JPH0560059A - Pump - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize a pump having strong power, being capable of high pressure transfer, and having good flow amount accuracy, while positively utilizing characteristics of a magnetostrictive member. CONSTITUTION:A positive magnetostrictive member 4, or a permanent magnet 5 to be added thereto, and a coil 2 for sending current for generating alternating field applied to the magnetostrictive member 4, are housed in a housing 1. A fix member 7 on which one end of the magnetostrictive member 4 is received, is provided on one side of the housing 1. A movable member 8 on which the other end of the magnetostrictive member 4 is received, is provided on the other of the housing 1, being movably in expansible/contractible direction of the magnetostrictive member 4. A pressurized chamber 11 is provided between the movable member 8 and the housing 1. An elastic member 12 is provided in order to energize the magnetostrictive member 4 in the direction to contract the member. Furthermore, an intake part 13 and a discharging part 14 which are communicate respectively with the pressurizing chamber 11, and check valves 15, 16 installed respectively in the intake part 13 and the discharging part 14 are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pump using a magnetostrictive material (positive magnetostrictive material) having a characteristic of expanding when a magnetic field is applied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various types of conventional pumps as described below, each of which has a problem to be noted. (1) Centrifugal pump: Although it is of a type in which a blade or the like is rotated by an electric motor to transfer a liquid, it has a problem that it is difficult to obtain a high discharge pressure and the flow rate changes due to a change in load. (2) Tube pump: The liquid in the tube is transferred by pressing the tube made of rubber or the like with a moving roller, and the tube is easily damaged and there is a problem in durability. Further, although suitable for transferring a high-viscosity liquid, an error is likely to occur in the transfer amount in transferring a low-viscosity liquid. (3) Diaphragm pump: A diaphragm is expanded and contracted by a motor or a cylinder, liquid is sucked from the suction part with check valve connected to the diaphragm and discharged from the discharge part with check valve, and the discharge pressure is high. However, the flow rate cannot be controlled with respect to the pressure on the load side. Also, these (1)-
The pump of (3) has a drawback that the structure is generally complicated and large in size.

(4) Pump using magnetostrictive material: In this pump using magnetostrictive material, a magnetostrictive material called a giant magnetostrictive material is provided at the center of a cylindrical winding, and an alternating current is passed through the winding to produce a magnetostrictive material. In order to expand and contract, and to obtain a large flow rate, the movement of the magnetostrictive material is increased by the lever, and the coil spring is used to return the lever to its original position, and the diaphragm is expanded and contracted by the movement of the tip of the lever. The liquid is transferred according to the principle of the diaphragm pump.

This pump using the magnetostrictive material has almost no inertia as in the case of using a motor, has a good response, has a strong force, has a good flow rate accuracy, and is suitable for use in a field requiring high precision transfer. Although expected, there is a problem in that the above-described conventional configuration requires a space for a portion for enlarging the movement of the magnetostrictive material due to a lever or the like and a coil, and cannot be downsized.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to make a compact pump which makes use of the characteristics of a magnetostrictive material, has a strong force, is capable of high-pressure transfer, and has a good flow rate accuracy.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention accommodates a positive magnetostrictive material, a winding through which a current for generating an alternating magnetic field applied to the magnetostrictive material flows, and the magnetostrictive material and the winding. And a fixing member on one side of the housing for receiving one end of the magnetostrictive material, and on the other side of the housing movably provided in the housing in the magnetostrictive expansion and contraction direction. A movable member that receives the end, a pressurizing chamber provided between the movable member and the housing, an elastic member that urges the magnetostrictive member in a contracting direction, and a suction unit that communicates with the pressurizing chamber. It is characterized by comprising a discharge part and check valves respectively provided in the suction part and the discharge part.

[0007]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, when an alternating current or a pulsating current is applied to the winding, the magnetic material stretches while the magnetic field strength increases, which pushes the movable member, and as a result, The pressure chamber containing the liquid is pressurized, and the liquid in the pressure chamber is discharged through the check valve of the discharge unit. On the contrary, while the current is being reduced, the elastic member pushes the movable member in the opposite direction to expand the pressurizing chamber, so that liquid is sucked from the suction portion through the check valve provided therein. The liquid is transferred by this repetition.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1A is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a pump according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a plan view thereof. Reference numeral 1 denotes a housing, and the housing of the present example is composed of a lower cylinder 1a having a bottomed cylindrical shape and an upper cylinder 1b screwed to the lower cylinder 1a. Reference numeral 2 is a winding wound around the cylindrical bobbin 3. Reference numeral 4 is a cylindrical or prismatic positive magnetostrictive material, and 5 is a disk-shaped or prismatic permanent magnet, which are housed in the central hole of the bobbin 3 by being laminated in the axial direction.

