A metering device for fluids

Abstract: The metering device comprises a housing, defining at least one inlet for the material to be metered and at least one outlet for that material, and at least one rotatable ball (4) driven by a separate shaft (5), said ball having a transverse bore (9) containing a shuttling ball (10) moving linearly in said bore between two seats (11, 12) and sealing against one or other seat. The rotatable ball (4) is captured within the seats and sealed under pressure against the outlet seat (8). Such a metering device allows an exact metering, in shot or flow form, has great simplicity of construction with few working parts such as that it may easily be placed in a pressure transfer system for liquids and gases and acts as shut off valve between metering use.

Description: The present invention relates to a metering device for fluids according to the introduction of claim 1. Such a device is known from EP-A-0 200 961, disclosing a device and a method for metering fluids, with a rotatable spherical member comprising at least one bore with a membrane as metering member. US-A-4 058 240 discloses an automatic drain for compressed air system with a valve comprising as rotatable valve member a ball having a not throughgoing bore as cup means for transporting a liquid. Starting from this prior art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a metering device which solves, in a simple manner, the sealing problems of the rotatable member and can be used for the metering of gases as well as for a wide range of liquids. This problem is solved with a device as defined in claim 1. The therein defined solution reduces the sealing problems considerably and allows a more compact design of the metering device. In a preferred embodiment the metering member within the rotatable ball is also a ball. The invention will be explained hereinafter, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows schematically a section of a device according to the invention, Figure 2 shows a section at 90° of Figure 1 of a detail, Figure 3 shows a section of a second embodiment of the invention, Figure 4 shows a section of a third embodiment of the invention, Figure 5 shows a section of a fourth embodiment of the invention particularly suited for compressible fluids, Figure 6 shows a section of a further embodiment of the invention with two metering units, and Figure 7 shows an use of the invention in a layout for a two component proportioning and mixing apparatus. Figure 1 shows schematically a first embodiment of a metering device with a housing 1, having an inlet port 2 and diametrically opposed an outlet port 3. The inlet port is connected to a supply and the outlet port to a dispensing apparatus. The metering member is a spherical, rotatable member, preferable a ball 4 which is coupled to a drive shaft 5 e.g. by a keyway shaft coupling 33. This shaft is held in a bearing 6 with an appropriate seal 7. A drive system such as an electric motor and gear box and the electric controls for driving the rotatable ball can be conventional, resp. the same as in the prior art document. It is preferable for the correct function that there is a spherical seat 8 for the rotatable ball at the outlet side, forming a seal and which is achieved at less cost and is more durable and effective than the seal of the prior art rotatable member, whilst the inlet seat 8a may also be spherical. The rotatable ball has a transverse bore 9 in which it is advantageous to install a cylindrical sleeve 9a with an inner bore 9b and comprising seats 11 and 12 for the metering means on each end. This sleeve may be made of any appropriate material enabling an easy forming of the seats. The metering means of this embodiment is a shuttling ball 10 sliding between the metering means seats 11 and 12 in sleeve bore 9b. When a liquid or gas is introduced at the inlet 2 under pressure the rotatable ball is held between the seats but because of the pressure, it is pressed against the outlet seat 8. As a result, any change of pressure of the liquid or gas is self compensating in relation to sealing against the outlet seat. The outlet seat 8 must be sealed vis-a-vis the housing, e.g. by a seal 58 or other sealing means. Furthermore, this system allows compensation for wear of the rotatable ball and its seats. The flow of liquid or gas can also serve for cooling any heat build up due to friction of the rotatable ball assembly against the seats. The outlet seat 8 may be pressed against the rotatable ball by an adjusting screw. To this end the housing may comprise a closure 35 with an external thread 36 fitting in an internal thread 37 at the housing. It follows from Fig. 2 that the length D' of the outlet seat 8 in contact with the rotatable ball must exceed the diameter D of transverse bore 9, in order to prevent leakage as the bore 9 rotates past the outlet seat 8. It also follows that a pressure differential must exist between the inlet and the outlet side of the rotatable ball in order that the full movement of the shuttling ball is ensured between the seats for perfect metering and sealing. The operation of the device of Fig. 1 is as follows: The material to be metered impinges under pressure via inlet 2 on shuttling ball 10 and pushes it from the seat 11 and down sleeve bore 9b to the second seat 12, expelling a dose of material. After a rotation of approximately 180° the same situation as in Fig. 1 is presented and the shuttling ball will again be pushed down the sleeve bore against the other seat, where it seals, having metered and expelled a new shot. With a rotational speed of 500 rpm and an expelling volume in sleeve bore 9b of 0,25 ml, a flow rate of 250 ml per minute is achieved. Both the relatively small volume and the rapidity of the metered shot combine to form an apparent uninterrupted flow. Interrupted or shot flow can be achieved by rotating the rotatable ball in 180° increments with subsequent pause. It is appreciated that such a metering device has the capacity to work in a great range of parameters, such as low to high viscosity liquids, liquid properties of anti-lubrification and abrasiveness, variable flow rates and pressures. The above mentioned example results in a cube-like housing of about 50 mm