CONTROL VALVE UNIT

Abstract: An operation valve device having a plurality of valves for controlling the operation of a hydraulic equipment such as a hydraulic cylinder, wherein the whole device is compactly formed such that a plurality of valves are mounted in small mounting space without causing them to be interfered by each other. The operation valve device can further be easily constituted to meet a plurality of hydraulic devices. The operation valve device comprises a cuboidal valve housing (10), first and second pump ports (11, 12) formed in parallel in upper portions near two opposite sides in the valve housing, a tank port (13) formed in the lower central portion in the valve housing, first and second ports (14, 15) formed in different positions of the upper surface of the valve housing to communicate with pressure chambers of the hydraulic device and extending vertically downward in the valve housing, and a plurality of valves (19, 20, 23, 24) inserted in a plurality of valve holes formed in the valve housing to open or close these ports.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control valve unit for supplying a pressure oil to hydraulic equipments such as hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic motors and the like to control these hydraulic equipments in operation. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Hitherto, it is known that, for example as shown in Fig. 1, in a control valve unit of this kind: a pressure oil discharged from a hydraulic pump 1 is supplied to a first chamber 3₁ and a second chamber 3₂ of a hydraulic equipment 3 through a first meter-in valve 2₁ and a second meter-in valve 2₂, respectively, the meter-in valves 2₁, 2₂ being two-way valves; the pressure oil having entered the first chamber 3₁ and the second chamber 3₂ is discharged into a tank 5 through a first meter-out valve 4₁ and a second meter-out valve 4₂, respectively, the meter-out valves 4₁, 4₂ being two-way valves; in case that both of the first meter-in valve 2₁ and the second meter-out valve 4₂ are opened, the pressure oil is supplied to the first chamber 3₁ of the hydraulic equipment 3, while the pressure oil having entered the second chamber 3₂ of the equipment 3 is discharged from the second chamber 3₂ of the equipment 3 into the tank 5; and, in case that both of the second meter-in valve 2₂ and the first meter-out valve 4₁ are opened, the pressure oil is supplied to the second chamber 3₂ of the hydraulic equipment 3, while the pressure oil having entered the first chamber 3₁ of the hydraulic equipment 3 is discharged therefrom into the tank 5. On the other hand, in a power shovel, there are employed at least six hydraulic equipments comprising: a boom derricking cylinder, an arm hydraulic cylinder, a bucket hydraulic cylinder, a swing hydraulic motor, a left-hand traveling hydraulic motor and a right-hand traveling hydraulic motor, to which hydraulic equipments the pressure oil is supplied through four valves. As a result, the power shovel requires at least 24 valves in operation. In the conventional control valve unit described above, it is required for a valve housing 6 of the control valve unit: to have in the interior thereof four valves comprising the first meter-in valve 2₁, the second meter-in valve 2₂, the first meter-out valve 4₁ and the second meter-out valve 4₂; and to form therein two pump ports 7₁, 7₂, two tank ports 8₁, 8₂ and four additional ports 9₁, 9₂, 9₃, 9₄. Consequently, in case that the above control valve system is employed in the power shovel, it is required for the valve housing 6 of the control valve unit of the power shovel to have: 24 valves, a plurality of the pump ports, a plurality of the tank ports and a plurality of the additional ports, which causes the valve housing 6 to be a large sized one. In addition, in the valve housing 6 of the control valve system, it is very cumbersome to form each of the above ports. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such circumstances described above, the present invention was made. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized control valve unit requiring a minimum mounting space thereof, in which system: a plurality of valves are employed to control a hydraulic equipment, for example such as a hydraulic cylinder; and there is no fear that the plurality of the valves interfere with each other in operation. It is another object of a preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a small-sized control valve system requiring a minimum mounting space thereof, in which system: a plurality of control valve units are employed to control each of a plurality of hydraulic equipments; and there is no fear that the plurality of control valves interfere with each other in operation. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above objects of the present invention are accomplished by a control valve unit with the features of the preamble part of claim 1 comprising the characteristic features of claim 1. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing: a control valve system constructed of a plurality of control valve units for controlling a plurality of hydraulic equipments, the plurality of the control valve units being connected with each other in the lateral width direction of the valve housing of the control valve system. The control valve unit and system of the present invention has the following advantages: In the control valve unit of the present invention, each of the first meter-in valve, the first meter-out valve, the second meter-in valve and the second meter-out valve is so formed in the valve housing of the control valve unit: as to horizontally extend in the longitudinal width direction of the valve housing to open into one of the opposite side surfaces of the valve housing perpendicular to the longitudinal width direction thereof; and as not to be aligned with each other in the height direction and the lateral width direction of the valve housing. As a result, it is possible for the control valve unit of the present invention to mount each of the valves in the valve housing with a minimum mounting space thereof. Consequently, even when a plurality of valves are mounted in the valve housing of the control valve unit of the present invention, it is possible for the control valve unit of the present invention to realize a small-sized control