SPECIFICATION
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
GAS FUEL REGULATOR
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas fuel
regulator for regulating gas fuel to be predetermined
pressure and sending out the regulated gas fuel.
Description of the Conventional Art
As a pressure regulating mechanism of a gas fuel
regulator, a mechanism discussed in Japanese Patent No.
3594507 and illustrated in a longitudinal sectional view
in Fig. 4 is publicly known. The pressure regulating
mechanism is configured to include: a valve shaft 30
coaxially having a valve body 31, which has an inclined
surface at the top end side thereof and is formed in an
umbrella shape; a seat member 32 having a seat surface 32a
ar.d formed in a doughnut shape, where a valve hole 320 is
provided through at a center of the seat surface 32a and
the inclined surface of the valve body 31 is closely
contacted with and separa-ed from rhe seat surface 32a; a
bottomed cylindrical housing 35 for inserting and holding
the valve shaft 30; and a cylindrical body 37 internally
containing these members.
Further, an O-ring 33 as a sealing means is provided

between a seat member-providing surface at the bottom part
side of the body 37 and the top end side of the seat
member 32. Further, a flat washer 34 is provided between
a base end surface of the seat member 32 and a top end
surface of the housing 35. Furthermore, a plug 36 which
is a plug-shaped fastening member, is provided at the base
end side of the housing 35 and at an opening part of the
body 37.
An outer diameter of the seat member 32 is formed to
be smaller than a hole diameter of the body 37, in which
the seat member 32 is inserted, and a small space is
formed at the outer peripheral side of the seat member 32,
so that the seal member 32 is slidable within a
predetermined range in a direction perpendicular to an
axis of the valve shaft 30 at a time of axial alignment
the valve body 31 and the seat member 32. By taking this
configuration, when parts are assembled, the seat member
32 is fitted to the valve body 31 of the valve shaft 30
set to the housing 35 ar.d put on the valve body 31 in a
state that an axis of the valve hole 320 is adjusted to be
aligned with an axis of the valve body 31. Then, the body
37 is rotated to be assembled together with the flat
washer 34, the housing 35, and the plug 36. Finally, the
seat member 32 is pressed and fixed, at the top end side
of the housing 35, to a seat member providing surface at

the bottom side of the body 37 through the flat washer 34
by using fastening force of the plug 36.
However, in the pressure regulating mechanism of
such a conventional gas fuel regulator IB, the seat member
32 is finally, completely fixed by screw fastening force
of the plug 36. Thus, when the seat member 32 is fixed in
a state that axis displacement is caused between the valve
body 31 and the seat member 32 due to, for example,
assembling defects, the valve body 31 and the seat member
32 make an uneven contacting surface and an uneven opening
area of the valve. Thus, a valve leakage and a defective
pressure regulating performance may be caused, and a yield
may decrease due to variation in products. In addition to
this, disassembling and reassembling come to be necessary
due to the caused problem, so that operation efficiency
may decrease.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Problem to be Solved by the Invention
The present invention is to solve the aforementioned
problems, and an objective of the present invention is to
provide a pressure regulating mechanism of a gas fuel
regulator, which does not need excessive time and effort
for assembling and does not need axial alignment between a
seat member and a valve body after assembling.

Means for Solving the Problem
According to an aspect of the present invention, a
gas fuel regulator for decompressing and regulating
introduced gas fuel and sending out the gas fuel to a
downstream side includes a doughnut-shaped seat member
formed to have a valve hole through at a center, a valve
body having an inclined surface on the top end side, and a
valve shaft coaxially having the valve body and
reciprocally sliding in an axial direction according to
pressure fluctuation in a pressure regulating chamber.
The gas fuel regulator configures a pressure regulating
mechanism for uniformly maintaining pressure in the
pressure regulating chamber by closely
contacting/separating the inclined surface with/from a
seat surface formed at the valve hole opening parr and
performing valve opening and closing. In the gas fuel
regulator, the seat member is provided so that a base end
side is pressed by a predetermined pressing means and a
top end surface is brought into close contact with a seat
member-providing surface. In addition, the seat member
has a space at the outer peripheral side thereof, and is
slidable within a predetermined range in a direction
perpendicular to an axis thereof. By moving of the valve
body to the valve closing side, the inclined surface
guides sliding of the seat member in such a direction that

