GB2522424A

GB2522424A - Valve assembly for a pump

Info

Publication number: GB2522424A
Application number: GB1401084.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tien-Tsai Tseng
Original assignee: Chuan Jiing Enterprises Co Ltd
Current assignee: Chuan Jiing Enterprises Co Ltd
Priority date: 2014-01-23
Filing date: 2014-01-23
Publication date: 2015-07-29
Anticipated expiration: 2034-01-23
Also published as: GB2522424B; GB2522424B8; GB201401084D0

Abstract

A pump 30 includes a bottle 31, an air-pumping device, a cover 40, a valve assembly 90 and a buoyant 13. The air-pumping device is operable to pump air out of the bottle and therefore pump liquid into the bottle. The cover includes an opening 42 and a channel 43. The bottle is in communication with the exterior thereof via the opening, and in communication with the air-pumping device via the channel when the cover is attached to the bottle and the air-pumping device. The valve assembly is movable in the bottle between a first position for releasing the channel as the pump is in an upright position and a second position for blocking the channel as the pump is in a tilted position. The buoyant floats on the liquid in the bottle and moves the valve assembly into the second position as the bottle is almost full of the liquid in the upright position.

Description

Valve Assembly for a Pump

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. FIELD OF INVENTION

The present Invention relates to a pump and, more particularly, to a valve assembly for a pump

2 RELATFD PRIOR ART

Referring to FIGS. I and 2 of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0308418, a conventional pump 10 is placed in an inverted position The pump 10 includes a shell II formed with an upper end 12 and a lower end (not shown) I he upper end 12 of the shell 11 is an open end A check valve (not shown) is placed in an aperture (not shown) defined in the lower end of the shell 11 A cylinder 14m placed in the shell 11 A lower end of the cylinder 14 is attached to the lower end of the shell 11 Thus, the space defined in the cylinder 14 is separated from the space defined in the shell 11 The check valve is placed in the cylinder 14 A flexible piston (not shown) is placed in the cylinder 14 The flexible pIston is connected to an end of a rod while a handle is connected to an opposite end of the tod An annular buoyant 13 is placed around and movable along the cylindet 14 A cover 20 is connected to the shell 11 and the cylinder 14 The space of the snell ii is in communication with the space of the cylinder 14 via a channel 22 made in the cover 20 The cover 20 mcludes an opening 21 defined therein A valve 8 is used to close a first end of the channel 22 placed in the space defined in the shell 11. A lever 17 is connected to the valve 18 at an end and connected to another buoyant 16 at an opposite end. The pum.p is useful in pumping liquid such as used oil 15 out of an oil pan of an engine of for example.

In use, the pump is placed in an upright position A plug (not shown') is fit in the opening 21 A flexible pipe (not shown) is inserted through the plug An end of the flexible pipe is placed in the space defined in the shell 11 hile another end of the flexible pipe is placed in the used oil 15 contained in the oil pan. The flexible piston is reciprocated in the cylmder 14 to pump air out of the space defined in the cylinder 14 and hence out of the space defined in the shell ii Some of the used oil 15 is hence pumped from the oil pan mto the space defined in the shell ii When the space cetincd in the shell his almost fill of the used oil 15, the channel 22 is blocked by the valve 18 lifted by the buoyant 16 and the annular buoyant 13 floating on the used oil 15 contained m the pump Thus, the used oil 15 cannot be pumped into the space defined in the shell 11 To pour the used oil from the pump 10, the plug is removed from the opening 21, and the pump 10 is tilted or even inverted The used oil is supposed to leave the pump 10 through the opening 21 only. However, there is inevitably leak of the used oil from the pump 10 through the channel 22 because the channel 22 is ieleased from the valve 18 moved with the buoyant 16.

Referring to FIGS 3 to 19 of U S Patent Application Publication 201210308418, an inverted-position leakpreenting device is expected to avoid an leak of used oil 15 fiom the pump 30 The operation of the invertedposition leak-preventing device is sometimes not fast enough to avoid leak of the used oil 15 from the pump 30.

The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least

alleviate the problems encountered in prior art

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a pump that effectively prevents leak To achieve the foregoing objective, the pump includes a bottle, an air-pumping device, a cover, a valve assembly arid a buoyant:. The an-pumping device is operable to pump air out of the bottle and therefore pump liquid into the bottle The cover includes an opening and a channel The bottle is in communication with the extenor thereof via the opening and in communication with the air-pumping device via the channel when the cover is attached to the bottle and the air-pumping de ice [lie valve assembly is movable in the bottle between a first position for releasing the channel as the pump is in an upright position and a second position for blocking the channel as the pump is in a tilted position. The buoyant floats on the liquid in the bottle and moves the valve assembly into the second position as the bottle is almost fill of the liquid in the upright position.

Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRJP [EON OF DRAWINGS The present invention will be described via detailed illustration of several embodiments refeirrng to the drawings wherein FIG I is an exploded view of a pump with a valve assembly in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 2 is an exploded view of the valve assembly shown in FIG 1, FIG 3 is a cross-sectional view of the valve assembly illustrated in FIG 2; FIG 4 is an enlarged partial view of the valve assembly shown in FIG 3; FIG 5 is a partial, cross-sectional view of a valve assembly in S accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG 6 is a partial, cross-sectional view of a valve assembly in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention; FIG 7 is a perspective view of a valve of a valve assembly in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention, FIG 8 is a perspective view of a valve of a valve assembly in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention, FJG. 9 is an exploded view of a tubular guiding element and a pusher of a valve assembly in accordance with the sixth embodiment of the present invention; FIG lOis a perspective view of a tubular guiding clement and a pusher of a valve assembly in accordance with the seventh embodiment of the present invention, FIG II is a cut-away view of a tubular guiding element and a pusher of a valve assembly in accordance with the eighth embodiment of the piesent invention, FIG 12 is a cut-away view of a tubular guiding element and a pusher of a valve assembly in accordance with the ninth embodiment of the present invention; FIG 13 is a partial, cross-sectional slew of a valve assembly in accordance with the tenth embodiment of the present invention; FIG 14 is a partial, cross-sectional view of a valve assembly in accordance with the eleventh embodiment of the present invention; FIG 15 is a partial, ci oss-sectional view of a pump with the valve assembly shown FIG. 1; and FIG. 16 is a partial, cross-sectional view of a pump with the valve S assembly shown FIG. 1.

DE FAILED DEScRIP [ION OF EMBODIMENTS Referring to P1(1 1 through 4, a pump 30 includes a bottle 31, an air-pumping device and a valve assembly 90 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The air-pumping device is used to to pump air out of the bottle 31 to pump liquid 15 such as used oil into the bottle 31. The valve assembly 90 prevents leak of the liquid 15 from the bottle 31 when the bottle 31 is tilted or inverted.

The bottle 31 is formed with a lower open end and an upper open end A lower cover 33 is attached to the lower open end of the bottle 31. An annular buoyant 13 is movably placed in the bottle 31 The air-pumping unit includes a cylinder 50, a flexible piston 53, a rod 52 and a handle 51. The cylinder 50 is placed hi the bottle 31. The cylinder 50 is inserted through the annular buoyant 13. A lower end of the cylinder 50 is in contact with the lower cover 33 so that the space in the cylinder 50 is separated from the space in the bottle 31. A check valve assembly 34 is placed in an aperture made in the lower cover 33 so that the check valve assembly 34 is placed in the cylinder 50.

The flexible piston 53 is movably placed in the cylinder 50. The flexible piston 53 is attached to an end of the rod 52 while the handle 51 is connected to an opposite end of the rod 52 An upper cover 40 is formed with a handle 41, an opening 42, a channel 43 and a bore 46. The opening 42 is separated from the channel 43 while the bore 46 is in communication with the channel 43 The channel 43 includes an end closed by a plug 45 A safety valve 44 is placed in an upper end of the bore 44 The upper cover 40 thither includes an annular rib that extends around the bore 46 The upper cover 40 is placed on the bottle 31 and the cylinder 50 The space in the bottle 3 1 is only in communication with the space in cylinder 50 via the channel 43 The valve assembly 90 includes an annular sea'ing element 91, a tubular guiding element 84, a plate 86, a valve 70, two weights 78 and a pusher 74 The annular sealing element 91 is fit in a lower open end of the boie 46 The tubulat guiding element 84 extends from the plate 86 in a slant manner, 1 e, there is a siart relation between an axis along which the channel in the tubular guiding element 84 extends and a plane in which the plate 86 extends The tubular guiding element 84 inherently includes a channel 89 The tubular guiding element 84 includes a longitudinal slot 85 The plate 86 is made with adecp..ate thickness so that an annular groove 37 can be made therein The plate 86 includes an annular rib 88 in communication with the tubular guiding element 84 The annular groove 87 extends around the annular rib 88 the plate 86 is attached to the upper cover 40 The annular groove 87 ieceies the annular rib of the upper cover 40 The annular rib 88 is inserted in the annular rib of the upper cover 40. The channel 89 is in communication with the bore 46. The channel 89 extends toward the opening 42 as it extends upward.

