US3461807A

US3461807A - Pump

Info

Publication number: US3461807A
Application number: US639214A
Authority: US
Inventors: Elwin M Morrison
Original assignee: Northwest Industries Ltd
Current assignee: Northwest Industries Ltd
Priority date: 1966-10-28
Filing date: 1967-05-17
Publication date: 1969-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 1986-08-19

Description

Aug. 19, 1969 a. M. MORVRISON' PUMP 6 Sheets-Sheet Fiied May 17, 1967 PUMP -6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed May 1-7, 1967 United States Patent 3,461,807 PUMP Elwin M. Morrison, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, assignor to Northwest Industries Limited, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Filed May 17, 1967, Ser. No. 639,214 "Claims priority, application Canada, Oct. 28, 1966,

974,30 Int. Cl. F04d 1/00, 13/02, 29/28 US. Cl. 103-103 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A portable, floating pump which includes a housing having an inlet means, an outlet means and an impeller chamber. An impeller is mounted in the chamber on a This invention relates to a portable floatable pump adapted to float on the water which it is adapted to pump.

A need now exists for portable, floatable pumps for use on the farm, in forestry, in construction and in mining. Thus portable floatable pumps may be used on the farm to drain sloughs, water livestock, irrigate farmland or to remove water from flooded areas. In forestry, such pumps may be used for wetting down slopes, creating fire breaks,

Patented Aug. 19, 1969 rotatably mounted shaft within said impeller chamber, said impeller being formed of moulded, structurally rigid, light-weight synthetic plastic material; (f) means for driving said impeller including a primary driven sprocket secured to said shaft, a secondary driven sprocket driving a secondary drive sprocket in unison therewith and retained on .a common shaft in axially spaced apart relation, a primary drive sprocket secured to an engine shaft, a primary drive chain entrained by said primary drive spocket and said primary driven sprocket, and .a secondary drive chain entrained by said secondary drive sprocket and said primary driven sprocket; (g) a volute chamber arranged around the periphery of said impeller chamber and adapted to contain liquid, said volute chamber being arranged to transfer the liquid from said impeller chamber to said outlet with a maximum of efliciency thus promoting a high flow rate of liquid; (h) float means secured to said housing, said float means including primary float means near the upper portion of said pump.

By an alternate embodiment of this invention, a portable float-able pump for liquids (e.g., water) or slurries is provided, in which the pump further comprises secondary or to provide a rapid supply of water for a fire area from nearby sources. In construction, such pumps may also be used in construction work for ditch draining preparatory to pipeline construction, or for low lying road beds, and for removing water from excavation. In mining, such pumps may be used for removing water to make strip mining more accessible or to provide a source of mill water.

However, many such pumps float rather deeply in the water. This permits the motor to become wet'and become unstable in choppy water conditions. Moreover, such pumps tend to tilt or list in normal operation due to the depth and weight of the hose to which the pump was connected.

Furthermore, in some such pumps leakage of water from the impeller chamber to the gear well occurred with its attendant problems in contaminating the gear lubricant which affected the life of the gears, in addition to deteriorating all components involved.

An object of one aspect of the present invention is the provision of a floatable portable pumphaving improved buoyancy.

An object of yet another aspect of this invention is the provision of such a pump in which the occurrence of water leakage between the impeller chamber and the gear well is greatly minimized.

An object of another aspect of this invention is the provision of such a pump embodying a novel drive mechanism for the impeller.

By one broad aspect of the present invention, a portable floatable pump for liquids (e.g. water) or slurries is 5 provided, said pump comprising (a) a housing; (b) .an inlet means to said housing; (0) an outlet means from said housing; (d) an impeller chamber within said housing, adapted to contain liquid; (e) an impeller fixed on a float means comprising a light-weight foamed synthetic plastic material filler for a pair of rigid plates, said secondary float means comprising the base of said pump.

By still another embodiment of this invention, the pump is provided with a gear well surrounding said primary driven and drive sprockets, said secondary driven an drive sprockets and said primary and secondary drive chains, the gear well beingadapted to be filled with lubricating oil.

