VARIABLE PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE

Abstract: This invention relates to a variable pressure control valve that is made for the purpose of constituting the entire valve compact by making the use of a pilot piston having a relatively small diameter possible. This valve is provided with a spool (2) pressed into contact with the valve seat of a pressurized oil inflow port (1) by the spring force of a compression spring (3), a stationary spring rest (5) locked to support the base end of this compression spring, and an auxiliary compression spring (6) which urges the aforementioned spool to the side of the aforementioned valve seat at one side and is pressed by a pilot piston (4) at the other side.

Description: This invention relates to a variable pressure control valve arranged to enable the pressure of hydraulic fluid flowing thereinto from a pressurized fluid inlet port to be variably set by introducing a pilot fluid pressure. BACKGROUND ART OF THE INVENTION As a variable pressure control valve, that constructed as shown, for example, in Fig.1 is known in the art. The device disclosed in DE-A-3-342-901 also represents relevant prior art. The device of Figure 1 is a variable pressure control valve wherein a spool 2 is kept into pressure contact with the valve seat of a pressurized fluid inlet port 1 by the resilient force of a compression spring 3, and a pilot fluid pressure Pp is introduced into a pilot piston 4 which supports the spring 3, the arrangement being made such that the force exerted on the spool 2 to keep it into pressure contact with the valve seat of the pressurized fluid inlet port 1 is increased or decreased by varying the pilot pressure Pp so that the pressure of hydraulic fluid flowing thereinto from the pressurized fluid inlet port 1 can be variably set. In such a variable pressure control valve, since the compression spring 3 is directly compressed by the pilot piston 4, it is necessary for the pilot piston 4 to have a large pressure receiving area, which results in larger overall size of the valve, thus making it unable to make the valve compact. Stating more specifically, since in such a variable pressure control valve the compression spring 3 having a high compression spring load is compressed directly by the pilot piston 4 and the pilot pressure Pp exerted on the pilot piston 4 is generally 30 kg/cm²,the pressure receiving area of the pilot piston 4 needs to be increased in order to increase the urging force thereof, so that the diameter of the pilot piston 4 becomes larger, thus making the overall size of the valve larger unavoidably. Stating concretely, if the diameter of the pressurized fluid inlet port 1 is designated by d, and the diameter of the pilot piston 4 by D₁, then the spring load W₁ set by the compression spring 3 is given by the following formula. W₁ = π 4 d² X P wherein P denates the pressure within the pressurized fluid inlet port. To increase the pressure P set in this condition by P, it is required to set the spring load W₁ at π 4 d² (P + ΔP). Further, the urging or pushing force F given by the pilot piston 4 will be π 4 D₁² X Pp . Therefore, the diameter D₁ of the pilot piston 4 needs to be set at such a value which enables the valve to support the above-mentioned spring load W₁. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances in the prior art and has for its object to provide a variable pressure control valve constructed to enable a pilot piston having a comparatively small diameter to be used thereby making the whole body of the valve compact to solve the above-mentioned problem in the prior art. To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, there is provided a variable pressure control valve as defined in claim 1. According to the present invention, since it is only necessary that the auxiliary compression spring is urged by a force which corresponds in magnitude to an increment in pressure to be set by the pilot piston, the urging force of the pilot piston can be reduced so that the pressure receiving area of the pilot piston can be reduced correspondingly. Accordingly, the diameter of the pilot piston can be made comparatively small so that the whole body of the variable pressure control valve can be made compact. The above-mentioned and other objects, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art by making reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing in which a preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of example only. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The present invention will now be described below by way of example only with reference to an embodiment shown in Fig.2. The variable pressure control valve according to the present invention is constructed such that, as shown in Fig. 2, a compression spring 3 is interposed between one end of a stationary or fixed spring shoe 5 and the base end of a spool 2, and an auxiliary compression spring 6 having a small compression spring load is interposed between the base end of the spool 2 and the leading end of a pilot piston 4 so that the auxiliary compression spring 6 can be compressed by the urging force of the pilot piston 4. By such a construction, since the compression spring 3 having a high compression spring load is supported by the stationary spring shoe 5, and the auxiliary compression spring 6 having a low compression spring load is compressed by the urging force of the pilot piston 4 so that the pressure of hydraulic fluid flowing thereinto from a pressurized fluid inlet port 1 can be set at a high value, the urging force F provided by the pilot piston 4 can be reduced to thereby enable the pressure receiving area of the pilot piston 4, and hence the diameter thereof to be reduced. Stating concretely, to increase the above-mentioned setting pressure by ΔP, it is only necessary to set the compression spring load W₂of the auxiliary compression spring 6 as follows. W₂ = π 4 d² × ΔP While, the urging force F of the pilot piston 4 is equal to π 4 D₂² × Pp . Since the compression spring load W₂is balanced with the urging force F, π 4 D₂² × Pp = π 4 d² × ΔP Thus, the relationship between the diameter D₂ of the pilot piston 4 and the diameter D₁ of the prior art pilot piston 4 will be D₁ D₂ = P + ΔP ΔP Therefore, the diameter of the pilot piston 4 can be reduced. The foregoing description is merely an example of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this example. Many changes and modifications of the present invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

Claims: A variable pressure control valve comprising; a spool (2) kept in pressure contact with the valve seat of a pressurized fluid inlet port (1) by the resilient force of a compression spring (3); a stationary spring shoe (5) fixed so as to support the end of said compression spring (3) which is remote from the said spool (2); and an auxilliary compression spring (6) which urges said spool (2) towards said valve seat by means of a pilot piston (4) which acts on the end of the auxilliary compression spring (6) which is remote from the said spool (2).

Inventors: ISHIZAKI NAOKI KAWASAKI FACT O, NUNOTANI SADAO KAWASAKI FACT O, TAKANO TOSHIRO KAWASAKI FACT O, ISHIZAKI, NAOKI,KAWASAKI FACT.OF K.K.KOMATSU, NUNOTANI, SADAO,KAWASAKI FACT.OF K.K.KOMATSU, TAKANO, TOSHIRO,KAWASAKI FACT.OF K.K.KOMATSU
Applicants: KOMATSU MFG CO LTD, KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOMATSU SEISAKUSHO
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G05D16
IPC codes: G05D16