The bore 46 extends along an axis Li that extends vertically when.

the pump 30 is placed in an upright position. The tubular guiding element 84 extends along an axis 122. There is a. sharp angle 0 between s the axes Li and L2. The angIe 0 is not 00, i.e., the axes Li and L2 do not coincide.

The valve 70 and the weights 78 are movably placed in the tubular guiding element 84 [he valve 70 is in the form of a bail, and so are the weights 78 Hence, the valve 70 and the weights 78 can roll smoothly in the tubular guiding element 84 The pusher 74 includes an upper section 75 and a lower section 76 There is a sharp angle between the upper section 75 of the pusher 74 and the lower section 76 The upper section 75 of the pushei 74 is movably inserted in the tubular guiding clement 84 A screw 77 is driven in the upper section 75 of the pusher 74 via the slot 85 to keep the pusher 74 connected to the tubular guiding element 84 The losei section 76 of the pusher 74 is placed out of the tubular guiding element 84 and intended to contact the annular buoyant 13 In operation, the pump 30 is placed in an upright position A plug (riot shown) is fit in the opening 42 A hose (not shown) is inserted through the plug, An end of the hose is placed in the space in the bottle 31 while another end of the hose is submerged in liquid 15 contained in an oil pan The flexbIe piston 53 is ieciprocated in the cylinder 50 to pump air out of the space of the cylinder 50 and hence out of the space of the bottle 31. Some of the liquid 15 is hence pumped from the oil pan into the space in the bottle 31.

When the space in the bottle 31 is almost full of the liquid 15, the bore 46 and hence the channel 43 are blocked by the valve 70, which are pushed by the pusher 74, which is lifted by the annular buoyant 13, which floats on the iquid 15 that is contamed in the bottle 31 rhus, no more liquid 15 can be pumped into the space in the bottle 31 To pour the hquid 15 from the pump 30, the plug is removed from the opening 42, and the pump 30 is tilted or inverted Due to the way in which the tubular guiding element 84 extends, the valve 70 rolls quickly in the tubular guiding element 84 to the annular sealing element 91 to abut the annular sealing element 91 to block the bore 46 and therefote the channel 43 before the liquid 15 reaches the opening 42, There is no leak of the liquid 15 from the pump 30 though the channel 43. That is, the liquid 15 only leaves the pump 30 via the opening 42.

Referring to FIG 5, there is a vaive assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is like the first embodiment except that the valve 70 is in the form of a capsule and so is each of the weights 78 That is the valve 70 is a short rod formed with two rounded ends, and so is each of the weights 78.

Referring to FIG 6, there s a valve assembly in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention The thud embodiment is like the first embodiment except that the valve 70 is in the form of a tablet and so is each of the weights 78 Such a tablet is made with a diameter larger than thickness.

Referring to FIG 7, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The fourth embodiment is like the first embodiment except that the valve 70 is in the for-ni of a rod that includes to flat ends Referring to FIG 8, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present inventIon. The fifth embodiment is like s the first embodiment except that the valve 70 is in the fonn of a COflC tvith a smaller, rounded end and a larger, flat end To achieve identical pressure for blocking the bore 46, the valve 70 can be replaced by a larger ball while the weights 78 ate saved in another embodiment. However, several small balls are better than a large ball for involving a smaller arid less expensive valve assembly To achieve identical pressure for blocking the bore 46, the valve 70 can be replaced by a plunger while the weights 78 are saved in still another embodiment. l-bwever, several balls are better than a plunger for invohrng less friction on the internal face of the tubular guiding element 84 and smoothei movement Referring to FIG. 9, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the sixth embodiment of the present invention The sixth embodiment is identical to the first embodiment except including a circular pin 93 instead of the screw 77 Referring to FIG 10, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the seventh embodiment of the present invention. The seventh embodiment is like the first embodiment except including a square pm 94 instead of the circulai pm 93 Refernrg to FIG 11, there is a valve assembly in accoidance with the eighth embodiment of the present invention The eighth embodiment is like the sixth embodiment except se%eral things At first, the tubular guiding element 84 includes two grooves 96 instead of the slots 85. The grooves 96 receive two ends of the pin 93. Secondly, a C-clip 99 is fit used to keep the ends of the pm 93 in the grooves 96 Third1 the pusher 74 is a circular element Referring to FIG 12, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the ninth embodiment of the present invention. The ninth embodiment is identical to the eighth embodiment except three things At first, the grooves 96 are saved Secondly, the upper section 75 of the pusher 74 includes a slot 97. The pin 93 is inserted through the slot 97. The ends of the pin 93 are duven in the tubular guiding element 84 Thirdly, the C-clip 99 is saved.

