Device for Pumping fluid
AssigneeMagpumps Limited
InventorLeo Dawn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The disclosure herein relates to device, for example a gear pump, for pumping fluid. The gear pump comprises a motor for driving a rotatable drive shaft; a drive gear configured to be driven by the drive shaft; an idler gear which meshes with the drive gear; an annular magnet disposed coaxially with the drive shaft and configured to rotate therewith; and a sensor for sensing rotation of the annular magnet and generating an output signal corresponding to a rotational position of the drive shaft.
Claims31
A gear pump (100) for pumping a fluid, wherein the gear pump comprises:
- a motor for driving a rotatable drive shaft (108);
- a drive gear (118) that is operable to be driven by the drive shaft (108);
- an idler gear (120) which meshes with the drive gear (118);
- an annular magnet arrangement (122) disposed coaxially with the drive shaft (108) and operable to rotate therewith;
- a sensor (126) for sensing rotation of the annular magnet arrangement (122) and generating an output signal corresponding to a rotational position of the drive shaft (108);
- and
- a controller that is operable to calculate the rotational position of the drive shaft (108) based upon the output signal and to control the motor based upon the calculated rotational position to ensure that a controlled volume of the fluid is pumped, wherein the controller is configured to use at least one PID algorithm to control the motor.
A method of pumping a fluid using a gear pump (100), wherein the method comprises steps of:
- driving a motor to rotate a drive shaft (108), and arranging for the drive shaft (128) to rotate one or more rotatable components of a pump module for pumping the fluid, and for rotating a sensor target (40, 122) associated with the drive shaft (108) and/or the one or more rotatable components of the pump module;
- using a sensor (126) to sense rotation of sensor target (40, 122) and to generate an output signal corresponding to an annular position of the sensor target (40, 122);
- calculating the rotational position or a rotation rate of the drive shaft (108) and/or the one or more the one or more rotatable components of the pump module based upon the output signal;
- and
- controlling the motor based upon the calculated rotational position or rotation rate to controllably pump a volume of the fluid, wherein the controlling uses at least one PID algorithm to control the motor.
A device (10) for pumping a fluid, wherein the device (10) comprises:
- a motor (20) for driving a rotatable drive shaft (22);
- a pump module (30) to be driven in operation by the drive shaft (22);
- at least one sensor target (40) operatively associated with at least one of:
- the drive shaft (22), one or more rotatable pumping components of the pump module (30), or the fluid that is pumped;
- at least one sensor (50) for sensing a change in property of the at least one sensor target (40) as the drive shaft (22) rotates in operation, and for generating an output signal corresponding to a rotational position of at least one of:
- the drive shaft (22), the one or more rotatable pumping components of the pump module (30);
- and
- a controller (60) that is operable to calculate the rotational position or a rotation rate of at least one of:
- the drive shaft (22), the one or more rotatable pumping components of the pump module (30), based upon the output signal and to control the motor (20) based upon the calculated rotational position or rotation rate to ensure that a controlled volume of the fluid is pumped, wherein the controller (60) is configured to use at least one PID algorithm to control the motor (20).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.