JP2004092588A - Pump - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pump capable of efficiently executing intake and discharge of a fluid by making amplitude of a vibrating plate be enlarged. <P>SOLUTION: The pump 1, 23 is characterized in that the fluid is inhaled inside a pump chamber 3, 27 by vibrating the vibrating plate 15, 18 and the fluid which has been inhaled inside the pump chamber 3, 27 is discharged outside the pump chamber 3, 27 simultaneously, and weights 17, 29 are provided at the above vibrating plate 15, 18. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a pump, and more particularly to a pump suitable for sucking a fluid into a pump chamber and discharging a fluid outside the pump chamber using vibration of a diaphragm.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a general pump, it is well known that a pump function uses a rotary electric motor to rotate a fluid blade to suck and discharge the fluid, or to convert the fluid into a reciprocating piston motion and move the fluid by moving a pressure through a diaphragm. Have been. In addition, against the background of environmental problems such as air pollution, there is a demand for a means for supplying clean power that does not cause environmental pollution. Batteries were being developed. This fuel cell is expected to be useful in various fields such as a battery for an automobile.
[0003]
Furthermore, in recent years, a new idea has been born in which a small fuel cell is used as a battery for an electronic device.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when the above-mentioned small fuel cell is used, a fuel supply pump is required as a means for supplying fuel to the battery. Such a pump has already been disclosed in Utility Model Registration No. 2578977. There has been disclosed a piezoelectric pump that suctions and discharges a fluid by using vibration of the piezoelectric pump.
[0005]
However, a pump using only such a piezoelectric element has a drawback that the amplitude of the diaphragm is small, so that only a small amount of fluid can be sucked or discharged.
[0006]
On the other hand, even if the driving frequency of the diaphragm is increased in order to increase the flow rate per unit time, power consumption is increased because the diaphragm is driven.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a pump that can efficiently suction and discharge a fluid by increasing the amplitude of a diaphragm. is there.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A feature of the pump according to the present invention for achieving the above object is that a weight is provided on the diaphragm.
[0009]
By employing such a configuration, the amplitude of the diaphragm during vibration can be increased by the mass of the weight.
[0010]
Further, a feature of the pump according to the present invention is that the diaphragm is formed of a magnetic material, and can be vibrated by driving an electromagnet.
[0011]
By adopting such a configuration, an attractive force and a repulsive force can be alternately applied to the diaphragm made of a magnetic material by the electromagnet, whereby the diaphragm can be easily and efficiently vibrated. Can be done.
[0012]
Further, a feature of the pump according to the present invention lies in that the weight is formed of a magnetic material and can be vibrated by driving an electromagnet.
[0013]
By adopting such a configuration, the attraction force and the repulsion force can be alternately applied to the weight made of the magnetic material by the electromagnet, whereby the diaphragm can be easily and efficiently made to have a large amplitude. To vibrate.
[0014]
Furthermore, a feature of the pump according to the present invention is that the diaphragm is formed from a piezoelectric element.
[0015]
By employing such a configuration, the diaphragm can be vibrated by supplying a predetermined power to the diaphragm formed of the piezoelectric element.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a pump according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0017]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the pump 1 in the present embodiment has a pump chamber 3 having a gap with a predetermined thickness inside a casing 2 having a substantially square planar shape. Is kept in a sealed state in a normal state in which fluid is not sucked or discharged.
[0018]
The upper wall of the casing 2 in FIG. 1 has a cylindrical suction portion 4 for sucking fluid into the pump chamber 3 and discharges the fluid sucked into the pump chamber 3 to the outside of the pump chamber 3. And a cylindrical discharge section 5 for forming the same are provided at a predetermined interval from each other.
[0019]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a long suction hole 6 is formed in the center of the suction portion 4 along the longitudinal direction of the suction portion 4. At a position facing the suction hole 6 inside the casing 2, a suction valve 8 having a substantially circular planar shape having an arc-shaped opening 7 is provided. And is held so as to be sandwiched between a valve holding wall portion 9 provided inside thereof. The suction valve 8 is elastically deformed downward in FIG. 4 via a concave portion 9 a formed in the valve holding wall 9 as the air inside the pump chamber 3 expands. The downward elastic deformation allows the suction hole 6 to be slightly opened and allows the suction of fluid into the pump chamber 3 through the opening 7. On the other hand, in a normal state or a state where the air inside the pump chamber 3 is compressed, the suction valve 8 blocks the suction hole 6 to regulate the suction of the fluid into the pump chamber 3. I have.
