US3183837A

US3183837A - Pump

Info

Publication number: US3183837A
Application number: US250394A
Authority: US
Inventors: Guy S Helliwell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-01-11
Filing date: 1963-01-09
Publication date: 1965-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 1982-05-18
Also published as: GB984235A; DE1284849B

Description

May 18, 1965 Filed Jan. 9, 1963 G. S. HELLlWELL v PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 18, 1965 G. s. HELLIWELL PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 9, 1963 May 1955 G. s. HELLIWELL PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 9, 1963 United States Patent 3,183,837 PUMP Guy S. Helliwell, Whitecroft, 139 Hinckley Road, Kirby Muxloe, England Filed Jan. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 250,394 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 11, 1962,

2 Claims. (Cl. 106-2) The subject of this invention is an improved form of pump for propelling liquids through a system, for example in dyeing machines in which the dyeing liquor travels in a closed circuit. The invention has, in fact, been principallydevised in connection with this last application and, although it obviously can be utilised in many other fields, and is to be intended as covering other potential uses, nevertheless the following description will be confined to this typical application for reasons of convenience.

Normally, the circulation of the dyeing liquor in a closed system of the kind referred to utilises one of two types of pump, viz. a centrifugal pump or a reversible axial flow unit. In the first case, that is to say, a pump with a uni-directional action, provision is made for changing over the liquor flow at the required times by the incorporation of a reversing valve in the connections between the two sides of the pump and the main circuit. This arrangement obviously entails extra installation costs because of the additional piping required and it is found in practice that quite substantial flow losses occur at the elbows of the piping system thereby necessitated. Moreover, in practice the rate of delivery of liquor from the pump, that is to say the rate of throughput in the main system, cannot be varied without adjusting the motor, and this is a wasteful operation as well as requiring an expensive motor unit.

In' the case of an axial flow pump, the reversal of the liquor is performed by changing ,over the direction of rotation of the pump rotor, and in practice it is found that there is quite a substantial loss of pressure at such a change over, which impairs the smooth and effective operation of the system. In addition the rotor of the pump itself must be of robust construction to withstand the serious change of load thereon at the time of reversal, and there is the further complication of the extra cost of reversing switch gear. This arrangement is also typified by a very heavy thrust and wear on the end bearings of the rotor. Here again, moreover, the rate of delivery by the pump cannot be varied except by adjusting the motor.

,An object of the invention is a form of pump which avoids thestated shortcomings.

Another object is a pump which can be operated to producea rapid but smooth reversal of direction of the liquid delivery from the pump without significant interruption ofthe'service and without power losses.

A further object is a compact form of such a pump with a built-in liquid-reversing. means.

Yet another object is a pump for the purposes stated which provides at all times for varying the delivery volume without interference with the pump operation.

These and other objects and advantages are set out in more detail below.

One form of centrifugal impeller pump constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 of these drawings is a side view of the complete pump installation, with part in vertical cross section on line II of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II--II of FIG- URE l.

3,183,837 Patented May 18, 1965 FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III-III of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective illustration of parts of the impeller unit shown removed and in one relative position, and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 4 but showing these parts in an alternative working position.

The complete assembly of the pump may, for convenience of description, be regarded as composed of three sections, viz. a motor block 1, an impeller unitZ and a control section 3. These have been generally designated in FIGURE 1 with the reference numerals quoted, and it will be noted that the unit 2 and the section 3 are overhung from the motor block 1, which therefore forms a simple mounting for the complete installation, facilitating its erection.

At the outlet side of block 1 the motor shaft 4 protrudes through a bearing 5 and, at its end, has secured thereon a boss 6 forming the hub of a centrifugal fan comprising a plurality of radial blades 7. The impeller rotor constituted by blades 7 and hub 6 is accommodated in the unit 2 which comprises a fixed outer cylindrical housing 8 with liquid-

flow service conduits

9 and 10 extending upwardly therefrom. These conduits are provided with upper end flanges 11 for connection to appropriate flow lines. It will be assumed that the pump installation, in the present case, is to serve a dyeing vessel and that the

conduits

9 and 10 will be connected through piping to appropriate unions at the upper and lower parts of the vessel for the purpose of circulating dyeing liquor therethrough.

