V-blade impeller design for a regenerative turbine

Details V-blade impeller design for a regenerative turbine V-blade impeller design for a regenerative turbine

2000-08-31

2002-08-27

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

C416S237000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06439833

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to regenerative turbine pumps of the type that are used to pump fuel from a fuel tank to an engine of a motor vehicle. More particularly, the invention pertains to an impeller whose blades are designed to improve substantially the flow of fuel within a regenerative turbine fuel pump, as compared to the type of prior art blade designs typical of the impellers currently in use in the industry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The following background information is provided to assist the reader to understand the environment in which the invention will typically be used. Upon reading this document, the reader will appreciate that the invention may also be applied or adapted to environments other than that described below.
As used in the fuel system of a motor vehicle, a regenerative turbine pump is intended to provide the engine of the vehicle with fuel at relatively high pressure at moderate flow rates. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,580,213, 5,509,778, 5,393,206, 5,393,203, 5,280,213, 5,273,394, 5,209,630, 5,129,796, 5,013,222 and 4,734,008 are generally representative of the variety of regenerative turbine fuel pumps used in the automotive industry. The teachings of these earlier patents are therefore incorporated into this document by reference.
FIGS. 1-6
illustrate one type of regenerative turbine fuel pump, generally designated
10
, along with its associated structure and internal components. This regenerative turbine pump
10
is housed within a tubular metal shell
14
, also referred to in the literature as a pump housing. Encased within this metal shell
14
is an electric motor
18
. The motor
18
is built around an armature shaft
20
, as is well known in the art, and is positioned within the housing
14
so that the shaft
20
can be rotated about a longitudinal center axis
4
. Projecting from one end of the housing
14
is a terminal
11
. It is through this terminal
11
via a wiring harness (not shown) on the vehicle that electrical energy can be supplied to the electric motor
18
.
As best shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, an impeller
12
is mounted to one end of the shaft
20
. The impeller
12
is situated between a pair of generally cylindrical plates
22
a
and
22
b.
Between the plates
22
a
and
22
b
there is defined a generally disk-shaped space
24
within which the impeller
12
is designed to rotate. This space
24
is best shown in FIG.
4
. An annular groove
23
a
in the inside face of outer plate
22
a
cooperates with an annular groove
23
b
in the outside face of inner plate
22
b
to form an annular pump channel
23
. As best shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4
, the outer plate
22
a
also defines an inlet port
34
that communicates with annular groove
23
a.
Similarly, the inner plate
22
b
defines an outlet port
36
that communicates with annular groove
23
b.
The fuel tank of the vehicle communicates with the annular pump channel
23
through the inlet port
34
in outer plate
22
a.
This communication occurs through the annular groove
23
a
on the inlet side of impeller
12
, as well as through known passageway(s) internal to fuel pump
10
. The pump housing
14
has a discharge tube
48
to which the outlet port
36
is connected via other known passageway(s) within the fuel pump
10
. Through outlet port
36
, discharge port
48
communicates with the annular pump channel
23
on the outlet side of impeller
12
, i.e., through annular groove
23
b.
It is from this discharge tube
48
that pressurized fuel is discharged from and delivered by the fuel pump
10
for use by the engine of the vehicle.
The impeller
12
serves as the rotary pumping element for the regenerative turbine pump
10
. As shown in
FIGS. 1-5
, the impeller
12
basically takes the form of a disk having a hub
26
whose axis of rotation is centered on center axis
4
. The hub
26
defines an aperture
28
at its center. The aperture
28
is notched, to accommodate the like-shaped shaft
20
of motor
18
. The notched aperture
28
allows the shaft
20
to drive the impeller
12
when the electrical motor
18
is activated.
The impeller
12
has a plurality of fan blades
30
that project radially outward from the hub
26
. Also referred to as vanes, the fan blades
30
are generally spaced from each other uniformly. As best shown in
FIGS. 4-6
, each of the vanes
30
is V-shaped. Radiating from the periphery of hub
26
, the vanes
30
are situated in between and adjacent to the annular grooves
23
a
and
23
b
in outer and inner plates
22
a
and
22
b,
respectively. In other words, the vanes
30
are positioned directly within the annular pump channel
23
of the regenerative turbine pump
10
.
FIGS. 5 and 6
illustrate the structure of the vanes
30
. Each V-shaped blade
30
has a pair of fin members
30
a
and
30
b,
each having a generally rectangular cross-section. The base of each fin member emanates from the hub
26
. Each fin member
30
a
and
30
b
lies at angle of approximately 45° with respect to a plane of intersection
5
that bisects impeller
12
longitudinally. This plane appears as a line in
FIG. 6
, as two fan blades
30
of impeller
12
are viewed therein from the top. The inner sidewalls
31
a
and
31
b
of fin members
30
a
and
30
b
are formed together along the plane
5
during the injection molding process that is used to manufacture the impeller
12
. From their adjoined inner sidewalls, the fin members of each vane
30
diverge away from each other. These adjoined fin members
30
a
and
30
b
together form upstream and downstream faces. Facing the direction of rotation
6
, the upstream face of each vane
30
is generally concave, exhibiting an angle of approximately 90°. The downstream face is convex, exhibiting a similar angle on the back side of vane
30
. Each vane
30
also has two generally flat outer sidewalls
32
a
and
32
b.
Fin member
30
a
has outer sidewall
32
a
and fin member
30
b
has outer sidewall
32
b.
FIG. 5
best illustrates how the vane(s)
30
are oriented with respect to, and are moved within, the annular pump channel
23
.
FIG. 5
shows the annular groove
23
a
in the inside face of outer plate
22
a.
The annular groove
23
b
in the outside face of inner plate
22
b
is best shown in FIG.
2
. Outer sidewall
32
a
lies directly adjacent to annular groove
23
a,
and outer sidewall
32
b
lies adjacent to annular groove
23
b.
The vanes
30
of impeller
12
thus lie within the annular pump channel
23
that is defined by annular grooves
23
a
and
23
b.
In addition, as shown in
FIG. 5
, each vane
30
can be considered as having an entrance portion
37
and an exit portion
38
. The entrance portion
37
extends generally from the hub
26
to midpoint of annular pump channel
23
. Shaded in
FIG. 5
, the exit portion
38
extends from the midpoint to the distal end of the vane. Each vane
30
thus extends radially outward from the hub
26
.
The regenerative turbine fuel pump
10
operates as follows. When electricity is supplied via terminal
11
to the electric motor
18
, the armature shaft
20
immediately begins to rotate. The rotation of shaft
20
, in turn, causes the impeller
12
to rotate within the disk-shaped space
24
between the inner and outer plates
22
a
and
22
b.
Fuel from the fuel tank is sucked into the inlet port
34
and flows into the annular groove
23
a,
and thus into the annular pump channel
23
.
The rotation of the impeller
12
imparts both a centrifugal and a tangential force on the fuel. As the impeller
12
rotates, its V-shaped vanes
30
, in combination with annular grooves
23
a
and
23
b
on either side, cause the fuel to whirl about the annular pump channel
23
in a toroidal flow path, as is best shown in FIG.
5
. More specifically, the centrifugal force moves the fuel with velocity in the radial direction with respect to hub
26
. This causes the fuel to traverse the length of each blade
30
, i.e., fuel enters the base of each vane flowing from the root along entrance portion
37
and exit portion
38
and exits th

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