[0020]
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a long discharge hole 12 is formed in the center of the discharge unit 5 along the longitudinal direction of the discharge unit 5. At a position facing the discharge hole 12 inside the casing 2, a discharge valve 14 having a substantially circular flat shape having an arc-shaped opening 13 is provided on an upper wall portion of the casing 2 and the valve holding member. It is held so as to be sandwiched between it and the wall 9. The discharge valve 14 is elastically deformed upward in FIG. 4 through a concave portion 5 a formed in the discharge portion 5 as the air inside the pump chamber 3 is compressed. The upward elastic deformation allows the discharge hole 12 to be slightly opened and allows the fluid to be discharged to the outside of the pump chamber 3 through the opening 13. On the other hand, the discharge valve 14 controls the discharge of the fluid to the outside of the pump chamber 3 by blocking the discharge hole 12 in a normal state or a state in which the air inside the pump chamber 3 is expanded. Has become.
[0021]
In the lower part of the pump chamber 3, a flat circular diaphragm 15 can be vibrated in the vertical direction in FIG. 4 by the holding member 16 such that the outer peripheral end surface is close to the inner peripheral surface of the casing 2. Is held in. The holding member 16 may be, for example, a pair of O-rings that sandwich the outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm 15 from above and below.
[0022]
The air inside the pump chamber 3 alternately repeats compression and expansion due to the vertical vibration of the diaphragm 15, whereby the suction valve 8 and the discharge valve 14 alternate. The suction holes 6 or the discharge holes 12 are alternately opened by performing elastic deformation.
[0023]
That is, with the vibration of the diaphragm 15, the suction of the fluid into the pump chamber 3 via the suction valve 8 and the discharge of the fluid from the pump chamber 3 via the discharge valve 14 are alternately repeated. It has become.
[0024]
Further, in the first embodiment, a weight 17 is vertically provided at the center of the lower surface of the diaphragm 15.
[0025]
When the weight 17 is provided on the diaphragm in this way, when the diaphragm 15 is vibrated, the amplitude of the diaphragm 15 can be increased by the mass of the weight 17, and as a result, the suction valve 8 and the The amount of elastic deformation of the discharge valve 14, that is, the amount of fluid suction and discharge by the pump 1 can be increased as compared with the conventional case.
[0026]
The shape and mass of the weight 17 or the number of the weights 17 may be variously changed as necessary.
[0027]
In the first embodiment, the weight 17 is formed of a magnetic material such as a permanent magnet as means for vibrating the diaphragm 15. Further, the diaphragm 15 formed of the magnetic material is vibrated by driving the electromagnet 19 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the electromagnet 19 is provided with a core 20 made of a magnetic material having a U-shaped cross section with an open upper portion at a position near the lower portion facing the weight 17 inside the casing 2. Are formed by interlinking a predetermined number of turns of the coil 21 on the outer periphery of the lower side portion.
[0028]
Then, by applying an alternating current to the coil 21, an attractive force and a repulsive force can be alternately applied to the weight 17 made of a magnetic material.
[0029]
Therefore, the diaphragm 15 provided with the weight 17 can be easily and efficiently vibrated. Note that another electromagnet configuration different from that in FIG. 4 may be adopted as long as the required attraction force and repulsion force can be applied to the weight 17.
[0030]
Next, a second embodiment of the pump according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the same or similar parts as those of the pump 1 in the first embodiment will be described using the same reference numerals.
[0031]
As shown in FIGS. 7 to 12, the pump 23 in the second embodiment is similar to the pump 1 in the first embodiment, except that a suction unit 4 and a discharge unit 5 are formed inside a flat circular casing 24. And a pump chamber 27 having a gap with a predetermined thickness. A diaphragm 28 is disposed below the pump chamber 27 so as to be able to vibrate up and down such that an outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm 28 is held by the inner periphery of the casing 26. Thereby, suction of fluid into the pump chamber 27 and discharge of fluid to the outside of the pump chamber 27 are performed.
[0032]
The control of the suction and discharge of the fluid is performed by the suction valve 8 and the discharge valve 14 similarly to the pump 1 in the first embodiment.
[0033]
Further, in the pump 23 according to the second embodiment, similarly to the pump 1 according to the first embodiment, the amplitude of the diaphragm 28 at the time of vibration is increased by suspending the weight 29 near the center of the diaphragm 28. It is supposed to.
[0034]
However, the pump 23 according to the second embodiment is slightly different from the pump 1 according to the first embodiment in the mechanism for vibrating the diaphragm 28.
[0035]
That is, in the second embodiment, not the weight 29 but the diaphragm 28 is formed of a magnetic material such as a permanent magnet.
[0036]
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the electromagnet 31 in the second embodiment has a columnar magnetic core 32 at a position below the diaphragm 28, and the upper surface of the magnetic core 32 is the lower surface of the diaphragm 28. It is formed in a size that faces almost the entire area. A predetermined number of turns of the coil 33 are wound around the outer peripheral portion of the casing 26 facing the outer peripheral surface of the magnetic core 32.
[0037]
Also in this case, by applying an alternating current to the coil 33 and alternately switching the direction of magnetization by the magnetic core 32, an attractive force and a repulsive force can be applied to the vibrating plate 28 made of a magnetic material material alternately. .
[0038]
That is, similarly to the pump 23 in the first embodiment, the diaphragm 28 can be easily and efficiently vibrated by driving the electromagnet 31, and the amplitude of the diaphragm 28 can be increased by the weight 29. It has become.
