EP0563957A1 - Kraftstoffpumpe - Google Patents

Kraftstoffpumpe Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0563957A1
EP0563957A1 EP93105414A EP93105414A EP0563957A1 EP 0563957 A1 EP0563957 A1 EP 0563957A1 EP 93105414 A EP93105414 A EP 93105414A EP 93105414 A EP93105414 A EP 93105414A EP 0563957 A1 EP0563957 A1 EP 0563957A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
impeller
vane
fuel pump
fuel
partition wall
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP93105414A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0563957B1 (de
Inventor
Takahiko Kato
Motoya Ito
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Denso Corp
Original Assignee
NipponDenso Co Ltd
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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04D—NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04D29/00—Details, component parts, or accessories
    • F04D29/18—Rotors
    • F04D29/188—Rotors specially for regenerative pumps
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02M—SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF
    • F02M37/00—Apparatus or systems for feeding liquid fuel from storage containers to carburettors or fuel-injection apparatus; Arrangements for purifying liquid fuel specially adapted for, or arranged on, internal-combustion engines
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02M—SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF
    • F02M37/00—Apparatus or systems for feeding liquid fuel from storage containers to carburettors or fuel-injection apparatus; Arrangements for purifying liquid fuel specially adapted for, or arranged on, internal-combustion engines
    • F02M37/04—Feeding by means of driven pumps
    • F02M37/048—Arrangements for driving regenerative pumps, i.e. side-channel pumps
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
    • F04D—NON-POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT PUMPS
    • F04D5/00—Pumps with circumferential or transverse flow
    • F04D5/002—Regenerative pumps

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a fuel pump for feeding fuel to an internal combustion engine or the like.
  • This pump is used, for example, to supply fuel under pressure to a fuel injection system in an automobile or the like.
  • An automobile or the like having an engine equipped with a fuel injection system of electronic control type employs a motor-operated fuel injection pump as one part of a device for injecting fuel to the engine.
  • the fuel pump is dipped in a liquid fuel contained in a fuel tank and designed to deliver the fuel under high pressure to an injector in accordance with a command from an electronic controller.
  • a fuel pump is generally called a regenerative pump or a Westco type pump.
  • a regenerative pump or a Westco type pump.
  • pump performance such as efficiency is greatly affected by a cross section of a flow passage section and a configuration of vanes of an impeller.
  • Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-63756, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-2720, or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-47894, for example, discloses a Westco type fuel pump in which a desired level of performance is achieved by setting dimensions, such as a flow passage representative size Rm, to particular values.
  • An impeller 9 of the conventional Westco type fuel pump has a disk-like outer configuration.
  • a plurality of vanes 93 and a plurality of vane grooves 92 are provided alternately with equal intervals along both a corner between one side of the disk and its outer peripheral surface and an opposite corner between the other side and the outer peripheral surface. These vanes and vane grooves are positioned on both sides of the impeller 9 with a partition wall 91 therebetween.
  • An outer peripheral surface 910 of the partition wall 91 has a diameter equal to that of an outer peripheral surface 930 of the vane 93.
  • a pump flow passage 95 is defined between an outer periphery of the impeller 9 and an inner surface of a pump casing 90.
  • Westco type pumps are also practiced for uses other than fuel pumps.
  • Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-210288 discloses one of Westco type water pumps. The disclosed technique is intended to suppress the aforesaid counter flow produced in the pump flow passage due to the presence of the dead zone.
  • This prior art proposes that the distal end of the impeller's partition wall is pointed.
  • the disclosed prior art also proposes that the height of the impeller's partition wall is made lower than that of its vanes to position the distal end of the partition wall inside the vanes.
  • the water pump disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-210288 or the air pump disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-32095 is greatly different from a fuel pump in required levels of a delivery capacity under pressure, an impeller diameter and other factors. For that reason, if the disclosed technique relating to the water or air pump is directly applied to a fuel pump, it would be difficult to achieve desired pump performance and operating effect.
  • a typical water pump for example, requires a flow rate of 100 to 10000 l/h and a lift of 5 to 10 kgf/cm2.
  • a typical fuel pump for automobiles requires a flow rate of 50 to 200 l/h and a lift of 2 to 5 kgf/cm2.
  • parameter ranges required for practical operation of both the pumps are different from each other to a large extent.
  • an impeller of a water pump is typically about 100 mm in diameter, while an impeller conventionally used in a fuel pump for automobiles is about 50 mm or 30 mm in diameter because the impeller size has limitations from the necessity of being located in an automobile fuel tank.
  • an air pump is greatly different from a fuel pump not only in rated values of capacity, efficiency, impeller diameter, etc., but also in such characteristics as compressibility and viscosity of a target substance since a fluid to be pressurized by the air pump is gas.
