwardly against the valve body 11. The spring finger 78 can be deformed to such an extent that the tip 101 is entirely recessed in the slot 105, above the surface 62, exerting even greater bias, and also accommodating greater dimensional variations of the core tube 30, the housing of the coil assembly 14, the valve body 11, and the like. In this embodiment of the invention, the tip 101 of the spring finger 78 is designed to protrude nominally about 0.5 mm (0.02 inch) below the surface 62 of the clamp ring 15 when in the assembled condition in engagement with the name plate 59 as shown in Figure 5. This then provides accommodation for about 0.5 mm (0.02 inch) variation in the upward direction before contact between the name plate 59 and the surface 62 occurs. In the other direction, the name plate 59 may be spaced about 1 mm (0.04 inch) from the surface 62, which is a similar deviation of about 0.5 mm (0.02 inch) for the tip 101 from its nominal position, and still 0.25 mm (0.01 inch) deflection from its undeflected position of Figure 4, providing sufficient axial return bias for adjacent structure. The spring fingers 78 and 79 are arranged to be substantially diametrically opposite one another when the clamp ring 15 is in the closed condition to exert a substantially balanced and uniform force upon the coil assembly 14. It is apparent, however, that side to side structural deviations can be accommodated as well by this device, and that more than two spring fingers could be utilized in other embodiments of the invention. It is apparent that the clamp ring 15 could be used for applications where non-circular members are involved, and in such instances, the central opening 80 could be modified to conform to other configurations.

Claims: 1. A solenoid valve assembly (10) comprising: a valve body (11); a core tube assembly (12) affixed to the valve body (11), the core tube assembly (12) having a member (30) thereof projecting outwardly of the valve body (11) and terminating in an outer end (34) with an annular groove (40) in the outer end (34); and an electromagnetic coil assembly (14) disposed on the core tube assembly (12) to establish a magnetic field in response to an electrical current to actuate the core tube assembly (12) and a valve (24, 25) in the valve body (11), the coil assembly (14) having a central opening and being slidable over the member (30) of the core tube assembly (12); characterised by: a contractible ring (15) encircling the member (30) of the core tube assembly (12) and disposed in the groove (40) to retain the coil assembly (14), the ring (15) being split and having two interengeable ends (68, 69); latch means (90,91) on the ends (68, 69) to secure the ends (68, 69) in an interengaged position; and bias means (78, 79) to urge the ring (15) into engagement with the groove (40) and to bias the coil assembly (14) towards the valve body (11). 2. A valve assembly (10) according to claim 1, wherein the bias means (78, 79) is integral with the ring (15) and comprises at least two springs (78, 79) distributed about the ring (15). 3. A valve assembly (10) according to claim 2, wherein the springs (78, 79) comprise a pair of spring fingers (78, 79) disposed on opposite sides of the ring (15). 4. A valve assembly (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ring (15) is formed of moulded plastics material. 5. A valve assembly (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the latch means (90, 91) comprises a plurality of interengageable teeth (90, 91) on the ends (68, 69), the teeth (90, 91) being arranged to slide over one another when the ring (15) is contracted and to intermesh and prevent expansion of the ring (15). 6. A valve assembly (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the latch means (90, 91) also comprises a tongue (75) and a socket (76) interconnection at the ends (68, 69) of the ring (15), a plurality of interengageable teeth (90, 91) on the tongue (75) and the socket (76), the teeth (90, 91) being sloped in opposite directions to allow the teeth (90, 91) to slide over one another as the tongue (75) is inserted in the socket (76) to contract the ring (15), the teeth (90, 91) intermeshing and interlocking to prevent removal of the tongue (75) from the socket (76), and means (98) to disengage the teeth (90, 91) to allow the tongue (75) to be removed from the socket (76). 7. A valve assembly (10) according to claim 6, wherein the disengaging means (98) comprises an access slot (98) in the end (68) of the ring (15) in which the socket (76) is provided to allow insertion of a tool for distortion of the socket (76) to cause disconnection of the teeth (90, 91).

Inventors: ELLISON, JOHN E., RIEFLER, ROGER G.
Applicants: PARKER HANNIFIN CORPORATION
Application year: 1987
Main classification: H01F3
IPC codes: H01F7