CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202110421591.X with a filing date of Apr. 20, 2021. The content of the aforementioned application, including any intervening amendments thereto, are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of gas pressure regulations, and in particular to a gas pressure regulating device.

BACKGROUND

Gas pressure regulator (also known as gas pressure regulating valve) is a straight-rod type or lever-type device which regulates pressure by pressure difference feedback control. Gas in a gas cylinder is liquefied at a high-pressure and thus must be depressurized before being introduced into a gas stove for combustion. The working principle is as follows: a high-pressure medium is injected into a larger cavity for depressurization through an aperture, and the depressurization is actually realized by interception. One of two sides of a diaphragm or piston is an outlet cavity and the other receives a pressure applied by human. Further, a valve stein controlling the size of the aperture is connected with the diaphragm (piston). In this way, once under a constant pressure, a pressure of the outlet cavity will be always equal to the constant pressure. The constant pressure may be supplied by a spring or gas source or hydraulic source.

The gas pressure regulator functions to depressurize high-pressure gas in a gas cylinder into a low-pressure gas suitable for a gas stove. The pressure in a gas cylinder will gradually decrease along with consumption of gas. Taking American standard as an example, it states that a gas pressure regulator must meet the followings: the input pressure of gas cylinder is in the range of 25-250 PSI and the final outlet pressure is in the range of 2.4-3.0 kPa. In order to satisfy product requirements, large-power gas pressure regulators usually adopt a dual-cavity structure, that is, the gas is depressurized twice from input to output for use.FIG. 1shows a structure of an existing pressure regulator. In the existing structure, two levels of depressurization mechanisms are of diaphragm structure, and regulation mechanisms110in linkage with a diaphragm100are all lever mechanisms comprising various types of parts.

Therefore, the existing pressure regulators have the following disadvantages.

1. The existing product is large in volume and high in raw material costs.

2. Due to complexity of gas circuit of housing of the existing product, more manufacturing procedures with high requirements have to be adopted which adversely affects the control of product quality.

3. The existing product has many parts, and their purchase cost and assembly cost are both high.

4. The existing product has more possible leakage points which bring higher gas leakage possibility. Especially, a high-pressure diaphragm (rubber) of a first-level pressure regulation structure bears a relatively high-pressure, and is large in area and easy to break. Further, there is a high risk that gas leaks from a breathing hole of an upper cover body.

5. In the existing products, it is required to fixedly rivet the high-pressure diaphragm between a housing and an upper cover, resulting in a possibility of leakage risk.

SUMMARY

The present invention aims to solve one of technical problems in related art at least to some extent: provided is a gas pressure regulating device comprising two levels of depressurization mechanisms, which is simple in structure and fewer in parts. Further, the device is capable of effectively reducing the risk of occurrence of dangerous accidents such as product leakage due to failure of parts, thereby effectively guaranteeing stability and accuracy of pressure regulation performance.

For this purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: provided is a gas pressure regulating device comprising a housing. A gas inlet and a gas outlet are disposed on the housing respectively, a first mounting cavity in communication with the gas inlet is disposed at an end of the housing and a level-1 depressurization mechanism is disposed in the first mounting cavity; a second mounting cavity in communication with the gas outlet is disposed at the other end of the housing, the first mounting cavity is in communication with the second mounting cavity through a valve port, and a level-2 depressurization mechanism is disposed in the second mounting cavity to control the openness of a valve port.

The level-1 depressurization mechanism comprises a sliding sleeve. A gas inlet connector is disposed at the gas inlet end of the housing, an end of the gas inlet connector extends into the first mounting cavity to form a mounting tubing, and the sliding sleeve is slidably assembled between an outer wall of the mounting tubing and an inner wall of the first mounting cavity; an end of the sliding sleeve is slidably sleeved around the mounting tube, and a driving component for driving the sliding sleeve to slide toward the gas outlet is disposed in the first mounting cavity; the other end of the sliding sleeve is provided with a gas discharge orifice and a sealing gasket, and the gas inlet connector is in communication with the first mounting cavity through the gas discharge orifice; when the driving component drives the sliding sleeve to slide to a set position toward the gas outlet, the gas discharge orifice has the largest openness; after a pressure inside the first mounting cavity increases, the sliding sleeve slides toward the gas inlet connector, and the gas discharge orifice has a smaller openness, and when the sliding sleeve moves toward the gas inlet connector until the sealing gasket is pressed on an end face of the gas inlet connector, the gas discharge orifice is closed.

The present invention has the following advantages compared to the prior art.

1. One sliding sleeve structure is disposed in the first mounting cavity of the housing, the gas inlet connector is connected at an end of the housing, and the sliding sleeve is slidably fitted in a gap between the gas inlet connector and the inner sidewall of the housing to guarantee axial stable slide. By sliding the sliding sleeve axially, the openness of the gas discharge orifice can be adjusted. This sliding sleeve type pressure regulating mechanism replaces the existing lever type structure, reducing the number of product parts and assembling procedures of the parts. Therefore, the costs are effectively reduced and the production efficiency is improved.

2. Due to the smaller number of product parts and the lower safety risk of part defects and assembling error, the safety performance and pressure regulation stability of the product can be effectively improved.

3. With the disposal of the sliding sleeve structure, the entire structure is more compact, smaller in volume, and lower in consumption of raw materials. Further, the structure can improve the production efficiency and lower the production costs.

