阅读说明：本技术 控制器 (Controller ) 是由 石桥圭介 山路道雄 药师神忠幸 小原俊治 小林圭吾 于 2018-03-27 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供一种能够高精度控制高压流体流量的小型控制器。在驱动装置(3)的动作轴(43)与阀杆(15)之间,设有将动作轴(43)承受的力放大并向阀杆传递的动力传递装置(4)。作为阀芯的隔膜(14)为金属制,能够变形为流体通路(12b)全闭的状态、流体通路(12b)全开的状态和流体通路(12b)部分打开的状态。驱动装置(3)在流体通路(12b)部分打开的状态下,基于在流体通路(12a、12b)流动的流体的流量,对动作轴(43)的位置进行微调,以使流量恒定。(A small-sized controller capable of controlling a flow rate of a high-pressure fluid with high accuracy is provided. A power transmission device (4) for amplifying the force received by the operating shaft (43) and transmitting the amplified force to the valve stem is provided between the operating shaft (43) of the drive device (3) and the valve stem (15). A diaphragm (14) as a valve body is made of metal and can be deformed into a state in which a fluid passage (12b) is fully closed, a state in which the fluid passage (12b) is fully opened, and a state in which the fluid passage (12b) is partially opened. The drive device (3) finely adjusts the position of the operating shaft (43) so that the flow rate is constant, based on the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the fluid passages (12a, 12b), in a state in which the fluid passage (12b) is partially open.)

1. a controller, comprising:

A valve housing provided with a fluid passage;

A diaphragm that opens and closes the fluid passage by coming into contact with or separating from an annular valve seat provided in the valve housing;

A valve rod which deforms the diaphragm in an opening direction or a closing direction by changing a position; and

A drive device that moves a position of the valve stem,

A power transmission device for amplifying the force received by the operating shaft and transmitting the amplified force to the valve rod is provided between the operating shaft of the drive device and the valve rod, and the diaphragm is made of metal and is deformable to a state in which the fluid passage is fully closed, a state in which the fluid passage is fully opened, and a state in which the fluid passage is partially opened,

The drive device adjusts the position of the operation shaft so that the flow rate is constant based on the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the fluid passage in a state where the fluid passage is partially opened.

2. The controller of claim 1,

The driving device is a pneumatic cylinder device, including:

A cylinder having a recess opened at one end side;

A cylinder head that closes an opening of the cylinder block;

A piston disposed in the recess of the cylinder;

A rod fixed to a distal end side of the piston and pressing the operation shaft; and

A diaphragm having a central portion fixed to the piston and a peripheral portion fixed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head, a folded portion provided between the two fixing portions,

The compressed air supplied between the cylinder head and the diaphragm presses the piston via the diaphragm, thereby moving the rod.

3. The controller according to claim 1 or 2,

the fluid pathway includes:

A central passage having an opening surrounded by the valve seat and facing a central portion of the diaphragm; and

an outer passage having an opening radially outward of the valve seat and facing the vicinity of an outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm,

the outer passage serves as an inlet passage for the fluid, and the central passage serves as an outlet passage for the fluid.

4. The controller of claim 3,

the diameter of the central passage is less than or equal to the diameter of the outer passage.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a controller capable of controlling a flow rate of a fluid, and more particularly, to a controller suitable for use with a high-pressure fluid.

background

In the field of semiconductor manufacturing, in order to prevent generation of particles, it is preferable to use a diaphragm valve that opens and closes a flow path by deformation of a metal diaphragm as a controller.

As a diaphragm valve suitable for use with a high-pressure fluid, patent document 1 discloses a configuration including: a valve housing provided with a fluid passage; a diaphragm that opens and closes the fluid passage by coming into contact with or separating from an annular valve seat provided in the valve housing; a valve rod which deforms the diaphragm in an opening direction or a closing direction by changing a position; and a power transmission device which is arranged between the valve rod and an action shaft of the driving device, amplifies the force received by the action shaft and transmits the amplified force to the valve rod.

The controller of patent document 1 is an on-off valve that is opened or closed, and cannot control the flow rate of the fluid. As a diaphragm valve for controlling a flow rate of a fluid, patent document 2 discloses a structure in which a piezoelectric element is used in an actuator to control a flow rate of the fluid, but the actuator using the piezoelectric element cannot obtain a thrust force necessary for closing the valve and is not suitable for use in a high-pressure fluid.

Disclosure of Invention

Neither of patent documents 1 and 2 is suitable for flow rate control of a high-pressure fluid, and there is no controller for controlling the flow rate of a high-pressure fluid in the related art. Further, a conventional controller for controlling the flow rate of a fluid has a large-scale structure, and miniaturization thereof is desired.

