Vacuum pump with motor cooling

Details Vacuum pump with motor cooling Vacuum pump with motor cooling

1998-08-17

2002-05-21

Thorpe, Timothy S. (Department: 3746)

Pumps

Motor driven

Electric or magnetic motor

C417S366000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06390790

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of invention is vacuum pumps, and more particularly a method and apparatus for cooling the motor in a vacuum pump.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Vacuum pumps are used in many applications, for example, where a quiet, reliable vacuum is required. In many applications, the pump is a component of a larger system, so reliability of the pump is important to make the system reliable.
A prior art vacuum linear pump is Linear pump Model No. LP-200H supplied by Yasunaga Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, which is illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. This pump includes a vacuum pump mechanism
12
enclosed within a housing
14
that is mounted on a plenum base
16
. Ducts
18
communicatively connect the pump mechanism
12
to the plenum base
16
.
The housing
14
, having an opening
15
, encloses the pump mechanism
12
and is mounted to the plenum base
16
with screws. A gasket (not shown) interposed between the housing
14
and base
16
is required to maintain an air tight seal. The threaded opening
15
formed in the housing wall
17
is connected by a hose or pipe to supply a subatmospheric where it is desired.
The base
16
is a plenum having a port
20
, a pair of passageways
22
, and support legs
24
. The plenum passageways
22
have upwardly extending cylindrical extensions
23
that receive the downwardly extending cylindrical ducts
18
communicatively connecting the plenum base
16
to the vacuum pump mechanism
12
, forming a substantially air-tight connection.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the vacuum pump mechanism
12
has two pump assemblies
26
mounted on opposing sidewalls
28
of a hollow motor chamber
30
. Each pump assembly
26
has a first chamber
32
, a compression chamber
34
adjacent to the first chamber
32
, and a second chamber
36
adjacent to the compression chamber
34
and disposed above and separated from the first chamber
32
.
The motor chamber
30
having sidewalls
42
, a top wall
50
and a bottom wall
52
encloses an electric motor
54
and is mounted to the plenum base
16
by bolting or other methods known in the art. Elastomeric isolators
56
interposed between the motor chamber
30
and plenum base
16
reduce vibrations created by the pump mechanism
12
which otherwise would resonate in the plenum base
16
. Air is drawn into the motor chamber through holes
64
in the motor chamber bottom wall.
The electric motor
54
includes heat generating components, such as a motor coil
58
and laminations
60
, and magnetically oscillates a shuttle
62
back and forth. The shuttle
62
actuates the flexible diaphragms
44
that form part of the common sidewalls
42
of the motor chamber
30
to vary the volume of the adjacent pump assembly compression chambers
34
. Actuation of the diaphragm
44
alternately increases and decreases the compression chamber
34
volume creating an air flow from the housing opening
15
through the chambers
30
,
36
,
34
, and
32
, into the plenum base
16
, and out of the plenum port
20
.
As the compression chamber
34
volume increases, air is drawn into the second chamber
36
through a passageway
48
from the motor chamber
30
. A one-way flapper-type inlet valve
38
fixed to the compression chamber sidewall
40
permits the air
25
to be drawn into the compression chamber
34
from the chamber
36
when the volume of the chamber
34
is expanded. A one-way flapper-type exhaust valve
46
fixed on the wall
40
permits the passage of air
25
out of the compression chamber
34
into the adjacent first chamber
32
when the volume of compression chamber
34
is reduced. The air
25
exits the chamber
32
through a duct
18
that leads into the plenum base
16
.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, in use, the vacuum pump mechanism
12
draws air into the housing and through the motor chamber as the motor
54
actuates the opposing diaphragms
44
. Actuating the diaphragms
44
causes the respective compression chambers
34
to alternately expand and contract. Drawing the air
25
through the motor chamber
30
and into the pump mechanism
14
creates a vacuum inside the housing such that cooling of the motor is performed by air at a lower density than possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a vacuum pump with an improved cooling path. Air is drawn into a plenum base disposed below a pump mechanism. Ducts supply air directly from the plenum base to the pump mechanism. The pump mechanism exhausts the air and passes it over heat generating components prior to exhausting the air into the atmosphere. Thereby, a general objective of the present invention is accomplished by providing improved cooling for the pump motor in a vacuum pump by passing relatively higher density air through the motor chamber containing the pump motor.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5222878 (1993-06-01), Osada et al.

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