  • the air pump disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-32095 is formed to have a short radial distance between the vane distal ends of the impeller and the wall surface of the flow passage.
  • impellers are generally manufactured using metal materials.
  • the metal impeller can be machined to cut the vane grooves for making the distal end of the partition wall pointed.
  • the impeller of a fuel pump is generally molded by, for example, injection molding, using resin materials. This means that it is difficult to make the distal end of the partition wall pointed in the fuel pump for the reason of a deformation or cracks often caused when a molding is released from molds.
  • a fuel pump having a smaller impeller diameter has the problem that a slight deformation of the impeller configuration affects a fuel flow passing through the flow passage and lowers pump efficiency. Consequently, there is a difficulty in achieving desired pump performance by directly applying the configuration of the conventional water or air pump to a fuel pump.
  • an object of the present invention is especially to improve performance of a fuel pump.
  • the invention is intended for an improvement of a fuel pump comprising a disk-like impeller which is made of a resin and has vane grooves and vane plates formed alternately along an outer periphery of the impeller, the vane grooves being respectively open to both sides of the impeller and its outer peripheral surface and being parted by a partition wall in an axial direction of the impeller, to define the vane plates, a casing which rotatably accommodates the impeller, defines a pump flow passage along the outer periphery of the impeller and has an intake port and a delivery port both communicating with the pump flow passage, and a motor for driving the impeller to rotate the same.
  • each vane groove of the impeller includes a first groove portion for communicating between one side of the impeller and its outer peripheral surface, a second groove portion for communicating between the other side and the outer peripheral surface of the impeller, and a communicating groove positioned radially outside the first and second groove portions for allowing the first and second groove portions to communicate with each other in the axial direction, the first and second groove portions and the communicating groove being defined between side walls of adjacent twos of the vane plates, and each partition wall is positioned between the first and second groove portions to provide bottom surfaces of the first and second groove portions, the bottom surfaces being formed to gradually approach each other while extending in a radial direction from an inner side toward an outer side of the impeller, and being terminated at a position inside an outer peripheral end of each vane plate with a distance not smaller than a predetermined value between the bottom surfaces to define the communicating groove.
  • the impeller has the vane plates and the partition walls which define the respective vane grooves on both sides of the impeller.
  • the partition walls according to the invention are each terminated at a position inside the outer peripheral end of each vane plate such that the opposite bottom surfaces of each vane groove has a distance not smaller than the predetermined value at their outermost ends.
  • the distal ends of the partition walls are not positioned to directly face the outermost periphery of the impeller and, therefore, vortex flows of fuel generated along the bottom surfaces of each vane groove extend over the entire flow passage and thus reduce the flow dead zone to increase pump efficiency.
  • each vane groove by terminating the bottom surfaces of each vane groove with a distance not smaller than the predetermined value at their outermost ends, deformation of the distal end of the partition wall at its outermost periphery, which would otherwise occur upon release of a molding from molds, can be prevented, making it possible to obtain then impeller of a desired shape and achieve desired pump performance with certainty.
  • the impeller can be manufactured by molds, with the result of improved production efficiency.
  • a fuel pump according to the first embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 6.
  • the fuel pump is used with a fuel supply system of an internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle.
  • the fuel pump is comprised of a motor section 2 and a pump section 3.
  • the motor section 2 comprises a permanent magnet 21 disposed on an inner wall surface of a substantially cylindrical housing 1, and an armature 22 rotatably disposed inside the permanent magnet 21 in concentric relation to the magnet.
  • the pump section 3 comprises casings 311, 312 fixed to one end of the housing 1, and a disk-like impeller 32 rotating in a disk-shaped space defined between the casings 311 and 312 in concentric relation to the space.
  • the impeller 32 is attached to a shaft 220 of the armature 22 penetrating through the casing 311.
  • the flow passage 33 has an intake port 41 at one end thereof and a delivery port 43 at the other end, and is formed into a C-shape along the outer periphery of the impeller 32. Fuel is introduced to the flow passage 33 through the fuel intake port 41 which is formed in the casing 312.
  • the flow passage 33 is formed into the C-shape along the outer periphery of the impeller 32, as mentioned above, and has an intake portion 331 and a delivery portion 332 formed in respective predetermined positions with a parting wall 333 therebetween (see Fig. 4). These flow passage intake and delivery portions 331, 332 are larger in radial size than other portions of the flow passage 33, and the flow passage intake portion 331 is larger in radial size than the flow passage delivery portion 332.
  • the flow passage intake portion 331 communicates with the fuel intake port 41, while the flow passage delivery portion 332 communicates with the interior of the housing 1 via the fuel delivery port 43 which is bored to penetrate through the casing 311.