As an improvement, the driving component is a first pressure regulation spring. Both ends of the first pressure regulation spring are connected with the gas inlet connector and the sliding sleeve respectively. A sealing ring is disposed between an outer wall of the mounting tubing and an inner wall of the sliding sleeve and between an outer wall of the sliding sleeve and an inner wall of the mounting cavity respectively. In this structure, the first pressure regulation spring is adopted as the driving component for driving the sliding sleeve to move. The driving component is simple in structure and stable in drive and can enable the sliding sleeve to always have a resetting trend of sliding toward the gas outlet.

As a further improvement, a limiting step is convexly disposed at an inner sidewall of the pressure regulation cavity, and a limiting portion is disposed at an end of the sliding sleeve close to the gas outlet. When the gas discharge orifice has the largest openness, the limiting portion and the limiting step are abutted against each other. This structure is mainly used to limit a sliding stroke of the sliding sleeve so as to prevent the sliding sleeve from disengaging from the mounting tubing under the elastic action of the pressure regulation spring.

As a further improvement, an annular boss for sleeving the first pressure regulation spring is disposed at an outer sidewall of the mounting tubing. When an end of the first pressure regulation spring is sleeved on the annular boss, the other end of the first pressure regulation spring is held against a radial middle position of an annular end face of the sliding sleeve. This improved structure increases the stability of the first pressure regulation spring and also makes the first pressure regulation spring have a stable driving force for the sliding sleeve, thus ensuring more stable axial slide of the sliding sleeve.

As a further improvement, a cross section of the sealing gasket is shaped like “T”, a mounting hole is disposed at a sidewall of the end of the sliding sleeve close to the gas outlet, one end of the sealing gasket is parallel to an gas outlet end face of the gas inlet connector, and the other end of the sealing gasket is cooperatively inserted into the mounting hole. This improved structure helps the sealing gasket to be more stably mounted. When in a valve closing state, it is guaranteed that the sealing gasket has stable sealing for the port of the mounting tubing, avoiding occurrence of leakage.

As a further improvement, the level-2 depressurization mechanism comprises a diaphragm assembly, a first supporting point, a second supporting point and a second pressure regulation spring. The first supporting point is disposed at a position that is on a lower end of the second mounting cavity and close to the valve port, and the second supporting point is disposed at a position that is on an upper end of the second mounting cavity and opposite to the first supporting point; one end of the diaphragm assembly passes through a passage between the first supporting point and the second supporting point to connect at a sidewall of one end of the second mounting cavity, and the other end of the diaphragm assembly is connected to a sidewall of the other end of the second mounting cavity; the end of the diaphragm assembly close to the valve port may rotate around the first supporting point or the second supporting point to realize the openness adjustment to the valve port, and the pressure regulation spring is disposed between the end of the diaphragm assembly away from the valve port and the upper end face of the second mounting cavity.

As a further improvement, a mounting step is disposed at an end of the lower end of the second mounting cavity close to the gas inlet and the valve port is disposed convexly at one end of the mounting step close to the gas inlet, and the first supporting point is convexly disposed at the other end of the mounting step. In this improved structure, a corresponding mounting step is disposed in a lower housing, so that the valve port and the first supporting point can be processed more conveniently, ensuring more flexible rotation of the diaphragm assembly and more stable pressure regulation.

As a further improvement, the first supporting point and the second supporting point are staggeredly disposed along a gas incoming direction, and the second supporting point is located between the valve port and the first supporting point along the gas incoming direction. In this improved structure, the first supporting point and the second supporting point are staggeredly designed such that the diaphragm assembly is capable of rotating upward or downward in an optimal state.

As a further improvement, the diaphragm assembly comprises a rubber diaphragm and a diaphragm cushion. The diaphragm cushion is covered on the top of the rubber diaphragm; an area of the diaphragm cushion is smaller than an area of the rubber diaphragm, and a circumferential outer edge of the rubber diaphragm is connected to the sidewall of the second mounting cavity. In this structure, the rubber diaphragm is mainly used to realize pressure transfer between upper and lower regions of the pressure regulation cavity as well as a pressure balancing effect, and the diaphragm cushion is used to support the rubber diaphragm to help the entire diaphragm assembly to rotate around a corresponding supporting point.

As a further improvement, a limiting boss is convexly disposed at a lower surface of an end of the diaphragm cushion close to the gas outlet and a limiting groove mated with the limiting boss is disposed on the rubber diaphragm. At least one locating assembly is disposed between the rubber diaphragm and the diaphragm cushion. This improved structure makes the rubber diaphragm and the diaphragm cushion more structurally stable after they are assembled, and enables the entire diaphragm assembly to rotate around a corresponding supporting point more stably and more flexibly.

As a further improvement, the locating assembly comprises a locating column integrally formed on the rubber diaphragm, and a locating hole mated with the locating column is disposed on the diaphragm cushion. In this improved structure, the locating structure is simple in structure, stable in locating, easy to process and lower in costs.

As a further improvement, the circumferential outer edge of a side of the diaphragm cushion away from the rubber diaphragm is folded up to form a retaining rim and a reinforcing protrusion rib is disposed inside the retaining rim on the diaphragm cushion. In this structure, the retaining rim and the reinforcing protrusion rib are used to effectively improve the structural strength of the diaphragm cushion, thereby ensuring the entire diaphragm assembly can rotate around a corresponding supporting point stably.

As a further improvement, a first locating groove is formed by recessing a side of the limiting boss away from the rubber diaphragm, a second locating groove corresponding to the first locating groove is disposed on the upper end face of the second mounting cavity, and both ends of the second pressure regulation spring are fitted into the first locating groove and the second locating grove respectively. This improved structure enables the elastic resetting piece to be mounted and located more stably and reliably, thus ensuring more smooth rotation of the diaphragm assembly.

