Automatic temperature and humidity regulation – Cooling radiator – Bypass
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-23
2001-02-20
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Automatic temperature and humidity regulation
Cooling radiator
Bypass
C236S053000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06189798
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermostat device provided in a circulation channel, embeds a heat responding element which expands and shrinks by detecting the heating or cooling of a circulating liquid, slides a sliding member in accordance with a volume change resulting from the expansion and shrinkage of the heat responding element and opens and closes a valve having a valve shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a thermostat device arranged in a cooling system of an internal-combustion engine and the like is configured that it provides a sensor case which embeds a heat responding element to expand and shrink by detecting a temperature change of a cooling liquid filled in a circulation channel of the cooling system, opens and closes a valve in accordance with a volume change resulting from the responding and shrinkage of the heat expansion element, and maintains the cooling liquid at a designated temperature.
FIG. 11
is a cutaway side elevational view of a circulation channel
4
which provides a thermostat device
50
having such configuration, as described in Japanese patent Laid-Open No. 7-301362. The thermostat device
50
in the figure has a pocket-type valve, and in more detail, it is consisted of a sensor case
51
which fills wax having a heat responding property, a piston guide
52
attached to a side of the sensor case
51
, a piston rod
53
inserted into the piston guide
52
in a slidable manner, a diaphragm (not shown) inserted between the piston guide
52
and the sensor case
51
, a valve body
54
fixed to the piston guide
52
, and a coil spring
55
winding around the sensor case
51
.
The thermostat device
50
having such configuration is positioned in the circulation channel
4
by being firmly fitted the tip end portion of the piston rod
53
into a fitting hole
57
bored in a flange portion
56
arranged in the circulation channel
4
.
The thermostat device
50
arranged in the circulation channel
4
has following functions. When the temperature of a cooling liquid filled in the circulation channel
4
rises, the wax (not shown) filled in the sensor case
51
is expanded by heating, which pushes up the diaphragm to cause a deformation. By the deformation of the diaphragm, a semi-free flowing liquid (not shown) filled in the piston guide
52
is pressed toward the piston rod
53
to give the piston rod
53
a pushing force.
As described above, the tip end of the piston rod
53
is firmly fitted into the fitting hole
57
of the flange portion
56
formed in the circulation channel
4
, so it pushes back the sensor case
51
against a resilient force of the coil spring
55
, helped by responding of the heat expansion wax. Thus, the piston rod
53
moves the sensor case
51
downwards in the figure in accordance with the rise in temperature of the cooling liquid. Accompanied by the move, the valve body
54
moves to actuate an open-close portion
58
of the circulation channel
4
to open direction, making possible to allow the cooling liquid to pass in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure.
FIG. 12
is a cutaway side elevational view of the circulation channel
4
which provides another conventional thermostat device
50
A. The thermostat device
50
A shown in the figure provides, similar to the thermostat device
50
above described, a sensor case
51
A which embeds a heat responding wax to expand or shrink by detecting the change in temperature of a cooling liquid filled in the circulation channel
4
in the cooling system, and has a function to keep the cooling liquid in a designated temperature by opening and closing a valve body
54
A in accordance with the volume change resulting from the expansion or the shrinkage of the wax. But on the other hand, it is a different device from the previously described device in a respect of having another function that the device provides a heating element
59
in the sensor case
51
A, the wax in the sensor case
51
A is expanded by heating with the heating element
59
, even when the cooling liquid filled in the circulation channel
4
is in low temperatures and the valve
54
A is forcibly opened to make it possible to allow the cooling liquid to pass.
As explained above, the thermostat devices
50
,
50
A adopting the conventional poppet type valve bodies
54
,
54
A are both arranged with sensing portions such as sensor cases
51
,
51
A to detect temperature of the cooling liquid in the circulation channel
4
and slide portions of the piston rods
53
,
53
A to open and close the poppet type valve bodies
54
,
54
A. As the slidable piston rods
53
,
53
A, particularly, are always put in the cooling liquid, in some cases, the cooling liquid comes in between the piston rods
53
,
53
A and the piston guides
52
,
52
A resulting to harm the sliding function, or some ingredients may corrode these members to damage the functions.
Moreover, the cooling liquid in the circulation channel can not directly engage with the sensor case, disturbed by the poppet type valve bodies, that causes the temperature sensibility of the sensor case dull and the responsivity of the thermostat device poor.
When in such situation, a smooth flow of the cooling liquid in the circulation channel
4
can not be expected and at the same time, operation of the internal-combustion engine and the like may be seriously affected.
And as the thermostat devices
50
,
50
A are using the poppet type valve bodies
54
,
54
A which provide the sensing portion and the sliding portion in the circulation channel
4
, flow resistance of the cooling liquid becomes big, and an increase of the diameter of the valve bodies
54
,
54
A is necessary to obtain a designated amount of flow. Then, size reduction of the thermostat devices
50
,
50
themselves becomes difficult, accordingly, the miniaturization of a device such as the internal-combustion engine and the like can not be achieved.
As bleeding air to fill the cooling liquid in the circulation channel
4
is carried out by operating a jiggle valve (not shown) of the thermostat, the filling efficiency is quite poor. And in case that the valve bodies
54
,
54
A of the thermostat devices
50
,
50
A are in trouble, the circulation channel
4
can not be opened or closed from the outside.
Further more, for the thermostat device
50
A which has a function to forcibly open the valve body
54
A through heat expansion of the wax in the censor case
51
A by the action of a heating element
59
, the hermeticity of an electrode
59
a
of the heating element
59
and a shield wire
59
b
for conducting current must be strictly controlled because they are placed in the circulation channel
4
. When an accident such as contact failure of the electrode
59
a
due to leakage of the cooling liquid or a break in the shield wire
59
b
is occurred, the function can not be performed and the replacement work requires much expense in time and effort.
In considering these disadvantages, the thermostat device of the present invention aims to provide a thermostat device that the sliding function is not impaired by immersion of the cooling liquid so that a good slidability is ensured, the design flexibility of the circulation channel can be improved through miniaturization, and an open-close operation of the valve can be manually performed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the disadvantages above described, in a thermostat device which imbeds a heat responding element to expand or shrink by sensing heating and cooling of a circulating liquid in a circulation channel, slides a slide member in accordance with a volume change resulting from the responding and shrinkage of the heat expansion element, and opens or closes the valve body, the thermostat device of the present invention provides a sensor case which imbeds the heat expansion element in the circulation channel of the circulating liquid, and the sliding element in the outside of the circulation channel of the circulating liquid.
Preferably the valve body can open and close
Sano Mitsuhiro
Sasaki Hidetoshi
Takahashi Masanori
Uomori Yasuharu
Nippon Thermostat Co., Ltd.
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Tapolcai William E.
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