TOROIDAL MOTOR/PUMP

Abstract: Toroidal motor/pump comprising a toroidal cilindrical casing (12) with a disc rotor (13) containing rotatably mounted vanes (6,7,8) which are able to seal off the cilinder, wherein on the shaft of the vanes rockers (12,13,14) are fixed which during rotation of the motor/pump cooperate with a curved disc, which casing possesses a restricted section in the shape of the disc rotor through which the vanes in closed position are able to pass, as well as an inlet and outlet port for a pressure medium in the section wherein the vanes are rotating as illustrated in figure 1. To guarantee a smooth working between the casing halves and the disc rotor two complementary twin axially curved discs are arranged between which the rockers are running, said rockers having the general shape of a central cam with two side cams so that they are able to move through the disc rotor. The restriction is so constructed that the vane in its passing position is not turned a complete 90°, but about 85°.

Description: The invention relates to a toroidal motor/pump comprising : a casing defining a toroidal passage; a disc rotor rotatably carried in said casing; a plurality of vanes carried on shafts radially mounted on said rotor and which vanes are able to seal off the toroidal passage; rockers secured to the vane shafts and which during rotation of the disc rotor are carried between a pair of curved discs which are spaced from each other and define a cylindrical cam having a first curved track and a second curved track along which the rockers are carried, said rockers including a central cam follower engaging said first curved track and two side followers, the followers being shaped so that the rockers are able to move through spaces in the disc rotor; said toroidal passage including a narrow section through which the vanes in a closed position are able to pass; an inlet and an outlet port for a pressure medium and positioned in a section of said casing wherein the vanes are rotatable to an opened position. A similar apparatus is disclosed in DE-A-2553192.In this apparatus the sealing of the narrow passage is provided by the vanes themselves. If one vane is leaving the narrowed passage another vane must enter it.Thus more than three vanes have to be used which is a disadvantage.The rockers are spring biassed which furthers abrasion. Further the construction is asymmetric because there is no continuing driving shaft and thus one cannot stack several apparatuses which is often desirable. Another device of this kind is disclosed in GB-A-269.617.The curved disc used consists of a cylindrical device with a circumferential curved groove lying coaxially inside said driving shaft and which is supported by said annular room chamber or a part thereof,the vanes being cooperatively connected with the curved disc.This device has the objection that the curved disc as used with the corresponding rocker, as shown in figure 1 by reference numbers 26 and 38,is easily jammed because the lever of the rocker is too small.This gives rise to sealing problems leading to a loss of pressure by which the efficiency of the motor is considerably reduced.With a view thereof a relatively large number of vanes is used,i.e. six,which however has the drawback that the construction is becoming too complicated. The present invention has as objective to provide a toroidal motor/pump with an improved curved disc mechanism and rockers with a long lever by which the rotary movements of the vanes are proceeding gradually and without any difficulty and thus no sealing problems occur. It is another object of the invention to equalize the forces exerted on the vanes by means of bearings so that thereby an increased life is guaranteed. It is a further object of the invention to provide a toroidal motor/pump of the aforementioned type wherein in reversing the inlet and outlet parts the rotation movement can be reversed. It is another object of the invention to give the toroidal motor/pump a symmetrical construction by which a symmetrical division of forces and thus a smooth working and extended life can be reached. Thus the afore mentioned toroidal motor/pump according to the invention is characterized in that the pump or motor comprises not more than three vanes ; that the disc rotor extends into said toroidal passage, the narrow section of which having the shape of the cross section of the disc rotor ; and that said side cam followers engage said second curved track in such a way, that the vanes are form-stable pivoted within said toroidal passage. The above embodiment leads to a smooth rotary movement of not more than three vanes in either rotation direction. The rockers are made so that at any particular moment they can be taken up from one curved track on the other curved track. By providing a complementary arranged twin axial curved disc and specially shaped rocker, such as illustrated in more details in figure 3 of the drawings, the rockers, which move in the plane of the rotor disc, nowhere in their movement will be blocked and can always be controlled by a curved track. In a special embodiment the construction is made so that the vanes with rocker do not rotate over the total 90 o from the sealing position of the vanes within the toroidal casing to the position wherein the vanes are lying in the plane of the disc rotor. It suffices to use a maximum angle of rotation which may be lower by several degrees as is practically possible, which value preferably is about 5 o . If the value in degrees is too large, the construction will become more difficult while with a few degrees the effect thereof will be negligable. It has been found that about 5 o is a suitable value because