  • the fuel in the housing 1 is delivered from a fuel delivery portion 42 provided at an opposite end of the housing 1.
  • a connector is provided beside the fuel delivery portion 42 and has a terminal 23 through which electric power is supplied to the motor section 2.
  • the terminal 23 is connected to a brush (not shown) via noise preventing elements such as a coil and a capacitor.
  • the impeller 32 is rotatably accommodated between the casings 311 and 312 which are fixed in the housing 1 by press-fitting.
  • a plurality of vane plates 323 are formed around the outer periphery of the impeller 32 with predetermined intervals, and a vane groove 322 is formed between adjacent twos of the vane plates 323.
  • Each vane groove 322 includes groove portions 322a, 322b respectively positioned on both lateral sides of the impeller 32 at its outer periphery, and another groove portion (hereinafter referred to sometimes as a communicating groove) 322c positioned at the outermost periphery of the impeller 32 for communicating the groove portions 322a, 322b with each other in an axial direction.
  • These vane groove portions 322a, 322b, 322c collectively define the vane groove 322 which is substantially C-shaped in cross-section and extends from one lateral side to the other lateral side of the impeller 32 while passing the outermost periphery thereof.
  • the vane plate 323 is formed between every two vane grooves 322 and 322 adjacent each other in a circumferential direction.
  • Each vane plate 323 has a radial vane shape which extends outwardly perpendicular to the circumferential direction, and is adjacent the vane grooves 322 on its both sides in the circumferential direction to form side walls of the vane grooves 322.
  • Each pair of vane groove portions 322a, 322b positioned on both sides of the impeller 32 are parted from each other by a partition wall 321 which tapers toward the outermost periphery of the impeller 32.
  • the partition wall 321 has a small flat portion at its distal end and two opposite slopes which define a bottom surface 3221 of the groove portion 322a and a bottom surface 3222 of the groove portion 322b.
  • These bottom surfaces 3221, 3222 are each formed as a curved surface having the radius of curvature R (see Fig. 2).
  • the axial distance between the bottom surface 3221 and the bottom surface 3222 is gradually reduced toward the outermost periphery of the impeller 32 to become minimum at the outermost end of the partition wall 321. This minimum distance is also determined as a distance between the outermost ends of the bottom surfaces 3221 and 3222.
  • an outer peripheral surface 3210 of the partition wall 321 defines a bottom surface of the vane groove portion 322c.
  • the fuel is urged in a rotating direction of the impeller 32 by not only side walls of the vane groove portions 322a, 322b, but also side walls of the vane groove portions (communicating grooves) 322c.
  • the partition wall 321 of the impeller 32 is arranged, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, such that the outer peripheral surface 3210 is located radially inside outer peripheral surfaces 3230 of the vane plates 323 which define the outermost peripheral surface of the impeller 32.
  • the radial entire length L1 of each vane groove portion 322c i.e., the radial distance between the outer peripheral surface 3210 of the partition wall 321 and the outer peripheral surface 3230 of the vane plate 323, is set to 40 % of the length L2 of each vane plate 323 (see Fig. 2).
  • the vane plates 323 and the vane grooves 322 are disposed alternately with predetermined intervals around the outer periphery of the impeller 32 in the circumferential direction.
  • a shaft hole 325 for allowing the shaft 220 to be fitted into and penetrate through the hole 325.
  • the diameter D indicates a diameter of the impeller including the vanes at the outer periphery;
  • the thickness t indicates an axial thickness of the impeller;
  • the radial gap d3 indicates a distance between a radial end of each vane plate 323 and an inner peripheral surface of the casing 311.
  • the curvature of recessed surfaces R indicates a radius of curvature of both the sloped bottom surfaces of each partition wall 321 of the impeller; the entire radial length of communicating passage L1 indicates a radial length of the communicating passage or groove 322C from the outer peripheral surface 3210 of each partition wall 321 to the outer peripheral surface 3230 of each vane plate 323; and the entire radial length of vane L2 indicates a radial length of each vane plate 323 from its inner periphery to its outer peripheral surface 3230, including the communicating passage.
  • the flow passage representative size Rm is determined by S/l on the assumption that the axial sectional area of the flow passage defined by segments of a - b - c - d - j - i - h - g - f - e - a in Fig. 2 is S and the peripheral length of a section along peripheral edges of the impeller defined by segments of a - b - c - d in Fig. 2.
  • the end face length of partition wall k indicates an axial length of the outer peripheral surface 3210 of each partition wall 321.
  • Table 1 are in the unit of mm.
  • the fuel pump of this embodiment is installed in a fuel tank 61 which is mounted on a motor vehicle, and is connected to an onboard battery 62. Then, the fuel pump supplies fuel 63 in the fuel tank 61 to a fuel injection system 64.