the axis of the seat member is aligned with an axis of the
valve body, while contacting to the seat surface side, so
that the axis of the valve body and the axis of the seat
member are aligned in a valve closing state.
Accordingly, when the seat member is provided in a
srate of being not completely fixed but semi-fixed, that
is, the seat member is slidable in a direction
perpendicular to the axis, and the valve body, an inclined
surface side of which is inserted into the valve hole of
the seat member, is moved in the valve closing direction,
the seat member can be axially aligned with respect to the
valve body. Therefore, an axial alignment: operation at a
time of assembling is not necessary, and an axial
alignment; operation after assembling is also not
necessary.
Further, the pressing means is a coil spring
provided on the base end surface of the seat member
through a spring holder. The spring holder is brought
into contact with the coil spring at the inner diameter
side of the coil spring so as to support the coil spring,
and the top end side of the spring holder contacting the
base end surface of the seat member is formed to be
smooth. By taking such the configuration, the seat member
smoothly slides in a direction perpendicular to the axis.
Further, a groove having a predetermined depth is

formed in an O-shape on the top end surface of the seat
member. An O-ring having a thickness larger than the
depth of the groove is inserted between a bottom surface
of the groove and -he seat member-providing surface. When
the spring load of the coil spring is made to be a minimum
load so that an interval between the top end surface of
the member supporting the coil spring base end side and
the base end surface of rhe seat member is made to be a
predetermined width, while the O-ring is crushed until the
top end surface of the seat member is brought into close
contact with the seat member-providing surface, the
balance between a sealing performance and a sliding
performance in the direction perpendicular to the axis of
the seat member comes to be excellent.
Furthermore, in the aforementioned gas fuel
regulator, when the seat surface of the seat member is
formed to have a longitudinal sectional shape which is
chamfered in a round shape at the valve hole opening part
side, the inclined valve body can smoothly guide the seat
member to the axially aligning direction.
Effect of the Invention
According to the present invention, the seat member
can be axially aligned with respect to the valve body by
moving of the valve body in the valve closing direction,
where the inclined surface side of the valve body is

inserted into the valve hole of the seat member. Thus, an
excessive time and effort for assembling is not necessary,
and axial alignment between the seat member and the valve
body after assembling is also not necessary.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view
mainly illustrating a pressure regulating mechanism part
in a gas fuel regulator of a present exemplary embodiment.
Fig. 2 (A) is an enlarged partial longitudinal
sectional view illustrating a state that center axial
lines of a seat member and a valve body are not aligned
before a valve closing operation in the pressure
regulating mechanism part in Fig. 1.
Fig. 2 (B) is an enlarged partial longitudinal
sectional view illustrating a state that the valve is
closed changing from the state in Fig. 2 (A) and the
center axial lines of the seat member and the valve body
are aligned.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional
view illustrating a state of supporting a valve shaft in
Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a partial longitudinal sectional view
illustrating a conventional example.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An exemplary embodiment according to the present

invention will be described below with reference to the
drawings.
Fig. 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view
mainly illustrating a pressure regulating mechanism part
in a gas fuel regulator 1A of a present exemplary
embodiment. The gas fuel regulator 1A has a similar basic
configuration to a conventional gas fuel regulator IB
illustrated in Fig. 4. The gas fuel regulator 1A includes
a doughnut-shaped seat member 12 having a valve hole 120
provided through at a center thereof, a valve body 11
having an inclined surface formed on the top end side
thereof, and a valve shaft 10 coaxially having the valve
body 11. The valve shaft 10 makes a stroke to the valve
closing side along the axial line by introducing of gas
fuel from a fuel inlet and displacement of a diaphragm 13
provided on the base end side.
Further, the base end side of the seat member 12 is
pressed by a coil spring 15 through a spring holder 14,
and the seat member 12 is semi-fixed in a state of closely
contacting to the seal member providing surface of a
bottomed cylindrical high pressure cylinder 17. Further,
the seat member 12 is formed to have a smaller diameter
than an inner diameter of the high pressure cylinder 17
ar.d have a space at the outer peripheral side, and is
slidable in a direction perpendicular to an axis thereof

