Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02M—SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF
  • F02M37/00—Apparatus or systems for feeding liquid fuel from storage containers to carburettors or fuel-injection apparatus; Arrangements for purifying liquid fuel specially adapted for, or arranged on, internal-combustion engines
  • F02M37/04—Feeding by means of driven pumps
  • F02M37/046—Arrangements for driving diaphragm-type pumps
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F04—POSITIVE - DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS FOR LIQUIDS OR ELASTIC FLUIDS
  • F04B—POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS
  • F04B43/00—Machines, pumps, or pumping installations having flexible working members
  • F04B43/02—Machines, pumps, or pumping installations having flexible working members having plate-like flexible members, e.g. diaphragms

Definitions

• This invention relates to fuel pumps and, more particu ⁇ larly, to a crashworthy fuel pump capable of withstanding extreme forces such as occur during a crash without leaking 5 fuel.
• the pump may occur.
• the presence of gasoline in the engine compartment due to a broken fuel pump creates great risk of fire and potential harm to both the vehicle and its occupants .
• FMVSS Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
• the improvement of the present invention comprises
• Figure 1 is a sectional view of a conventional fuel pump installable in the engine compartment of a vehicle; and Figures 2 and 3 are sectional views of a portion of the fuel pump illustrating the improvement of the present inven- tion.
• a fuel pump F for use in an automotive fuel system comprises a pump body, generally indicated B, which is of one-piece, thin-walled, sheet metal construction.
• Body B has a first portion Pl in which are formed two integral deep-drawn cylindrical cup-shaped projec tions, one of which is partially shown in Figure 1 and is indicated by reference numeral 1.
• One of the projections defines an intake cavity for the fuel pump and the other projection defines a discharge cavity for the pump.
• a properly oriented check valve (not shown) is located in each cavity to control fuel flow into and out of the fuel pump and appropriate fittings (also not shown) are located at the outer end of each projection, for connecting the fuel pump into the fuel system.
• Check valves and fittings of the type shown in United States Patent 3,096,722 to Fitzgerald et al, issued July 9, 1963, are illustrative of those which may be used in fuel pump F.
• Body B has a second portion P2 of a shallow cup shape having an end wall.3 and a flaring annular peripheral wall 5 forming a fuel pumping chamber 7. One end of each cavity 1 is in fluid communication with the pumping chamber. The lower end of body portion P2 is open.
• Means, indicated generally 13, flex diaphragm 11 to pump fuel into and out of pumping chamber 7 through the respective intake and discharge cavities.
• Means 13 comprises a diaphragm actuating rod 15 and a spring 17.
• Diaphragm 11 is sandwiched between a pair of backing plates 19 and 21 respectively.
• Rod 15 extends through the backing plates and the diaphragm and the end of the rod is spun over.
• One end of spring 17 'seats against the underside of plate 21.
• a rocker arm 23 is operable by an engine driven eccentric cam (not shown) .
• the inner end of the rocker arm is attached to the other, end of rod 15 and pulls the rod downward as it is rocked by the cam. This pulls diaphragm 11 downwardly and creates the intake stroke of the pump.
• Spring 17 pushes the diaphragm upwardly at the end of the intake stroke to produce the dis ⁇ charge stroke of the pump.
• Means 13 is housed in a housing 25.
• the housing has a hollow conical pump head 26.
• the pump head has an outwardly extending circumferential rim 27 the upper face of which is downwardly and outwardly sloped.
• Body B and housing 25 are assembled as is well known in the art with the outer margin of diaphragm 11 clamped between the abutting surfaces of the body and the housing.
• An improvement of the present invention comprises a lip 29 formed around the open end of body portion P2.
• lip 29, which extends around the periphery of the open end of body portion P2 is bendable over the outer margin of diaphragm 11 after the diaphragm is inserted into the open end of the body. .
• a circular ring 31 is now fitted around the body and the housing to clamp the two together. Ring 31 has an inturned lower margin forming a lip 35. The inner face of this lip abuts the bottom outer surface of rim 27 when the pump is assembled.
• the ring has an upwardly extending circumferential side 37 whose height is such that the side extends beyond the joining surfaces of body B and housing 35.
• a fuel pump F is made crashworthy in that a fluid seal is created which can withstand severe distortions of the pump. It has been experimentally found that the seal created between the body and diaphragm remains intact even when the body is essentially flattened such as might occur if the pump were struck by flying debris. Thus, the danger of fuel leakage following a crash is substantially reduced as is the necessity of brackets or shields for the fuel pump. At the same time, the fuel pump envelope is essentially unchanged and a crashworthy fuel pump of the present invention will occupy substantially the same space in an engine compartment as a conventional non-crashworthy fuel pump.
• backing plate 21 ⁇ has a circum ⁇ ferential skirt- 39.
• the length of lip 29 and the height of skirt.39 are made sufficiently great so the outer, end of the skirt cannot contact diaphragm 11 if the body of the fuel pump is so deformed that the skirt and body/diaphragm assembl come into contact. This prevents the diaphragm from being punctured by the skirt and thus further safeguards against fuel leaks.
• a clamping ring 31' which may be used to join body B and housing 26 to form a fuel pump assembly. Ring 31 has its upper end bent back upon itself prior to or during the crimping operation.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Reciprocating Pumps (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22156278

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 1980
  • 1980-07-03 BR BR8004133A patent/BR8004133A/pt unknown
  • 1980-09-15 IT IT24673/80A patent/IT1132848B/it active
  • 1980-09-19 EP EP80902085A patent/EP0036428B1/en not_active Expired
  • 1980-09-19 DE DE8080902085T patent/DE3064950D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1980-09-19 MX MX184001A patent/MX151372A/es unknown
  • 1980-09-19 WO PCT/US1980/001224 patent/WO1981000891A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1980-09-26 CA CA000361746A patent/CA1144003A/en not_active Expired
  • 1980-09-30 ES ES495477A patent/ES8105823A1/es not_active Expired

Patent Citations (5)

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