  • a fuel filter 65 is connected to the fuel intake port 41 of the fuel pump, and a piping line 66 is connected to the fuel delivery port 42.
  • the piping line 66 supplies the fuel to injectors 67 of the fuel injection system 64, and the fuel pressure is adjusted by a regulator 68 to a predetermined value.
  • the fuel discharged from the regulator 68 is returned to the fuel tank 61 again via a return piping line 69.
  • Each of the injectors 67 sprays the fuel into an intake passage of an engine 70.
  • the fuel pump which is used with the fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle like this embodiment is operated on the condition that a delivery rate is in the range of 50 to 200 l/h and a lift is in the range of 2 to 5 kgf/cm3. Taking into account environmental conditions under which the motor vehicle is used, the fuel pump is designed to operate in the temperature range of about - 30 to 80 °C without any troubles.
  • the impeller diameter is set to 20 - 65 mm and the flow passage representative size Rm is set to 0.4 - 2.0 mm. More preferably, the flow passage representative size Rm is set to 0.6 - 1.6 mm. Specific dimensions of such a fuel pump are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-63756 or U.S. Patent No. 4,493,620.
  • Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a mold used for molding the impeller 32.
  • Fig. 7 shows a section of the part corresponding to the vane groove 322.
  • a mold 72 comprises two portions 74, 75 divided at a mold parting plane 73 which corresponds to the axial center of the impeller 32.
  • the inner cavity configuration of the mold 72 is formed in accordance with the shape of the impeller 32, though that the cavity is slightly larger than the impeller 32 in directions of its diameter and thickness.
  • a broken line 76 indicates the inner cavity configuration of the mold 72
  • a two-dot-chain line 77 indicates the final shape of the impeller 32.
  • the inner cavity configuration of the mold 72 at a position corresponding to the vane groove 322 of the impeller 32 is similar to the shape of the impeller 32.
  • thermosetting resin is first poured into the mold 72 for roughly molding the outer configuration of the impeller.
  • the molded impeller is somewhat larger in diameter and thickness than the finished impeller 32.
  • the molded impeller has the same configuration in its portion corresponding to each vane groove 322 as the finished impeller 32.
  • the material of the impeller 32 is a phenol resin mixed with glass fibers as reinforcements. Use of such a thermosetting resin lessens volume changes due to temperature changes and enables the pump to operate while maintaining a high level of performance over a wide range from low to high temperatures.
  • both lateral sides and an outer peripheral sides of the impeller molded by using the mold 72 are grounded. Specifically, in this grinding step, both the lateral sides of the impeller, as well as the outer peripheral surface 3230 and both side surfaces 3231, 3232 of each vane plate 323 are grounded. After the grinding, the configuration of the impeller 32 as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 is completed. Thus, among the surfaces of the impeller 32 shown in Fig. 1, those surfaces which are indicated by dot patterns are formed by only molding without being ground. Particularly, in this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface 3210 at the distal end of each partition wall 321 is not ground.
  • the impeller 32 is molded by using the mold 72. Therefore, the many vane grooves 322 can be simply formed, making the impeller well adapted for mass production. If the distal end of the partition wall 321 is too thin, it may be deformed when the molds 74 and 75 are opened to release the molding, thus leading to a large influence upon the pump performance. On the contrary, in this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface 3210 of each partition wall 321 is formed into a flat shape to ensure a sufficient thickness even at the distal end of the partition wall 321. Therefore, when the molded impeller is released from and take out of the molds 74 and 75, deformation of the partition wall 321 is prevented.
  • thermosetting resin as with this embodiment, there is a fear that the partition wall 321 may crack upon opening the molds because the thermosetting resin is generally brittle.
  • the thermosetting resin can be prevented from cracking at the distal end of the partition wall 321.
  • the armature 22 When electric power is supplied to the motor section 2 from the battery 63 via the terminal 23, the armature 22 is rotated in the motor section 2. The rotation of the armature 22 is transmitted to the impeller 32 via the shaft 220 for rotating the impeller 32.
  • the fuel in the fuel tank 61 is sucked into the flow passage 33 through the fuel intake port 41 and pressurized in the flow passage 33 by the vane plates 323 of the impeller 33. Then, the fuel reaches the fuel delivery port 42 and is delivered under pressure from the fuel delivery port 42 to the injectors 67.
  • the flow passage 33 is axially divided by only the partition walls 321 of the impeller 32. Since portions of each vane groove 322 which locate outside the outer peripheral surface 3210 of the partition wall 321 thoroughly communicates with each other in the axial direction via the vane groove portion 322c, the fuel can easily move between the opposite lateral sides of the impeller 32 from one to the other so that the fuel is prevented from being locally distributed in either one lateral side of the impeller. As a result, generation of a pressure axially urging the impeller 32 is suppressed to reduce a friction resistance and noises during the rotation of the impeller 32.