length of side with a rotatable ball diameter of about 25 mm, a shuttling ball diameter of about 6 mm, and a stroke of about 9 mm. This demonstrates clearly the compactness of the efficient metering device. Depending on the size of the device, the characteristics of the substances to be metered, the flow rates and the pressure employed, different materials for the rotatable ball and its seat can be used. If very low wear and high resistance to chemical substances are needed, ceramics can be used, and for small high precision devices, sapphire or ruby. Otherwise, steel or plastic material may be used. In Fig. 3 is shown a variant to Fig. 1 which is particularly suited for metering gas or any other compressible fluid. The shuttling ball is replaced by a shuttling cylindrical piston 38 having tapered ends 39 ending in a short cylinder 40, matching the contours of the corresponding seats 41, resp. 42 at sleeve 43a with its bore 43b and installed in bore 43 of rotatable ball 44 and further comprising a sealing means, e.g. a sealing ring 45 at each seat. The outside contour of the seats is matched to the spherical shape of the rotatable ball. In this variant the outlet seat 8 is pressed against the rotatable ball by a spring 46 located between the outlet seat 8 and the screw-in closure 47. The housing 48 is shown schematically, also the inlet 2 and outlet 3. There is, like in Fig. 1, only one drive shaft 49 which is not keyed, but rigidly attached directly to the rotatable ball, since the outlet seat 8 of the rotatable ball is screw/spring tensioned. In operation, gas pressure originating from the inlet moves the piston towards seat 42 filling the resulting cylindrical space as the piston moves forward until it is stopped at the outlet sleeve seat 42. The rotatable ball is then rotated approximately 180° and the piston, moving to the opposite seat, ejects the gas. When all gas has been expelled from the cylindrical space through the outlet 3, the piston fills the cylindrical space and is flush with the contour of the seat. Thus when the ball is rotated a further 180°, the flush area within the seat does not carry any volume of gas back to the inlet area 2. The amount of the gas metered from the inlet to the outlet is directly related to the gas pressure in the inlet and the maintaining of a lesser pressure in the outlet area relative to the inlet area. The embodiment of Fig. 4 shows another variant of the metering means, a diaphragm 50, fixed by retaining means in the middle of bore 51b of sleeve 51a installed in the transverse bore 51 of the rotatable ball 52, which ball is seated in the same seats 8, 8a as in the previous embodiments, seat 8 being screw/spring tensioned as in Fig. 3. It is obvious that bore 51b of the sleeve needs no seats. The rotatable ball 52 is supported by two directly attached shafts 53, one of it being driven. The housing 54 is similar to the housing 48 of Fig. 3 and also the other components. This embodiment works analogous to the previous described embodiments. Fig. 5 shows a different embodiment 55 specially suitable for metering of compressible fluids in which the driven, rotatable ball 56 comprises a number of cavities 57 on its equatorial periphery formed as pocket holes for the transport of a small volume from inlet 2 to outlet 3. The seats 8 and 8a are similar to those of the previous embodiment, seat 8 also is screw/spring tensioned with means described above. The outlet seat 8 is sealed vis-à-vis the housing by sealing means 58. Fig. 6 shows an embodiment in which the metering capacity has been doubled at the same time providing a more even and continuous flow by employing two rotatable balls 13 and 14 with a shuttling ball 10 in each, sliding in sleeve bore 9b between equal seats 11 and 12, the two transverse bores 9 being arranged at a 90° angle. The two rotatable balls 13 and 14 are connected by a connecting piece 15 and one rotatable ball 13 is driven by the drive shaft 16, being provided with bearing 6 and seal 7. The other characterising features of claim 1 are not shown. Housing 17 has two inlets 18 and two outlets 19. It is evident that also in this case the inlet pressure must be maintained above, and preferably with a safety factor, the required outlet pressure. It will be further appreciated that the invention, resp. the metering device is not limited to one or two rotating balls. Therefore, the number of inlets and outlets may vary and the transverse bores may be arranged at an angle of 180°/N, if N is the number of rotatable members. Fig. 7 shows schematically a possible application of two metering devices of the invention in a proportioning and mixing apparatus 21 for a two component material. Numerals 22 and 23 indicate two storage containers for the two components. Pipes 24 and 25 are connected to pumps 26 and 27 or other pressure sources. The pumps transport the material under pressure to metering devices 28 and 29, the outlets thereof being attached to a mixing device 20, which can be of the static or dynamic type. The electric motors 30 and 31 of the metering devices as well as the metering devices themselves are connected to and controlled by a computerized control unit 32, which controls also the storage containers, the pumps or other pressure sources, as well as the mixing device in case it is an electrically driven mixing device. It is evident that the pressure of the pumps or other pressure sources as well as the delivery of the metering devices can be different one from another, and that the electric parameters can be adjusted and varied. It follows from the above description that the devices of the invention are less complex, relatively more compact and smaller in size and have relatively lower wear than known devices. They are self adjusting or may be adjusted against wear and completely sealing against leakage during rotation, thus providing optimum metering accuracy as well as acting as a perfect shut off valve in any angular position when rotation has stopped and metering has ceased. Furthermore, such a metering device allows an exact metering of fluids, in shot or flow form, has great simplicity of construction with few working parts such as that it may easily be placed in a pressure transfer system for liquids and gases.

