Fluid regulator

Abstract

A fluid pressure regulating unit (1, 28, 35, 56, 58), comprises a fluid inlet port (3), a fluid outlet port (4), a valve means (6) and a main valve biasing means (14, 36). The main valve biasing means (14) biases said valve means (6) in the direction of an open position. An auxiliary valve biasing means (26) is provided, biasing the valve means (6) in the direction of a closed position.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is entitled to the benefit of and incorporates by reference essential subject matter disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT / DK2009 / 000208 filed on Sep. 17, 2009 and European Patent Application No. 08016555.8 filed on Sep. 19, 2008.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates to a fluid pressure regulating unit, comprising a fluid inlet port, a fluid outlet port, a valve means and a main valve biasing means, wherein said main valve biasing means biases said valve means in the direction of a first position.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Fluid regulators as such are well known in the state of the art. They are used to reduce the pressure of a fluid, entering the fluid regulator on a high pressure side, to a lower pressure level on the fluid outlet side. Preferably, the pressure on the fluid outlet side will be essentially constant. Such pressure regulating units are used, for example, for pressurized ga...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]Preferably, the fluid pressure regulating unit is designed in a way that said first position and said second position are opposing each other, in particular in that said first position corresponds to an open position and said second position corresponds to a closed position of said valve means. Using such an arrangement, the main valve biasing means can easily and effectively compensate for the forces, generated by the auxiliary valve biasing means. In particular, frictional losses or the like can be minimized. If said first position corresponds to an open position and said second position corresponds to a closed position of said valve means, the main valve biasing means usually performs an opening of the pressure regulating unit, while the auxiliary valve biasing means performs the closing of the pressure regulating unit. Of course, in usual setups of pressure regulating units the closing movement of the valve means is also performed by the influence of the fluid pressure on the fluid outlet side of the fluid pressure regulating unit. With the proposed arrangement, already existing fluid pressure regulating units can easily be adapted according to the presently suggested design. Therefore, costs can be reduced and it is even possible to provide a drop-in solution.

[0026]Another embodiment of said fluid pressure regulating unit can be achieved, if said pilot pressure applying means can be connected to a respective fluid pressure reservoir via a fluid throughput reducing means. Such a fluid throughput reducing means can be a throttle or an orifice opening, for example. Using such a device, the “consumption” of the actuating fluid can be advantageously decreased. Furthermore, it possible to provide for a “soft” changeover between different states of the valve unit, which can result in decreased wear of the fluid pressure regulating unit.

Problems solved by technology

The problem with the majority of presently existing pressure regulators is the usually high number of movable parts, necessary for the construction of the pressure regulator.

Apart from the costs involved with manufacturing and arranging a large number of movable parts, this also gives rise to vibration problems.

Such vibrations can lead to the generation of noise and a bad output pressure characteristics (i.e. randomly varying output pressure).

Another problem is that in the majority of presently available pressure reducers, the fluid, which pressure has to be reduced, has to change its moving direction several times, when flowing through the pressure regulator.

This can give rise to a slow pressure regulation response and therefore to a bad pressure output characteristics.

The output characteristics of such a pressure regulator is usually particularly bad, if the fluid input reservoir becomes exhausted and the fluid inlet pressure is getting close to the fluid outlet pressure of the pressure regulator.

However, presently existing designs of in-line pressure regulators still suffer from a number of drawbacks.

A major drawback, for example, lies in mounting the pressure regulator for the first time after delivery and in the delivery state of the pressure regulator itself.

The problem lies in particular in that the pressure regulator usually is in an open state, when delivered from the manufacturer.

This, however, can lead to the release of a too high pressure after mounting the pressure regulator.

Furthermore, the pressure regulator can suffer damages during shipment, particularly if the valve of the fluid pressure regulator is shipped in an open position.

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