US2205747A - Toy pump - Google Patents

Description

TOY PUMP Filed Jan. 24, 1959 INVENTOR 6 wa /M0 Patented June 25, 1940 UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY PUMP Howard F. Klauss, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application Jim-y .24, 1939. Serial No. 252.571

3 Claims. I (or roe-s1) The pump of the invention is'intended for service in displays thatinclude miniature waterfalls, canals, toy water wheels, and the like. I have particularly in mind the displays that are sometimes used in store-window advertising, and the miniature landscapes and other ornamental displays'that are so commonly provided beneath Christmas trees. Having mentioned these particular adaptations, it will be understood that numerous other uses will be found for-my pump.

The motor-driven pump unit of the invention includes a cylindrical or tubular housing. More particularly, the housing consists in a domeshaped shell of small diameter relatively to its height. In service the shellstands on end in the body or pool of water from which the desired stream is to be drawn, and the dome-like top of the shell rises above the surface of the water. The shell is transversely partitioned, providing a pump chamber in the lower, submerged end of the shell, and providing in the upper end a water-tight housing for an electric motor. The pump chamber includes an impeller, connected by a vertical shaft to the rotor of the electric motor. above. An inlet and an outlet are provided for the pump chamber, and rotation of the impeller in known way draws a stream of water from the] pool in which the unit stands and delivers it through said outlet. The pump chamber in the lower end of the shell is submerged in the pool or body of water from which the stream is drawn, with the consequence that the pump need not be primed; it is merely necessary to start or stop the electric motor in order to initiate or terminate the flow of the stream.

In structures of this sort the motor must be enclosed, to protect it from the liquid being pumped, and due to such enclosure of the motor the matter of heat dissipation becomes a prob lem. That is to say, in service the motor .gencrates heat that must be dissipated, to save the motor from damage. It is also, desirable, if not essential, that the stream delivered by the pump may be regulated; that the mechanical friction losses of the rotating partsbe reduced to a minimum; that the structure be of simple and economical construction, and easy to assemble. With such problems and desiderata in mind, it will be understood that my invention consists in refinements and improvements in structural detail and organization.

A unit embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing. Fig. I is a view of the unit in side elevation. Fig. If is a view-of the unit in vertical section, on the plane II-lI of Fig. I; and Fig. III is a view of the same in cross section, on'the plane I]IIII of Fig. 11.

Referring to the drawing the dome-shaped shell that houses the structure is shown at l. The shell includes top and bottom walls 2 and 20 and two intermediate walls or partitions 3 and 4; between bottom wall 2 and partition 3 a pump chamber 5 is formed, and between partition 4 and top wall is a chamber 6. A rotary pump impeller 40 is arranged in chamber 5, while in chamber 6 an electric motor 1in this case an induction motor-is mounted and enclosed. Above the partition 4, bracket portions 10 are provided on the wall of the shell to. The mounting of the motor. The shell I, partitions 3 and 4, and bracket portions 10 may be formed as a single casting, say 20 an aluminum casting, or the shell alone may be formed by "spinning a sheet of metal (aluminum, brass or copper), and the partitions separately formed and sealed in position in the shell. Preferably, I make the shell, partitions, and brackets integrally, in two sections Id and lb,

as shown in the drawing, this practice permitting economical production in known die-casting apparatus. The two sections, thus accurately fashioned in dies, are adapted to meet edge to edge on a medial, axial plane of the assembly, and the meeting edges or the shell sections (including the diametrical edges of the semi-circular partition portions carried thereby) may be fashioned to provide a snug tongue-and-groove, or lap-seam, union 8 of the parts, Security of assembly is obtained by means of cross-bolts 9.

' The electric motor I is provided with an elongate drive-shaft or stem I0, extending vertically downward from its armature Ia, through parti- 40 tions 4 and 3, and into the pump chamber 5. To the lower end of such shaft the rotary pump impeller 40 is secured. The impeller consists in a circular body. portion 4| extending in a plane normal to-the shaft 00, and carrying impeller vanes 42 on its nether face. The inlet of the pump consists in a port 12 provided in the center of the bottom wall or floor 2 of the structure, and the shell I is provided with feet l3 that support the unit, with the floor 2 positioned above the bottom but below the surface of the pool of water in which unit stands. The outlet l4 of the pump opens through the peripheral wall of chamber 5, and extends through a boss It that is integral with the housing I and internally threaded for the attachment thereto of a pipe or hose (not shown). When the motor l is energlzed, and in consequence the impeller ll rapidly rotated, water is drawn inward through port I2 and delivered through outlet M.

