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US 5,183,392 AGranted
Combined centrifugal and undervane-type rotary hydraulic machine
AssigneeVickers, Incorporated
InventorLowell D. Hansen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotary hydraulic machine having particular utility as a fuel pump for aircraft turbine engines that combines the desirable features of vane-type and centrifugal-type machines of similar character--i.e., high pressure positive displacement at low speed combined with improved reliability, package size and weight. This is accomplished, in accordances with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, by providing a combined vane- and centrifugal-type pump that is configured to function as a pressure-compensated single-lobe vane pump for engine starting, and as a centrifugal pump at normal operating speed.
Claims15
A combined centrifugal and vane-type rotary hydraulic pump that comprises:
- a housing having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet,
- a rotor mounted for rotation within said housing, said rotor having a plurality of radially extending peripheral slots, an undervane chamber at a radially inner end of each said slot, and a plurality of internal passages extending radially through said rotor from an open outer end at a periphery of said rotor to an open inner end,
- a plurality of vanes individually slidably mounted in said slots,
- an annular track ring movably mounted within said housing, said track ring having a radially inner surface surrounding said rotor and forming a fluid cavity between said surface and said rotor,
- a drive shaft coupled to said rotor and extending out of said housing,
- fluid inlet passage means in said housing connecting said inlet to said open inner ends of said rotor passages such that fluid is centrifugally pumped through said rotor passages to said fluid cavity by rotation of said rotor and shaft,
- fluid passage means to undervane inlet port means in said housing for connecting said fluid cavity to said undervane chambers in sequence as said rotor rotates within said housing,
- fluid outlet passage means including first outlet port means in said housing spaced from said undervane inlet port means and connecting said fluid outlet to said undervane chambers in sequence as said rotor rotates within said housing, and second outlet port means connecting said outlet to said fluid cavity, and
- means within said housing coupled to said ring and responsive to pressure of fluid fed to said outlet for adjustably positioning said track ring within said housing, and thereby controlling displacement of said vanes within said slots, as a function of outlet pressure,
- such that fluid pressure at said outlet varies as a combined function of piston pumping of said vanes through radial displacement in said slots and centrifugal pumping of fluid through said rotor passages.
7 more elements
A combined centrifugal and vane-type rotary hydraulic pump that comprises:
- a housing including opposed spaced backup plate means,
- a rotor mounted for rotation within said housing between said backup plate means, said rotor having a plurality of radially extending peripheral slots, a fluid undervane chamber at a radially inner end of each said slot, and a plurality of internal passages extending radially from an open outer end at a periphery of said rotor to an inner end, said slots and said passages in said rotor alternating with each other circumferentially of said rotor at uniform spacing,
- a plurality of vanes individually slidably mounted in said slots,
- an annular track ring movably mounted between said backup plate means within said housing, said track ring having a radially inner surface surrounding said rotor and forming a ring/rotor cavity between said surface and said rotor, and a plurality of radially angulated passages extending through said ring,
- a drive shaft coupled to said rotor and extending from said housing through one of said backup means,
- a pump inlet in the other of said backup means coaxial with said shaft,
- a pump outlet in said housing,
- a spiral inducer coupled to said shaft and positioned in said inlet for pressurizing fluid at said inlet,
- inlet fluid passage means in said backup means extending from said inducer to first port means in facing engagement with said rotor for feeding fluid under pressure from said inducer to said inner ends of said rotor passages such that fluid is centrifugally pumped through said rotor passages to said ring/rotor cavity by rotation of said rotor and shaft,
- an outlet cavity in said housing radially external to said ring, means coupling said outlet cavity through said backup means to a first circumferentially adjacent array of said undervane chambers for urging said vanes radially outwardly toward said ring surface, second port means in facing engagement with said rotor for feeding fluid from a second circumferential array of said undervane chambers to said outlet, and means for connecting said pump outlet to said outlet cavity in parallel with said second port means, and
- means coupled to said ring and responsive to fluid pressure at said outlet for adjustably positioning said ring within said housing, and thereby controlling displacement of said vanes within said slots, as a function of outlet fluid pressure,
- such that fluid pressure at said outlet varies as a combined function of piston pumping of said vanes through radial displacement in said slots and centrifugal pumping of fluid through said rotor passages.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.