Control valve for an engine cooling circuit

Abstract

A control valve ( 10 ) for a fluid circulation circuit comprises a body ( 12 ) which is equipped with a fluid inlet ( 18 ) and at least two fluid outlets ( 20, 22 and 24 ) and which delimits a cylindrical housing for an adjusting member ( 26 ) able to rotate about an axis of rotation (XX) and to adopt various angular positions in order to control the distribution of fluid through the outlets. The body ( 12 ) comprises an end wall ( 14 ) into which the fluid inlet ( 18 ) opens and a cylindrical side wall ( 16 ) into which the fluid outlets open at axial heights and at angular positions that are chosen with respect to the axis of rotation (XX). The rotary member ( 26 ) comprises a truncated end ( 38 ) facing toward the end wall ( 14 ), this making it possible to have control over the fluid outlets using a law defined as a function of the angular position of the rotary member in the valve body.

1 . A control valve for a fluid circulation circuit, comprising a body which is equipped with at least one fluid inlet and at least two fluid outlets, and which delimits a housing for an adjusting member able to rotate about an axis of rotation and to adopt various angular positions in order to control the distribution of fluid through the outlets, 
 wherein the body comprises an end wall into which the fluid inlet opens and a side wall into which the fluid outlets open, at axial heights and at angular positions that are chosen with respect to the axis of rotation, and wherein the adjusting member comprises a shaped part for controlling the outlets of fluids with a law defined as a function of the angular position of the rotary member in the valve body.    
     
     
         2 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the body delimits a cylindrical housing for the adjusting member, wherein the side wall is a cylindrical wall, and wherein the shaped part is a truncated end facing toward the end wall.  
     
     
         3 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the truncated end comprises a generally flat face which, with the axis of rotation, forms a chosen angle of close to 45°.  
     
     
         4 . The control valve as claimed in one of claims  2  and  3 , wherein at least one of the fluid outlets is a radial nozzle.  
     
     
         5 . The control valve as claimed in one of claims  2  and  3 , wherein at least one of the fluid outlets is a tangential nozzle.  
     
     
         6 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  5  and which comprises three fluid outlets.  
     
     
         7 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  6 , wherein the adjusting member is covered with a split ring made to rotate as one with it by a projecting lug that the adjusting member has.  
     
     
         8 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the split ring is made of a material with a low coefficient of friction.  
     
     
         9 . The control valve as claimed in one of claims  7  and  8 , wherein the split ring has an outside diameter slightly greater than the inside diameter of the valve body prior to mounting and an inside diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the adjusting member after mounting.  
     
     
         10 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 7  to  9 , wherein the split ring covers a region of the adjusting member which is equipped with circular grooves.  
     
     
         11 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  10 , wherein the truncated end of the adjusting member comprises a duct, having a chosen shape, advantageously the shape of an arc of a circle.  
     
     
         12 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  11 , wherein the adjusting member is equipped with a sealing shoe.  
     
     
         13 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the sealing shoe is mounted on a spring.  
     
     
         14 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  13 , wherein the adjusting member comprises, at the opposite end to the truncated end, two roughly diametrically opposed cylindrical wall portions for controlling one of the fluid outlets.  
     
     
         15 . The control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  14  and which comprises drive means able to drive the adjusting member by means of a drive wheel forming part of a reduction gearbox for bringing it into chosen angular positions with respect to the valve body.  
     
     
         16 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the valve comprises a microprocessor for operating the drive means.  
     
     
         17 . The control valve as claimed in one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjusting member comprises at least one internal sensor for measuring values relating to the operation of the fluid circulation circuit.  
     
     
         18 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the internal sensors are sensors that sense the presence of air in the circuit.  
     
     
         19 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the adjusting member comprises a machined duct extending over the entire length of the adjusting member, to house the sensors.  
     
     
         20 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein a first end of the sensors passes through the lower end of the adjusting member facing toward the end wall, at a chosen point, so as to be in contact with the fluid and take measurements.  
     
     
         21 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the sensors are temperature sensors and wherein the machined duct comprises a lower end made of brass, in contact with the fluid, in which to house the first end of the sensors.  
     
     
         22 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the second end of the sensors passes through the upper end of the valve toward the outside to transmit the values measured by the sensors.  
     
     
         23 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 22 , wherein the second end of the sensors is connected to information transmitting means for transmitting the values measured by the sensors to the microprocessor and/or to a computer.  
     
     
         24 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 23 , wherein the information transmitting means comprise circular electrical-contact tracks.  
     
     
         25 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 24 , wherein the information transmitting means comprise plugs connected to the circular tracks for transmitting the values originating from the sensors.  
     
     
         26 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein the circular tracks are situated on a moving part of the valve and wherein the plugs are situated on a fixed part of the valve.  
     
     
         27 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein the circular tracks are situated on a fixed part of the valve and wherein the plugs are situated on a moving part of the valve.  
     
     
         28 . The control valve as claimed in one of claims  26  and  27  taken in combination with  claim 15 , wherein the moving part of the valve is the drive wheel of the drive means.  
     
     
         29 . The control valve as claimed in  claim 23  taken in combination with  claim 16 , and which comprises a connector, connected to the information transmitting means of the valve to transmit the measured values to the microprocessor and/or to the computer.  
     
     
         30 . A fluid circulation circuit which comprises a control valve as claimed in one of  claims 1  to  31 , the fluid inlet of which is connected to a fluid source and the fluid outlets of which are connected respectively to branches of the circuit.  
     
     
         31 . The fluid circulation circuit as claimed in  claim 30  and which is produced in the form of a cooling circuit for cooling the engine of a motor vehicle, through which a coolant flows under the action of a circulation pump, this circuit being one wherein the control valve is a three-way valve, the fluid inlet of which is connected to a coolant inlet originating from the engine, and the three fluid outlets of which are connected respectively to a first branch of the circuit which contains a cooling radiator, a second branch of the circuit which constitutes a bypass of the cooling radiator, and to a third branch of the circuit which contains a unit heater for heating the cabin.