[0039]
Next, a specific operation of the pump 23 will be described.
[0040]
Although not shown, in the initial state, it is assumed that a fluid supply unit (not shown) such as a fuel case in a fuel cell is connected to the suction unit 4. Further, it is assumed that a fluid supply unit (not shown) such as a cell body of a fuel cell is connected to the discharge unit.
[0041]
Further, it is assumed that the electromagnet 31 is not driven and no attractive force or repulsive force acts on the diaphragm 28. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the suction valve 8 and the discharge valve 14 are both in a normal state, and the suction of the fluid into the pump chamber 27 and the discharge of the fluid from the pump chamber 27 It is assumed that both are in a regulated state.
[0042]
Then, when supplying the fluid to the supplied portion from the initial state, first, when a positive current is applied to the coil 33 of the electromagnet 31, the magnetic core 32 with which the coil 33 is linked is magnetized, Thereby, the attractive force of the electromagnet 31 acts on the vibration plate 28.
[0043]
Due to this attraction, the diaphragm 28 is attracted to the lower side of the electromagnet 31 and moves downward together with the weight 29.
[0044]
As the diaphragm 28 moves downward, the air inside the sealed pump chamber 27 expands, and the expansion causes the suction valve 8 to elastically deform downward as shown in FIG.
[0045]
Thus, fluid is sucked into the pump chamber 27 from the supply unit side connected to the suction unit 4 through the suction valve 8.
[0046]
Next, when the direction of the current flowing through the coil 33 is switched to the opposite direction, a repulsive force acts on the diaphragm 28 this time.
[0047]
Under the repulsion, the diaphragm 28 is repelled upward together with the weight 29 and moves upward.
[0048]
As the diaphragm 28 moves upward, the air inside the pump chamber 27 is compressed, and the compression causes the discharge valve 14 to elastically deform upward as shown in FIG.
[0049]
Thereby, the fluid in the pump chamber 27 is discharged through the discharge valve 14 to the supply target side connected to the discharge unit 5.
[0050]
As described above, the diaphragm 28 can be vibrated up and down by passing an alternating current in the forward direction and the reverse direction to the electromagnet 31, whereby the suction of the fluid into the pump chamber 27 and the pump The discharge of the fluid from the chamber 27 can be performed alternately.
[0051]
At this time, since the weight 29 is suspended from the diaphragm 28, the amplitude of the diaphragm 28 can be increased by the mass of the weight 29.
[0052]
As a result, the amount of elastic deformation of the suction valve 8 and the discharge valve 14 can be increased, and the amount of fluid supplied to the supply side can be increased.
[0053]
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the amplitude of the diaphragms 15 and 28 can be increased by the weights 17 and 29 provided on the diaphragms 15 and 28, so that the supply of the fluid to the supply target portion can be efficiently performed. Can be done
[0054]
In particular, when such a pump is applied to a fuel cell, it is possible to simply and efficiently supply the fuel to the fuel cell main body, and to improve the convenience and usefulness of the fuel cell.
[0055]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be variously modified as needed.
[0056]
For example, unlike the first and second embodiments, both the diaphragm and the weight may be formed of a magnetic material, and the diaphragm thus formed may be vibrated by driving an electromagnet. Further, at least one of the diaphragm and the weight may be formed by a piezoelectric element, and such a diaphragm may be vibrated by applying a voltage.
[0057]
Even in such a case, the amplitude can be increased by the weight formed on the diaphragm, and such vibration can be performed easily and efficiently.
[0058]
Further, the pump in the present embodiment can be considered for various uses. In addition to the supply pump that supplies the fluid from the supply unit side to the supply destination side as described above, for example, the fluid may flow through a predetermined circulation path. It can also be used as a circulation pump for circulation.
[0059]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the pump of the present invention, simple and efficient fluid suction and discharge can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a pump according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line 5-5 in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along a line 6-6 in FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the pump according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a plan view of FIG. 7; FIG. 9 is a bottom view of FIG. 7; FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 8; FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line 11-11 of FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view showing an initial state in a second embodiment of the pump according to the present invention. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a suction state of a fluid in the second embodiment of the pump according to the present invention. FIG. 15 is a schematic sectional view showing a state of discharging a fluid in a second embodiment of the pump according to the present invention.
1,23 pump 3,27 pump chamber 15,28 diaphragm 17,29 weight 19,31 electromagnet

Claims (4)

A pump configured to suck a fluid into a pump chamber by vibrating a diaphragm and discharge the fluid sucked into the pump chamber to the outside of the pump chamber, wherein a weight is provided on the diaphragm. pump. 2. The pump according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm is formed of a magnetic material and is capable of vibrating by driving an electromagnet. The pump according to claim 1, wherein the weight is formed of a magnetic material and is capable of vibrating by driving an electromagnet. The pump according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm is formed from a piezoelectric element.

Images