Bayer Aktiengesellschaft

Carl Schenck Ag

Carl Schenk Ag

Klaus Buesing

Andreas Pohl

Horst Rosenfeldt

Eckhardt Wendt

A valve ( ) on the basis of electrorheological and/or magnetorheological fluids includes a fluid inlet channel ( ) connected through a valve gap ( ) to a fluid outlet channel ( ). The valve gap is filled with an electrorheological and/or magnetorheological fluid and is bounded by bounding surfaces that are embodied as electrically energizable capacitor electrodes and/or coil arrangements, whereby the field excitation thereof acts on the fluid flowing through the valve gap. At least one bounding surface of the valve gap is embodied to be movable selectively toward and away from another bounding surface, so as to superimpose a squeeze mode and a flow mode of the electrorheological and/or magnetorheological effect. The valve gap may define a meandering or spiral flow path for the fluid. In this manner, a compact valve can provide high blocking pressures and high through-flow rates.

Valve on the basis of electrorheological and/or magnetorheological fluids

A hydraulic displacement machine that can operate as a pump or a motor in connection with an electrorheologic or magnetorheologic fluid includes a housing, a rotary piston arranged to rotate within a chamber in the housing, at least one displacement vane provided on the rotary piston, a plurality of field generating elements such as capacitor plate segments and/or coil arrangements that are each individually electrically energizable and that are arranged on the two sidewalls of the housing chamber distributed around the circumferential direction, and an actuator connected to each field generating element so as to move the elements of each pair selectively closer together and farther apart from each other. By applying an appropriate electric or magnetic field to the electrorheologic or magnetorheologic fluid between the field generating elements, the fluid is locally solidified in the 'flow mode' to form a stationary seal plug within each fluid chamber between respective consecutive vanes. By moving the field generating elements of each pair closer together, the seal blockage is further solidified so as to additionally achieve a 'squeeze mode' effect in the fluid.

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Cologne, Germany

Klaus Buesing