Claims: A metering device for fluids, comprising a housing (1, 17, 48, 54, 55) having at least one inlet (2, 18) and at least one outlet (3, 19) for the material to be metered, and at least one rotatable spherical member (4, 13, 14, 44, 52, 56) comprising metering means (10, 39, 50, 57), whereby the rotatable member is provided with at least one drive shaft (5, 16, 49, 53), characterized in that the rotatable spherical member (4, 13, 14; 44; 52; 56) is a ball captured between two seats (8, 8a) having each a semispherical sealing surface opposed to each other, each seat having at least one passage (2, 3) for the inlet, resp. outlet flow, and the outlet seat (8) being pressed by the pressure of an adjustable screw-in closure (47) and/or spring (46) against the rotatable ball (4, 44, 52, 56) for forming a seal between the outlet seat (8) and the rotatable ball (4, 44, 52, 56). A metering device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the seats (8, 8a) is sealed within the housing (1, 17, 48, 54, 55). A metering device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rotatable ball (4, 13, 14; 44) has a transverse bore (9, 43) containing the metering means, said bore extending substantially diametrically and at 90° to the drive shaft and said metering means being a shuttling member (10, 38) moving linearly in said transverse bore between two sealing seats (11, 12; 41, 42). A metering device according to claim 3, characterized in that the metering means is a shuttling ball (10, 13, 14). A metering device according to claim 3, characterized in that the metering means is a shuttling piston (38). A metering device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rotatable ball (52) has a transverse bore (51) containing the metering means, said bore extending substantially diametrically and at 90° to the drive shaft and said metering means being a diaphragm (50) attached at the middle of said bore. A metering device according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the housing (17) comprises at least two rotatable balls (13, 14) connected by a connecting piece (15) and having one drive shaft (16), the transverse bore (9) in each rotatable member being arranged at 90° or at 180°/N one to the other, N being the number of rotatable balls, and the housing comprising at least two inlets (18) and at least two outlets (19). A metering device according to one of the claims 3 to 7, characterized in that said transverse bore (9, 43, 51) is provided with a sleeve (9a, 43a, 51a) comprising, the metering means sealing seats (11, 12; 41, 42), its bore (9b, 43b, 51b) defining the metering bore containing the metering means (10, 38, 50). A metering device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rotatable ball (56) is provided at its equitorial periphery with a number of cavities (57) acting as metering means. A metering device according to one of the claims 3 to 8, characterized in that, viewed along a section through the two seats (8, 8a) and a diameter of the rotatable ball (10), the diameter (D) of the transverse bore (9, 43, 51) or of the cavities (57) is smaller than the length (D') of the part of the seat (8) in contact with said rotatable ball. A metering device according to one of the claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the drive shaft(s) (5; 16; 49; 53) is (are) supported by a bearing (6) and sealed by sealing means (7) against the housing (1, 17, 48, 54, 55). A metering device according to one of the claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the rotatable ball (4) is connected by a shaft coupling (33) to at least one shaft, one being a drive shaft (5), to allow said rotatable ball to be free to seat. A metering device according to one of the claims 1 to 12, characterized in that regardless of the position the rotatable ball ceases its movement the inlet is always shut off from the outlet, said rotatable ball acting as shut off valve. The use of at least two metering devices according to one of the claims 1 to 13 in a multi-component proportioning and mixing apparatus, in which the metering devices (28, 29) are fed independently by fluids from corresponding pressure sources (26, 27) connected to storage containers (22, 23) which outlets are connected to a mixing device (20),the pressure sources (26, 27), the metering devices (28, 29) including their drives (30, 31) and the mixing device (20) when electrically driven, being individually controlled by a computerized control unit (32).

Inventors: KELLER WILHELM A, PENN LAURENCE RICHARD, KELLER, WILHELM A., PENN, LAURENCE RICHARD
Applicants: KELLER WILHELM A, KELLER, WILHELM A.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: G01F11
IPC codes: G01F3, G01F11