The lower end of the magnetostrictive material 4 (the lower end in the drawing, which will be described below in the same vertical relationship) is the bottom portion b of the lower cylinder 1a.
It is in contact with the bobbin fixing yoke 6 in which the convex portion 6a is fitted in the hole c. That is, the bottom b and the yoke 6 constitute a fixing member 7 fixed to the housing 1. The yoke 6 portion may be formed integrally with the bottom portion b, but in the present example, it is formed separately for ease of production.

The upper end of the magnetostrictive material 4 is in contact with a yoke 8 which is a movable member with a bobbin fixing leaf spring 9 interposed.
The yoke 8 is fitted in an inner cylinder 10 fitted in the upper cylinder 1b of the housing 1, and a pressurizing chamber 11 is formed between the yoke 8 and the inner cylinder 10. A rubber ring 12, which is an elastic material, secures the liquid tightness of the pressure chamber 11 between the yoke 8 and the inner cylinder 10, and presses the yoke 8 in the contracting direction (downward) of the magnetic material 4. It is provided for the purpose of doing two things. The upper surface of the inner cylinder 10 is pressed by the inner edge d of the upper end of the upper cylinder 1b of the housing 1.

Reference numeral 13 is a suction portion communicating with the pressurizing chamber 11, and 14
Is also a discharge part, and the suction part 13 and the discharge part 14 are composed of check valves 15 and 16, respectively, and suction pipes 17 and 18 connected to these, respectively. The check valves 15 and 16 are fitted into a hole provided in the upper plate portion 10a of the inner cylinder 10 via a sealing material 20 and fixed by screws 21.

The housing 1 and the inner cylinder 10 are made of a magnetic material to form a closed magnetic path for the magnetic field generated in the winding 2 through the magnetostrictive material 4 and the permanent magnet 5.

This pump, as shown in FIG.
The magnetic field strength of the permanent magnet 5 is set so that the expansion amount λ of the magnetostrictive material 4 is about half of the maximum expansion amount, and the direction in which the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 5 is applied to the winding 2 and the direction in which this cancels out. By passing an alternating current that alternately generates a magnetic field,
Activate. That is, when a current that generates a magnetic field in the opposite direction to the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet 5 flows through the winding 2, the magnetostrictive material 4
Contracts and the yoke 8 is pushed down by the rubber ring 12, and as a result, the pressurizing chamber 11 expands, the check valve 15 opens, and liquid is sucked into the pressurizing chamber 11 from the suction pipe 17. Next, when the direction of the current is reversed and a current is generated in the winding 2 to generate a magnetic field in the same direction as the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet 5, the magnetostrictive material 4 expands, but a laminated body of the magnetostrictive material 4 and the permanent magnet 5 is formed. The lower end of is received by the yoke 6 and the bottom b, and is prevented from moving downward relative to the housing 1, so that the yoke 8 is pushed up and the rubber ring 12 is contracted. As a result, the liquid in the pressurizing chamber 11 is pressurized, the check valve 16 of the discharge part 14 is opened, and the liquid is discharged from the discharge pipe 18.

According to this structure, the yoke 8 which is the movable member is directly pushed by the magnetostrictive material 4, so that the mechanical damping is small. When the cross-sectional area of the laminated body of the magnetostrictive material 4 and the permanent magnet 5 is A and the cross-sectional area of the yoke 8 is B, a discharge flow rate of L × B is obtained with respect to the vertical displacement amount L of the magnetostrictive material 4. As a result, an increased flow rate can be obtained despite the small displacement of the magnetostrictive material 4. Further, the displacement amount L (amplitude) can be controlled by changing the current value, and the flow rate control is easy.
Further, the discharge pressure can be set by setting the ratio B / A. Further, since the pumping action can be obtained by the simple operation of expanding and contracting the magnetostrictive material 4 etc., the overload design (safety design) can be easily performed. In addition, there are advantages based on the characteristics of the magnetostrictive material 4, that is, good responsiveness, strong force, and good flow rate accuracy.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention, in which the suction part 13 is provided at one end of the housing 1 and the discharge part 14 is provided at the other end. In FIG.
Reference numerals 1c and 1d are an upper cylinder and a lower cylinder, respectively, which are screwed together by a screw portion a, 23 is a cylinder as a movable member provided below the bobbin 3 in the housing 1 via a bobbin fixing leaf spring 9, and 24 is a housing. 1 is a guide pipe fixed to the bottom of the cylinder 1 and fitted with the cylinder 23 so as to be vertically movable, and the pressurizing chamber 11 is formed between them. Reference numeral 25 is a rubber seal ring interposed between the lower side of the cylinder 23 and the bottom surface of the guide pipe 24, and 26 is a coil spring interposed between the cylinder 23 and the guide pipe 24. The coil spring 26 can be omitted if it is provided with the function of the elastic material. A check valve 15 is integrally provided at the center of the guide pipe 24 so as to penetrate the bottom portion f of the lower cylinder 1d.

