Patent ID: 7597548
Filing Date: 2009-10-06
Classification: F01C,F04C

Abstract:
1. A rotary pump for fluids comprising: a shaft to rotate about a longitudinal axis; a rotor centrally secured to the shaft, the rotor having a body with a cylindrical surface extending between spaced ends; a rotor disk secured to the rotor at each end and secured at its center to the shaft; a housing encasing the shaft, rotor and rotor disks within an internal cavity, the shaft extending outside of the housing, the housing having interior end walls adjacent to the rotor disks and an interior side wall, with fluid inlet and fluid outlet ports at opposite locations in the side wall, a first portion of the interior side wall of the housing being cylindrical and curved with constant radius over an angle of about approximately 180°, this portion being spaced a constant distance from confronting portions of the cylindrical surface of the rotor, and a second portion of the interior side wall of the housing extending between the extremities of the first portion of the interior side wall and being of curvature of greater radius than that of the first portion; the cylindrical surface of the rotor being proximal to the interior side wall of the housing at a point between the inlet and outlet ports about midway on the second portion, the inlet and outlet ports being located in this second portion of the interior side wall of the housing; a pair of pockets in the rotor surface at diametrically opposed locations, each pocket curved along a radius of a different, longitudinally extending axis along the rotor surface and extending into the rotor to one side of, and beyond, the shaft location; a pair of similarly shaped vanes secured to the rotor disks by a pivot for pivotal movement along a different one of the longitudinally extending axes along the rotor surface, between an extended position and a retracted position, each vane formed of two curved portions meeting along a longitudinally extending line, the top portion extending from its corresponding pivot to the line and curved so that when the vane is in retracted position, it sits in a peripheral depression extending end to end along the rotor surface, with a surface of this top portion of the vane conforming to the cylindrical surface of the rotor, and a bottom portion of the vane curved along a radius from the corresponding pivot of the vane, this bottom portion of the vane configured so as to be seated in and fill its corresponding pocket extending into the rotor to one side of, and beyond, the shaft location, the vanes having shoulders at their sides slidably seated in corresponding grooves in the rotor disks, the grooves and shoulders supporting the vanes and limiting the travel of the vanes as they move between retracted position and extended position, each vane when in extended position having the line between the top and bottom portions positioned outwardly beyond the cylindrical surface of the rotor and adjacent the interior side wall of the housing and when retracted position having the top portion of the vane being seated entirely within its peripheral depression in the rotor; the inlet port and outlet port being positioned so that there is always a vane positioned between those ports, the vanes and interior side wall of the housing being configured so that, during operation of the pump, the vanes are moved towards retracted position under urging of the interior side wall and each vane is biased toward extended position and moved, against that bias, to retracted position under urging of the interior side wall; the rotor disks, housing and vanes constructed so that, during operation of the device, fluid entering the housing through the inlet port is carried by the rotor, in one of a pair of compartments formed between the vanes, the rotor, the rotor disks and corresponding portions of the side wall of the housing, until the vanes and that compartment encompass the outlet port where the fluid is expelled from that compartment and the housing.