US3153386A

US3153386A - Wobble plate type pump

Info

Publication number: US3153386A
Application number: US133934A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tom H Thompson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-08-25
Filing date: 1961-08-25
Publication date: 1964-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 1981-10-20

Description

Oct. 20, 1964 1-. H. THOMPSON worms PLATE TYPE PUMP 4 Shets-Shegt 1' Filed Aug. 25, 1961 TDE /\fl////////// n//////// N x mo WWW v v mm M H *5 my ms B Q 3 3 Oct. 20, 1964 1-. H. THOMPSON 3,153,383

WOBBLE PLATE TYPE PUMP Filed Aug. 25, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmvrozm 7011/ H TAOMQSO/V T. H- THOMPSON WOBBLE PLATE TYPE PUMP Oct. 20, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 25, 1961 INVENTQR 7011/ H THOMPSON Oct. 20, 1964 1'. H. THOMPSON 3,153,386

WOBBLE PLATE TYPE PUMP Filed Aug. 25, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR TOM Ii THOMQSO/V United States Patent The invention has to do with wobble plate pumps of the generally known type consisting of a housing for a rotor incorporating a cluster of piston-containing cylinders disposed about the axis of rotation of the rotor and, within the housing, a wobble plate having drive connections with the pistons.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a novel reorganization of certain of the major components so as to minimize rubbing speeds where the ends of the rotor abut the inner end faces of the housing closures, while enabling the wobble plate and its bearings to be dimensioned to meet strength requirements more readily than is feasible with the conventional disposition of the components. While not limited thereto, this aspect of the invention is of particular value in connection with high pressure pumps of the double act ing type, such as is illustrated in the drawings and described herein.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be apparent from the following description of the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a pump incorporating the invention in preferred form;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational View, on a reduced scale,

of the wobble plate and rotor, as seen in the direction of the arrows 3.3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the right hand end of the pump of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, on a reduced scale, on the line 55 of FIG, 1;

FIG 6 is a side elevational view of the pump of FIG. 1, partially broken out and showing the wobble plate in phantom; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, on the line 7--7 of FIG. 1.

The pump is shown as comprising a cylindrical housing 10 having heads 11, 1 2 enclosing the ends thereof and a main or drive shaft 13 to which a rotor 14 is secured.

In this preferred form, the pump is of the double-acting type and the rotor shown as consisting of enlarged end portions 18, 19 suitably connected by a reduced neck portion 29, the rotor end portions incorporating clusters of aligned cylinders 21, 22 in which are mounted piston members generally designated 23. The central portion of each piston member i exposed to the interior of the barrel. In this instance and as is preferred, the piston members comprise piston portions 27, 28 united by connecting rods 29 disposed about the reduced portion of the rotor.

Centrally located within the housing is a wobble plate 30 having drive connections with all of the piston members; and, as will be seen, the wobble plate is of annual form and encircles the piston members or, specifically, the connecting rods 29. The wobble plate consists of relatively rotatable inner and outer ring portions, 35, 36 and incorporates a drive ring 37 forming part of the drive connections between the wobble plate and the piston rods; and in this form, in which the Wobble plate encircles the piston members, the drive ring projects radially inwards. As will be noted, it is clamped between the inner races of the roller bearings 38 which separate the inner and outer ring portions of the wobble plate. The outer ring portion 36 of the wobble plate is tilt-supported Patented Get. 20, 1964 by means of stub shafts 39 which are journalled in the housing walls.

It will be recognized that important advantages are achieved by this arrangement. In the first place, the wobble plate may be dimensioned to permit any desired bearing capacity, without affecting the diameter of the rotor; and since the wobble plate support is on the outsidethat is, between the outer ring portion and the housingthe pivot or tilt-shaft dimensions and strength may likewise be as large as necessary, again without affecting the dimensions of the rotor. At the same time, the diameter of the rotor, where its end faces 45, 46 are in rubbing engagement with the inner faces 47, 43 of the housing heads, can 'be kept to a minimum and the rubbing speeds thereby minimized.

