GEAR PUMPS

Abstract: To avoid areas of slow moving or stagnant polymer in a gear pump feeding form an extruder to a die, the inlet port (7) has its cross-section changing progressively form that of the outlet (10) of the extruder to a slot section (11) at the demeshing region of the gear teeth, the slot section having a breadth at least equal to the breadth of the gears (3, 4) and a height between one and four times the gear teeth height, and the outlet port (8) preferably changes progressively from a similar slot section (16) at the meshing region of the gear teeth to the cross-section of the inlet (17) of the die. A bearing arrangement is proposed, having a provision for disposing of the lubricant bled from inlet or outlet.

Description: This invention relates to gear pumps and in particular to gear pumps suitable for use with thermally degradable polymers according to the preamble of claim 1. In a conventional extrusion process for manufacturing continuous lengths of plastic products a screw extruder is used to force molten polymer through a die. The output of a screw extruder can vary, due for example to variability in the plastic material, or to variations in screw speed or to temperature fluctuation of the extruder or die or variation in the impedance of the die assembly, due for example to screens or filters becoming blocked by impurities. This can lead to difficulties in controlling the weight or dimensions of extruded products. It has long been common practice for example in melt spinning of man-made fibres, to overcome this problem by interposing a gear pump or pumps between the extruder and the die, the output of a gear pump being relatively insensitive to variations in material or temperature or back pressure from the die assembly. More recently, there has been a growing use of gear pumps interposed between the extruder and the die for accurate control during the extrusion of plastic film and pipe. The preferred form of gear pump for such applications is of the type in which the inlet and the outlet ports of the pump are coaxial and coextensive with the outlet of the extruder and the inlet of the die respectively and are perpendicular to the axes of the gear wheels of the pump. Such pumps have been successfully used for the extrusion of polymeric materials which are relatively stable at the temperatures at which they are extruded, such as polyethylene and other polyolefinic polymers. However, it has been found that available gear pumps of this type are unsuitable for use with polymeric materials which suffer degradation at extrusion temperatures, such as unplasticised or rigid polyvinyl chloride which is widly used for the manufacture of pipes and profiles, as their construction results in areas of slow moving or stagnant polymer where thermal degradation of the polymeric material can take place leading to discolouration of and/or physical weaknesses in the extruded products. A further disadvantage of known pumps of the preferred type is that the polymeric material is used to lubricate the gear shaft bearings by being bled from the outlet port of the pump, through the bearings, and returned to the inlet port. This is satisfactory with polymeric materials which are relatively non-thermally-degradable, but with polymeric materials such as unplasticised polyvinyl chloride, such treatment results in a high level of degradation which also leads to discolouration of or physical defects in the products. In a known metering pump for cellulose compounds according to the US-A-1 972 271 the shaft bearings may be furnished with spiral grooves, cut either in the walls of the bearings, or in the sides of the shafts, to give free course for the liquid being pumped. There are also provided return passages from chambers at the end of the shaft bearings which lead to the space at the outlet side of the pump. The reason for placing the return passage at the outlet side of the pump is to relieve the high pressure which may be thus impressed on the liquid and to ensure a positive circulation over the faces of the gears and bearings for lubrication. So the liquid which lubricates the bearings is brought back to the main circuit of pumped liquid. The spiral grooves if provided do significantly contribute to the characteristic of the bearings. Another metering pump according to the kind defined in preamble of claim 1, known from US-A-1 785 386, teaches forced bearing lubrication by a continuous, minute and regulated flow of the compound between the gears and the bounding surfaces of the casing, and between the extended shafts and their open bearings. The material which, after having lubricated the bearings, is removed at the end faces of the gear shafts by scrapers or cutters. By such a removing arrangement accurate removal of such material is hardly possible. It is thus an object of the invention to remedy