US2468008A

US2468008A - Booster pump

Info

Publication number: US2468008A
Application number: US6620A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold W Yocum
Original assignee: Hale Fire Pump Co
Current assignee: Hale Fire Pump Co
Priority date: 1948-02-06
Filing date: 1948-02-06
Publication date: 1949-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 1966-04-19

Description

April 19, 1949 H. w. YocuM BOOSTER PUMP :5 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6, 1948 April 19, 1949.

Eiled Feb. 6, 194a H. w. YOcuM BOOSTER PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. W. YOCUM BOOSTER PUMP 1 April 19, 1949.

3 Sheets- Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 6, 1948 Patented Apr. 19, 1949 BOOSTER PUMP Harold W. Yocum, Wayne, Pa., assignor to Hale Fire Pump Company, Conshohocken, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 6, 1948, Serial No. 6,620

1 This invention relates to centrifugal fluid pumps and more particularly to a multi-stage pump designed for fire fighting apparatus.

-Modern fire fighting technique has evolved the I necessity for variable delivery pumping equipment. For many fires a large volume of water at relatively low pressure is required, whereas in other cases the ability to obtain a spray at high pressure in small volume is desirable. Conventional fire apparatus pumps deliver large volumes of water at pressures of 100 to 150 pounds, reaching 300 to 400 pounds maximum pressure at small volumes. Pumps designed for 600 to 700 pounds high pressure spray are limited to relatively small volumes. The integral addition of a. pump to boost the top pressures of conventional fire pumps to 600 or 700 pounds provides a combina- 9 Claims. (01.103-106) tion able to operate at the high pressure spray range without sacrificing the large volume range so necessary to the majority of fires. Fire fighting equipment as is well known, must be compact, readily adapted to installation on fire fighting vehicles, and it is also essential that the control of the pumper be eifected quickly and efficiently.

A primary object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a pressure booster pump for fire fighting purposes which is adapted to be attached to centrifugal fire apparatus pumps of conventional pressure range, and which may be supplied to purchasers of such equipment as an'accessory and which may be attached or detached with relatively little modification of the primary pumping unit.

A further object of this invention is to provide a multi-stage pump for fire fighting apparatus which has a two-stage pumping unit adapted to be operated either in series or in parallel, and which in addition is provided with a third stage or booster pump driven from the main pump shaft whereby a relatively high pressure discharge may be obtained.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a compound T-shaped two-stage centrifugal pump having opposite intake and discharge pas- ,sages forming the cross of the T, and a main pump shaft mounted in a housing which forms the stem of the T, the pump drive being located centrally downward of the stem of the T so that a third pump or stage may be connected to the main pump shaft at the base of the T through a clutch. The intake for the third stage pump is connected to the-discharge manifold of the first and second-stage pumps so that the third-stage may be selectively operated when the first two stages are running either in series or in parallel.

A still further object is to provide suitable controls and valves for a three-stage fire pump which are likewise adapted for optional installation and use.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings in which: 7 I

Fig. 1 is a plan of a three-stage centrifugal pump constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the primary pump structure along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and i Fig. 6 is a sectional detail taken along line 8- of Fig. 1. g

The inventioncomprises essentially the provision of a compact T shaped pump structure having an intake housing with diametrically opposite dual intake passages. A pair of centrifugal impellers are centrally positioned in the housing so that the impeller shaft is at right-angles to the passages. One of the transverse dual passages supplies fluid to thefirst impeller and the other transverse passage supplies fluid to the second impeller. The upper section of the impeller housing contains the discharge passages for both impellers and is bolted to the intake housing. The discharge passage from one impeller is adapted to connect to the intake passage of the opposite impeller by means of a manually operated valve and this intake passage is provided with a pair of check valves which are open when the impellers are operated in parallel but which automatically close when the impellers are operated in series. A pair of intake manifolds are mounted diametrically opposite each of the extremities of the in-- take housing and face opposite sides of the vehicle so that the intake hose may be attached to either or both of these manifolds. Both the discharge and intake housings are bolted to a stuning box housing which in turn is attached to a gear box connecting the vehicle drive shaft to the pump or impeller shaft by means of suitable .n. A suitable packing is and adjustable gland ll preventfluid leakage as in conventional practice. The discharge housing Ila is bolted above the intake housing II to form a unitary pump structure having lower intake'passages connects ing at opposite'sides of the vehicle as well as upper discharge passages also connecting at'opposite sides of the vehicle.

which meshes with gear 2L journaled on shaft 2! which in turn meshes with a slidable gear 26 on splined drive shaft 21. Driving power from the vehicle engine is transmitted to shaft 21 through coupling 23.

