Butterfly valve with water-filling function

• US 20060192167A1
• Filed: 02/03/2006
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kubota Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kubota Corporation
• Inventors: Hourai, Akinobu
• Granted Patent: US 7,490,627 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 251/305
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 1/222 Shaping of the valve member
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 1/52 Means for additional adjustment of the rate of flow
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 1/54 Arrangements for modifying the way in which the rate of flow varies during the actuation of the valve
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86743 Rotary

Abstract

A butterfly valve having a pair of disk tails provided at the back of a valve body in the rotation direction in an opening operation, a water flow hole formed in each disk tails, and a steady region found in relationship between loss factor and opening degree of the valve body where the loss factor becomes substantially constant with a change in opening degree of the valve body when water is filled from the water flow hole. Water filling velocity in an upstream pipe of the butterfly valve from the water flow hole, and pressure head upstream of the butterfly valve are set. Optimal value of the loss factor is determined based on the set water filling velocity and pressure head, and a total opening area of the water flow holes is set so that the loss factor equals the optimal value in the steady region.

Claims

1. A butterfly valve with a water-filling function, comprising:

a valve casing;

a valve casing seal disposed inside the valve casing;

a valve rod;

a valve body that rotates around a shaft center of the valve rod and comes into sliding contact with the valve casing seal at a completely closed position;

a pair of disk tail portions each provided at the back side of the valve body in a rotation direction in an opening operation of the valve body, the disk tail portions each having a spherically curved outer periphery that comes into sliding contact with the valve casing seals;

a water flow hole formed in at least one of the disk tail portions, the water flow hole having one end opened to the outer periphery of the disk tail portion and the other end opened to the back side of the valve body; and

a steady region where, in a relationship between a loss factor and an opening degree of the valve body, the loss factor stays substantially constant in value with respect to a change of the opening degree of the valve body when water is being filled from the water flow hole, wherein

water filling velocity inside an upstream pipe of the butterfly valve for filling water from the water flow hole, and pressure head upstream of the butterfly valve are set,

an optimal value of the loss factor is determined based on the set water filling velocity and the set pressure head, and

a total opening area of the water flow hole is set so that the loss factor becomes the optimal value in the steady region.

2. The butterfly valve with a water-filling function according to claim 1, wherein the water filling velocity is set to approximately 0.5 m/s and the pressure head is set to approximately 100 m, and the optimal value of the loss factor in such case is approximately 8000.

3. The butterfly valve with a water-filling function according to claim 1, wherein the water flow hole is formed in only one of the disk tail portions that turns toward the upstream side in the opening operation.