Mounted concentrically within the housing 8 by

stays

13, 13 and 13" is a cylindrical impeller casing 12 of smaller diameter. These stays are of strip form so as to constitute baffles, and it will be observed, from FIG- URES 2 and 3 in particular, that housing 8 is apertured between the

stays

13 and 13" to provide a liquid header opening to conduit 9, and at the opposite side of stay 13" to provide a header 15 opening to conduit 10. A further aperture 16 is provided in housing 8 adjacent stay 13, and this serves as an outlet for draining the pump, at required times, through a pipe 17 secured to the lower part of the housing.

Received with a sliding lit in the impeller casing 12 is a cylindrical valve shell 18 of substantially the same axial length. The shell 18 is furnished at one end with a circular plate 19 which has a central, fiow-promoting,

conical boss 28 and is disposed with a sliding fit in a ring 20 on the inner face of housing 8. This housing has an adjacent end wall 21on which is externally mounted V a bearing 22 for an adjusting stem 23 carrying the plate 19 and the cylindrical body of the valve shell.

The end wall 21 also has a looped bracket 24 providing a support for stem 23. secured to the outer end of stem 23.

Internally the valve shell 18 has along its length a shallow frusto-conical partition plate 26 which divides the valve shell into an outlet compartment A and an inlet compartment B. The taper of plate 26 conforms to the inclination of the leading edges of the impeller blades' 7, and plate 26 is provided centrally with an apertured boss 27 co-axial with the impeller hub 6, i.e. with the.

A valve-adjusting hand lever 25 is' slots. There are, however, four ports in the casing 12, arranged in two axially-spaced pairs, each pair being disposed around one of the compartments A and B. Thepair 31 and 32 (corresponding to valve slot 30 and compartment B) are arranged with their centre lines rotationally spaced by somewhat less than 180 (cf. FIGURE 2), with port 31 opening into header 14 and port 32 into header 15. The other two

ports

33 and 34 are also arranged opposite one another but again are rotationally ofiset by less than 180 (cf. FIGURE 3); they respectively open into header 14 and header 15.

In operation, and with the valve adjusting lever 25 in the position indicated, the parts are relatively disposed as illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4. When the impellcr is set into motion, liquor is drawn down conduit from a first outlet in the dyeing vessel, through the header l5 and the opening provided by port 32 and registering slot 39, and through the eye of the impeller represented by the orifice in boss 27 under the suction etfect of the centrifugal blades '7. The liquor reaching compartment B is thrown out by the impeller blades and escapes through the slot 29 and easing port 33 to header 14, whence it surges out through conduit 9 back to a second outlet of the dyeing vessel. This flow path through the pump is indicated by the full arrows C in the drawings.

When the cycle is to be reversed, it is only necessary for the attendant to swing over the adjusting leverr so as to bring about the situation illustrated in FIGURE 5, that is to say with the valve slot 30 in register with casing port 31 and valve slot 29 in register with casing port 34. Thus, without any change in the direction or rate of rotation of the impeller, the liquor is reversed so that it will take the path indicated by the broken arrows D in the drawings, i.e. will pass through the nowregistering valve slot 30 and casing port 31 in compartment B, through the eye of the impeller and out through now registering valve slot 39 and casing port 34 of compartment A into header 15 and conduit 10.

This all provides a simple facility for rapid changeover without varying the general direction of flow of the liquid. It will further be appreciated that the rate and volume of delivery of the pump can be varied, for either direction of flow of the liquid, by choosing an appropriate degree of rotation of the valve shell and hence appropriate selection of the degree of overlap of the valve slots and casing ports. Thus, for example, the hand lever 25 may be equipped with a pointer which cooperates with a fixed dial carried by bracket 24 to guide the operator.

The pump described avoids the various shortcomings of prior systems set forth above. Moreover, as the pump is delivering liquid under pressure whatever the position of the valve, a permanent suction and delivery connection is available as required at any time and the valve can be used to limit the available pressure or rate of flow if either is above the immediate requirements.

The pump is of improved efiiciency due to the reduction in the power losses normally encountered in the pipes and bends as explained above. It is compact and avoids all the complications of by-passes to relieve pressure, special forms of valve and expensive forms of operating motor.

