US2413546A - Pump and motor assembly - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 31, 1946.

R. R. CURTIS ET AL PUMP AND MOTOR ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 19, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ZZ-T RUsseIZ. CU2-fis.' .Hicken-i312. Gai/e5.

De@ 31, 1946 R. R.-`c.URT|s ErAL 2,413,5146

PUMP AND MOTOR ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 19, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 3l, 1946. v R. R. CURTIS Erm. 2,413,546

PUMP AND MOTOR ASSEMBI.

Filed Feb. 19, 1944 3 Sheets-Shet '3 84 Z-rg 5I l l P n M v80 Y Patented Dec. 31, 1946 Russell R. Curtis and Richard Ohio, assignors to Curtis L. Gates, Dayton, Pump Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 19, 1944, serial No.'52s,1oo

Our invention relates to a pump and motor assembly, particularly to a unitary booster pump and driving motor assembly for mounting within fuel tanks, as for example, the fuel tank of an airplane, to be submerged in the fuel.

An important object of our invention is 'to simplify the construction of the supportingl structure for the pump and driving Vmotor operating elements by so designing the parts thereof that they may be formed by. die casting with elimination of the necessity for cores and material grinding or finishing, and so that these parts may be readily assembled and secured together to form the supporting structure for the pump and motor elements.

Heretofore booster pump units-immersed in a fuel tank, such as a fuel tankin the wing of an airplane, have -been inserted into the tank through a bottom opening thereof to be supported on the tank bottom. It may however be desirable to suspend the pump unit in the tank from the top wall thereof and therefore a further object of our invention is to provide a pump unit which may be either supported on the bottom of a tank or which, by means of simple hanger mechanism secured to the upper end thereof, may be supi ported from the top wall of the tank.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detail description of the annexed drawings which, by way of preferred example only, illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of a pump unit and a portion of a tank bottom wall and side wall;

Figure 2 is a section on plane II.-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on plane III-III of Figure 1;

, Figure 4 is a section ures 2 and 3; and

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the pump unit showing it suspended within the fuel tank from the upper wall of the tank. I

Referring to Figure 1, the-supporting structure or frame work for the pump operating parts comprisesl the base casting III, intermediate casting II, and the upper casting I2. The base casting II) is secured to the intermediate casting II by screws I3 threading into the lugs I4 of the on plane IV-IV of Figintermediate casting. a sealing gasket I5 being. -interposed between thecastings.l Opposed recesses I6 and I1 in the base and intermediate castings form the pump chamber P, the casting I I having the throat flange I8 thereon surrounds claims. (ol. zzz-ass) ing the inlet passageway I9 to the pump charnber. Neck portions 20 and 2| on the castings I 0 and II form the outlet passageway 22 from the Dump chamber and terminate in annular walls 23 and 24 respectively on the castings I0 and II which walls define the outlet chamber 25. At its upper end the annular wall is of reduced diameter to provide the neck 26 and the shoulder.21.

" As best shown on Figures 2 and 4, bosses 28 on the annular wall 24 form continuations of the shoulder 21.

The upper casting I2 comprises the annular supporting wall 29,' the mounting ring 30 and the walls or posts 3| extending between the supporting wall andthe ring. The wall 29 at its lower end receives the neck 26 and seats against the shoulder 2l on the wall 24, the wall 29 having seating bosses 32 for Aseating against the bosses 28 on the wall 24, a sealing gasket 33 being interposed. Screws 34 extend upwardly through the casting Ill and the bosses 28 on the wall 24 and thread into the bosses 32 of the wall 29, thusse- 4'curing the castings I0, II and I2 together. The

walls 3| extend 'diagonally upwardly from the wall 29 to support the mounting ring 30 above and concentric with the pump chamber P.

The mounting ring 30 Asupports the electric motor structure M for operating the pump. The field frame 35 of the motor structure seats on the mounting ring 30 and is held in alignment thereon by the peripheral flange 36 on the ring. A top wall 31 rests on the field frame and screws 38 extend through the top wall and thread into the field frame at the bottom thereof to securely clamp the top wall to the field frame. The top wall has the recess 39 for a carbon bearing 40 for the upper end of the shaft 4I of the armature 42. The bottom wall 43 of the field frame has the opening 44 for the carbon bearing 45 for the lower end of the armature shaft, upper and lower thrust bearings 46, 41 engaging the carbon bearings to hold the armature in proper position within the eld frame. 1

Th armature shaft has its lower end 48 reduced in diameter to leave a shoulder 49. The hub of the pump impeller 50 receives this end and has threaded engagement therewith as shown at 5I, a propeller 52 being clamped to the armature 'shaft betweenA the impeller hub and the shoulder 49.

