Axial pump with adjustable impeller
AssigneeHewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
InventorsJohn P. Franz, Steven J. Dean, Ernesto J. Ferrer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An example axial pump for delivering liquid coolant to cool an electronic device comprises a conduit defining a flow path from an inlet of the conduit to an outlet of the conduit and an impeller in the conduit. The impeller is rotatable about an axis of rotation parallel to the flow path. The pump also has a motor stator configured to drive rotation of the impeller body about the axis of rotation. In addition, the pump comprises an adjustment mechanism coupling the impeller to the conduit. The adjustment mechanism is actuatable to cause translation of the impeller relative to the conduit. This may allow for adjustment of a clearance between a blade tip of a blade of the impeller and a wall of the conduit.
Claims23
An axial pump for delivering liquid coolant to cool an electronic device, comprising:
- a conduit defining a flow path from an inlet of the conduit to an outlet of the conduit;
- an impeller in the conduit, the impeller rotatable about an axis of rotation parallel to the flow path;
- a motor stator configured to drive rotation of the impeller body about the axis of rotation;
- and
- an adjustment mechanism coupling the impeller to the conduit, wherein the adjustment mechanism is actuatable to cause translation of the impeller relative to the conduit.
A method of tuning an axial pump comprising an impeller housed in an impeller chamber, comprising:
- performing a tuning cycle comprising:
- measuring a performance metric of the pump during operation of the pump;
- comparing the measured performance metric to a target value;
- and
- in response to the measured performance metric not meeting a target criterion, translating the impeller along a rotation axis of the impeller relative to the impeller chamber via an adjustment mechanism that couples the impeller to the impeller chamber.
A method of manufacturing an axial pump, comprising:
- inserting an impeller into an impeller chamber;
- inserting a first end of a shaft of the impeller into a hub of a first support coupled to the impeller chamber;
- and
- coupling a second end of the shaft to the impeller chamber via an adjustment mechanism, the adjustment mechanism being actuatable to cause translation of the shaft relative to the impeller chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.