Pumps – With muffler acting on pump fluid
Utility Patent
1999-06-22
2001-01-02
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Pumps
With muffler acting on pump fluid
C417S413300
Utility Patent
active
06168392
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air pump for supplying air to an aquarium filled with water.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a popular practice to keep ornamental fishes in an aquarium, enjoying them as a part of an interior of a house or an office. An air pump is generally used for supplying air to water filled in the aquarium.
One example of this kind of conventional air pump is shown in FIG.
11
. This air pump has a box-shaped main casing
100
with an opened bottom, an electromagnet
101
fixed to one of the opposing peripheral walls of the main casing
100
, an a vibration arm
102
having one end fixed to the other opposing peripheral walls of the main casing
100
. On the other end of the vibration arm
102
, a permanent magnet
103
is attached so as to oppose to the core portion
101
a
of the electromagnet
101
at a close distance. A diaphragm
104
made of rubber is attached to a longitudinal central portion of the vibration arm
102
. The diaphragm
104
is fitted onto a valve-housing
105
having an inlet opening
106
with an elastic inlet valve
108
and an outlet opening
106
with an elastic outlet valve
107
. The opened bottom of the box-shaped main casing
100
is closed by a bottom wall (not shown).
When an alternating current passes through the electromagnet
101
, the permanent magnet
103
begins to reciprocate in accordance with the alternative electromagnetic fields of the electromagnet
101
in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
11
. This causes reciprocative movements of the vibration arm
102
, which in turn causes a repetition of expansion and compression of the diaphragm
104
. When the diaphragm
104
is compressed, the outlet valve
107
opens to send air confined in the diaphragm
104
out of the main casing
100
through the outlet port
109
. On the other hand, when the diaphragm
104
is expanded, the outlet valve
107
closes and the inlet valve
106
opens to introduce air into the diaphragm
104
. In accordance with the expansion and compression of the diaphragm
104
, air is supplied to the aquarium through the outlet port
109
.
However, the aforementioned conventional air pump has drawbacks that it generates relatively loud noise during the operation. The noise can be heard even during the daytime when the air pump is used in a relatively quiet environment such as a house or an office. The noise may make a person uncomfortable. Especially, at nighttime, the noise is augmented because the environment is quieter, which may make the user more uncomfortable, deteriorating the user's concentration, or even disturbing the user's sleep. Thus, the level of noise is beyond the user's endurance range.
As a result, it is strongly required to lower the noise level during the operation of the air pump.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an air pump which can be manufactured at a lower cost and decrease the noise level during its operation.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an air pump includes an outer casing and a pump unit provided in the outer casing. The pump unit includes a diaphragm, a diaphragm-driving unit for driving the diaphragm, and a pump casing to which the diaphragm is attached. The pump casing has an inside space which is divided into an air-inlet side chamber and an air-outlet side chamber. The air-inlet side chamber is communicated with an inside space of the diaphragm via an inlet opening with an inlet valve, and the air-outlet side chamber is communicated with the inside space of the diaphragm via an outlet opening with an outlet valve. The pump unit further includes a silencing unit provided in at least one of the chambers. The silencing unit includes an inner pipe having an opened tip end and an outer pipe having a closed bottom end. The outer pipe loosely covers the inner pipe with the closed bottom end facing the opened tip end, whereby the air to be introduced into the diaphragm or to be sent out of the diaphragm flows through the silencing unit while changing a flow direction of air at the closed bottom end of the outer pipe.
With this air pump, noise generated when air is introduced into and/or sent out of the diaphragm can be decreased effectively by the silencing unit when the air passes through the same.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an air pump includes an electromagnet, a vibration arm driven by the electromagnet, a diaphragm which is expanded and compressed in accordance with vibrational movements of the vibration arm, the diaphragm introducing air therein when expanded and sending out of air therefrom when compressed, and an outer casing for containing components of the air pump. The outer casing is provided with an air-inlet side silencing chamber for passing air to be introduced into the diaphragm and an air-outlet side silencing chamber for passing air to be sent out of the diaphragm. An inner pipe forming an air passage is provided in at least one of the silencing chambers, and the inner pipe is loosely covered by an outer pipe with a closed end portion so as to form an air passage between the inner pipe and the outer pipe.
With this air pump, noise generated when air is introduced into and/or sent out of the diaphragm can be effectively decreased during the air passes through the air passage formed between the inner and outer pipes.
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patent: 3838944 (1974-10-01), Kolfertz
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patent: 4608000 (1986-08-01), Tominaga
patent: 5009579 (1991-04-01), Grant
patent: 5052904 (1991-10-01), Itakura et al.
patent: 5066204 (1991-11-01), Point et al.
patent: 5137432 (1992-08-01), Tsai
patent: 5282727 (1994-02-01), Willinger et al.
patent: 5360323 (1994-11-01), Hsieh
patent: 5554012 (1996-09-01), Itakura
patent: 5711656 (1998-01-01), Tsai
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Armstrong, Westerman Hattori, McLeland & Naughton
Fastovsky Leonid
Kabushiki Kaisha Tominaga Jyushi Kogyosho
Walberg Teresa
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