  • each vane plate 323 which is effective to urge the fuel in the circumferential direction is provided outside the outer peripheral surface 3210 of the partition wall 321, the fuel can be urged circumferentially by the effective outer axial surfaces of the vane plates 323, allowing a larger quantity of fuel to be moved in the rotating direction of the impeller 32. Additionally, the counter vortex which has been conventionally produced between the outer peripheral surface of the partition wall and the inner peripheral surface of the casing can be diminished to enhance a capability of raising the fuel pressure and provide a higher delivery pressure under the same electric power supplied.
  • the pump input was calculated as the product of a load torque and a rotational speed
  • the pump output was calculated as the product of a delivery pressure and a delivery rate.
  • the delivery pressure was measured by using both a digital multimeter manufactured by Advantest Co. and a small-sized semiconductor pressure sensor manufactured by Toyoda Machine Works Ltd.
  • the delivery flow rate was measured by using a digital flowmeter manufactured by Ono Measuring Instrument Ltd.
  • any present pumps can provide efficiency almost equal to or higher than the conventional pumps no matter which value the ratio of L1/L2 takes in the wide range of 0.1 to about 0.6.
  • the impeller thickness t when the impeller thickness t is set to a small value, the pump efficiencies drop to a large extent. This is believably due to that the small thickness t reduces the vane area of the impeller to such an extent as to disable generation of the satisfactory vortexes 341, 342. Another reason is that since the entire axial length of the flow passage is changed depending on changes in the thickness of the impeller in the above experimental examples, the flow passage becomes too short in the axial direction as a whole to generate the satisfactory vortexes 341, 342.
  • each partition wall 321 is more recessed radially inwardly as compared with the conventional impellers, the vortexes generated along the opposite sloped surfaces of each partition wall 321 can flow into the dead zone 96 (see Fig. 22) of the flow passage which has been formed in the conventional pumps, so that generation of the counter flow in the dead zone 96 is prevented to improve the pump efficiency.
  • Fig. 10 is a graph showing pump efficiencies resulted when the diameter D of the impeller is changed in the conventional Westco type fuel pump having no communicating groove.
  • FIG. 10 A characteristic curve plotted in Fig. 10 was obtained by fabricating plural pumps by way of trial which had dimension values as shown in Table 4 below with only the diameter D of the impeller changed, and measuring their pump efficiencies.
  • Table 4 D t d1 d2 d3 R L1 L2 Rm k - 2.4 0.7 0.7 4 0 2.4 0.7 0.3
  • D diameter t: thickness d1
  • R curvature of recessed surface
  • L1 entire radial length of communicating passage
  • L2 entire radial length of vane
  • Rm flow passage representative size
  • k end face length of partition wall
  • the efficiency declines to a large extent and, if the impeller diameter D is set above 65 mm, the efficiency declines gently. This is believably due to that the small impeller diameter makes the length of the flow passage too short to provide such passage portions as effectively functioning as a pump. It is also believed that the large impeller diameter makes a sliding resistance due to warping of the impeller so large as to lower the efficiency.
  • Fig. 11 is a graph showing pump efficiencies resulted when the axial length k of the outer peripheral surface (radial distal end face) of the impeller partition wall is changed in the conventional Westco type fuel pump having no communicating groove.
  • FIG. 11 A characteristic curve plotted in Fig. 11 was obtained by fabricating plural pumps by way of trial which had dimension values as shown in Table 5 below with only the aforesaid length k changed, and measuring their pump efficiencies.
  • Table 5 D t d1 d2 d3 R L1 L2 Rm k 30 2.4 0.7 0.7 4 0 2.4 0.7 - D: diameter t: thickness d1, d2: axial gap d3: radial gap R: curvature of recessed surface L1: entire radial length of communicating passage L2: entire radial length of vane Rm: flow passage representative size k: end face length of partition wall
  • Fig. 12 is a sectional view of the impeller 32 and the flow passage of the test example to which the present invention is applied.
  • the relevant dimensional values are as shown in Table 6 below.
  • Table 6 D t d1,d2 d3 R L3 L1 L2 Rm k 30 2.35 0.7 4 0.6 1.0 2.4 0.7 0.3
  • D diameter t: thickness d1, d2; d3: axial and radial gap
  • R curvature of recessed surface
  • L3 distance to imaginary cross point
  • L1 entire radial length of communicating passage
  • L2 entire radial length of vane
  • Rm flow passage representative size
  • k end face length of partition wall
  • the impeller 32 of Fig. 12 is of the same configuration as the impeller 32 described before by referring to Fig. 2 and Table 1. Note that the thickness t in Table 1 is given as 2.4 mm by rounding 2.35 mm to one decimal place.
