Rotary expansible chamber devices – With plural working fluid inlet or outlet passages
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-27
2004-09-14
Vrablik, John J. (Department: 3748)
Rotary expansible chamber devices
With plural working fluid inlet or outlet passages
C418S181000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06790019
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to pumps and in particular to sliding or rotary vane pressure or vacuum pumps.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rotary vane pumps, sometimes referred to as sliding vane pumps, are well known. Conventional rotary vane pumps include a drive motor with a rotatable shaft that mounts a rotor eccentrically inside of a cylindrical housing. The rotor has a number of slots (for example four or more) opening at its circumference and extending into the rotor radially or at a non-intersecting angle to the shaft. Each slot holds a straight blade-like vane having a leading edge that contacts the cylinder wall. The vanes are biased against the cylinder wall by centrifugal force to create a sliding seal. The vanes slide in and out in each slot as the rotor is turned by contact with the cylinder wall because the rotor is eccentrically mounted in the cylinder. Rotation of the rotor pulls air from an inlet port in the housing through the cylinder and out an outlet port. Because the rotor is eccentrically mounted, air chambers defined between consecutive vanes will vary in size as the rotor is turned. This creates areas of expansion or compression within the cylinder, the inlet being in communication with an area of net expansion and the outlet port being in communication with an area of net compression.
Some rotary vane pumps include three (or more) ports communicating with the interior of the pump cylinder. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,639,855 discloses a rotary pump having three ports extending through the wall of the pump cylinder. The ports are described as an inlet port, an outlet and an intermediate port which is valve controlled to allow the pump to operate under various conditions. In one form, when the pump is operated with the control valve set to at least partially open the intermediate port air can enter the pump chamber through the inlet port as well as through the intermediate port. This increases the volume of air in the chambers between the vanes and thus the volume and pressure of air expelled from the pump. This technique is beneficial in that flow can be increased without changing the displacement of the pump (i.e., the diameter or length of the cylinder bore).
One problem with this early construction is that it requires separate supply lines and connections for each inlet port, thus increasing costs and making the pump less desirable for single source applications. Another problem with this construction is that it may be unsuitably noisy for certain applications given that no sound damping is provided. And, because the ports are formed separately through the exterior of the cylinder, any such sound damping components would have to be provided for each port, which again increases costs.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,544,337 and 4,580,949 disclose rotary vane pumps with two or more suction ports. Despite disclosing several embodiments in which the additional port(s) extend through the cylinder wall directly, these references also teach locating an extra inlet port in an end plate mounted to the pump cylinder so that the inlet port is internally located between the pump cylinder and an end case. At least in the construction of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,337 patent, this could permit a single intake port to the pump housing to feed supply air to both suction ports. However, these references also fail to provide sound dampening and thus are likely too noisy for certain applications. Moreover, these patents pertain to a specific industry (refrigeration), and in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,337 patent, the additional port is disclosed as providing a suction loss such that vane chamber pressure drops lower than supply source pressure of the refrigerant, thus retarding the flow rather than increasing it.
Accordingly, an improved rotary vane pump is needed in the art that provides increased flow characteristics with improved sound dampening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a rotary vane pump having a housing with an open end and a closed end defining a pump cylinder therebetween. The closed end has a sound chamber and defines a primary inlet port, a secondary inlet port spaced from the primary inlet port and an outlet port all in communication with an interior of the cylinder, the primary and secondary inlet ports receiving air routed through the sound chamber. A drive motor is mounted to the open end of the housing and has a rotatable drive shaft eccentrically disposed in the cylinder to mount a rotor having multiple vane grooves opening at a circumference of the rotor, each groove slidably receiving a vane having a leading edge contacting an inner diameter of the cylinder.
In one preferred form, the sound chamber has a plurality of partitions defining a plurality of cavities. The partitions have passageways for communication of air from an intake port to the primary and secondary inlet ports. Air enters the secondary inlet port after passing through at least two of the plurality of cavities, one of which contains a sound filter and is located adjacent the intake port. Preferably, only this cavity feeds air to the primary inlet port.
In another preferred form, the closed end of the housing includes a separate end plate and end case. The end plate contains the outlet port and the primary and secondary inlet ports. The end case is mounted to the end plate and defines the sound chamber.
One preferred embodiment of the rotary vane pump of the present invention includes an open ended pump cylinder mounting a drive motor at one end and an end plate and sound chamber at the other end. The cylinder contains a rotor mounted to an eccentric drive shaft and having vane grooves receiving slidable vanes contacting an inner diameter of the cylinder. The end plate has an outlet port and primary and secondary inlet ports in communication with the cylinder interior. The sound chamber has an intake port and an exhaust port in communication with the respective outlet and primary and secondary inlet ports of the end plate. The sound chamber is partitioned to define a number of internal cavities through which the air must pass to reach the secondary inlet port.
The use of a third, or secondary inlet, port provides a rotary vane pump having several advantages over the prior art. The inventors have determined that the use of a separate additional inlet port, rather than simply enlarging a single inlet port, increases the flow capacity of the pump. The size and location of the secondary inlet port is varied to tune the flow of the pump. For example, moving the secondary inlet port closer to the inlet and (or alternatively) making it larger will increase flow and vice versa. The secondary inlet has also been found to improve pump efficiency and prolong life. Moreover, the secondary inlet port, particularly when internal to a sound chamber, has significant noise reduction benefits, which can be extremely important for certain applications. The sound benefits are realized in two ways. The improvements in flow volume provided by the secondary inlet port means that it is not necessary to increase the displacement of the pump (otherwise required to achieve the same flow volume), which would increase size due to the larger cylinder bore and/or length. Further sound dampening is achieved by including a secondary inlet port that is completely internal to the housing and receives air routed through a sound chamber. The pump of the present invention can have additional cost benefits in that both of the primary and secondary inlet ports can be fed air from the same supply line and coupler fitting and passed through the same inlet filter, thus eliminating the need for redundant components.
These and still other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. What follows is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. To assess the full scope of the invention the claims should be looked to as the preferred embodiment is not
Quarles & Brady LLP
Thomas Industries Inc.
Vrablik John J.
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