Patent ID: 6450789
Filing Date: 2002-09-17
Classification: F01C,F04C

Abstract:
A rotary vane pump, comprising:(a) a housing containing a bore forming an interior wall, an inlet port, and an outlet port; (b) a rotor rotateably mounted within the bore, the rotor having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially extended slots formed therein, and an equal number of vanes of predetermined length slideably positioned within the slots; (c) a drive attachment coupled to the rotor to rotational drive the rotor in the bore thereby urging the vanes radially outwardly and into engagement with the wall to form at least one pumping chamber; (d) a view port formed in a back flange of the housing, the view port being positioned relative to the slots and the vanes to allow a determination of vane length wear for each vane when the vane is in engagement with the wall; and (e) a calibrated hole formed on an inside wall of the back flange, the calibrated hole having a diameter approximately equal to a length of a vane that is worn away after predetermined number of hours of use under normal operation conditions for the pump.