The invention aims to provide a small-sized controller capable of controlling the flow rate of high-pressure fluid with high precision.

The controller of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a valve housing provided with a fluid passage; a diaphragm that opens and closes the fluid passage by coming into contact with or separating from an annular valve seat provided in the valve housing; a valve rod which deforms the diaphragm in an opening direction or a closing direction by changing a position; and a driving device that moves a position of the valve rod, wherein a power transmission device that amplifies a force received by the operating shaft and transmits the amplified force to the valve rod is provided between an operating shaft of the driving device and the valve rod, the diaphragm is made of metal and is deformable to a fully closed state of the fluid passage, a fully open state of the fluid passage, and a partially open state of the fluid passage, and the driving device adjusts the position of the operating shaft based on a flow rate of a fluid flowing through the fluid passage so that the flow rate is constant in the partially open state of the fluid passage.

The drive means is preferably, for example, a pneumatic cylinder device, the control of which is performed by an electric air pressure regulator that steplessly controls the air pressure in proportion to an electric signal.

the power transmission device includes, for example: a housing; a conical first supporting roller member 1 integrally provided on the operation shaft; a 2 nd backup roller member integrally provided on the valve stem; a pair of roller supporting bodies arranged between the two supporting roller members; a pair of rotating rollers which are abutted with the conical surfaces arranged on the 1 st supporting roller component; and a pair of press rollers which are in contact with the support roller surfaces of the 2 nd support roller member, wherein each roller support body is supported by the housing (an example of an amplification type power transmission device) so as to be capable of swinging around a shaft which is closer to the axial line side of the 1 st support roller member with respect to the axial line of the press roller. By adopting the amplification type, the thrust can be reduced, and the controller can be miniaturized.

The controller can be used for various purposes, and is particularly suitable for use in a case where a high-pressure fluid is used as the fluid and a minute stroke control is required.

A conventional controller using an amplification type power transmission device can be opened and closed, but cannot adjust the opening degree of the diaphragm based on the flow rate of the fluid. In the case of controlling the flow rate of the high-pressure fluid, it is necessary to control the minute movement amount of the valve rod, which cannot be achieved by the conventional controller, and by using the amplification type power transmission device, the valve rod can be moved against the high pressure, and the resolution can be increased even with a small stroke, so that the minute movement amount of the valve rod can be controlled. Further, by combining the power transmission device and a driving device that adjusts the position of the operating shaft based on the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the fluid passage, it is possible to achieve highly accurate flow rate control of the high-pressure fluid. This makes it possible to obtain a high-precision controller (high-pressure fluid flow rate adjustment valve) that has not been realized in the past.

Said drive means, preferably pneumatic cylinder means, comprise: a cylinder having a recess opened at one end side; a cylinder head that closes an opening of the cylinder block; a piston disposed in the recess of the cylinder; a rod fixed to a distal end side of the piston and pressing the operation shaft; and a diaphragm having a central portion fixed to the piston and a peripheral portion fixed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head, a folded portion being provided between the two fixing portions, and the rod being moved by compressed air supplied between the cylinder head and the diaphragm pressing the piston through the diaphragm.

By combining the amplification type power transmission device with a driving device using a diaphragm having a turn-back portion, the opening degree of the diaphragm for opening and closing the fluid passage can be adjusted within a range of 0.6mm or less.

Preferably, the fluid path comprises: a central passage having an opening surrounded by the valve seat and facing a central portion of the diaphragm; and an outer passage having an opening radially outward of the valve seat and facing the vicinity of an outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm, the outer passage serving as an inlet passage for the fluid, and the central passage serving as an outlet passage for the fluid.

That is, while the conventional center passage serves as an inlet passage and the outer passages serve as outlet passages, the outer passages serve as inlet passages and the center passage serves as an outlet passage, so that even with high-pressure fluid, the fluid passages can be prevented from being opened rapidly.

Preferably, the diameter of the central passage is equal to or smaller than the diameter of the outer passage.

In the conventional center passage and outer passage, a large diameter is used to increase the flow rate, and the diameter of the center passage is substantially the same as the diameter of the outer passage. In contrast, by reducing the diameter of the central passage, which is the outlet passage, the Cv value can be set to, for example, 0.035, and in this way, a controller having a Cv value of 0.0005 to 0.035 and a diaphragm stroke of 0.002 to 0.2mm, which has not been achieved in the past, can be obtained.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the controller of the present invention, the valve rod can be moved against a high pressure by using the amplification type power transmission device, and the control of the minute movement amount of the valve rod can be realized. In addition, miniaturization can be achieved.

drawings

fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a controller according to the present invention, and is a view showing a state in which a fluid passage is opened.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a state in which the valve stem is moved from fig. 1 to close the fluid passage.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a main portion of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a main portion of fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a detailed configuration of the driving device.