  • V1 represents an imaginary cross point at which the bottom surfaces 3221, 3222 of the vane groove 322 would intersect with each other when extended with their radius of curvature.
  • the imaginary cross point V1 locates in the communicating passage or groove 322c nearly at the middle of the entire radial length L1 of the communicating passage.
  • Fig. 13 is a sectional view showing the configurations of an impeller and a flow passage of a first comparative example.
  • bottom surfaces 131, 132 of each vane groove are formed so as to intersect with each other inside the distal end of each vane plate by moving their centers of curvature. Accordingly, the dimension values of this example are as shown in Table 7 below.
  • the distance to cross point L3 indicates a distance between the distal end of each vane plate and an distal end 133 of each partition wall.
  • Fig. 14 is a sectional view showing the configurations of an impeller and a flow passage of a second comparative example.
  • Fig. 15 is a graph showing pump efficiencies of the test example, the first comparative example, and the second comparative example respectively illustrated in Figs. 12, 13 and 14.
  • a solid line plotted by squares represents the test example of Fig. 12
  • a broken line plotted by triangles represents the first comparative example of Fig. 13
  • a one-dot-chain line plotted by circles represents the second comparative example of Fig. 14.
  • the vortex fuel flows generated around each vane groove first flow along the bottom surfaces 3221, 3222 of the vane groove and then merge together near the center of the communicating passage to flow outwardly in the radial direction.
  • the (outer peripheral) distal end surface 3210 of each partition wall of the impeller is formed into a flat surface with a predetermined thickness or length k. With this configuration, there is formed outside the distal end surface 3210 of the partition wall an area into which the vortex fuel flows coming along the bottom surfaces 3221, 3222 will not directly enter, and the fuel stagnates in that area. It is considered that the higher pump efficiency as shown in Fig. 15 is resulted because the fuel stagnating outside the distal end surface 3210 of the partition wall acts to allow the vortex fuel flows coming along the bottom surfaces 3221, 3222 to smoothly merge together.
  • Fig. 16 shows a sectional view of an impeller of a fuel pump according to a second embodiment of the invention.
  • each vane groove is formed with the radius of curvature corresponding to the vortex fuel flows generated by the rotation of the impeller.
  • a predetermined thickness k is ensured between outermost peripheral ends of the bottom surfaces which have the radius of curvature corresponding to the vortex fuel flows.
  • a curved surface 163 is formed at a distal end of each partition wall 162 of the impeller 161.
  • the partition wall 162 of this second embodiment has the thickness k of about 0.3 mm between outermost peripheral ends 164a, 165a of bottom surfaces 164, 165 having the radius of curvature R.
  • the thickness k of the partition wall 162 is set to about 0.3 mm at flexion points of curved lines which define an outer configuration of the partition wall 162.
  • Dimension values of other pump components are the same as those in the first embodiment.
  • Fig. 17 shows a perspective view of an impeller of a fuel pump according to a third embodiment of the invention.
  • each vane plate 323 i.e., an upper end corner of each vane plate 323 on its trailing side with respect to the rotating direction of an impeller 32, is slantly chamfered to form a sloped surface 3231a.
  • the fuel flowing out of one vane groove 322 of the impeller 32 in the form of the aforesaid vortexes 341, 342 is introduced, after swirling over the flow passage, into another succeeding vane groove 322 again to be given with further vortex forces.
  • the vortexes 341, 342 flowing out of the one vane groove 322 are more easily introduced to the succeeding vane groove 322. Accordingly, loss of the vortex fuel flows generated by the impeller 32 is reduced to raise the pump efficiency.
  • Fig. 18 shows a perspective view of an impeller of a fuel pump according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.
  • each vane plate 323 in addition to the sloped surface 3231a in Fig. 17, an upper front edge of each vane plate 323 is also slantly chamfered to form a sloped surface 3231b. Accordingly, loss of the vortex fuel flows is reduced as with the above third embodiment. Moreover, this fourth embodiment has another advantage that the impeller 32 can be assembled without taking into account the rotating direction.
  • Fig. 19 shows a perspective view of an impeller of a fuel pump according to a fifth embodiment of the invention.
  • An impeller 32 of this fifth embodiment is different from that of the above fourth embodiment shown in Fig. 18 in that the front sloped surface 3231b is chamfered to a smaller extent and the rear sloped surface 3231a is chamfered to a larger extent, thus making both the sloped surfaces asymmetrical in their shapes.
  • This fifth embodiment can also reduce loss of the vortex fuel flows similarly to the above embodiments.