valve unit, because each of the plurality of the valves only requires a minimum mounting space thereof. In addition, in the control valve system of the present invention, since each of the first and the second pump port passage and the tank port passage is formed in the valve housing of the control valve unit so as to horizontally extend in the lateral width direction of the valve housing, it is possible to sequentially mount each of the first and the second meter-in valve and the first and the second meter-out valve in the valve housing so as to be spaced apart from each other in the lateral width direction of the valve housing. As a result, it is not required for the valve housing of the control valve system of the present invention to additionally form the first and the second pump port passage and the tank port passage therein. In other words, it is required for the valve housing of the control valve system of the present invention to form only the required number of each of the first and the second port passage in the valve housing, which reduces machining steps of the valve housing in manufacturing. The above objects, additional objects, additional embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be clarified to those skilled in the art hereinbelow with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention according to principles of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a conventional control valve unit; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a valve housing of a control valve unit of an embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views taken along the lines 111-111 and 1V-1V of Fig. 2, respectively; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the first meter-in valve of the control valve unit of the present invention; and Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the first meter-out valve of the control valve unit of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinbelow, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings (Figs. 2 to 6). As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, a valve housing 10 of a control valve unit of the present invention has a predetermined lateral width, a predetermined longitudinal width and a predetermined height, and assumes a rectangular parallelepiped form. In an upper portion of the valve housing 10 of the control valve unit are formed a first pump port passage 11 and a second pump port passage 12 which communicate with a hydraulic pump (not shown), are parallel to each other and horizontally extend in the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10 to open into an end surface 10a of the valve housing 10, which end surface 10a is perpendicular to the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10. In addition, a tank port passage 13 is so formed in the valve housing 10 as to be disposed in a lower portion of the valve housing 10, as to be disposed in a central position of the longitudinal width of the valve housing 10, as to horizontally extend in the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10 and as to communicate with a drain tank (not shown) to open into the end surface 10a of the valve housing 10. Further, a first port passage 14 and a second port passage 15 are so formed in the valve housing 10 as not to be aligned with each other in both of the lateral width direction and the longitudinal width direction of the valve housing 10, as to extend vertically to open into an upper surface 10b of the valve housing 10 and as to communicate with a first pressure chamber 16₁ and a second pressure chamber 16₂ of a hydraulic equipment 16, respectively. In addition, the first port passage 14 and the second port passage 15 are so formed in the valve housing 10 as not to interfere with any of the first pump port passage 11, second pump port passage 12 and the tank port passage 13. Further, in the valve housing 10, a first meter-in valve receiving bore 17 and a first meter-out valve receiving bore 18 are so formed as to open into a side surface 10c of the valve housing 10 perpendicular to the longitudinal width direction of the valve housing 10, as not to be aligned with each other in the height direction and the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10, as to horizontally extend in the longitudinal width direction of the valve housing 10. The first meter-in valve receiving bore 17 is so disposed in the upper portion of the valve housing 10 as to penetrate the first pump port passage 11, as to communicate with the first port passage 14 and as to receive a first meter-in valve 19 therein to selectively shut off the first pump port passage 11 from the first port passage 14. On the other hand, the first meter-out valve receiving bore 18 is so disposed in the lower portion of the valve housing 10 as to open into the tank port passage 13, as to communicate with the second port passage 15 and as to receive a first meter-out valve 20 therein to selectively shut off the tank port passage 13 from the second port passage 15. Furthermore, in the valve housing 10, a second meter-in valve receiving bore 21 and a second meter-out valve receiving bore 22 are so formed as to open into the other side surface 10d of the valve housing 10 perpendicular to the longitudinal width direction of the valve housing 10, as not to be aligned with each other in the height direction and the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10, as to horizontally extend in the longitudinal width direction of the valve housing 10. The second meter-in valve receiving bore 21 is so disposed in the upper portion of the valve housing 10 as to be aligned with the first meter-out valve receiving bore 18 in the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10, as to penetrate the second pump port passage 12, as to communicate with the second port passage 15 and as to receive a second meter-in valve 23 therein to selectively shut off the second pump port passage 12 from the second port passage 15. On the other hand, the second meter-out valve receiving bore 22 is so disposed in the lower portion of the valve housing 10 as to be aligned with the first meter-in valve receiving bore 17 in the lateral width direction of the valve housing 10, as to open into the tank port passage 13, as to communicate with the first port passage 14 and as to receive a second meter-out