The motor assembly M is held on the mounting ring 30 by through bolts 53 extending through the top wall 31. the field frame 35 andthe ring 30, and the lower ends of these bolts support hangers 54 for the frusto-conical guide shield 55 which converges downwardly towardy the propeller 52. The space between the ring 30 and rthe inlet throat iiange I8 is surrounded by a screen 56.

Figures 1 to 4 show the unitary pump-motor assembly within a tank T and supported from the bottom wall 51 of the tank. The bottom wall has the opening 58 through which the pump assembly is inserted upwardly for engagement ofthe peripheral portion of the base casting l with the tank bottom, the assembly being held in position by screws 69 extending through holes 60 in the casting ing ring Bi seated against the inner side of the tank bottom wall around the opening 58. A gasket 62 is interposed between the casting i0 and the tank bottom to seal against leakage of fue1 from the tank, the casting i0 thus forming a closure for the tank opening.

When the motor-pump assemblyis supported on the tank bottom, the electrical conductors (not shown) for the motor may be extended through a passageway 63 provided in the base casting i8. When the motor operates, the fuel flowing into the pump chamber is pumped by the impeller 50 and is discharged through the outlet passage 22 into the outlet chamber 25, the fuel, before entering the pump chamber, being subjected to the propeller 82 which beats out gas or vapor bubbles which escape outwardly below the guide 55 and through the screen 56 into the fuel to pass up through the fuel for venting out at the top of the' tank.

A conduit iitting 88 and aclosure cap 85 are provided for alternate engagement with the wall 29 or the wall 23. As shown on Figures 1 and 4, the cap S5 seats in the wall 23 and the fitting 64 vseats on the wall 2Q so that the fuel from the pump will be dischargedthrough va hose 88 from the conduit iittlng to the exterior of the tank at the top thereof. A screw Si extending through the cap 88 threads into a sleeve 68 in the fitting 8d to hold the fitting and cap in service position. Should it be desired to discharge the pump to the exterior of the tank at the bottom thereof, the cap and fitting will be interchanged, with the cap closing the upper end of the outlet chamber 25 and the conduit extending from the lower end of the chamber.

It may be desirable to insert the pump-motor assembly into the tank from the top thereof and to suspend the assembly from the top wall of the tank. Figure 5 shows such an arrangement and simple means for suspending the assembly. A hanger 58, which may be tubular as shown, is provided for the pump-motor assembly. The top wall 3l of the motor structure M is provided with a circular upstanding boss iii for receiving the lower end of the hanger, the base portion 'il of the boss being inclined to receive the inclined end l2 of the hanger. A clamping ring 13 surrounds the hanger and the bolts 53 will then,

In and threading into a mount-` in addition to holding the motor assembly to the `mounting ring 30, hold the clamping ring 13 to to securely clamp the upper end of the hanger to the casting boss 15.

The outlet conduit iitting 64 is connected by a hose 80 with a fitting 8| which extends into the 4 opening 82 in the "casting 14. The electrical supply conductors 83 for the motor extend upwardly through a boss 84 on the casting 14. The motor pump assembly with the hanger arrangement thereon is inserted through the opening 85 in the top wall 86 of the tank and the casting 14 is then secured as by bolts 81. It is understood of course that the hanger 89 and the hose 80 may be of such length that the pump chamber will be close to the bottom of the tank. Before or after insertion of the motor-pump assembly, an elbow or other shaped fitting 88 is inserted into the'outer end of the opening 82 in registry with the tting 8| and is held in place by a. screw 89 threading into a sleeve forming part of the iittlng 8l.

Thus, the same unitary pumping assembly may be mounted within a fuel tank on the bottom wall thereof, as shown on Figure 1, or, by the application of simple hanger mechanism, the assembly may be suspended in the tank from the top wall thereof as shown on Figure 5.

The three supporting structures i0, Il and l2 are of simple design so that they may each be economically die cast without complicated cores and without need of any expensive grinding or finishing. These castings when detachably tted and secured together provide the pump chamber and discharge passageway therefrom, and the mounting ring 30, which forms part of the ca'st- I ing l2, forms a rigid support for the motor assembly. The motor frame parts such as the `field frame and the outer wall i3 are of simple design so that they may be readily die cast with- Out material grinding or finishing. The hanger plate 14 and the clamping rings for the hanger mechanism are also of simple design and can be economically die cast. The hanger structure can be readily and quickly applied to the pump-motor assembly when it is desired to suspend the assembly in the tank from the top wall thereof.