By yet another embodiment of this invention, the housing is formed of Fiberglas (trademark) and the pump includes a sleeve for said impeller shaft integrally sealed to said molded fiberglass housing when said housing is being formed, said sleeve including means for enhancing and assuring said seal between the periphery of said sleeve and said housing.

In the accompanying drawings,

FIG. 1 is a central longitudinal cross-section of the pump of a preferred embodiment of this invention with the drive mechanism partly broken away for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a half bottom plan view of the pump of FIG. 1, partly broken away;

FIG. 3 is a half top plan view of the pump of FIG. 1, partly broken away;

FIG. 4 is a section along line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-section-of the pump shaft sleeve of the embodiment of FIGS 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a central longitudinal section of the secondary drive sprocket and primary driven sprocket of the drive mechanism used in one embodiment of this invention,

FIG. 7 is a central longitudinal section of the shaft on which the sprockets of FIG. 6 are mounted, and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the drive mechanism in greater detail.

Turning firstly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the pump includes a plurality of light-weight, structurally

rigid components

11, 12, and 13, preferably formed of fiberglass. Component 13 is manufactured so as to mould in and secure pump shaft sleeve 17 which will be further described hereinafter In addition, the pump shaft sleeve 17 is braced to housing component 13 by means of a conical shaped reinforcement 15.

Components

12 and 13 are assembled and bonded together, with the bottom end of the pump shaft sleeve 17 being integrally bonded to component 12, to form housing 14. Component 11 is joined to housing 14 by means of a plurality'of bolts 16 and gasket 18. The housing 14 and componentll, when assembled, provide an inlet conduit 19, and impeller chamber 44, a volute chamber 60, and an outlet conduit 20. Extending from the lower portion of component 11 is a guard 21, preferably formed of expanded metal.

Float means are secured to the housing and include primary float means constituted by a light-weight expanded plastic material 22, preferably formed of polyurthane foam, disposed between

housing components

12 and 13 and shaped to fill the space therebetween precisely. The float means also includes a secondary float means constituted by a light-weight formed plastic filler material 23, preferably foamed polyurethane, between two

rigid plates

24 and 25 preferably formed of fiberglass reinforced plastic. Four hexagonal head cap screws 26 are provided projecting through

plates

25 and 24 and wood dowel reinforcement 61 disposed therebetween in conjunction with one end 62 of four Z brackets 27, the other end 63 of each bracket 27 being secured, along with component 11 to component 12 of housing 14 by means of bolts 16 to secure the secondary float means to the pump.

The provision of the secondary float means contributes, on the average, some lbs. flotation to the pump. This allows the pump to ride level and higher on the water, thereby keeping the motor dry and more stable in choppy water conditions. Moreover, this construction is very durable and permits easier and quicker cleaning of the pump, since it is readily removable.

Disposed in the pump shaft sleeve 17 is the water seal 29 and a bearing 30. A steel shaft 31 is mounted in the bearing 30. One end of the steel shaft 31 is provided with an iron hub 32 to secure an impeller 33 thereto, disposed within the impeller chamber 44 provided between housing units 11 and 12. The impeller is formed of moulded, light-weight, structurally rigid plastic material, preferably thermoset urethane elastomer.

As shown in FIGURES 1, 4, 6 and 7, it is seen that the other, upper end of shaft 31 is provided with secondary driven sprocket 80 which is driven by a chain 81 entraining such secondary driven sprocket 80 and a secondary drive sprocket 82. The secondary drive sprocket 82 is formed integral with primary driven sprocket 85 and is mounted for free rotation on shaft 83.

Sprockets

82 and 85 are maintained in position on shaft 83 by means of retaining ring 84. Ball bearings 66 or other friction reducing members are disposed in a bearing well 67 formed in neck 68 joining

sprockets

82 and 85. Shaft 83 is secured to engine mounting plate 69 by washer 70 and jam nut 71. An O-ring 72 is disposed below engine mounting plate 69 in well 73 formed in collar 74 of shaft 63. Primary driven sprocket 85 is driven by chain 75 entraining it and primary drive sprocket 76, which is secured to engine shaft 38.