The magnetostrictive material 4 and the permanent magnet 5 are formed in a cylindrical shape or a ring shape having a hole in the center, and the upper cylinder 1c.
Upper plate part e and bobbin holding piece 27 fixed to the upper plate part e
A hole 28 is also provided at the center of the discharge side pipe 30, and the discharge side pipe 30 is inserted into the hole 28 and the laminated body of the magnetostrictive material 4 and the permanent magnet 5, and the lower end flange portion of the discharge side pipe 30 is provided at the center of the cylinder 23. The ring-shaped nut 31 is fixed to the cylindrical portion via the washer 32 and the seal 33. A check valve 16 is connected to a portion of the discharge side pipe 30 projecting from the upper portion of the housing 1. According to the present embodiment, this pump can be inserted concentrically in the middle of the liquid straight pipe, which is advantageous in terms of installation space.

Although the magnetostrictive material 5 is combined with the magnetostrictive material 4 in the above-described embodiment, the present invention can be applied to the one without the permanent magnet 5. Further, as the shape and structure of the magnetostrictive material, various ones other than those described above can be adopted. For example, a plurality of magnetostrictive materials having a sectional shape obtained by dividing an arc may be combined, and a plurality of rod-shaped magnetostrictive materials may be used. Materials or plate-shaped magnetostrictive materials may be combined. Further, as the housing, it is possible to use, for example, one having a structure in which both end plates 12 and 13 are joined by a plurality of rods. Besides, various modifications and additions can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the movable member is directly pressed by the deformation of the magnetostrictive material to pressurize the pressurizing chamber, the vibration amplitude of the magnetostrictive material is increased by using the lever. Little attenuation. Further, since a lever, a coil spring, etc. are not required, a pump having good responsiveness, good flow rate accuracy, and large force can be constructed in a smaller size. Further, by setting the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the pressurizing chamber and the cross-sectional area of the magnetostrictive material, a large discharge flow rate can be provided. Further, since the discharge flow rate depends on the value of the current flowing through the winding, the flow rate can be easily controlled. Further, since the pumping action can be obtained by a simple operation of expansion and contraction of the magnetostrictive material or the like, according to claim 2, which facilitates the overload design (safety design), the magnetic field generated in the winding can be made small. Can be downsized, the overall shape can be downsized, and a large discharge amount can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a pump according to the present invention, FIG. 1B is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 1C is an operating characteristic view thereof.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the pump according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 housing 2 winding 3 bobbin 4 magnetostrictive material 5 permanent magnet 6 yoke 7 fixing member 8 yoke (movable member) 9 bobbin fixing leaf spring 10 inner cylinder 11 pressurizing chamber 12 rubber ring 13 suction part 14 discharge part 15, 16 reverse Stop valve

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A positive magnetostrictive material, a winding for passing a current which generates an alternating magnetic field applied to the magnetostrictive material, a housing containing the magnetostrictive material and the winding, and a magnetostrictive material on one side of the housing. Between a fixed member that receives one end, a movable member that is on the other side of the housing and that is movable in the housing in the direction of expansion and contraction of the magnetostrictive material, and that receives the other end of the magnetostrictive material, and between the movable member and the housing. A pressurizing chamber, an elastic member that biases the magnetostrictive member in a direction to contract the same, a suction unit and a discharge unit that communicate with the pressure chamber, and a suction unit and a discharge unit, respectively. A pump comprising a check valve. 2. The pump according to claim 1, further comprising a permanent magnet that applies a constant magnetic field to the magnetostrictive material.