this drawback. This is accomplished by the gear pump of that kind which is defined by the characterizing part of claim 1. As an improvement of the invention according to claim 2, at least the inlet port of the said gear pump is provided with cross-sections to reduce resistance to flow and eliminate sections with reduced flow of the material being pumped. Furthermore, according to claim 3, it is possible that the cross-section of the exit port changes progressively from a slot section at the meshing region of the gear teeth to the cross-section of the inlet of the die, the slot section having a breadth at least equal to the breadth of the gears and a height between one and four times the gear teeth height. Thereby the height of the slot section is preferably twice the gear tooth height according to claim 4. Further it may be advantageous that the or each slot section has a breadth exceeding the breadth of the gears according to claim 5. Also it is possible that the or each slot section widens at the respective end. The said shaping of the inlet and outlet allows material to flow in a smooth fashion through the pump and eliminates areas of slow moving or stagnant material which can degrade and cause defects in the products. Fuller understanding of both aspects of the invention will be gained from the following description, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a gear pump of the known type and illustrating the need for the first aspect of the invention, fig. 2 corresponds to fig. 1, but shows a gear pump in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, fig. 3 is a section on the line X-X of fig. 2 with the gears indicated in broken line, fig. 4 is a section on the line Y-Y of fig. 2, fig. 5 shows a modified shape of slot section, and fig. 6 is a half section of a gear pump according to the second aspect of the invention. In fig. 1 a gear pump 1 of known type comprises a pump body 2, which may have provision for heating, a pair of intermeshing gears 3 and 4 which rotate in the direction shown by arrows B within gear housings 5 and 6, an inlet port 7 and an outlet port 8. The inlet and outlet ports are normally of circular section, but may be other shapes to suit particular extruders or dies. Material from the outlet of the extruder (not shown) enters the inlet port 7 in the direction shown by arrow A. At point D where the teeth of gears 3 and 4 de-mesh, material is entrained into the cavities 9 between adjacent teeth of gears 3 and 4 and is transported round housings 5 and 6 until it reaches point E where the gear teeth mesh, when it is forced out of the cavities into the outlet port 8 and thence to the inlet of the extrusion die (not shown) in the direction shown by arrow C. When the material being pumped in is of high viscosity, for example a polymer melt, there is little or no exchange of material between the filled cavity and the material in the inlet port after the cavity has filled at point D. Thus, material in the cross-hatched areas F tends to be slow moving or stagnant and if the material is prone to thermal degradation it may lead to discolouration and/or physical weaknesses in the extruded product. Similarly, since material is expelled from the cavities only at the point E where the gear teeth mesh, material in the cross-hatched areas G of the outlet port also tends to be slow moving or stagnant. Moreover, since the profile of the gear teeth is such that the outer edges of the teeth remain in contact with the face of the opposing teeth over much of the meshing or demeshing operation, a major portion of the material tends to enter or be expelled from the ends of the cavities, which results in the material at the centre of the inlet or outlet ports moving more slowly than material at the edges of the gear teeth. In figs. 2 to 4, a gear pump according to one aspect of the invention has the inlet port 7 shaped so that its cross-section changes in a smooth and progressive manner from a circular section 10 at the outlet of the extruder to a slot section 11 at the demeshing region of the gear teeth. The outlet port 8 is shaped so that its cross-section changes in a smooth and progressive manner from a slot section 16 to a circular section 17 at the inlet to the die. The height of the slot section 11 or 16 is twice the gear tooth height. Fig. 3 shows how the inlet port 7 widens to a breadth exceeding the breadth of the gears to assist with material feed to the gear cavities, the gear shaft bushes 14 being profiled to feed the material into the gear cavities from their ends. Fig. 3 also shows how the outlet port 8 diminishes in width correspondingly. Fig. 4 shows the pair of intermeshing gears 3 and 4 integral with gear shafts 12 and 13, of which the shaft 12 is a drive shaft, and shaft bearings 14, the whole assembly being enclosed in the pump body 2 by end plates 15. Although