The lower portion a of gear box 20 carries an annular ball bearing 29 for drive shaft 21, and also carries a housing 30 in which the rear vehicle drive shaft 3| is'journaled by means of annular ball bearings 32, 32. Shaft 3i is connected to the differential and rear wheels (not shown) of the vehicle by means of coupling 28' in the standard manner. A priming pump 33 which may be of the gear type is also supported on gear box 20a and is driven through shaft 34, coupling 35 and spur gears 36 and 31. When gear 26 is moved axially on shaft 21 by means of yoke 33; it may be positioned to engage selectively gear 24 (as in Fig. 2). or gear 31 for operating pump 33, and in which position gears '24 and 26 are disengaged. Further axial movement of gear 26 serves to engage dogs 39 on hub 40 of shaft, permitting normal road operation of the vehicle without concurrent operation of the pumping unit. Yoke 38 is mounted on a shifting rod M (Fig. 1) which is axially slidable in housing 42 also mounted on box 20. The priming pump 33 removes fluid from the primary unit through pipe 43,valve 44 and connection 45 (Fig. 1). 1

Gear box 20 is so constructed that the booster pump housing may be bolted to the housing 20 with the pump shaft l5 adapted to drive the booster pump directly and also so that the booster pump may be attached with a minimum of modification to the primary pumping unit if desired. Furthermore, the construction is such that the primary pump may readily be supplied to a pur- 33 by means of annular ball bearings 30 and I Both housings II and Ila are connected to an intermediate or stumng 1 I 0 in which is mounted the booster pump shaft 32. Bearing is mounted directly in a face 83 of housing 50 whereas bearing 6! is press-fitted into him 34 keyed to the end of shaft 15 and retained thereon by means of nut 65. Annular ball bearing 22 is pressed onto a shoulder at the inner end of hub 64, and the outer race of bearing 22 isfitted in a cup-shaped housing 88 attached between gear box 20 and housing 50. The opposite end of hub 64 forms the female driving member of clutch 52 and'carries the driving clutch discs 61. thus it will be seen that the inner end of .booster pump shaft 62 is journaled in bearing 6| which is in turn carried by hub 84, permitting relative motion of shafts i5 and 62 when clutch 5,2 is disengaged. I

The booster pump casing proper 68, is mounted on housing .50 and encloses the booster pump impeller 69 keyed to shaft 62 and retained-thereon by means of nut". A suitable seal 'II is provided at theinbo'ard sideof impeller 69 and an intake flange i2 is attached to housing 68 in axial alignmentqvith thec'enter of impeller 63.

Referring now to Figs. .1, 3-6, the construction andop'eration of the primary pumping unit and its cooperation with the booster pump will be described? The intake for theprimary or first and second stages of the pump is through either or both manifolds l1 and i2 which are arranged on opposite sides of the pump so that the hydrant hose may be connected at either side of the vehicle. Manifolds H and i2 connect with intake chaser without the booster in the event that only a two-stage unit is desired.

It will be understood that in general, the operation and drive of the primary pump unit is conventional. Nevertheless, the compact and rugged design of such a unit which may readily be converted to a three-stage pump, is an important feature of the invention. The primary pump, together with its operation as a single,

universal joint 58. Actuation of the clutch through shaft 5! is achievedin any suitable manner such as lever 59 attached to shaft 51.

The clutch assembly 52 is journaled-in housing from the side of the vehicle.

passage 14 for the second stage of the pump, but check valves l5, 15 are provided between the manifolds H and I2 andthe second stage intake passage 14 so that the first and second stages may be operated either in series or in parallel.