without substantial changes in the construction the total angle of rotation of the vanes may be less with twice the amount of 5 o . This has the effect that the curve is made smoother while further two additional walls can be arranged in the curved discs to define a cam track by which the opening between the toroidal casing halves to receive the rotor disc with the vanes substantially aligned with the surface of the rotor disc may be made smaller, which has the advantage that so the arc length of that opening can be made shorter and thus the rotation time while the valves are operative may be made longer. This last facilitates a further smooth working and reduces the possibility that the rockers get jammed. The vanes are provided with an additional central bearing which engages the center of the vane and is connected in the disc rotor. By this construction the maximum force exerted on the vanes in the sealed condition is distributed over the vane. Further the vanes are preferably circumferentially provided with annular joints which ensure a lasting sealed condition of the cilinder casing space over the range that the vanes are standing still in the sealed position. The toroidal motor works according to the principle that when a pressure medium is connected to the cilindrical casing in the sealed position of the vanes a force is applied on the vanes causing the disc rotor to rotate; there must be present a separation section between the inlet and outlet ports.At a certain time of its circular track the vane must be rotated without pressure on the vane. To continue the periodical movement the vane must again return to its original position and thus passes through the restricted separation space. The vanes therefore have to carry out a rotary movement from,on the one hand,the sealed position wherein they are in a vertical position in respect of the plane of the disc rotor, to the opened position wherein they have to lie in the plane of the disc rotor in order to pass through the restricted section. In such a system one can use a pressure medium which may be a liquid as well as a gas and wherein macro as well as micro movements are possible. It is understood that the periodical movement of the vanes depends on particular construction, but as indicated in figure 3 in a suitable embodiment the division is as follows; 150 o resting position, wherein the vane seals off the cilindrical space, 70 o rotation wherein the vane is rotating from the sealing position into the position that it can pass through the restriction, resting position 70 o , the vane is passing through the restricted section, rotation 70 o wherein the vane returns to its sealing position and thus again starts the 150 o operative condition. The construction of the invention enables a smooth operation of the rotary movement of the vanes with the aid of a twin complementary axial curved disc in combination with the rocker with more cams, so that shocks are prevented and the life expectancy of the motor is increased. Furthermore sealing problems because of these fluent rotary movements are strongly reduced. The invention will now be illustrated with the following drawings of which figure 1 is a view of the motor/pump without toroidal cilindrical casing; figure 2 is a section A-B according to figure 1, while figure 3 is a 360 o longitudinal section of the disc rotor in flattened position, which illustrates the position of the vanes in the various stages while figure 4 is a 360 o longitudinal section in flattened position along the curved disc with rockers, wherein the double curved disc is visible as well as the positions of the rockers. Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the toroidal motor or pump illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4. In the following description of the various figures the same reference numerals refer to the same parts. In the figure the toroidal motor according to the invention is illustrated. Three vanes (6, 7 and 8) which are rotatably supported in the disc rotor (3) are fixed to shaft 33. The vanes are provided with supporting bearings (15, 16, 17), rotatable around the vane axes (21, 22, 23) and connected to the disc rotor (3) by means of connecting pens (18, 19, 20),see figure 3 . The vanes are provided with sealing annular springs (9, 10, 11). In figure 1 in the central circle the rockers (12, 13, 14) with two outer cam followers are indicated, which run over and between the curved discs 26 and 27. Below the vanes are axial sealing rings 24 and 32 (drawn for one vane in figure 2). Furthermore a annular sealing 25 is present. In the toroidal cilinder halves (1, 2) are the bearings 4 and 5 provided with oil seals 30 and 31. Further for one vane such as at the lower bottom part of figure 2 annular seals 28 and 29 and blade springs 34 and 35 (for sealing the restriction) are shown. The inlet and outlet parts of the pressure medium have reference numerals 36 and 37 in figure 3. In figure 3 especially the rotation of the vanes around the vane axes 21, 22 and 23 is indicated when the vanes pass the restricted section B of the cilindrical casing (1, 2). At the upper side in figure 3 further in this embodiment is shown the division of the periodical movements of the vanes over 360 o rotation of disc rotor 3 . In the right hand part of figure 3 the vane is shown in an upper view while in the left hand part and central part a section is drawn. Vane 8 with sealing spring 11 has passed, at the left hand part through the rotation range of 70 o and is now in the position' that the cilindrical casing is sealed by the vane. Because of the construction of two recessed walls in the opening of the vanes in de disc rotor 3 the restriction (B) may