Description of the reference numerals

1: controller

2: valve body

3: drive device

4: power transmission device

11: valve box

12: 1 st fluid pathway

12 b: central passage

13: 2 nd fluid passage

13 b: outer passage

14: diaphragm

15: valve rod

21: cylinder body

21 a: concave part

22: cylinder cover

23: piston

25: diaphragm

25 a: fold-back part

26: rod

Detailed Description

In the following description, the upper, lower, left and right refer to the upper, lower, left and right of the drawings. The up-down and left-right are expressions used for convenience of explanation, and there are cases where the up-down is reversed or the up-down is horizontal when the controller is installed.

Fig. 1 and 2 show a controller according to the present invention, and the controller 1 includes a valve main body 2, a drive device 3, and a power transmission device 4 provided between the valve main body 2 and the drive device 3.

The valve main body 2 includes: a valve box 11 in which 1 st and 2 nd fluid passages 12 and 13 are formed; a diaphragm 14 that opens and closes communication between the fluid passages 12 and 13; a valve stem 15 that deforms the diaphragm 14 in the opening direction or the closing direction; and a cylinder head 16 mounted on the valve housing 11 by a nut 17.

the valve box 11 is made of SUS316L, and has a recess 11a opened upward. The 1 st fluid passage 12 is composed of a large-diameter passage 12a opened on the left side, and a central passage 12b connected to the right end of the large-diameter passage 12a and opened at the center of the bottom surface of the recess 11a, wherein the diameter of the central passage 12b is smaller than that of the large-diameter passage 12 a. The 2 nd fluid passage 13 is composed of a large-diameter passage 13a opened in the right direction and an outer passage 13b connected to the left end of the large-diameter passage 13a and opened in the right portion of the bottom surface of the recess 11a, wherein the outer passage 13b has a smaller diameter than the large-diameter passage 13 a.

The fluid flows in from the large-diameter passage 13a of the 2 nd fluid passage 13 and flows out from the large-diameter passage 12a of the 1 st fluid passage 12.

The valve housing 11 is provided with an annular valve seat 18 so as to surround the opening of the central passage 12b of the 1 st fluid passage 12. By projecting the valve seat 18 upward, an annular passage 11b communicating with the outer passage 13b of the 2 nd fluid passage 13 is formed in the valve housing 11 on the outer periphery of the valve seat 18.

the diaphragm 14 is made of metal and has a spherical shell shape, and a convex arc shape is a natural state. The peripheral edge of the diaphragm 14 is supported by the projecting outer peripheral edge of the bottom surface of the recess 11a of the valve housing 11, and is pressed from above by the pressing adapter 19 and fixed to the valve housing 11. The center portion of the diaphragm 14 is pressed downward by a disk portion 20 fixed to the lower end portion of the valve stem 15, and the disk portion 20 is held at an open position at a predetermined opening degree by adjusting the vertical position thereof. In this embodiment, the controller 1 is of a normally open type, and can obtain a closed state in which the central portion of the diaphragm 14 is strongly pressed by the valve seat 18 when the driving device 3 is operated.

The diaphragm 14 is made of, for example, a nickel alloy thin plate, is cut into a circular shape, and is formed into a spherical shell shape with a central portion bulging upward. The diaphragm 14 is made of a stainless steel thin plate or a laminate of a stainless steel thin plate and a nickel/cobalt alloy thin plate.

The valve box 11 can be heated by a heater to prevent freezing or the like, and the length of the valve rod 15 is set so as not to affect the heating of the drive device 3.

The driving means 3 are pneumatic cylinder means, as shown in fig. 5, comprising: a cylinder 21 having a recess 21a opened upward; a cylinder head 22 having a recess 22a that faces the recess 21a of the cylinder block 21 and opens downward, and abutting against the cylinder block 21 and fixed thereto by bolts (not shown); a piston 23 disposed in the two recesses 21a, 22a of the cylinder block 21 and the cylinder head 22 so as to be movable up and down; and a diaphragm 25, an edge portion (inner peripheral edge portion) of the central through hole of which is fixed to the upper surface of the piston 23 via a holding body 24, and an outer peripheral edge portion of which is fixed between the cylinder head 22 and the piston 23.

