US2857852A

US2857852A - Compressed air pump with rotary commutator

Info

Publication number: US2857852A
Application number: US530683A
Authority: US
Inventors: Carignani Ernesto; Ghelardoni Alba Corda Nei
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-11-16
Filing date: 1955-08-26
Publication date: 1958-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 1975-10-28
Also published as: GB819064A; AT192760B; CH337079A; FR1163816A

Description

()ct. 28, 1958 E. CARIGNANI ET AL 2,357,352

COMPRESSED AIR PUMP WITH ROTARY COMMUTATOR Filed Aug. 26, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 28, 1958 E. CARIGNAN! ET AL COMPRESSED AIR PUMP WITH ROTARY COMMUTATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 26, 1955 INVENTORS fife/LL my 1958 E. CARIGNANI ETAL 2,857,852

COMPRESSED AIR PUMP WITH ROTARY COMMUTATOR Filed Aug. 26, 1955 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Enyffip L INVEIYTOR. B M I United States Patent COMPRESSED AIR PUMP WITH ROTARY COMMUTATOR Ernesto Carignani and Alba Corda nei Ghelardoni,

Florence, Italy Application August 26, 1955, Serial No. 530,683 Claims priority, application Italy November 16, 1954 2 Claims. (Cl. 103-238) The present invention relates to a pump for the lifting of liquids in general and comprises two closed chambers immersed in the liquid to be lifted each chamber being provided with a suction valve and with a delivery valve, said chambers being put alternately in communication with a feed piping for compressed air and with a discharge piping, characterized in that between the source of compressed air and the chambers there is interposed a rotary distributor adapted to reverse periodically the connection of said source with the piping that opens into one of the two chambers and the connection of the piping opening into the other chamber with the discharge of compressed air.

According to one preferred embodiment, the source of compressed air consists of an air compressor whose suction and compression valves are connected through the rotary distributor to the two pipings opening respectively into the two immersed chambers. In this case, the pump works in closed cycle with the advantage of sucking at every reversal previously compressed air and, hence, of increasing the efficiency of the pump.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the apertures of the distributor are arranged in such a manner as to allow an anticipation in the introduction of the compressed air so that the compressed air is introduced at first into one chamber prior to terminating introduction into the other chamber, with the advantage of ensuring continuity in the flow of the pumped liquid. The distributor may be kept in rotation either by the very motor that actuates the compressor or by an independent compressed fluid (air or water) motor. The number of revolutions of the distributor is adjusted in such a manner that the commutation of the connections takes place at the time of maximum emptying and filling of the chambers respectively.

The two immersed chambers may be arranged side by side or superimposed according to the diameter of the pit wherein the pump is installed.

The invention is illustrated for the sake of greater clearness, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 represents diagrammatically the pump in the case of the two chambers being accommodated side by side;

Fig. 2 represents diagrammatically the pump in the case of the two chambers being superimposed;

Fig. 3 represents an axial section of the distributor according to line A'-A of Fig. 4 and Fig. 4 represents a cross-section of the distributor along lines B-B of Fig. 3.

The pump, illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, is constituted essentially by two chambers 1 and 2 immersed into the liquid to be lifted, each of said chambers being provided with a suction valve 3 and connected to the collecting pipe of the pumped liquid 4 by means of an internal pipe 5 provided with a delivery valve 6. The two chambers are moreover connected at their upper ends with the pipes 7-7' connected in turn with the distributor 8 which in turn is connected with the aspiration conduit 9 and compression conduit 10 of the air compressor 11 actuated by the motor M.

According to a preferred embodiment, the distributor is constituted, as can be seen in Figures 23 and 4, by a hollow cylindrical body 12 closed by two covers 13-14 and provided with

side channels

15, 16, 17 and 18 which are arranged parallel to the axis and staggered by with respect to each other.