When only the primary pumping unit is intended to be operated in parallel for large volume at low pressure, the booster pump is disconnected by means of clutch 52 and Water is fed into both passages 13 and I4 to the first and second stage impellers l3 and M respectively. The discharge passages from both the first and second stage pumps are shown in Fig. 1,' l8 designating the discharge passage from the first stage impeller l3, and I9 indicating the discharge passage from the second stage impeller I4. Passages I8 and i9 discharge into manifold and in order to provide a discharge outlet on either side of the vehicle, manifold 80 also communicates with a discharg passage 8! which is positioned above the intake passage 14 as shown in Fig. l.

A by-pass valve 82 is positioned in the primary discharge passage 18 and serves to selectively connect this passage with the intake passage 14 by means of a by-pass 85 as shown in Fig. 5. For parallel operation of the primary pumps, by-pass 85 is closed by means of valve 84 which is operated by bell crank 86 and control rod 81 accessible The discharge fluid is permitted to flow directly through valve 84 into the extremity 18a of the first stage discharge passage 18. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that fluid discharged from both impellers l3 and I4 when valve 84 is set for parallel operation passes into manifold 80 from whence it is discharged through any or all of the

couplings

88, 89, and 90 which are in turn respectively opened and closed by means of

valves

9 I, 92, and 93.

When series operation through the primary pump is required to provide increased pressure in the primary pumping unit, valve 84 is turned so that all the fluid discharged from impeller I3 is forced into the intake passage 14 of impeller l4 through by-pass 85. This immediately causes an increased pressure condition in passage I4, automatically closing

check valves

15, 15 to prevent further ingress of fluid from manifolds H and II. In this way, all the intake fluid passes -to the first stage impeller l3, thence through passages 19 and 85 to the second stage impeller M, from whence it is discharged into manifold 80, through passage 19 in accordance with the arrows in Figs. 1 and 4. Y

-When further increased pressure'is desired, the booster pump may be engaged by means of clutch ""52 so that fluid under second stage pressure in manifold 80 is fed into the booster intake "12 through tubing 94' which is connected to manifold 80 by means of elbow 95 (Fig, 1). Conduit 96 r I the position of by-pass valve 84 so that all three stages may be in series with each other to provide maximum pressure or, if desired, the first two stages may be operated in parallel and the booster pump also operated to provide an increased pressure above the pressure in manifold 89 but below the maximum series pressure. In

- this way, discharge hoses may be connected to the high pressure line 96 as well as to one or more of the

discharge connections

88, 89. A relief valve 99 between manifold 80 and intake connec-- tion I I, is actuated by excessive pressure in manifold 89 through line I and a conventional valve actuating device ltl.

While the booster pump has been described in conjunction with a two-stage primary pumping unit,'it will be understood that the same booster may be applied to any primary pumping unit regardless of whether the primary unit consists of one or more stages and regardless of whether the primary unit may be operated in series or in a parallel. 1

I claim:

-1. A booster fire pump assembly comprising a housing having a, flange adapted to mount on a to support the shaft for independent rotation with respect to the driving member.

. 2. A three-stage fluid pump for fire fighting vehicles comprising a T-shaped pump housing having diametrically opposite intak and discharge connections forming the cross of the T, a first-stage impeller, a second-stage impeller in said housing, a discharge manifold for said first and second-stage impellers, passages leading from the discharge manifold to the discharge connections, a pump shaft for said impellers Journaled in the stem of the T, -a third-stage impeller driven by said pump shaft and mounted at the base of the T, a housing for said thirdstage impeller, an intake for" said housing, and a fluid passage from the first and second-stage discharge manifold to said intake for the thirdstage impeller.

3 said pump shaft and mounted. at the base of the 3. A three-stage fluid. pump for flre fighting vehicles comprising a T-shaped pump housing having diametrically opposite intake and discharge connections forming the crossof the .T, a first-stage impeller, a second-stage impeller in said housing, means for operating the first and second-stage impellers selectively in series or in parallel, a discharge manifold for said first and second-stage impellers, passages leading from the discharge manifold to the discharge connections, a pump shaft for said impellers journaled in the stem of the T, a third-stage impeller driven by T, a housing for said third-stage impeller, an intake for said housing, and means for selectively engaging the third-stage impeller whereby the third-stagemay be selectively operated in series with the first and second-stage impellers.