The piston 23 is formed of a steel band and includes a top wall 23a having a through hole in the center thereof and a cylindrical peripheral wall 23 b. A rod 26 that moves integrally with the piston 23 is fixed to a lower surface (tip end side) of a top wall 23a of the piston 23. The rod 26 is cylindrical and includes a bottom wall 26a and a peripheral wall 26b, and is inserted into a through hole 21c provided in the bottom wall 21b of the cylinder 21, and a lower portion of the bottom wall 26a protrudes downward from the lower surface of the cylinder 21.

A compression coil spring 27 for biasing the piston 23 upward is disposed between the bottom wall 21b of the cylinder 21 and the piston 23.

A cylindrical guide portion 28 for guiding the rod 26 is inserted through a through hole in the center of the top wall 23a of the piston 23 and a through hole in the center of the diaphragm 25, is disposed so as to be positioned inside the peripheral wall 26b of the rod 26, and is fixed to the cylinder head 22 by a screw 29. A gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the guide portion 28 and the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 26b of the rod 26, and a sliding bearing 30 is disposed in the gap.

A folded portion 25a is provided between two fixing portions (between an inner peripheral edge portion and an outer peripheral edge portion) of the diaphragm 25. The folded portion 25a moves between the inner periphery of the cylinder 21 and the outer periphery of the piston 23 in accordance with the movement of the piston 23, thereby ensuring the sealing property and realizing the smooth movement of the piston 23.

The cylinder head 22 is provided with a compressed air introduction passage 31, compressed air as a driving source is supplied between the cylinder head 22 and the diaphragm 25 through the compressed air introduction passage 31, and the compressed air presses the piston 23 via the diaphragm 25 to integrally move the rod 26 fixed to the tip end side of the piston 23.

The power transmission device 4 has an amplification mechanism 42 housed in the case 41, and the amplification mechanism 42 includes: an operation shaft 43 that moves up and down by the driving device 3; a conical 1 st supporting roller member 44 integrally provided at a lower end portion of the operation shaft 43; a 2 nd support roller member 45 supported on the upper surface of the valve rod 15 and moving up and down integrally with the valve rod 15; a pair of roller support bodies 46 disposed between the two support roller members 44, 45; a pair of rotating rollers 47 rotatably supported by the roller support bodies 46 and abutting against tapered surfaces 44a provided on the 1 st supporting roller member 44; and a pair of press rollers 48 rotatably supported by the roller support bodies 46 and abutting against the horizontal support roller surfaces 45a of the 2 nd support roller member 45.

each roller support body 46 is swingable about an eccentric shaft 49 supported by the housing 41, wherein the eccentric shaft 49 has an axis close to the axial side of the 1 st supporting roller member 44 with respect to the axis of the pressing roller 48.

In the power transmission device 4, when the force received by the operating shaft 43 is F and the half angle of the tapered surface 44a of the 1 st backup roller member 44 is α, a force acts on the rotating roller 47 in the direction perpendicular to the tapered surface 44a, and the force G acting on one of the front and rear rotating rollers 47 is G ═ F ÷ 2Sin α.

The force G acting on the rotating roller 47 is transmitted to the 2 nd support roller member 45 via the roller support body 46 and the pressing roller 48.

Assuming that the distance between the axis of the eccentric shaft 49 and the axis of the rotating roller 47 is C, the angle formed by the line connecting the axis of the rotating roller shaft 47 and the axis of the eccentric shaft 49 and the tapered surface 44a of the 1 st backup roller member 44 is γ, the horizontal distance between the axis of the pressing roller 48 and the axis of the eccentric shaft 49 is δ, and the downward force with which the 2 nd backup roller member 45 is pressed by one of the left and right pressing rollers 48 is N, N × δ is satisfied. Therefore, the downward force with which the left and right pressing rollers 48 press the 2 nd support roller member 45, that is, the downward force with which the valve stem 15 is pressed is 2N ═ F × Cos γ × C ÷ Sin α ÷ δ, and α, γ, δ, and C are set to appropriate values, whereby the force received by the operating shaft 43 can be amplified at an arbitrary amplification factor (Cos γ × C ÷ Sin α ÷ δ) and transmitted to the valve stem 2.

for example, if α is 40 °, γ is 25 °, C is 12.5, and δ is 1.5, the amplification rate is about 12 times, the diaphragm 14 can be pressed with a large force of about 12 times, and when the pressure is about 20MPa, for example, a force of 300kgf is required, and the flow rate can be controlled with a force of 1/12 times the pressure. Therefore, even in the case of a high-pressure fluid, the diaphragm 14 is prevented from being pushed up by the fluid and from flowing in and out beyond a set value.

