CN115596678A - Improved maintenance immersion pump - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic immersion pump is described, having a main development axis (a) and comprising a central body (20) and an upper compartment (10) couplable to said central body (20), wherein the upper compartment (10) is designed to house one or more components (17) for the operation of the pump (100); the upper compartment (10) comprises a barrier (30) which is at least partially removable to open into the interior of said upper compartment (10) and to one or more of said components (17) according to a passage direction (B) different from the main development axis (A) of the pump (100).

Description

Improved maintenance immersion pump

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electronic immersion pump.

In particular, the present invention relates to an electronic immersion pump having an improved layout to allow easier and faster maintenance.

The following description will refer to an immersion pump but it will be apparent that it should not be considered as being limited to this particular use.

Background

The electronic immersion pumps of the prior art comprise a hollow body which houses one or more impellers, possibly interspersed with diffusers and keyed on the shaft of an electric motor, integral with the rotor of the latter, which is enclosed in a motor casing which isolates it from the pumped liquid.

There are also other components subject to wear, usually present in the upper compartment of the pump, such as condensers (usually of the self-extinguishing type), electronic boards, non-return valves, etc.

Here and throughout the context of this patent application, the term "upper compartment" refers to a compartment of the immersion pump that is less immersed in water or other liquid than the central compartment in use.

In this upper compartment, therefore, it is necessary to house all the components that need to be kept dry, in order to ensure the correct operation of the pump itself.

However, in this area there are usually cables, eyebolts for attaching the rope pumps, carrying handles and sometimes also the conveying piping of the pumps themselves.

If one of the wear parts needs to be removed, it is often necessary to remove all of the cables, eyebolts and handles before accessing one of the parts for repair or replacement.

Among other things, due to space reasons, these parts are arranged one above the other, so it may happen that, in order to replace a part located lower, all other parts arranged above must first be removed, which has a clear relative disadvantage. In fact, after repair or replacement, all the removed components must be reinstalled, with the risk of installation errors and therefore increased overall repair time.

Some prior art solutions implement the formation of special compartments outside the area of the cables and eyebolts, resulting in a significant increase in the volume normally formed above, with the risk of collision with the float (for example when the pump is submerged in a small well), and the risk of shifting the centre of gravity of the submerged pump. Typically, this leads to stability problems in the positioning of the pump itself.

Furthermore, the immersion product must have a protection rating in compliance with the IP68 standard to prevent liquid from entering the area housing the most delicate components. In this case, creating additional inlets for easier maintenance of the product increases the risk of liquid ingress.

Disclosure of Invention

The main object of the present invention is to provide an electronic immersion pump which allows to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks and, in particular, allows easy and immediate access to the elements subject to wear.

In detail, it is an object of the present invention to provide an immersion pump which allows to quickly replace the condenser or other elements subject to wear without the need to remove other parts.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the access to parts subject to wear without damaging the protection against the contact of more delicate parts with liquids.

The object of the present invention is an electronic immersion pump having a main development axis and comprising a central body and an upper compartment couplable to the central body, wherein the upper compartment is designed to house one or more components for the operation of the pump, wherein the upper compartment comprises a removable barrier in order to open into the interior of the upper compartment and to reach one or more of these components according to a passage direction transverse to the main development axis of the pump itself. In this way, advantageously, the maintenance of one or more components accessible by means of such access means becomes simple and quick.

In particular, according to the invention, the direction of the passage can be perpendicular to the main development axis of the pump, advantageously making it possible to access these components from the side.

According to the invention, a sealing member, such as an O-ring, gasket or the like, may be included in association with the removable barrier to prevent liquid from entering the upper compartment when the immersion pump is submerged in liquid, such as water. Thus, advantageously, the IP68 protection of the pump continues to be guaranteed.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the upper compartment may have a first compartment accessible through a removable barrier, so that only a part of the components present in the upper compartment is accessible through the transverse passage.

Also, according to the present invention, the first compartment may be sized to facilitate receiving and retaining the component in a fixed position. This can be achieved, for example, by means of special shapes and dimensions that do not allow the components to move. Thus, advantageously, the wear-susceptible component remains oriented such that it can be easily removed after the removable barrier is removed.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the first compartment can be isolated in a self-extinguishing manner, so that any flame is extinguished inside this compartment, affecting only the parts contained therein which are susceptible to wear and replacement, without damaging the other essential parts of the pump.

Further, according to the invention, the component may be a capacitor and the removable barrier may be positioned in correspondence with the capacitor.

Again according to the invention, the access device may comprise a plurality of removable barriers, so that sealing is ensured even after removal and/or accidental breakage of the first barrier.

Finally, according to the invention, the upper compartment may have at least a second compartment accessible by the access means, isolated from the first compartment, to allow the accommodation of a second component subject to wear according to the accommodation method of the first component, but independently therefrom. Advantageously, the removable barriers may each be arranged to correspond to a respective compartment.

Drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, according to some preferred embodiments thereof, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pump according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the pump of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail of the pump of FIG. 1 in a first position;

FIG. 4 shows a detail of FIG. 3 in a second position;

FIG. 5 shows a detail of FIG. 3 in a third position;

fig. 6 shows a detail of fig. 3 in a fourth position.

Detailed Description

Similar components will be designated by the same reference numerals in the various figures.

Fig. 1-2 show an immersion pump 100 equipped with a main development axis a and an upper compartment 10.