4. A three-stage fluid pump assembly for fire fighting apparatus and the like, comprising a T- shaped pump housing, a pump shaft mounted in the stem of said housing, gear means for selec- -tive1y driving said shaft, a first-stage impeller mounted on said shaft, a second-stage impeller mounted on said shaft, an intake passage for said first impeller comprising approximately half'of the bottom portion of the T housing, an intake passage for the second-stage impeller comprising the other half of the bottomportion' of the T housing, a discharge passage for the first-stage impeller, a discharge passage for the secondstage impeller, a by-pass connecting the firststage discharge passage with the second-stage intake passage, a pair of check valves in the second-stage intake passage, a discharge manifold connecting with the discharge passages of both impellers, a valve for selectively directing flow from the first stage to the discharge manifold or to the second-stage intake passage, an intake con nection at each end of the cross of-the T, said intake connection communicating with both intake passages, a plurality of discharge connections communicating with said discharge manifold, a third-stage pump connected to the housing at the base of the stem, a clutch between the pump shaft and the third pump stage, a fluid connection between the discharge manifold and the third-stage, and a relief valve between the discharge manifold and the intake passages.

5. A series-parallel fluid pump assembly for fire fiighting apparatus and the like comprising a T-shaped pump housing, a pump shaft mounted in the stem of said housing, gear means for selectively driving said shaft, a first-stage impeller mounted on said shaft, a second stage impeller mounted on said shaft, an intake passage for said first stage impeller, an intake passage for the second stage impeller, said intake passages comprising the bottom portion of the T housing, a discharge passage for the first stage impeller, a discharge passage for the second stage impeller,

said discharge passages comprising the top portion of the 'I housing, a by-pass connecting the first stage discharge passage with the second stage intake passage, a pair of check valves in the second stage intake passage, a valve for opening and closing said by-pass, a discharge manifold connecting with the discharge passages from both impellers and forming a part of the top portion of the T housing at one end of the T cross, a discharge conduit also forming a part of the top 1 portion of the T housing and leading from the E? end of the 1 cross, at least one discharge connection for said discharge conduit located at the end of the l cross opposite the discharge manicharge passage for the first impeller, a discharge passage for the second impeller, a discharge manifold connecting with the discharge passages from both impellers, an intake connection at each end of the housing, said intake connection communicating with both intake passages, a plurality of I discharge connections communicatin with said discharge manifold, a booster pump connected to the housing, a clutch between the pump shaft and the booster stage, and a series fluid connection between the discharge manifold and the booster pump.

7. A pump assembly in accordance with claim 6, in which the discharge manifold is located over the extremity of one of said intake passages, a

pair of discharge valves connected to said manifold, a discharge passage extending from the manifold to the opposite end of said housing, and a discharge valve for said passage.

8. A compact three-stage selective pump for fire fighting apparatus, comprising a T-shaped pump housing, a pump shaft journaled in the stem of said housing, a gear box connected to said vhousing and extending downwardly therefrom,

gear means for selectively engaging the pump sh with the drive shaft in said gear box, a

' Number Name Date 7 2,037,775 Fox Apr. 21, 1936 2,223,592 Barton et a1 Dec. 3, 1940 hearing for the drive shaft at the base of said T-housing, a removable mounting for said hearing, a hub attached to the end of the pump shaft, a bearing carried by said hub, an auxiliary housing mounted at the base of the T-housing, a second pump shaft in said auxiliary housing jour naled in the bearing in the hub and in axial alignment with the main pump shaft, a clutch operatively connecting thehub and the second pump shaft, means for engaging and disengaging said clutch, an impeller at the opposite end of said second pump shaft, and a fluid passage adapted to admit fluid to said impeller.

9. In a series-parallel centrifugal pump, a casing forming the foundation of thepump structure and containing a pair of axially aligned and separate impeller chambers together with a pair of substantially parallel and adioining suction passages, each extending inwardly from both of the opposite ends of said casing, a main pump shaft journaled in said casing, a pair of impellers mounted on said pump shaft and rotatable in said chambers, a booster pump mounted on said casing, a pump shaft for said booster pump in axial alignment with said main pump shaft, and a clutch for selectively driving said booster pump shaft from said main pump shaft.

HAROLD W. YOCUM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

STATES PATENTS