Superposed over the gear well 39 provided by the configuration of housing element 13 is the engine mounting plate 69. Gear well 39 is adapted to contain a suitable lubricating oil.

Turning now to FIG. 5, the pump shaft sleeve 17 is provided with a central bore 47 adapted to receive bearing 30. Also provided are stepped

bores

48, 49, and 50 for retaining the water seal 29. The lower portion of the outer periphery of the sleeve is knurled at 51; in one embodiment the sleeve is of cast aluminum and is knurled with 14 pitch knurling. The upper portion of the periphery is provided with a milled convex surface 52. The combination of knurling 51 and convex surface 52 enables the sleeve 17 to form a better seal with

housing elements

13, 12, during the assembly operation which forms the housing 14.

Thus, by the present invention a pump has been provided which can handle many fluids. This pump is adapted to move a large volume of fluid, i.e., it is a high capacity fluid mover, but it performs this at low fluid pressure. The portable pump of a preferred embodiment of this in vention is light-weight, approximately sixty pounds in weight, and is relatively small in size. The pump preferably is self priming and should incorporate a very simple, quick hose connection. Thus the pump should require 4 simple operating procedures, namely connecting the hose and starting the engine.

The pump of the present invention is designed to have a lower axial inlet leading to an impeller chamber. The impeller chamber in turn leads to a toroidal (hollow donut shaped) volute chamber which discharges into the Water outlet.

I claim:

1. A buoyant centrifugal pump comprising a casing having three squat components of rigid sheet material secured together, a first and second adjacent casing com ponents being molded in such a shape as to form a buoyancy chamber therebetween, the second casing component being reentrant within the buoyancy chamber, the reentrancy having the form of a portion of a centrifugal pump volute chamber and a portion of an outlet therefrom, the third casing component being adjacent said second casing component and having such a shape as to form the remainder of the volute chamber, the outlet therefrom, and an inlet thereto, lightweight cellular material filling the buoyancy chamber between the first and second casing components, a rotatable impeller shaft mounted within the casing and having the axis normal to the plane of the volute, an impeller of molded, structurally rigid, lightweight material mounted on said shaft within the volute and a power source mounted on said pump, said power source being adapted to drive the impeller shaft.

2. A buoyant centrifugal pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing components are made of glass reinforced plastic. 4

3. A buoyant centrifugal pump as claimed in claim 1 wherein'the impeller is made of molded polyurthane.

4. A buoyant centrifugal pump as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a speed reducing device operatively connecting the power source to the impeller shaft, said speed reducing device comprising two chain and sprocket drives in parallel planes, one chain and sprocket pair substantially overlying the other, the two drives being interconnected by the integral formation of the driven sprocket of one drive with the driving sprocket of the other.

5. A buoyant centrifugal pump as defined in claim 1 further comprising a plate-like secondary float means mounted adjacent to, but spaced from the third casing component so as to provide a base for the pump.

6. A buoyant centrifugal pump according to claim 5, wherein the secondary float means comprises two rigid sheets and a lightweight foamed cellular material therebetween.

7. A buoyant centrifugal pump as defined in claim 1, wherein the casing includes a metal sleeve at the center of the adjacent first and second casing components, the sleeve having an outer surface knurled for a portion of its length and curvedly recessed for another portion, water tight sealing means within said sleeve, the sleeve being mounted so that the power source is connected to the impeller through said seal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,955,924 10/1960 Smith.

3,086,472 4/1963 Lorenzetti. 3,155,045 11/1964 Lown 6:61. I 1,957,614 5/1934 Rice.

3,393,643 7/1968 Herman. 3,397,647 8/1968 Daniel. 3,400,664 9/1968 Kingsep.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,300,827 7/1962 France.

HENRY F. RADUAZO, Primary Examiner v 1 Us. 01. x11. 74-217; 103-87, 111; 239-17