Expansion Chamber Devices

The invention relates to expansion chamber devices.

Expansion chamber devices are often used to convert changes in fluid pressure to mechanical displacement of a machine part and vice versa in, e.g., actuators, pumps, motors, shock absorbers, springs, measuring instruments, controllers and sensors.

Bousso U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,502, Vanderjagt U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,411 and Smock U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,255 disclose rotary motion or pivoting expansion devices with multiple chambers provided by flexible walls and connected in series. Bent U.S. Pat. No. 2,452,176 discloses a linear motion expansion device with a rubber wall of an expansion chamber deflected between rigid members of matching curvature.

In general the invention features an expansion chamber device having a flexible expansion chamber wall supported between a first rigid member having a convex surface and a second rigid member that is pivotally mounted relative to the first rigid member and has a facing concave surface. As the rigid members move toward each other, the flexible wall folds over so that a portion of its inner surface changes from an expanded concave shape spaced from the first member to a contracted convex shape adjacent to the first member, and the expansion chamber region reduces in volume.

In the preferred embodiments the surfaces of the rigid members form portions of spheres; the flexible expansion chamber walls are secured to the rigid members by bonding (e.g., by adhesive) or by clamping the edges of the wall to a rigid member. In some preferred embodiments the axis of rotation passes very close to an edge of the expansion chamber region to permit large angular displacements; and a shell is provided to enclose a vacuum region through which the first rigid member moves. In other preferred embodiments there are two flexible expansion chamber walls connected by a ring and an additional rigid member that mates with both the first and second rigid members.

The structure and operation of the preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described after first briefly describing the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vacuum actuated, pivotal motion expansion device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the FIG. 1 device.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken at 3--3 of FIG. 2, of the FIG. 1 device.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of a pivotal motion expansion device according to the invention in one operative position.

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view of the FIG. 4 device in another operative position.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the FIG. 4 device, reduced in scale from FIGS. 5 and 6.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, there is shown vacuum actuated, pivotal motion expansion device 10 employing fixed hemispherical rigid member 12 sealably connected to outer shell 14 and base 16. Movable hemispherical rigid member 26 is mounted for pivoting about axis 18 via arc-shaped connector 20, horizontal connectors 22 and radial connectors 24. Lever arm 28 has displacement connector 30 for attaching to a moving machine part and is connected through horizontal member 32 to radial connector 24. Hemispherical flexible expansion chamber wall 34 (0.020" thick neoprene elastomer reinforced with nylon fabric embedded in the elastomer) is sealed at its perimeter between annular flanges 36, 38 of rigid member 12 and shell 14 to define expansion chamber 40 with rigid member 12 on one side and vacuum chamber 42 with shell 14 and base 16 on the other side.

Central area 44 of the convex surface of rigid member 26 has a radius of curvature that is less than that of flexible chamber wall 34 by at least the thickness of flexible wall 34; outside of this in outer area 46 of the convex surface, the radius of curvature is less than that of flexible wall 34 by three times the thickness of wall 34, to facilitate folding over of wall 34 in the areas where there is a more acute angle between folding portions of wall 34. Concave surface 48 of rigid member 20 has a radius of curvature that is the same as that of the outside of flexible wall 34. Arc-shaped connector 20 passes through hole 50 in rigid member 12. Cylindrical stop 52 is attached to base 16. Port 54 is provided through shell 14.

"Rigid" herein means that the flexible wall deforms when it is acted upon by a rigid member. Rigid members 12 and 26 have diameters of approximately five inches. These parts, shell 14, base 16 and other parts are made of metal or molded polycarbonate. Flexible chamber wall 34, has a hole through which arc-shaped connector 20 passes and is adhered to member 26 near connector 20 by adhesive, heat fusion, or other means.

Referring to FIGS. 4-6 there is shown pivotal motion expansion device 60 including outer rigid members 62, 64 and inner ring member 66, all pivotally connected about axis 68 via pivot arms 70, 72, 74. Sealably connected between ring member 66 and outer clamp 78 are hemispherical flexible walls 80, 82 (made of the same material as wall 34). Hemispherical wall 80 is supported by convex surface 84 of rigid member 62, and hemispherical flexible wall 82 is supported by concave surface 86 and convex surface 88 of rigid member 64. Rigid member 62 has displacement connector 90, and rigid member 64 has displacement connector 92. Convex surface 84 is shaped to mate with flexible wall 80 and concave surface 94 of ring 76. To facilitate foldover of wall 80, the radius of curvature of convex surface 84 is made less than the interior curvature of flexible wall 80 by at least the flexible wall thickness. Similarly convex surface 88 is shaped to mate with flexible wall 82 and concave surface 96 of ring 76. To facilitate foldover of wall 82, the radius of curvature of convex surface 88 is made less than the interior curvature of flexible wall 82 by at least the flexible wall thickness. Concave surface 86 is similarly shaped to mate with flexible wall 82 and convex surface 84 and flexible wall 80 in its central area, and its radius of curvature is greater than the interior curvature of wall 82 by the thickness of the flexible wall. Referring to FIG. 6 it is seen that arms 70, 72, 74 pivot about shaft 96, and outer clamp 78 is made of two pieces 98, 100 fastened together. Port 102 passes through outer rigid member 62 and flexible wall 80.

In the operation of the FIGS. 1-3 device, displacement connector 30 is connected to a moving machine part, and base 16 is secured to another part of the machine. A decrease in pressure in chamber 42 caused by activation of a vacuum source connected to port 54 causes counterclockwise displacement of rigid member 26, flexible wall 34 rolling off of convex surfaces 44, 46 of rigid member 26, reversing its curvature without harmful stretch or distortion, because the walls are made of flexible material, and the shapes of the flexible walls and the rigid members are almost the same. In FIG. 3, rigid member 26 is shown after having travelled most of the way from its initial position adjacent to rigid member 12 to its final position against stop 52. During pivoting of rigid member 26, lever arm 28 similarly pivots. After deactivation of the vacuum, lever arm 28 and rigid member 26 are returned to their initial positions by, e.g., a spring (not shown), and flexible wall 34 rolls onto convex surfaces 44, 46, reversing its curvature once again. Because pivot axis 18 is near the edge of expansion chamber region 40, large angular displacement is provided. Also, the pivotal connection acts to align the members with a small amount of friction, making the device very sensitive to pressure changes, and without the necessity of sliding guide members or of guide members passing through the expansion chambers as with many linear motion expansion chamber devices.

In operation of the FIGS. 4-6 device, increases in pressure communicated through port 102 to expansion chamber 104 cause rigid members 62, 64 to diverge, flexible walls 80, 82 rolling off of surfaces 84, 88 without stretch or distortion. Rigid members 62, 64 are then brought back together using, e.g., a spring, (not shown). FIG. 5 shows the members near their fully closed positions. An important feature of the FIGS. 4-6 design is that there is complete contraction without an acute folding angle because of ring member 88.

Other embodiments in the invention are within the scope of the appended claims. For example, other materials can be used for the flexible expansion chamber walls, and other shapes in addition to spherical shapes can be used. Different materials such as other plastics or metals could be used for the rigid members. Also, instead of converting changes in fluid pressure to displacement of a moving machine part, the devices could be used to convert displacement of a machine part to changes in fluid pressure.