by the formed space.
Then, since the spring holder 14 contacts to the
inner diameter side of the coil spring 15 and support it
(refer to Fig. 2), the spring holder 14 together with the
coil spring 15 presses the seat member 12 to the seat
member-providing surface of the high pressure cylinder 17,
and semi-fixes the seat member 12, so that the spring
holder 14 is not moved together due to frictional force at
a time when the seat member 12 slides in a perpendicular
to the axis. In addition, as the spring holder 14, it is
suggested to use a pressed material finished from a metal
plate having a plate thickness of about 0.5mm ro have a
smooth top end surface, from the viewpoints of easy
production and installation, and reduction of friction
generated between the spring holder 14 and the seat member
12.
A groove 12b is formed in an O-shape in a plan view
on the top end surface of the seat member 12, and an O-
ring 13 having a larger thickness than a depth of the
groove 12b is inserted between a bottom surface of the
groove 12b and the seat member-providing surface, and
thereby exercises a sealing function. A spring load of
the coil spring 15 pressing the seat member 12 is set to
be a minimum strength for securing a width (a space
height) which is predetermined as an interval between the

base end surface of the seat member 12 and the top end
surface of a high pressure body 16 which supports the base
end side of the coil spring 15, while the O-ring 18
inserted between the high pressure cylinder 17 and the
seat member 12 is completely crushed until it comes to be
the height of the groove 12b. Thus, the seat member 12 is
not completely fixed in a direction perpendicular to the
axis.
Further, as mentioned above, the valve body 11 has
the inclined surface on the top end side thereof, and the
seat surface 12a of the seat member 12 is formed to have a
longitudinal sectional shape which is chamfered in a round
shape at the side to the opening part of the valve hole
120. Thus, in a process for axially aligning uhe seat
member 12 by a stroke in the valve closing direction of
the valve body 11 and forming a uniform contact surface of
a valve, when the seat surface 12a of the seat member 12
contacts to and slides on the inclined surface of the
valve body 11, cracks or breakage hardly occurs between
the valve body 11 and the seat surface 12a. In addition
to this, a sliding guide of the seat member 12 can be
smoothly carried out.
Having the above-described configuration, the gas
fuel regulator 1A of the present exemplary embodiment
exercises the following operations and effects. In the

conventional example, the seat member 32 is completely
fixed through the flat washer 34 on the top end side of
the housing 35 by screw fastening force of the plug 36
after axial alignment. By contrast, in the present
exemplary embodiment, the seat member 12 is not completely
fixed but is in a semi-fixed state by the proper spring
load through the spring holder 14.
Therefore, when gas fuel is introduced from the fuel
inlet side, pressure is applied, the diaphragm 13 receives
the pressure, and the valve body 11 makes a stroke in the
axial direction to the valve closing side, the inclined
surface on the top end side of the valve body 11 contacts
to the seat surface 12a in the rounded longitudinal
sectional shape, and the seat member 12 is guided to slide
in a direction perpendicular to the axis along the slope
of the inclined surface in such a direction that the axis
(a cenrer axial line) of the seat member 12 is aligned
with the axis of the valve body 11, in accordance with the
stroke in the valve closing direction of the valve body
11. Then, the concentricity between the valve body 11 and
the seat member 12 can be secured in the valve closing
state, and the contacting surface (sealing surface)
between the valve body 11 and the seat member 12 can be
made uniform.
Therefore, the opening area at a time of valve

opening can be also made uniform. Further, prevention of
valve leakage, securing of stability of a pressure
regulating performance, and suppression of variation in
products can be realized. Further, as mentioned above,
when gas pressure is applied from the fuel inlet, the
contacting surface between the valve body 11 and the seat
surface 12a can be made uniform. Thus, there occurs no
problem even if displacement of axes is caused between the
valve body 11 and the seat member 12 at a time of
assembling. Further, since these parts can be assembled
easily without caring of axial alignment of those, effects
of reducing costs due to reduction of assembling processes
can be also expected. Furthermore, even axes of the valve
body 11 and the seat member 12 are displaced due to
malfunction at a time of using the regulator, the
displacement can be corrected according to the operation
of the regulator, so that the uniform contact surface can
be secured.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial longitudinal sectional
view illustrating a state of supporting the valve shaft 10
in the present exemplary embodiment. In the present
exemplary embodiment, in order to suppress operation of
the valve shaft 10 in the falling direction at a time of
reciprocally sliding in the axial direction, O-rings 19
and 20 are provided at two positions of the upper part and