Reverting to the drive connections between the wobble plate and the piston members, the invention provides means whereby these connections may be identical and of such a nature as to eliminate such variations between the strokes of the piston members as may otherwise occur as the result of centrifugal or other action. As described below, the drive connections include bearing means carried by the connecting rods and abutting the opposite faces of the drive ring.

Each piston member (or connecting rod, in this instance) is provided with a cylindrical recess 50 to receive the slidable and rotatable socket member 51 of a ball and socket joint, of which the ball member preferably consists of two ball halves or sections 52, 53 (FIG. 7). The inner or flat face of each

ball half

52, 53 is recessed to receive a small pilot ball 54 and all of these pilot balls are also located in a circular race or groove 55 (FIG. 5) formed in the adjacent face of the drive ring. Pilot balls 56 are similarly located in ball sections 52 and in an identical race on the opposite face of the drive ring. By this means, the drive ring, ball members and socket members are all interlocked against relative radial movement. In the result, each drive connection follows exactlythe same path in space as every other drive connection and, hence, each piston member partakes of the same reciprocating motion as every other piston member. It is understood, of course, that while the pilot ball races are circular, the pilot balls follow a circular path about the axis of the drive shaft only when the wobble plate is in its fully erect position and the piston stroke zero; and that when the wobble plate is tilted and active to cause the pistons to reciprocate in response to rotation of the drive shaft and rotor, the pilot balls follow an elliptical path in relation to the drive shaft axis. This motion is permitted by the freedom of the socket members to move endwise in their piston rod recesses-that is, radially, toward and from the drive shaft axis.

The control of the tilt of the wobble plate forms no part of the present invention, one of the stub shafts 39 simply being shown as extended to the exterior of the housing to receive a handle or crank 57 (FIGS. 3, 4, 6).

The inner face of at least one of the housing head members 11, 12 is formed with an openv manifold registering with the adjacent rotor cylinder ends and suchmanifold, as is common, is of circular form with appropriate interruptions located degrees apart on an axis at right angles to the wobble plate tilt axis, to provide inlet and outlet manifold sections. Of course, in the double-acting form of pump illustrated, both housing head members are formed with such manifolds.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the

arcuate manifolds

62, 63 formed in the inner face 47 of head member 11 are separated by

disc members

64, 65. These disc members are disposed and rotatable in recesses 66, 67, in the head member, with their axes or centers offset in relation to the center line of the manifold sections.

The purpose of these discs is to facilitate the passage of solid foreign bodies from the intake to the outlet side; and in line with that purpose, the discs may be adapted to yield or retreat into their recesses in response to pressure in excess of the" normal working pressure of the pump. As shown, the discs are backed up by

springs

68, 69 which are biased and normally serve to urge the discs toward the adjacent rotor end face. Thus, a piece of solid material entering the intake manifold, and thence one of the cylinders, will be expelled by the piston of that cylinder as the rotor approaches one of the discs and the latter will yield and, because of its offset disposition, will also rotate and readily pass the solid to the outlet manifold section. The corresponding disc members and associated parts at the opposite end of the pump are identified by correspond primed reference characters.

It will be recognized that the same results can be accomplished by making the pistons yieldable in response to the excess pressure generated when they encounter a solid body, although in this preferred form both the discs and the pistons are shown as being yieldable. Thus, in FIG. 1, the upper piston 28, shown in section, incorporates a separate head 70 normally sustained by spring 71.

The porting and fluid passage, arrangement form no part of the present invention and need not be described it being sufiicient to note that, in FIG. 4, one of the ports 75, 76 in the outer face of head member 12 will serve as the inlet and the other the outlet, depending on the direction of rotation of the rotor.

The following is claimed:

1. In a fluid handling mechanism,

a housing having a head with a face,

a circular manifold groove in said head face,

a pair of recesses in said head face 180 apart and communicating with said manifold,

a disc member rotatable in each said recess,

said disc members and recesses being of a diameter to intersect said'manifold groove and divide the same into two arcuate sections,

means biasing said disc members out of. said recesses,

the centers of said recesses and said disc members being readially oflset relative to said circular manifold groove, I

a rotor having a face operable against said head face and having a cylinder communicating with said circular manifold groove,

a piston reciprocable in said cylinder,

a wobble plate in said housing coaxial to said manifold groove and mounted for pivotal movement around an axis transverse to the axis of the rotor,

and means operably connecting said wobble plate and said piston.