  • Fig. 20 shows a plan view of an impeller of a fuel pump according to a sixth embodiment of the invention.
  • an impeller 32 is formed such that each partition wall 321 is jointed to two adjacent vane plates 323 through smooth curved portions 3214, 3215 at both circumferential ends of an outer peripheral surface 3210 of the partition wall 321.
  • a circumferential fuel current following the outer peripheral surface 3210 of the partition wall 321 flows along the curved portions 3214, 3215 in joint areas with the vane plates 323. Therefore, the fuel current is not impeded and its loss can be reduced.
  • a large stress is exerted on the vane plate 323.
  • the vane plates 323 can be so reinforced as to prevent possible damage or deformation of the vane plates 323.
  • each fuel pump is supposed to rotate at a rotational speed of 3000 to 15000 rpm as usual.
  • desired pump performance is obtained in such a range of the rotational speed.
  • a Westco type fuel pump includes an impeller (32) which has a plurality of vane grooves (322) and a plurality of vane plates (323) provided alternately along its outer periphery.
  • Each vane groove (322) is constituted by groove portions (322a, 322b) formed in both sides of the impeller (32), respectively, with a partition wall (321) provided between the groove portions (322a, 322b).
  • the partition wall has an outer peripheral surface (3210) located radially inside an outer peripheral surfaces (3230) of each vane plate (323) and has a predetermined thickness in an axial direction of the impeller.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Structures Of Non-Positive Displacement Pumps (AREA)
EP93105414A 1992-04-03 1993-04-01 Kraftstoffpumpe Expired - Lifetime EP0563957B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP82465/92 1992-04-03
JP8246592 1992-04-03
JP8246592 1992-04-03
JP35405/93 1993-02-24
JP3540593 1993-02-24
JP5035405A JPH062690A (ja) 1992-04-03 1993-02-24 燃料ポンプ

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0563957A1 true EP0563957A1 (de) 1993-10-06
EP0563957B1 EP0563957B1 (de) 1999-09-22

Family

ID=26374392

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93105414A Expired - Lifetime EP0563957B1 (de) 1992-04-03 1993-04-01 Kraftstoffpumpe

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0563957B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH062690A (de)
KR (1) KR100294368B1 (de)
DE (1) DE69326495T2 (de)
HU (1) HU215991B (de)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4437935A1 (de) * 1993-12-06 1995-06-08 Ford Motor Co Kraftstoffpumpe
EP0760426A1 (de) * 1995-08-30 1997-03-05 Ford Motor Company Kraftstoffpumpe
GB2313158A (en) * 1996-05-13 1997-11-19 Totton Pumps Ltd Dispensing soda water
EP1028256A2 (de) * 1999-02-08 2000-08-16 Ford Motor Company Laufrad für elektrisch angetriebene Fahrzeugbrennstoffpumpe
GB2351324A (en) * 1999-06-23 2000-12-27 Ford Motor Co Regenerative pump impeller
EP1452738A2 (de) * 2003-02-25 2004-09-01 Hitachi Unisia Automotive Ltd. Turbinenpumpe für Brennstoff
WO2008145536A1 (de) * 2007-06-01 2008-12-04 Continental Automotive Gmbh Kraftstoffpumpe
WO2011082932A1 (de) * 2009-12-16 2011-07-14 Continental Automotive Gmbh Kraftstoffpumpe
CN104093987A (zh) * 2011-12-13 2014-10-08 伊格尔博格曼德国有限公司 回转式压缩机

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN1121551C (zh) 1998-12-28 2003-09-17 三菱电机株式会社 电动燃料泵
JP4489394B2 (ja) * 2003-08-26 2010-06-23 株式会社日本自動車部品総合研究所 渦流ポンプ
JP2006037870A (ja) * 2004-07-28 2006-02-09 Aisan Ind Co Ltd 電動ポンプ及びその電動ポンプを備えた燃料供給装置
JP2008223665A (ja) * 2007-03-14 2008-09-25 Denso Corp 燃料ポンプ
JP6066606B2 (ja) * 2012-07-20 2017-01-25 ミネベア株式会社 多段式渦流ポンプ

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US3359908A (en) * 1966-01-24 1967-12-26 Gen Electric Turbine pump
