Patent ID: 6454520
Filing Date: 2002-09-24
Classification: F04D

Abstract:
An impeller for a regenerative turbine fuel pump, said regenerative turbine fuel pump having an electric motor; a shaft rotatable by said electric motor about a center axis in a forward direction; a generally cylindrical outer plate having an inside face that defines a first annular groove; and a generally cylindrical inner plate having an outside face that defines a second annular groove; said first and said second annular grooves cooperating to form an annular pump channel at a periphery of a disk-shaped space defined between said inner and said outer plates; said outer plate also defining an inlet port that communicates with said first annular groove, said inner plate also defining an outlet port that communicates with said second annular groove; said impeller comprising:a hub defining an aperture into which said shaft is securable to allow said hub to rotate with said shaft about said center axis, said hub having a cylindrical outer surface; and a plurality of V-shaped vanes projecting radially outward front said cylindrical outer surface of said hub, said impeller disposed within said disk-shaped space with said V-shaped vanes lying between said first and said second annular grooves for movement along said annular pump channel in said forward direction by rotation of said impeller to impart momentum to a fuel stream flowing in said inlet port through said annular pump channel and out said outlet port; each of said V-shaped vanes comprising a pair of fin members with each said fin member having an inner sidewall, said fin members of each said pair being adjoined by said inner sidewalls thereof so that said fin members of each said pair present an upstream face facing said forward direction and a downstream face facing a rearward direction, said upstream face diverging at a first prespecified angle relative to a plane that bisects said hub normal to said center axis, said downstream face diverging at a second prespecified angle relative to said plane, said first prespecified angle being larger than said second prespecified angle, an intersection or said pair of fin members extending radially outward from said cylindrical outer surface of said hub, each said pair of fin members further having a first outer sidewall adjacent to said first annular groove and a second outer sidewall adjacent to said second annular groove, each said outer sidewall having a trailing corner disposed at an intersection of each said outer sidewall and each said downstream face of said fin member, each said outer sidewall of each said fin member being provided with a chamfer at a predetermined angle relative to said plane bisecting said hub normal to said center axis along said trailing corner of said outer sidewall; and each of said chamfers provided on each of said trailing corners of said fin members being disposed substantially between and substantially adjacent to said first and second annular grooves forming said pump chamber.