Into the hollow body, a jacket 19 is introduced and is provided with four apertures 2021--22-23 in a first upper plane and with four apertures identical to the former ones in a lower plane, such as the aperture 23' shown in Fig. 3; said apertures putting the respective side channels in communication with the inside of the jacket, wherein there revolves in sealed condition the cylinder 24 in which there are provided two

channels

25 and 26 opposite each other and placed one in register with the apertures of the upper plane and the other in register with the apertures of the lower plane. Each of said channels has a nearly rectangular cross-section with their two outlets arranged at 90 in respect to each other. The cylinder 24 may be rotated either by connecting its shaft 27, through a worm and helical gear reducer, to the shaft of the compressor, or by means of an independent motor.

If the

channels

16 and 18, respectively, are connected to the compression conduit 10 and to the suction conduit 9 of the compressor 11, and the

channels

15 and 17 are connected to the two pipes 7-7 which lead to the two chambers 1 and 2, the pump operates in the following manner.

During each fourth of revolution of the distributing cylinder 24, one of the chambers 1 (or 2) is put in communication with the compressed air conduit 10 coming from the compressor while the other one is put in communication with the suction conduit 9 of said compressor.

In this way, at every revolution of the distributing cylinder 24 there take place two stages of compression and two stages of aspiration in each of the two chambers, the compression (and aspiration) stages of one chamber being contemporaneous with the aspiration (and compression) stages of the other chamber. It is evident that during the compression stage the liquid, which finds itself in the immersed chamber, is ejected and sent through the valve 6 into the pipe 4 while the valve 3 opens. In the aspiration stage, the air already compressed in the chamber is sucked by the compressor and the valve 6 closes while the valve 3 opens to permit the introduction of the liquid. In order to continuously keep the flow of liquid in the pipe 4, the apertures of the distributor are slightly varied in width, in the sense of rotation, e. g. as in Fig. 4, in such a manner as to allow an anticipation in the introduction of the compressed air into each individual cham ber.

#In the latter respect, the increase in peripheral extent or width of the distributor apertures or ports ensures that the pumping action will be continuous and smooth. The flow of liquid through such ports will, therefore, not be intermittent but will be continuous. Because of the fact that the peripheral width or extent of the ports is greater than the width of the confronting portion of the chambers, for example, the port 22 in relation to the chamber 17, shown in Fig. 4, a very smooth and continuous operation of the pump is obtained.

We claim:

1. A pump of the immersion type comprising two closed chambers immersed in the liquid to be pumped, each chamber having an inlet valve adapted to be opened to permit entry of the liquid into the chambers, an outlet conduit means connected to the chambers and including an outlet valve means for each of the chambers, a compressor means operatively connected with a source of fluid to be compressed, conduit means for the compressed fluid connecting the compressor means with the chambers, :a rotary distributor operatively connected in the conduit, means so as to alternately connect the chambers with the pressure and suction sides of the compressor means and alternately effect a pressure in one chamber and force the liquid in such chamber through the outlet conduit means and effect a suction in the other chamber to open the inlet valve and draw the liquid in the cham her, said distributor including a hollow cylindrical body provided with four radially outstanding collecting channels arranged parallel to the axis of the body and spaced approximately 90 apart from each other, said conduit means comprising a first pair of conduits connected to the compressor means and to two of the channels and a second pair of conduits connected to the other two channels and to the chambers, a jacket fitted axially in the cylindrical body and being provided, in parallel planes spaced axially thereof, with two sets of four apertures in communication with the channels, a rotary cylinder rotatably disposed within the jacket and having two bores, said bores being disposed transversely of the cylinder and extending through the outer wall thereof at angularly related points and being arranged in spaced relation along the axis of the cylinder and being coplanar with the sets of apertures so as to be in communication with two of the apertures and the channels.

2. A pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said apertures of the jacket are of a width, in the sense of rotation of the cylinder, greater than the Width of the collecting channels so that a continuous, uninterrupted flow of the liquid is provided.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,226 Merrill Jan. 29, 1895 1,096,597 Bruton May 12, 1914 1,744,002 *Price Jan. 14, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 433,518 Italy Apr. 9, 1948