The wall of the dome-like housing l includes a fitting "5 that permits the introduction of lubricant to the motor; the electric lead-wires ll of .the motor pass through a seal I8 in such wall;

and it should be noted that the fitting i6 and seal l8 are water tight.

In accordance with the invention, I provide a large body of circulating water for cooling the motor, and such body of water is arranged in a chamber 65 between the motor chamber 6 and the pump chamber 5. The intermediate chamber 65 is formed within the shell l between the vertically spaced- apart partitions 3 and 4. A passage is provided from pump chamber 5 to the chamber 65, and advantageously such passage is concentric with the shaft ill: it is a passage formed by a clearance 30 between the shaft and the edge of the orifice in partition 3, through which the shaft ill extends. When the pump is in operation, water is delivered not only through the outlet I4 but also through the clearance or opening 30. At the top of the chamber 65, that is, immediately below the partition 4, I provide an outlet,and such outlet consists in a crcumferential series of ports is. The water flowing through opening 30 fills the chamber 65 to the level of the ports 19, and the fiow through opening 30, continuing unabated during pump operation, causes an overflow through the ports. Thus, a relatively large body of circulating water is maintained in thermal contact with the internal surface of the shell 8, while the water overflowing from such body passes through ports I9 and streams downward over the external surface of the shell. This flow of water over the inner and outer surfaces of the shell is effective to maintain the motor I at desired operating temperature; that is, the heat generated by the motor in service is drawn (by conduction) through the portions I0 and walls of the shell 5, into the water in contact with such walls. The flowing water carries the heat away from the shell, and the motor I is thus prevented from becoming overheated, without the aid of the usual air vents and fans that are manifestly objectionable in a structure such as this. It is important to note that in the pump unit of this invention the frictional drag upon the rotating shaft l0 and impeller 40 is reduced to a minimum. The partition 4 supports a sea. 2|, through which the shaft extends with snug running fit. This seal is of double utility: it prevents water from entering the motor chamber 6; and it provides a bearing for the shaft immediately adjacent to the motor 1. Below the seal 2i neither the shaft nor the impeller is subject to mechanical friction; the impeller does not touch the walls of the pump chamber and the shaft does not touch the partition 3 through which it extends. By virture of such organization friction losses are held to a minimum.

The delivery of the pump is regulated by means of a simplified but effective organization of a gate 22. The gate isadjustable upon the under surface of the floor 2, and in the range of its adjustment the area of the inlet I! of the pump (and in consequence the output of the pump) may be regulated as desired. of the gate is eflected by means of a rotary stem 23, borne in this case by one of the legs or feet It, as shown. The stem 23, extending inward from such leg, is screw threaded and engages a threaded nut portion 22a on the gate, and the outer end of the stem is equipped with a knob 2 that facilitates the manual rotation of the stem, to shift the gate longitudinally of the stem and vary the effective area of the port l2. And for manifest reasons a screen I20 may be provided in (or over) such port or inlet of the pump.

Within the terms and intent of the appended claims, various modifications are permissible.

I claim as my invention:

1. An unit toy structure including a pump rotor and electric motor for driving the rotor arranged in vertically spaced-apart relation with in a housing, said housing consisting in an elongate, dome-like shelladapted to stand, self-sustaining, on end in a shallow pool of water and to extend above the surface of such pool, said shell enclosing said motor within its upper end,

and including a pump chamber for said rotor within its lower end, an inlet and an outlet openmg from such pump chamber through the wall Such adjustment,

of such shell, together with an auxiliary outlet communicating with said pump chamber and arranged to deliver a cooling flow of water upon the external surface of said shell in the vertical interval between the .pool surface and the portion of said shell in which said motor is enclosed.

2. An unit toy structure including a pump rotor and an electric motor for driving the rotor arranged in vertically spaced-apart relation within a housing, said housing consisting in an elongate, dome-like shell adapted to stand, selfsustaining, on end in a shallow pool of water and to extend above the surface of such pool, said shell enclosing said motor within its upper end, and including a pump chamber for said rotor within its lower end, an inlet and an outlet opening from such pump chamber through the wall of such shell, said shell being provided with a circumferential series of perforations above the surface of the pool in which the unit stands, said perforations communicating internally of the shell with said pump chamber, with the effect that in service said pump delivers water through said perforations, and maintains upon the external wall of said shell, in the vertical interval between the pool surface and the perforations, a flowing sheet of water that is adapted to dissipate the heat generated by said motor.

- 3. A motor-driven pump unit adapted to stand upon the bed of a pool of liquid, with the housing of the pump provided with a transverse wall sub- V stantially paralleling, and spaced at an interval

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