Rotary kinetic fluid motors or pumps – With means for re-entry of working fluid to blade set – Turbine regenerative pump
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-08
2001-01-16
Look, Edward K. (Department: 3745)
Rotary kinetic fluid motors or pumps
With means for re-entry of working fluid to blade set
Turbine regenerative pump
C415S200000, C416S24100B
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174128
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to automotive fuel pumps, and, more particularly, to a regenerative turbine type rotary pumping element or impeller with vane partitions radially shorter than the vane.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Regenerative turbine fuel pumps for automobiles typically operate by having a rotary pumping element, for example an impeller, fitted to a motor shaft within a pump housing. The pump housing is formed of two halves, including a pump cover and a pump bottom, which cooperate to form a pumping chamber around the outer circumference of the impeller. Vanes on an outer circumference of the impeller pump fuel as the shaft rotates and primary vortices are formed within the pumping chamber. The shape of the primary vortices, which effects pumping efficiency, is partially determined by the shape of vane grooves and partitions formed between individual vanes. Conventional electric automotive fuel pumps employ regenerative turbine impellers having vanes separated by partitions of the same height.
FIG. 5
shows such an impeller
100
having vanes
102
and partitions
104
separating vane grooves
106
. Partitions
104
extend so that they are flush with vanes
102
. As the impeller rotates, vortices
108
rotate in pumping chamber
110
and are routed by partitions
104
toward pumping chamber top
110
′, and abruptly changing direction by 90°, resulting in pumping losses and decreased pump efficiency.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Several U.S Patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 2,842,062 (Wright), U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,367 (Yoshida), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,910 (Watanabe, et al.), disclose pump impellers having fluid active surfaces with curved root portions and radial linear partitions which extend outwardly so as to be flush with the impeller outer periphery. These impellers are similar to that shown in FIG.
5
and have the same drawbacks as discussed above.
Gaseous regenerative turbine type impellers having rectangular blades between which are located shortened, arcuately shaped fluid reactive surfaces which cause fluid to move radially out from the impeller periphery are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,674 (Schonwald), U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,865 (Mugele), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,208 (Schonwald). The impellers in these disclosures do not have, however, the advantageous partition portion of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,475 describes an impeller having a partition wall which is shorter than the radial length of the impeller vanes. The impeller includes a pair of axially opposed vane grooves formed on the partition wall. The vane grooves gradually approach each other, thereby forming vortices on either side of the partition wall which merge radially outside the partition wall. My U.S. Pat., No. 5,409,357, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a partition wall which has a parallel portion to form a “dead zone” radially outward of the partition wall and thereby prevent the vortices on either side of the partition wall from merging. The present invention seeks to provide an impeller with a partition wall which similarly forms a “dead zone” and promotes a desired motion of the fluid in the vortices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a fuel pump for supplying fuel to an automotive engine from a fuel tank, with the fuel pump comprising a pump housing, a motor mounted within the housing and having a shaft extending therefrom, and a casing for a rotary pumping element, such as an impeller. The casing has a pump bottom mounted within the pump housing with a bore through which the shaft extends, along with a bottom channel portion of an annular pumping chamber having a fuel outlet at an end thereof. An impeller is fitted to the shaft and has a plurality of spaced-apart, radially outwardly extending vanes around an outer circumference of the impeller with a plurality of partitions interposed therebetween.
The partitions do not extend radially outward as far as the vanes, and, preferably, extend approximately half the radial distance from the radially innermost point of the vanes to the radially outermost point of the vanes. The partitions are comprised of an arcuate portion having axially diverging walls at the radially outermost portion thereof and having a flat top with rounded corners. The arcuate portions are substantially quarter-circle shaped surfaces beginning at a radial innermost root portion of the partitions and extending beyond 90 degrees to diverge at the radially outermost portion. Thus, the partitions and vanes define a plurality of fluid active, arcuately shaped vane grooves which cause fuel to move outwardly from the impeller. A pump cover, which has a cover channel portion of an annular pumping chamber with a pump inlet, is mounted on an end of the housing and is attached to the pump bottom with the impeller therebetween such that the pump cover and pump bottom cooperate to form a complete pumping chamber for the impeller.
In the preferred embodiment, the partitions have sides diverging from a plane perpendicular to the shaft extending axially at least approximately 0.01 millimeters from the axially narrowest portion of the arcuate shaped portions. The impeller is preferably symmetrical about a plane through the impeller and perpendicular to the shaft, and is injection molded of a phenolic plastic composite material. The fuel pump may be mounted within the fuel tank of the automobile. In an alternative embodiment, the impeller has a ring portion around an outer circumference thereof connected to the plurality of vanes such that a plurality of axially extending passages are formed between the vanes, the partitions, and the ring portion.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fuel pump having a rotary pumping element with radially shorter vane partitions relative to the vanes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fuel pump having substantially quarter-circle shaped impeller grooves extending over 90 degrees to better form fuel vortices within a pumping chamber surrounding the rotary pumping element.
A further object is to provide a fuel pump rotary pumping element with diverging projections from the quarter-circle grooves in the pumping element to stabilize vortices flow and reduce pumping losses.
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pa
Drouillard Jerome R.
Ford Global Technologies Inc.
Look Edward K.
McAleenan James M
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