DE3209763A1 (de) * 1981-03-20 1982-12-16 Nippondenso Co., Ltd., Kariya, Aichi Elektrisch betriebene brennstoffpumpvorrichtung
US4403910A (en) * 1981-04-30 1983-09-13 Nippondenso Co., Ltd. Pump apparatus
EP0133497A2 (de) * 1983-08-03 1985-02-27 Robert Bosch Gmbh Kraftstofförderaggregat
US4915582A (en) * 1987-08-12 1990-04-10 Japan Electronic Control Systems Company, Limited Rotary turbine fluid pump
DE8911302U1 (de) * 1989-09-22 1991-01-31 Robert Bosch Gmbh, 7000 Stuttgart Aggregat zum Fördern von Kraftstoff aus dem Vorratstank eines Kraftfahrzeuges zu dessen Brennkraftmaschine
WO1992000457A1 (de) * 1990-06-28 1992-01-09 Robert Bosch Gmbh Peripheralpumpe, insbesondere zum fördern von kraftstoff aus einem vorratstank zur brennkraftmaschine eines kraftfahrzeuges

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3359908A (en) * 1966-01-24 1967-12-26 Gen Electric Turbine pump
DE3209763A1 (de) * 1981-03-20 1982-12-16 Nippondenso Co., Ltd., Kariya, Aichi Elektrisch betriebene brennstoffpumpvorrichtung
US4403910A (en) * 1981-04-30 1983-09-13 Nippondenso Co., Ltd. Pump apparatus
EP0133497A2 (de) * 1983-08-03 1985-02-27 Robert Bosch Gmbh Kraftstofförderaggregat
US4915582A (en) * 1987-08-12 1990-04-10 Japan Electronic Control Systems Company, Limited Rotary turbine fluid pump
DE8911302U1 (de) * 1989-09-22 1991-01-31 Robert Bosch Gmbh, 7000 Stuttgart Aggregat zum Fördern von Kraftstoff aus dem Vorratstank eines Kraftfahrzeuges zu dessen Brennkraftmaschine
WO1992000457A1 (de) * 1990-06-28 1992-01-09 Robert Bosch Gmbh Peripheralpumpe, insbesondere zum fördern von kraftstoff aus einem vorratstank zur brennkraftmaschine eines kraftfahrzeuges

Cited By (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4437935A1 (de) * 1993-12-06 1995-06-08 Ford Motor Co Kraftstoffpumpe
DE4437935C2 (de) * 1993-12-06 1998-07-02 Ford Motor Co Peripheralpumpe
EP0760426A1 (de) * 1995-08-30 1997-03-05 Ford Motor Company Kraftstoffpumpe
GB2313158A (en) * 1996-05-13 1997-11-19 Totton Pumps Ltd Dispensing soda water
GB2313158B (en) * 1996-05-13 2000-05-31 Totton Pumps Ltd Soda water dispensing systems
US6174128B1 (en) 1999-02-08 2001-01-16 Ford Global Technologies, Inc. Impeller for electric automotive fuel pump
EP1028256A3 (de) * 1999-02-08 2000-08-23 Ford Motor Company Laufrad für elektrisch angetriebene Fahrzeugbrennstoffpumpe
EP1028256A2 (de) * 1999-02-08 2000-08-16 Ford Motor Company Laufrad für elektrisch angetriebene Fahrzeugbrennstoffpumpe
GB2351324A (en) * 1999-06-23 2000-12-27 Ford Motor Co Regenerative pump impeller
US6296439B1 (en) 1999-06-23 2001-10-02 Visteon Global Technologies, Inc. Regenerative turbine pump impeller
GB2351324B (en) * 1999-06-23 2004-01-21 Ford Motor Co Regenerative turbine pump impeller
EP1452738A3 (de) * 2003-02-25 2005-11-02 Hitachi, Ltd. Turbinenpumpe für Brennstoff
EP1452738A2 (de) * 2003-02-25 2004-09-01 Hitachi Unisia Automotive Ltd. Turbinenpumpe für Brennstoff
US7048494B2 (en) 2003-02-25 2006-05-23 Hitachi Ltd. Turbine fuel pump
US7160079B2 (en) 2003-02-25 2007-01-09 Hitachi, Ltd. Turbine fuel pump
WO2008145536A1 (de) * 2007-06-01 2008-12-04 Continental Automotive Gmbh Kraftstoffpumpe
WO2011082932A1 (de) * 2009-12-16 2011-07-14 Continental Automotive Gmbh Kraftstoffpumpe
CN102667166A (zh) * 2009-12-16 2012-09-12 大陆汽车有限责任公司 燃油泵
CN104093987A (zh) * 2011-12-13 2014-10-08 伊格尔博格曼德国有限公司 回转式压缩机

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR930021936A (ko) 1993-11-23
KR100294368B1 (ko) 2001-10-22
JPH062690A (ja) 1994-01-11
EP0563957B1 (de) 1999-09-22
HU215991B (hu) 1999-03-29
DE69326495D1 (de) 1999-10-28
HU9300970D0 (en) 1993-06-28
DE69326495T2 (de) 2000-04-13
HUT70121A (en) 1995-09-28

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