valve 24 therein to selectively shut off the tank port passage 13 from the first port passage 14. As shown in Fig. 5, in the first meter-in valve 19, a sleeve 30 is inserted into the first meter-in valve receiving bore 17 of the first meter-in valve 19, into which sleeve 30 is inserted a poppet 31 which is pressed against a valve seat 33 under the influence of a resilient force exerted by a compression spring 32 to shut off an inlet port 34 from the interior of the sleeve 30. When the poppet 31 is moved by means of a manually operated lever, or under the influence of a hydraulic pressure, or by means of a solenoid in a direction indicated by an arrow shown in Fig. 5 against the resilient force exerted by the compression spring 32 to separate the poppet 31 from the valve seat 33, the inlet port 34 communicates with the interior of the sleeve 30 to enable the first pump port passage 11 to communicate with the first port passage 14. Incidentally, the second meter-in valve 23 is similar in construction to the first meter-in valve 19 described above. As shown in Fig. 6, in the first meter-out valve 20, a sleeve 40 is inserted into the first meter-out valve receiving bore 18 of the first meter-out valve 20, into which sleeve 40 is inserted a poppet 41 which is pressed against a valve seat 43 under the influence of a resilient force exerted by a compression spring 42 to shut off an inlet port 44 from the tank port passage 13. When the poppet 41 is moved by means of a manually operated lever, or under the influence of a hydraulic pressure, or by means of a solenoid against the resilient force exerted by the compression spring 42 to separate the poppet 41 from the valve seat 43, the inlet port 44 communicates with the tank port passage 13. Incidentally, the second meter-out valve 24 is similar in construction to the first meter-out valve 20 described above. In addition, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-127581 each of the first meter-in valve 19, second meter-in valve 23, first meter-out valve 20 and the second meter-out valve 24 may be a flow control valve.

Claims: A control valve unit comprising: a valve housing (10); a first and a second pump port passage (11,12) so formed in said valve housing (10) as to communicate with a hydraulic pump; a tank port passage (13) so formed in said valve housing (10) as to communicate with a drain tank; a first and second port passage (14,15) so formed in said valve housing (10) as to communicate with a hydraulic equipment (16); a first and second meter-in valve (19,23) so inserted into the valve housing (10) as to selectively shut off said pump port passage (11,12) from said first and said second passage (14,15) in operation; a first and second meter-out valve (20,24) so inserted into the valve housing (10) as to selectively shut off said tank port passage (13) from said first and said second port passage (14,15) operation, characterized in that said valve housing (10) is provided with a predetermined lateral width, a predetermined longitudinal width and a predetermined height, and assumes a subtantially rectangular parallel epiped form; said first and secod pump port passage (11,12) are in the same height and are parallely spaced apart from each other in said longitudinal width direction of said valve housing, and horizontally extend in said lateral width direction of said valve housing; said tank port passage (13) is disposed in a lower portion of said valve housing (10) disposed in a central position of said longitudinal width of said valve housing and horizontally extends in said lateral width direction of said valve housing; said first and said second port passage (14,15) are not aligned with each other in both of said lateral width direction and said longitudinal width direction, and extend vertically to open into an upper surface (10b) of said valve housing; said first meter-in valve (19) is inserted into a first meter-in valve receiving bore (17), said first meter-in valve receiving bore (17) being formed in an upper portion of said valve housing (10) so as to open into a side surface (10c) of said valve housing perpendicular to said longitudinal width direction thereof, and horizontally extends in said longitudinal width direction to penetrate said first pump port passage (11) and to communicate with said first port passage (14); said first meter-out valve (20) is inserted into a first meter-out valve receiving bore (18), said first meter-out valve receiving bore (18) being formed in a lower portion of said valve housing (10) so as to open into said side surface (10c) of said valve housing perpendicular to said longitudinal width direction thereof, and horizontally extends in said longtiduinal width direction to sequentially communicate with said second port passage (15) and said tank port passage (13); said second meter-in valve (23) is inserted into a second meter-in valve receiving bore (21), said second meter-in valve receiving bore (21) being formed in said upper portion of said valve housing (10) so as to open into the other side surface (10d) of said valve housing perpendicular to said longitudinal width direction thereof, and horizontally extends in said longitudinal width direction to penetrate said second pump port passage (12) and as to communicate with said second port passage (15); and said second meter-out valve (24) is inserted into a second meter-out valve receiving bore (22) being formed in said lower portion of said valve housing (10) so as to open into the other side surface (10d) of said valve housing perpendicular to said longitudinal width direction thereof, and horizontally extends in said longitudinal width direction to sequentially communicate with said first port passage (14) and said tank port passage (13). A control valve system comprising a plurality of control valve units as set forth in claim 1 for controlling a plurality of hydraulic equipments (16) wherein the plurality of said control valve units are connected with each other with abutting end faces (10a) in said lateral width direction of said valve housing (10) so that the respective passages (11,12,13) are in line.

Inventors: ISHIZAKI, NAOKI, KARAKAMA, TADAO, ODA, YOSUKE
Applicants: KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOMATSU SEISAKUSHO
Application year: 1989
Main classification: F15B13
IPC codes: G05D16, F15B11, F16K27, F15B13