be made shorter and therefore the effectiveness of the rotation of the vanes longer. In the restricted part (B) the vane 7 is rotated and by means of the dot-dash line through the vane axis 22 it is indicated that the vane is still making a small angle with the axis of the rotor disc which angle is about 5 o . This angle is also to be seen in the left hand vane drawn in figure 3, at the left hand part. Thus the vane is not rotating over the full 90 o in respect of the sealing position. In figure 4 the movement of the rockers (12, 13, 14) over the curved discs 26 and 27 is further illustrated. The three rockers are indicated in the position as drawn, corresponding to figure 3 with the same position of the vanes, but on an enlarged scale. It is to be understood that for a larger motor the rocker may also be carried out with three rollers. Further, as best can be seen in Fig. 5, each of curved discs 26, 27 includes two cam tracks defined by walls 26a,26b and 27a,27b respectively. The drawn lines at the upper and lower part give the twin recessed shape of the curved discs, the right hand part corresponding to the condition wherein the vane is sealing the cilinder. It is clear that the curved discs 26 and 27 are complementary, i.e. opposite recesses are elevations. The rockers are always enclosed between the curves of the curved disc. Owing to the fact that the vane does not need to rotate the full 90 o the rotary traject may be chosen somewhat longer and the restricted range somewhat smaller. By means of one of the pipelines 36 or 37 shown in Fig.3 in practice a pressure medium is introduced, such as steam,but also pressurized air or a liquid which may again escape through the other lines can be used. If 36 is chosen as an inlet part than on vane 8, see figure 3, a pressure is exerted by which it, in the condition that the cilindrical casing is sealed is moving towards the left hand side over a range of arc to 150 o of standstill, as shown in figure 3, wherein the rockers are moving in the track of the curved disc, no forces being exerted on the rockers. In the 70 o standstill track, as indicated in figure 3, the corresponding rocker is rotated by the curved disc and vane 6 is tilted and moved in a flat position through the restriction. It is irrelevant whether the pressure medium is introduced through 36 or 37 since the movement system of the vanes driven by the rockers can take place in both directions. The toroidal motor/pump according to the invention always permit a smooth movement of the rockers wherein these on it least one moment in the periodical movement are taken up from the one curved track into the other. The schematically shown dotted rocker A in figure 4 presents the transfer from the one curve into the other. The motor/pump was tested as an air motor and it appears to possess an improved efficiency compared with other air motors which is about two times as large expressed in m³/min air.

Claims: Toroidal motor or pump comprising: a casing (1, 2) defining a toroidal passage; a disc rotor (3) rotatably carried in said casing (1, 2); a plurality of vanes (6, 7, 8) carried on shafts (33) radially mounted on said rotor (3) and which vanes are able to seal off the toroidal passage; rockers (12, 13, 14) secured to the shafts (21,22,23) and which during rotation of the disc rotor (3) are carried between a pair of curved discs (26, 27) which are spaced from each other and define a cylindrical cam having a first curved track (26a, 27a) and a second curved track (26b, 27b) along which the rockers are carried, said rockers (12, 13, 14) including a central cam follower engaging said first curved track (26a, 27a) and two side followers, the followers being shaped so that the rockers are able to move through spaces in the disc rotor; said toroidal passage including a narrow section (B) through which the vanes (6, 7, 8) in a closed position are able to pass; an inlet and an outlet port (36, 37) for a pressure medium and positioned in a section of said casing (1, 2) wherein the vanes are rotatable to an opened position; characterised in that the pump or motor comprises not more than three vanes (6, 7, 8); that the disc rotor (3) extends into said toroidal passage, the narrow section (B) of which having the shape of the cross section of the disc rotor (3); and that said side cam followers engage said second curved track in such a way, that the vanes are form-stable pivoted within said toroidal passage. Motor/pump according to claim 1, wherein the rockers (12,13,14) are so arranged that each rocker has three curved tracks of which the middle cilindrical curved track ensures transfer from one curved track onto the other curved track (position A in figure 4). Motor/pump according to claims 1-2, wherein the narrow section (B) is constructed in such a way that in the passing position of a vane the vane is not rotated over the full 90 o and is inclined relative to the narrowed section. Motor/pump according to claim 3, wherein the curved discs (26,27) include additional walls to define third and fourth curved tracks in said cam and are arranged so that a vane receiving opening in the rotor disc may be made smaller. Motor/pump according to claims 3-4, wherein the vane is rotatable over about 85 o Motor/pump according to claims 1-5, wherein the vanes (6,7,8) are provided with central supporting bearings (15,16,17) which are carried in the disc rotor (3) and the vanes (6,7,8) are provided with circumferential annular sealings (9,1o,11) to sealingly engage said toroidal passage.

Inventors: VAN DER WERFF, JEICHIENUS ADRIAAN
Applicants: TORUS POWER SYSTEMS B.V.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: F01C3
IPC codes: F03C1, F04C2, F01C3, F04C9