Along the main development axis a of the pump 100, the upper compartment 10 is connected to the central body 20 at a first end 11. At a second end 12 opposite the first end 11, the upper compartment has a cable 13 for connection to a float 14, a gripping means 15 and other upper protection 16.

Transverse to the development axis a of the pump 100, there is a first cover 30, the details of which are visible in fig. 3-5, which will be described below.

The cover 30 is fixed to the upper compartment 10 by means of removable fixing means, such as screws 31 or the like. The first cover 30 comprises a sealing means 32, preferably an O-ring, which enables to guarantee the required level of protection against IP 68.

According to some variants of the invention, not shown in the figures, the lid may be hinged to the upper compartment and only partially removable, allowing access to at least a portion of the interior of the upper compartment. Furthermore, instead of a cover, there may be another type of removable barrier, such as a hatch, cap or the like.

Inside the upper compartment 10, in correspondence of the lid 30, there is a container 33, which is isolated from the rest of the upper compartment 10 and preferably has a main development axis B transversal to the main development axis a of the pump 100.

The container 33 is sized to accommodate the wear-susceptible components of the pump 100, such as the condenser, and preferably holds it in a fixed position.

This allows the wear-susceptible elements to remain in a predetermined fixed position, avoiding vibrations and undesired noise.

Preferably, the container 33 has a second lid 34 (fig. 4 and 5) which advantageously ensures self-extinguishing isolation from the rest of the upper compartment 10, which is necessary to house some components 17 susceptible to wear and to burn, such as condensers.

This advantageously allows to protect the rest of the pump 100 obtained for preventing possible fires of the condenser, and moreover to achieve significant savings in the production of the pump in the case of the option of using a non self-extinguishing condenser 17.

Furthermore, the lateral access solution solves the above-mentioned limitation of accessibility from above.

According to a preferred variant of the invention, the pump may also comprise a second or more lateral passages for respectively leading to each of the different components subject to wear.

For example, the transverse passageways may be all protected by the first cover 30 and then each have a separate removable barrier (of the type of second cover 34 shown in fig. 4 and 5) to isolate respective compartments designed to accommodate different components subject to wear.

In other words, it is possible to realise a division of the upper compartment 10 into a plurality of compartments, preferably each separated from the others in a self-extinguishing manner, to accommodate other components susceptible to wear and accessible according to the direction B (which, according to the present embodiment, is transverse to the main development axis of the pump). According to other embodiments, the passage direction B (as shown in fig. 2) may not be transverse to the main development axis a of the immersion pump 100.

Furthermore, the covers of the respective compartments may be in the form of (and in order to protect them from external influences) a single integral cover.

Alternatively, it is possible to access the above-mentioned compartments from different points of the outer surface of the upper compartment of the pump according to different directions (all transverse to the main development axis of the pump itself).

In operation, as can be seen from the sequence of fig. 3-6, an operator preparing to perform maintenance on the immersion pump 100 first acts on the screw 31. These screws, once removed, allow the first cover 30 to be removed, with which the o-ring 32 is integral (fig. 3).

It is now possible to act on a second lid 34 of the compartment 33, which, according to the preferred embodiment shown in the figures, has a snap-type closing mechanism, which is sufficient for self-extinguishing isolation (figure 4).

When the second cover 34 is also removed (fig. 5), the condenser 17 inside it is accessible and can be removed (fig. 6). Once the replacement and/or other necessary maintenance operations have been performed, it is possible to close the second cover 34 and subsequently the first cover 30, so that the tightening of the screw 31 generates a pressure on the O-ring 32 and on the corresponding stop of the passage hole on the surface of the upper compartment 10 through the first cover 30, in order to restore the seal required for the IP68 protection.

The described invention can be modified and adapted in several ways without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept.

Moreover, all the details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

Finally, the components used (provided they are compatible with the specific use) and the dimensions may vary according to the requirements of the prior art.

Where features and techniques mentioned in the appended claims are followed by reference signs, the reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims themselves and accordingly such reference signs do not in any way constitute a limitation on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example only by such reference signs.

Claims (9)

1. An electronic immersion pump (100) having a main development axis (A) and comprising:

a central body (20); and

an upper compartment (10) couplable to the central body (20), wherein the upper compartment (10) is intended to house one or more components (17) for the operation of a pump (100);

characterized in that said upper compartment (10) comprises an at least partially removable barrier (30) to open into the interior of said upper compartment (10) and to one or more of said components (17) according to a passage direction (B) different from a main development axis (A) of said pump (100).

2. Immersion pump (100) according to the preceding claim, wherein the passage direction (B) is perpendicular to a main development axis (a) of the pump (100).

3. An immersion pump (100) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a sealing member (32), such as an O-ring, gasket or the like, associated with the removable barrier (30) to prevent liquid from entering the upper compartment (10) when the immersion pump (100) is immersed in liquid, such as water.

4. An immersion pump (100) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the upper compartment (10) has a first section (33) accessible through the removable barrier (30).

5. An immersion pump (100) as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein the first section (33) is dimensioned to receive and retain the component (17) in a fixed position.

6. Immersion pump (100) according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the first section (33) is isolated in a self-extinguishing manner.

7. An immersion pump (100) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the component (17) is a condenser and the removable barrier (30) is placed in correspondence with the condenser (17).

8. An immersion pump (100) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of removable barriers.

9. An immersion pump (100) as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein the upper compartment (10) has a plurality of sections, and

the removable barriers are each arranged to correspond to a respective section.

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