I claim:

1. A liquid pump comprising a fixed cylindrical casing with two sets of ports therein, each set having at least two rotationally staggered ports, two conduits each connected with one of the ports of each set, a cylindrical valve shell rotatably mounted with a sliding fit within said casing and having an apertured internal partition disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shell and dividing it into a" cylindrical inlet compartment and a cylindrical outlet compartment, an impeller mounted in said outlet compartment, the two sets of ports being at positions along the axial length of the casing corresponding to these two compartments, respectively, said valve shell having an arcuate slot in the peripheral wall of each of the inlet and outlet compartments for registration with the associated set of ports, and a turning device connected to said valve shell for rotating said shell to place said liquid inlet and outlet compartments into liquid flow communication selectively with, casing ports connecting to one or the other set of conduits.

2. A liquid pump comprising a housing, an impeller casing supported within said housing and spaced from the latter by stays to define two liquid headers, liquid flow ducts connected to said housing and communicating one with each of said headers, a hollow cylindrical valve shell rotatably mounted with a sliding fit within said casing and having an apertured internal partition which is disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shell and divides the latter into a liquid inlet compartment of cylindrical shape and a liquid outlet compartment'of cylindrical shape, an impeller arranged in said liquid inlet compartment and co-axial with the aperture in the partition, said casing being formed with two sets of ports each set having two ports which are rotationally staggered at an angle of less than and at a position along the axial length of the casing corresponding to a compartment, one port of each set communicating with one of the liquid headers and the other port of each set communicating with the other liquid header, and said valve shell being formed with one armate slot in the wall of each said compartment, said slots being diametrically opposed to one another, and acontrol device carried by the housing and connected to the valve shell for adjusting the rotary position of the shell relatively to the casing, whereby each slot in the shell can be brought optionally into communication with one or the other of the ports of the associated set so that the liquid inlet compartment is brought into communication with one or the other of said headers to control the direction of liquid flow, and the degree of registration of valve slots and easing ports can be varied to regulate the volume of said liquid flow.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,599 7/14 Marlow 230-42 1,548,247 8/25 Bennett 103-3 2,255,001 9/41 Johnsen 103-3 2,260,169 10/41 Couch 103-3 2,337,325 12/43 Hach et al. 230-42 2,711,283 6/55 Troxell 230-42 3,040,669 6/62 Rupp 1033 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,319 12/58 Australia. 596,328 1/48 Great Britain.

LAURENCE V. EFNER, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH H. BRANSON, JR., Examiner.

Claims

1. A LIQUID PUMP COMPRISING A FIXED CYLINDRICAL CASING WITH TWO SETS OF PORTS THEREIN, EACH SET HAVING AT LEAST TWO ROTATIONALLY STAGGERED PORTS, TWO CONDUITS EACH CONNECTED WITH ONE OF THE PORTS OF EACH SET, A CYLINDRICAL VALVE SHELL ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITH A SLIDING FIT WITHIN SAID CASING AND HAVING AN APERTURED INTERNAL PARTITION DISPOSED IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO THE AXIS OF THE SHELL AND DIVIDING IT INTO A CYLINDRICAL INLET COMPARTMENT AND A CYLINDRICAL OUTLET COMPARTMENT, AN IMPELLER MOUNTED IN SAID OUTLET COMPARTMENT, THE TWO SETS OF PORTS BEING AT POSITION ALONG THE AXIAL LENGTH OF THE CASING CORRESPONDING TO THESE TWO COMPARTMENTS, RESPECTIVELY, SAID VALVE SHELL HAVING AN ARCUATE SLOT IN THE PERIPHERAL WALL OF EACH OF THE INLET AND OUTLET COMPARTMENTS FOR REGISTRATION WITH THE ASSOCIATED SET OF PORTS, AND A TURNING DEVICE CONNECTED TO SAID VALVE SHELL FOR ROTATING SAID SHELL TO PLACE SAID LIQUID INLET AND OUTLET COMPARTMENTS INTO LIDUID FLOW COMMUNICATION SELECTIVELY WITH CASING PORTS CONNECTING TO ONE OR THE OTHER SET OF CONDUITS.