2. In a fluid handling mechanism,

a housing having a head With a face and a port in said face,

a rotor having an axis and a face operable against said head face and having a cylinder communicating with said port and oriented axially of the rotor,

a piston reciprocable within said cylinder,

an annular wobble plate coaxial of said head and mounted for transverse pivotal movement relative to said axis of said rotor and thus transverse to said piston and cylinder,

said wobble plate carrying a radially extending relatively rotatable annular flange,

a radially extending cylindrical recess in said piston,

a cylindrical socket member axially movable in said recess,

a ball member comprising two separate ball halves each having a flat face provided with a semi-spherical recess receiving a pilot ball,

and said annular flange of said Wobble plate having a circular ball race on each side, each sid receiving a pilot ball, I

whereby said ball and socket members are interlocked against relative radial movement with respect to said Wobble plate but are free for circumferential movement around the axis of the wobble plate.

3. In a fluid handling mechanism,

a housing having opposed heads each containing an annular groove port,

an integral rotor having spaced enlarged end portions connected by a reduced neck,

means for turning said rotor,

each said rotor end portion including a face operable against one of said heads,

each said rotor end portion including aligned cylinders communicating with said groove ports,

two spaced recesses spaced circumferentially around said groove,

a land in each said recess dividing each groove into an inlet section and an outlet section,

means biasing each land in a direction out of said recess and into engagement with said rotor,

a piston reciprocable within each said cylinder,

an annular wobble plate coaxial to said rotor and carrying a relatively rotatable annular flange,

and means operably connecting said Wobble plate and said piston.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 600,841 Oderman Mar. 15, 1898 665,448 Lapman Jan. 8, 1901 893,558 Williams July 14, 1908 1,019,521 Pratt Mar. 5, 1912 1,350,551 Jewell Aug. 24, 1920 1,409,057 Michell Mar. 7, 1922 1,428,876 Bollinckx Sept. 12, 1922 I 1,430,275 Almen Sept. 26, 1922 1,826,325 Paul Oct. 6, 1931 1,877,285 Eckels Sept. 13, 1932 2,168,658 Thomas Aug. 8, 1939 2,192,539 Condon Mar. 5, 1940 2,388,644 Roessler Nov. 6, 1945 2,522,498 Naylor et al. Oct. 10, 1950 2,608,933 Ferris Sept. 2, 1952 3,006,324 Shaw Oct. 31, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 533,360 Germany Apr. 29, 1930 279,933 Germany Feb. 22, 1914 107,595 Great Britain June 28, 1917 357,033 Italy Feb. 26, 1938

Claims

1. IN A FLUID HANDLING MECHANISM, A HOUSING HAVING A HEAD WITH A FACE, A CIRCULAR MANIFOLD GROOVE IN SAID HEAD FACE, A PAIR OF RECESSES IN SAID HEAD FACE 180* APART AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID MANIFOLD, A DISC MEMBER ROTATABLE IN EACH SAID RECESS, SAID DISC MEMBERS AND RECESSES BEING OF A DIAMETER TO INTERSECT SAID MANIFOLD GROOVE AND DIVIDE THE SAME INTO TWO ARCUATE SECTIONS, MEANS BIASING SAID DISC MEMBERS OUT OF SAID RECESSES, THE CENTERS OF SAID RECESSES AND SAID DISC MEMBERS BEING READIALLY OFFSET RELATIVE TO SAID CIRCULAR MANIFOLD GROOVE, A ROTOR HAVING A FACE OPERABLE AGAINST SAID HEAD FACE AND HAVING A CYLINDER COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CIRCULAR MANIFOLD GROOVE, A PISTON RECIPROCABLE IN SAID CYLINDER, A WOBBLE PLATE IN SAID HOUSING COAXIAL TO SAID MANIFOLD GROOVE AND MOUNTED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT AROUND AN AXIS TRANSVERSE TO THE AXIS OF THE ROTOR, AND MEANS OPERABLY CONNECTING SAID WOBBLE PLATE AND SAID PISTON.