Patent Publication Number: US-2022213963-A1

Title: Ball valve assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 21461501.5 filed Jan. 4, 2021, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a ball valve assembly and, in particular, an assembly for a motorised ball valve. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Ball valves are valves for controlling flow of a fluid e.g., water. The valve includes a ball shaft having a hole therethrough. The ball shaft is rotatable relative to the fluid flow channel such that when the hole is aligned with the channel, the valve allows fluid flow. To stop flow, the ball shaft is rotated so that the hole is not aligned with the flow. Ball valves can be operated manually e.g., by means of a handle for rotating the ball. Actuated ball valves are operated by a motor which moves the ball shaft between the open and closed positions. Ball valves find use in e.g., sanitation or water systems. One application of a valve moved by an electric motor is in an aircraft water supply system. Aircraft commonly have a water supply system for providing potable water to various outlets e.g., to sinks or wash basins, coffee machines, toilets, etc. One or more valve assemblies is provided in the system for the various outlets and at least some of these are driven by an electric motor so that they can be operated remotely or automatically. Such as a system is described e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 8,172,198. The use of actuated ball valves is, however, not limited to aircraft water systems and there are many other fields of application for such systems. 
     Actuated ball valves comprise the motor and drive part, also known as the ‘dry’ part, and the ball shaft part, which comes into contact with the water, also known as the ‘wet’ part. Seals need to be provided between the wet part and the dry part to avoid damage to the assembly by water getting to the electric motor. 
     In aircraft systems and in other water systems, the valve ball shaft often has to be made of metal to satisfy durability and safety standards. Problems may occur with the valve if a fault in the electric motor transmits to the ball shaft due to the conductive path between the various metal parts. 
     The inventors have identified a need for a dielectric barrier to be provided between the ball shaft and the electric drive part of the valve assembly. There is also a need for a fall-back drive mechanism in the event of failure of the electric drive. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to the disclosure, there is provided a dielectric insulating insert arranged to be positioned between a drive shaft and a ball shaft of a motorised ball valve assembly, the insert comprising a body of dielectric material to form an insulating layer and having opposing sides from each of which extends an engagement portion having a non-circular cross-section and configured to engage, respectively, with the drive shaft and the ball shaft in torque transfer engagement. 
     The engagement portions preferably define a series of lobes. 
     The insert may include a substrate e.g. of aluminium and an outer adhesive layer which may be formed of an elastic adhesive. 
     The dielectric material may comprise a plasma electrolytic oxidation, PEO, aluminium layer on the substrate. 
     According to another aspect, there is provided a ball shaft assembly comprising a ball shaft and an insert as defined above, fitted to the ball shaft. 
     A motor e.g., an electric motor may be arranged to drive the ball shaft via a cam shaft, the insert located between and in torque transfer engagement with the ball shaft and the cam shaft. 
     The assembly may further comprise a handle to manually rotate the ball shaft. 
     The ball shaft may be connected to the cam shaft by means of a keying feature to transmit torque from the motor to the ball shaft. 
     The assembly may be used in a water supply system, e.g. an aircraft water supply system 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a motor driven ball valve assembly according to this disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the assembly of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a dielectric insulator insert for an assembly in accordance with the disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  shows individual components assembled to form the insert of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view of an assembly incorporating a dielectric insulator insert according to the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a motorised ball valve assembly including a dielectric insulation component according to the present disclosure. 
     The operational part of the valve comprises a ball shaft  10  having a hole  12  therethrough defining a flow passage. In use, the valve is arranged in a water or fluid pipe system such that in a first rotational position of the ball shaft  10 , the hole is aligned with a fluid pipe to form a flow passage from the pipe and through the hole  12 . To switch off the flow, the ball shaft is rotated e.g. by one quarter turn, so that the hole is no longer aligned with the pipe and, instead, flow from the pipe is blocked by the body  13  of the ball shaft. 
     In a motorised ball valve, the ball shaft is rotated by means of an electric motor  1 . The electric motor  1  drives a cam shaft  4  which engages with the ball shaft  10 . In the example shown (see  FIG. 2 ) the cam shaft  4  is provided with a key feature  3  that engages with a D-shaft  2 —i.e. a D-shaped shaft component extending from the motor. Rotation of the motor  1  causes rotation of the D-shaft  2  which, in turn, rotates the cam shaft  4  which rotates the ball shaft  10 . Seals e.g. O-rings  11  are provided around the ball shaft  10  to prevent water passing into the electric part of the assembly. The cam shaft may be provided with indicators such as microswitches which can be mounted in recesses or races  14  on the cam shaft  4  to provide an indication of the angular position of the shaft. These components are standard for a motorised ball valve such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,172,198. 
