WO2012051642A1

WO2012051642A1 - Impeller assembly method

Info

Publication number: WO2012051642A1
Application number: PCT/AU2011/001207
Authority: WO
Inventors: Terence Robert Day
Original assignee: New Fluid Technology Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2010-09-24
Filing date: 2011-11-03
Publication date: 2012-04-26
Also published as: WO2012051642A9

Abstract

An impeller for pumping or compressing a fluid, the impeller comprising: a back part with integral blades each of which lie on a helical path; a front part with counterpart slots which lie on a helical path and correspond to each of the helical blades, wherein the front and back parts may be screwed together to form one impeller and the two parts may be secured together and simultaneously attached to a motor shaft by one central bolt.

Description

IMPELLER ASSEMBLY METHOD

This invention comprises a way to manufacture and assemble an air or water pump impeller which gives a manufacturing and commercial advantage over existing methods.

There are two variations of centrifugal flow impellers used in centrifugal blowers and water pumps. One is the open type which is uncapped. The other type is closed or capped.

Capped impellers generally give a higher efficiency than uncapped.

The usual way that the front and back parts of the conventional capped impeller are joined is by ultrasonic welding if the parts are plastic. There are considerable forces involved so the joint must be very strong.

This requires an ultrasonic welding head and a person to operate it which is costly and time consuming. It also requires a separate shape on the welding head for each different shaped impeller and this is another cost.

The present invention overcomes this disadvantage by providing a very strong and secure means to attach both parts together without ultrasonic welding, gluing or welding as in the case of metal parts.

The drawings show how each of the impeller blades have a helix or helical plane within them. This allows the impeller to be simply screwed together because the grooves or slots the blades screw into are also helical. The same central bolt that holds them together simultaneously secures the impeller to the motor shaft.

This reduces manufacturing cost and time and introduces further advantages.

It enables an impeller with a gentler pathway turning the incoming air or water from an axial direction to a centrifugal direction.

To change the impeller passageway width so as to give a different flow rate to the pump or blower only the front part of the impeller with longer or shorter blades needs to be changed.

In some applications uncapped impellers are used due to their lower manufacturing cost. This low cost assembly method enables a capped impeller to be used thus raising the efficiency of and flow rate or fluid discharge pressure from some appliances.

The impeller can quickly and easily be disassembled to clean it or remove any obstruction.

This document has 4 pages and 4 drawings.

Claims

CLAIMS.

. An impeller comprising a back part and a front part that are able to be brought together to comprise one single impeller.

2. An impeller according to claim 1 that comprises a front and a back part moulded separately.

3. An impeller according to claim 1 that has the blades moulded integral with either the back or the front separately moulded part.

4. An impeller according to claim 2 that has solid blades that enclose a helical path.

5. An impeller according to claims 1 and 2 that has helical grooves or slots in one part that accept the helical blade edges of the blades which are integral with the other of the two parts.

6. An impeller according to claim 5 that has the two separate parts able to be screwed together to become one whole impeller because of the helical blades and helical slots recessed into the other part.

7. An impeller according to claim 1 , claim 2 and claim 5 that has a central hole when assembled to take the securing bolt which bolts the two impeller parts together and also secures the whole impeller to the motor shaft.