It will of course be understood that various details of construction and arrangement may be Varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is therefore not the purpose to limit the patent (granted thereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims. We claim as our invention:

l. A pump and motor assembly comprising a base casting and a companion casting mounted thereon to define a pump chamber, said castings having lateral extensions cooperating t0 define a discharge outlet passageway from the pump chamber, a pump impelier operable in said pump chamber, a third casting mounted on the lateral extension of said companion casting and secured thereto and including a mounting ring above and concentric with the pump chamber, and an electric motor assembly on saidmounting ring having driving connection with said pump impeller.

2. In a pump and motor unit for insertion into a fuel tank through an opening in the tank wall, a supporting frame structure comprising a base part adapted to be secured along its peripheral portion to the tank wall to span the tank opening, an intermediate frame part, and an upper part, said base part and said intermediate partl nular Wall defining a discharge chamber for said outlet passageway, said upper frame part'comprising an annular supporting base having walls extending upwardly therefromy and terminating in a mounting ring above and concentric with said pump chamber, said annular base on said upper frame part forming a continuation of the upstanding annular wall of said intermediate part and being detachably secured thereto.

3. A pump and motor unit comprising a first Dump casing part defining a pump inlet, and a pump discharge passageway portion spaced laterally from said pump inlet, a second pump casing part cooperating with said first part to define a pumping chamber and an outlet from the pumping chamber to said discharge passageway, a motor support part having a depending portion carried on the discharge passageway portion of .said first pump casing part, a motor casing carried on said motor support, a top wall for said casing, and through bolts connecting said top wall, said casing and said motor support together.

4. In a pump and motor unit, a supporting frame structure dening a pump chamber with an outlet chamber at one side thereof, a discharge tting mounted on said supporting frame structure in alinement with said outlet chamber, walls extending upwardly from said fitting, a mounting ring supported by said walls in spaced relation above said pump chamber, a driving motor supported onv said mounting ring, and an impeller in said pump chamber driven by said motor. Y

5. A pump and motor unit comprising a supporting frame structure defining a pump chamber'having a side outlet, said supporting frame structure at one side of said pump chamber deiining a discharge chamber lwith which the pump chamber outlet communicates, a supporting wall detachably secured on said supporting frame structure to form a continuation of said discharge chamber, supports extending diagonally upwardly from said supporting wall and terminating in a mounting ring above and concentric with said pump chamber, a rotor in said pump chamber, and a motor mounted on said ring and having driving connection with said rotor.

6. A pump and motorunit comprising a. su`p porting frame structure defining a pump chamber having a side outlet, said supporting frame structure at one side of said pump chamber dening a discharge chamber with which the pump chamber outlet communicates, a supporting wall detachably secured on said supporting frame structure to form a continuation of said discharge chamber, supports extending diagonally upwardly from said supporting wall and terminating in a mounting ringabove and concentric with said- .fitting in place. i 7. A pump and motor assembly for insertion into a fuel tankathrough an opening in the tank wall, comprising a frame structure deiining a pump chamber and a pump discharge chamber at one side of the pump chamber, a discharge frame mounted on said supporting lframe structure over said discharge chamber in alinement therewith, a supporting wall structure extending upwardly from said discharge frame and terminating in a mounting ring over and concentric with said pump chamber, a rotor in said pump chamber, a driving motor structure on said mounting ring having driving connection with said rotor, and a supporting iiange forming part of the pump and motor assembly for engagement with the tank wall after insertion of the assembly into the tank through the tank opening for supporting the assembly in the tank. I

8. In a submerged type pump and electric motor unit including a frame structure deiining a pump chamber and having a motor supporting ring in spaced relation above the pump chamber together with a, motor eld frame mounted on said supporting ring, the improvements of a top wall for said field frame, asupporting plate adapted to be attached to the top wall of a, tank over an opening therein through which said unit may be inserted, a. hanger member suspended from said supporting plate, an attachment member on the lower end of the hanger member, and through bolts extending through the attachment member, the top wall for the field frame, the iield frame, and the supporting ring for simultaneously securing the eld frame to the supporting ring, the top wall of the eld frame to the eld frame, and the attachment member to the top wall of the field frame whereby the unit is suspended from said plate.

RUSSELL R. CURTIS. RICHARD L. GATES.

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