     As mentioned above, to provide the required strength and to satisfy other standards such as safety, life and hygiene standards, the various shafts and the key feature will often be made of metal e.g. steel. If there is a problem with the electrics at the motor end of the assembly, these would be transmitted directly to the ball shaft and can cause problems such as electric shocks or arcing. To avoid this problem, the assembly of the present disclosure includes a dielectric insulator insert  20  to be fitted between the ball shaft  10  and the electric motor  1 . 
     The dielectric insulation insert is structured to have dielectric properties and is shaped to provide torque transmission from the electric motor  1  to the ball shaft  10 . The shape of the insert should be such as to be able to withstand a short torque peak if the ball shaft end is fixed or blocked. To achieve the torque transfer property, the insert is shaped to define lobes or lugs or ribs or the like that engage into corresponding features provided at the ball shaft and the electric motor. In the example shown, the insert  20  is in the form of a plate  21  from each surface of which extends an engagement portion  22 ,  23  having a non-circular outer profile. In the example shown, the profile forms rounded lobes  24  but other shapes may also be used. The important thing is that the engagement portion has a shape that can engage with the shafts between which it is located in a manner that torque applied to one of the shafts is transferred to the other shaft via the insert. 
     In a one embodiment, the shape of the insert will be such that the insert remains centered in position relative to the shafts i.e., so that co-axiality between the shafts and the insert is ensured. 
     It may also be desired that the insert is designed to minimise or avoid backlash between the shafts. Backlash can result in inaccurate calculations due to small errors introduced at each change of direction. At large power outputs, backlash sends shocks through the whole system and can damage components. To address the problem of backlash, in a preferred embodiment, the dielectric insulation insert is provided with adhesive around the engagement portions. An elastic adhesive layer allows the assembly to accommodate larger manufacturing tolerances, which results in lower production costs since the components do not need to be so precisely manufactured—rather, the adhesive can fill in any small gaps. The adhesive provides a bond between the insert and the shafts which prevents or minimises backlash. 
     The insert may have dielectric properties. Various dielectric materials are known and can be used. A dielectric that has been found to work particularly well with the insert is formed by a plasma electrolytic oxidation aluminium coating (PEO-aluminium) coating on an aluminium substrate, but this is an example only and other dielectric materials or substances could also be used. 
     One design of the insert will be described in more detail below. 
     In the event that the motor fails, there is not only the risk of an electrical fault being transmitted to the wet end of the assembly, but there is also the problem that a motor failure will mean that the ball shaft cannot be rotated. In the event of failure of the motor, it may be necessary to change the position of the ball shaft to switch flow on or off. To address this, a manual handle  8  may be provided in close fitting arrangement around the ball shaft so that manual operation of the handle  8  can rotate the ball shaft  10 . The handle  8  can be fitted to the ball shaft such that there is a form fitting or frictional engagement between them. Alternatively, a fixing element e.g. a locking pin  9  may be provided to secure the handle to the shaft. 
     The dielectric insulation insert of the disclosure, in use, will have one side mounted inside or otherwise fitted to the ball shaft in a manner to transfer torque to the ball shaft  10 . The other side of the insert will be fitted into or engaged with the cam shaft  4  for engagement with the motor  1 . This can best be seen in  FIG. 5 . 
     The one embodiment structure of the insert, as will be described in more detail below, can be seen in situ in the enlarged detail of  FIG. 5 . The inner part of the insert is a substrate, preferably an aluminium substrate  5  for greater strength, over which is formed the dielectric PEO-aluminium layer  6  (or other dielectric coating). The adhesive bond layer  7  is then formed over the insert as an outer layer to provide an adhesive bond with the cam and ball shafts. While aluminium and PEO-aluminium have particular advantages, other substrate and dielectric materials can be used. 
       FIG. 4  shows the component parts of the insert in the preferred embodiment. As described above in relation to  FIG. 5 , a substrate is first formed having the shape required for the torque transfer fitting as described above. A plasma electrolytic oxidation coating  6  is then formed on the substrate  5 . A glue or adhesive bond layer  7  is then formed as the outer layer. This results in an integral unit forming the insert  20  that can then be fitted into place between the shafts. The thickness of the PEO coating should be such as to provide sufficient electrical insulation. PEO-aluminium coating has a dielectric strength ranging from 14.6-16.7 kV/mm. A thickness of around 300 micrometers was found to provide good insulation against voltage of 4.4 kV to 5 kV. The use of a PEO coating was found to provide high electrical resistivity and high dielectric strength. 
     The dielectric insulation insert provides electrical insulation between the dry and wet parts of the motorised ball valve assembly whilst ensuring torque transfer between the shafts of the respective parts. An adhesive layer as the outer layer of the insert ensures secure coaxial location of the insert and prevents or minimises backlash and damps vibrations. The coaxial location and the adhesive help in reducing component wear. The use of an elastic adhesive can also accommodate greater manufacturing tolerances. The use of an aluminium substrate provide superior strength properties.