the transition from circular section to slot section is shown in figs. 2, 3 and 4 as being straight, the transition may be made in other ways provided it is smooth and progressive. For example, it may be advantageous for the initial part of the entry port to remain circular for a short distance before commencing the transition to the slot section. Similarly, the slot section need not necessarily be as shown in fig. 4. For example the slot may advantageously be as shown in fig. 5 with a widening at the ends to allow for the greater material flow at the edges of the gears, thus maintaining a relatively constant flow rate across the width of the slot. As shown in fig. 6 the gear pump has a pair of intermeshing gears 3 and 4 mounted on or integral with gear shafts 12 and 13 borne in bushes 14. The upper gear 3 is driven by means (not shown) connected to an extension 18 of its drive shaft which has a bushing 19. Lubrication of the gear shafts 12 and 13 in their bushes is effected by means of material bled from the outlet port or, preferably, from the inlet port (neither being shown), the material initially feeding into annular spaces 20 before lubricating the bearings 21. In accordance with the other aspect of the invention, the material that has lubricated the bearings passes to further annular spaces 22 and 23, and material from the annular space 23 is fed through a channel 24 to the annular space 22. The combined material in the annular space 22 then passes through an annular space between the extended drive shaft 18 and its bushing 19 and exudes from channel 25, from where it may be fed by suitable means (not shown) to a convenient point for collection and disposal. As shown, the flow through the annular space is mechanically assisted and controlled by helical flights 26 on the pivot portion of the shaft extension 18 which is encased in the bushing 19, the flights acting in the same manner as an extruder screw. The pitch and depth of screw flights 26 are chosen such that the residence time of the lubricating material does not lead to a degree of degradation which could affect the mechanical performance of the pump. Alternatively, mechanical assistance and control of the polymer flow may be by means of a helical groove cut into the bushing 19. The disposal of lubrication material from the opposite half of the pump (not shown) may be achieved in a similar manner or alternatively the material from both bearings may be fed through suitable passages to annular space 22 to be exuded from orifice 25. Although in the embodiment illustrated the material disposal means is on drive shaft 18, it may equally be achieved by similar extensions of any one or more of the other gear shafts.

Claims: A gear pump (1) of the type in which the material being pumped is used to lubricate the gear shaft bearings (21) and having means for bleeding of said material from either the inlet (7) or the outlet (8) port axially through said bearings and a removing arrangement adjacent the end of the gear shaft bearings to remove said material, characterized in that said removing arrangement comprises a gear shaft extension (18) extending out of a said bearing (21), the extension being pivotally received in a bushing (19), and a helical flight (26) arrangement along said extension (18) to outwardly extrude said material after having lubricated said bearings (21). A gear pump as in claim 1, also being of the type in which the inlet and outlet ports (7, 8) are coaxial and coextensive with the outlet (10) of the extruder and the inlet (17) of the die respectively and are perpendicular to the axes of the gear wheels (3, 4), in which the cross-section of the inlet port (7) changes progressively from that of the outlet (10) of the extruder to a slot section (11) at the demeshing region of the gear teeth, the slot section (11) having a breadth at least equal to the breadth of the gears (3, 4) and a height between one and four times the gear teeth height. A gear pump as in claim 2, in which the cross-section of the exit port (8) changes progressively from a slot section (16) at the meshing region of the gear teeth to the cross-section of the inlet (17) of the die, the slot section (16) having a breadth at least equal to the breadth of the gears (3, 4) and a height between one and four times the gear teeth height. A gear pump as in claim 2 or claim 3, in which the height of the slot section (11 or 16) is twice the gear tooth height. A gear pump as in any one of claims 2 to 4, in which the or each slot section (11 or 16) has a breadth exceeding the breadth of the gears (3, 4). A gear pump as in any one of claims 2 to 5, in which the or each slot section (11 or 16) widens at the respective end.

Inventors: GRAY, WILLIAM GEORGE
Applicants: MAAG PUMP SYSTEMS AG
Application year: 1985
Main classification: F04C2
IPC codes: F04C2, F04C15, F04C13