Referring to FIG 13, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the tenth embodiment of the present invention. The tenth embodiment is like the first embodiment except that the pusher 74 is made with a rectilinear configuration. Only a lower end of the pusher 74 is placed out of the tubular guiding element 84 when the pusher 74 is fully lifted by the annular buoyant 13, which floats on the liquid 15.

Referring to FIG 14, there is a valve assembly in accordance with the eleventh embodiment of the present mvention The eleventh embodiment is like the first embodiment except that the upper cover 40 and the plate 86 are made one The valve 4ssembly 90 can be used in another pump with rcfei once to FIG. 15. This pump does not include the airpumping unit shown in FIGS I through 4 1 his pump includes a joint 54 formed on the upper cover 40 The joint 54 can be connected to an air compressor via a hose

for example.

The valve assembly 90 can be used rn another pump with reference to FIG 16 ihis pump does not include the an-pumping unit shown in FIGS I through 4 This pump includes ajoint 55 formed on the upper cover 40 The joint 55 can be connected to an air compressor via a hose

for example

The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the embodiments Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the preferred embodiment shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A pump including: a bottle; an air-pumping device for pumping air out of the bottle and therefore pumpmg liquid into the bottle, a cover mcluthng an opening and a channel, wherein the bottle is in communication with the exterior thereof via the opening and in communication with the air-pumping device via the channel when the cover is attached to the bottle and the air-pumping device; a valve assembly movable in the bottle between a first position for releasing the channel as the pump is m an upright position and a second position for blocking the channel as the pump is in a tilted position, and a buoyant for floating on the liquid m the bottle and moving the is valve assembly into the second position as the bottle is almost full of the liquid in the upright position.
2. The pump in accordance with claim 1, wherein the valve assembly includes a valve movably placed in the bottle to block the channel as the valve assembly is in the second position.

3 The pump in accordance with claim 2, wherem the valve is a ball 4 The pump in accordance with claim 2, wherein the valve is a tablet The pump in accordance svith claim 2, wherein the valve is a rod 6 The pump in accordance with claim 5, wherein the valve includes at least one rounded end.7, The pump in accordance with claim 2, wherein the valve is a cone.8. The pump in accordance with claim 7, wherein the rod includes a rounded, smaller end and a flat, larger end, 9. The pump in accordance with claim 2, wherein the valve assembly includes a tubular guiding element attached to the cover so that the tubular guiding element extends toward the cover as the tubular S guiding element extends upward, wherein the valve is quickly moves in the tubular guiding element into the second position to block the channel before the liquid is poured from the pump through the opening.10. The pump in accordance with claim 9, wherein the valve assembly includes an annular sealing element fit in the channel, wherein the valve abuts the annular sealing element to block the channel in the second position of the valve assembly.11 The pump in accordance with claim 9, wherein the valve assembly includes a plate formed at an upper end of the tubular guiding element and attached to the cover.12 The pump in accordance with claim 9. wherein the valve assembly includes a pusher formed with an upper section movably inserted in the tubular guiding element to contact the valve and a lower section placed out of the tubular guiding element to contact the buoyant 13 The pump m accordance with claim 12, wherein the valve assembly includes a screw inserted in the upper section of the pusher, wherein the tubulat guiding element includec at least one slot for receiving at least one end of the screw 14 The pump in accordance with claim 12, wherein the valve assembly includes a pin mserted in the upper section of the pusher, wherein the tubular guiding element includes at least one slot for receiving at least one end of the pin.15. The pump in accordance with claim 12, wherein the valve assembly includes a pin inserted in the upper section of the pusher, wherein the tubular guiding eletrera includes at least one gioove for receiving at S least one end of the pin.16 The pump in accordance with claim 15, wherein the valve assembly includes a C-clip fit in the tubular guiding element to keep the end of the pin in the groove.17 The pump in accordance with claim 12, wherein the valve assembly includes a pin transversely inserted in the tubulai guiding element, whetem the upper section of the pusher includes at least one slot for receiving the pin.18 The pump in accordance with claim 10, wherein there is a shaip angle between the upper and lowet sections of the pusher is 19. The pump in accordance with claim 10, wherein the valve assembly includes at least one weight placed between the valve and the pusher.