In the above description, fig. 1 of fig. 1 and 2 shows the opened state, the amount of downward projection of the rod 26 from the lower surface of the cylinder 21 is relatively small, and accordingly, the operating shaft 43 is located at the upper position, the upper end portions of the roller support bodies 46 approach each other, and the 2 nd support roller member 45 is located at the upper position. Fig. 2 shows a closed state in which the amount of downward projection of the rod 26 from the lower surface of the cylinder 21 is relatively large, and the operating shaft 43 is positioned at the lower position, so that the upper end portions of the roller support bodies 46 are separated from each other, and the 2 nd support roller member 45 is positioned below. As is clear from a comparison between fig. 1 and 2, the stroke movement of the valve rod 15 and the disk part 20 can be made small with respect to the large stroke of the operating shaft 43.

fig. 3 and 4 are enlarged views of essential parts of fig. 1 and 2, with fig. 3 showing an open state corresponding to fig. 1 and fig. 4 showing a closed state corresponding to fig. 2. In fig. 1 and 2, the vertical movement of the rod 26 of the driving device 3 and the change of the power transmission device 4 are obvious, but the open/closed state is difficult to see, and as shown enlarged as in fig. 3 and 4, the change is made to the state of fig. 3 in which the valve stem 15 and the disk part 20 are relatively positioned at the upper position and the diaphragm 14 is deformed so as to open the opening of the central passage 12b of the 1 st fluid passage 12, and the state of fig. 4 in which the valve stem 15 and the disk part 20 are relatively positioned at the lower position and the diaphragm 14 is deformed so as to close the opening of the central passage 12b of the 1 st fluid passage 12.

In the open state, the fluid flows between the diaphragm 14 and the bottom surface of the recess 11a of the valve housing 11 through the large-diameter passage 13a of the 2 nd fluid passage 13, the outer passage 13b of the 2 nd fluid passage 13, and the annular passage 11b on the outer periphery of the valve seat 18, and flows out to the outside through the central passage 12b of the 1 st fluid passage 12 and the large-diameter passage 12a of the 1 st fluid passage 12. The flow rate of the fluid is fed back through an electropneumatic regulator, not shown, and the valve stem 15 and the disk part 20 are controlled so as to move downward, which decreases the flow rate, when the flow rate increases, and so as to move upward, which increases the flow rate, when the flow rate decreases, so that an appropriate flow rate is maintained.

Here, in the conventional controller, the 1 st fluid passage 12 is an inlet passage and the 2 nd fluid passage 13 is an outlet passage, whereas in the controller 1 described above, the 2 nd fluid passage 13 is used as the inlet passage and the 1 st fluid passage 12 is used as the outlet passage. Thus, in the conventional controller, high pressure acts on the central portion (small-area portion) of the diaphragm 14 facing the opening of the central passage 12b of the 1 st fluid passage 12, and when the controller is in an open state, high-pressure fluid instantaneously flows into the opening of the outer passage 13b of the 2 nd fluid passage 13 through the outer peripheral portion (large-area portion) of the diaphragm 14 facing the annular passage 11b, the fluid passages are rapidly opened, and cannot be adjusted to a predetermined flow rate, whereas in the controller 1, the fluid flow rate is adjusted by always receiving pressure at the outer peripheral portion (large-area portion) of the diaphragm 14, and therefore even if high-pressure fluid is used, the fluid passages are prevented from being rapidly opened, and fluid is instantaneously flows in, and cannot be adjusted to a predetermined flow rate.

When the fluid is at a high pressure, the flow rate varies greatly due to the small vertical movement amount of the stem 15 and the disk part 20, but in the controller 1, the stem 15 is moved against the high pressure by the amplification mechanism 42 provided in the power transmission device 4 with a large force set based on the amplification factor to press the diaphragm 14 downward, and the vertical movement amount of the stem 15 and the disk part 20 is reduced to 1/amplification factor of the vertical movement amount of the stem 26 of the driving device, so that high-precision control can be achieved.

By using the amplification type power transmission device 4 and the drive device 3 as the air cylinder block device as described above, it is possible to control the flow rate of the high-pressure fluid with high accuracy and to reduce the size.

industrial applicability

According to the present invention, since a controller suitable for controlling the flow rate of a fluid when a high-pressure fluid is used can be obtained, it contributes to improvement in accuracy in the field of manufacturing using a high-pressure fluid.