the lower part of the valve shaft 10 so as to support the
valve shaft 10. 3y these configurations, occurrence of
displacement in the centrifugal direction at a time of
operation of the valve shaft 10 can be suppressed. Thus,
the valve shaft 10 can make a stroke stably in the axial
direction, and the axial positions of the valve body 11
and the valve seat 12 can be aligned easily, so that the
uniform valve contacting surface can be realized easily.
The pressure regulating mechanism of the gas fuel
regulator mentioned above does not need excessive time and
effort for assembling and does not need axial alignment
between the seat member and the valve body after
assembling.

What is claimed is.
1. A gas fuel regulator for decompressing and
regulating introduced gas fuel and sending out the gas
fuel to a downstream side, the regulator comprising:
a doughnut-shaped seat member formed to have a valve hole
through at a center;
a valve body having an inclined surface on the top end
side; and
a valve shaft coaxially having the valve body and
reciprocally sliding in an axial direction according to
pressure fluctuation in a pressure regulating chamber,
wherein the gas fuel regulator configures a pressure
regulating mechanism for uniformly maintaining pressure in
the pressure regulating chamber by closely
contacting/separating the inclined surface with/from a
seat surface formed at the valve hole opening part and
performing opening and closing a valve,
wherein the seat member is provided so that a base end
side is pressed by a predetermined pressing means and a
top end surface is brought into close contact with a seat
member-providing surface,
wherein the seat member has a space at the outer
peripheral side thereof, and is slidable within a
predetermined range in a direction perpendicular to the
axis thereof, and

wherein, by moving of the valve body to the valve closing
side, the inclined surface guides sliding of the seat
member in such a direction that the axis of the seat
member is aligned with an axis of the valve body, while
contacting to the seat surface side, so that the axis of
the valve body and the axis of the seat member are aligned
in a valve closing state.
2. The gas fuel regulator as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the pressing means is a coil spring provided on a
base end surface of the seat member through a spring
holder,
wherein the spring holder is brought into contact with the
coil spring at the inner diameter side of the coil spring
and is supported, and
wherein a top end surface of the spring holder contacting
to a base end surface of the seat member is formed to be
smooth.
3. The gas fuel regulator as claimed in claim 2,
wherein a groove having a predetermined depth is formed in
an O-shape on the ~op end surface of the seat member,
wherein an O-ring having a thickness larger than the depth
of the groove is inserted between a bottom surface of the
groove and a seat member-providing surface,

wherein a spring load of the coil spring is made to be a
minimum load so that an interval between the top end
surface of the member supporting the coil spring base end
side and the base end surface of the seat member is made
to be a predetermined width while the O-ring is crushed
until the top end surface of the seat member is brought
into close contact with the seat member-providing surface.
4. The gas fuel regulator as claimed in claim 1, 2 or
3, where in a seat surface of the seat member is formed to
have a longitudinal sectional shape which is chamfered in
a round shape at the valve hole opening part.


axis of the valve body 11 and the axis of the seat member
12 are aligned in a valve closing state.

To provide a pressure regulating mechanism of a gas fuel regulator, which does not need excessive time and effort for assembling and does not need axial alignment between a seat member and a valve body after assembling, a
gas fuel regulator 1A includes a seat member 120, a valve body 11 having an inclined surface on the top end side, and a valve shaft 10 coaxially having the valve body 11 and reciprocally sliding in an axial direction. The gas fuel regulator configures a pressure regulating mechanism for uniformly maintaining pressure in a pressure regulating chamber. The gas fuel regulator 1A decompresses and regulates the introduced gas fuel, and sends out the gas fuel to a downstream side. A seat member 12 is provided so that a base end side is pressed
by a pressing means and a top end surface is brought into close contact with a seat member-providing surface. Further, the seat member 12 has a space at the outer peripheral side, and is slidable within a predetermined range in a direction perpendicular to its axis. By moving
of the valve body 11 to the valve closing side, the inclined surface of the valve body 11 guides sliding of the seat member 12 in such a direction that an axis of the valve body 11 is aligned with the axis of the seat member
12, while contacting to a seat surface 12a, so that the axis of the valve body 11 and the axis of the seat memeber 12 are aligned in a valve closing state.