Patent Publication Number: US-11644036-B2

Title: Assembly structure of a multi-stage impeller and wheel housing in a submersible pump

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure relates in general to a submersible pump, and more particularly to an assembly structure of a multi-stage impeller and wheel housing in the submersible pump. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Taiwan Patent No. 456464 (TW456464U) discloses a fixing structure by combining a shaft and impeller. The main focus of the technology in TW45646U relates to a simple structure of a shaft and impeller, and the simple operation with respect to the relative locking and the easy of disassembly. 
     In TW45646U, a number of wheel housing units overlap each other, and each wheel housing unit is equipped with an impeller. These wheel housing units are tightened by a number of bolts (see the rightmost side of FIG. 3 of TW45646U showing a fixing bolt) all at once. Although such tightening method can achieve the effect of affixing the wheel housing units, still, after a period of use, the tightness of the assembly between each wheel housing unit will result due to the aging or deformation of the components themselves, thereby producing gaps, which then allow for an easy leakage and loss of pressure due to the gaps, and thus create the problem of insufficient driving pressure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide an assembly structure of a multi-stage impeller and wheel housing for use in a submersible pump, with each wheel housing inter-connected or overlapped without using any bolt for tightening. 
     It is a further object to provide an assembly structure of a multi-stage impeller and a wheel housing for use in a submersible pump in which the shaft rod is combined with the drive shaft of the motor, so that the number of wheel housings and length of the combined shaft can be determined in accordance with a desired usage of certain depth. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present disclosure provides an assembly structure with a multi-stage impeller and wheel housing for use in an immersion pump driving by a motor. Specifically, the assembly structure of the multi-stage impeller and wheel housing for use in the immersion pump includes a connecting seat for connection to the motor. The bottom end of the connecting seat has a cover facing downward, and a ring canopy extending downward along the perimeter of the cover. The connecting seat has a shaft bore in the cover so that the drive shaft of the motor can pass through. The connecting seat also has a drainage channel with one end open to the cover and the other end open to one side of the connecting seat. A shaft rod with one end fixed to and driven by the drive shaft rotates along the axis of the shaft rod. An intermediate unit having a wheel housing, inner guide cover and impeller. The wheel housing has a spacer. An upper ring housing extends upward along the perimeter of the spacer, and a lower ring canopy extends downward along the perimeter of the spacer. The spacer has a perforation for the shaft rod to pass through, and the perforation has an aperture larger than the diameter of the shaft rod so that the perforated edge of the perforation is separated from the shaft rod by a predetermined distance. The inner guide cap being located below the spacer and having a cover plate and a plural guide plate on the top surface of the cover plate. The plural guide plate being located on the top surface of the cover plate, and the plural guide plate being located on the top surface of the cover plate. The inner guide cover is located below the spacer and has a cover plate and a plural guide plate at the top of the cover plate, and the plural guide plate is connected to a ring foot so that the ring foot surrounds the cover plate and a gap is retained between the cover plate and the ring foot, and the cover plate has a central through-hole for the shaft rod to pass through, and the diameter of the through-hole is larger than the diameter of the shaft rod so that the edge of the through-hole is separated from the shaft rod by a predetermined distance. The intermediate impeller is fixed to the shaft rod and is located in the spacer and is driven by the shaft rod to rotate. The intermediate unit with the upper ring housing and the ring canopy of the connecting seat joined by a rotating snap structure, and the upper ring housing and the connecting seat are pressed against each other by a sealing ring which fills the gap between the upper ring housing and the connecting seat to prevent the passage of liquid. A bottom unit has a bottom wheel housing and a bottom impeller having a bottom plate and a bottom ring housing that extends upwardly along the circumference of the bottom plate, the bottom impeller having a bottom ring housing fixed to the shaft and a bottom impeller that extends upwardly along the circumference of the bottom plate. The bottom unit also has a bottom plate, and a bottom ring shell extending upward along the circumference of the bottom plate. The bottom impeller is fixed to the shaft and located above the bottom plate, and is driven by the shaft rod to rotate, the bottom unit is connected to the lower ring canopy of the intermediate unit by a rotating snap structure, and the bottom unit has a sealing ring between the bottom ring shell and the ring foot, and is pressed against each other. The bottom wheel housing also has a water suction port. 
     In this way, the present disclosure allows the intermediate unit and the bottom unit to be connected or overlapped without the use of fixing bolts for tightening. Additionally, the shaft rod of the disclosure is assembled with the drive shaft of the motor, so the number of intermediate units and the length of the shaft rod can be determined according to the desired use based on certain depth, along with the additional intermediate unit which is defined as the extended intermediate unit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to illustrate the technical features of the present disclosure in detail, an exemplary embodiment is illustrated with drawings, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a composite elevation of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded view of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is an enlarged view of a partial component of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, showing the structure of the inner conductive cover; 
         FIG.  4    is an enlarged view of another partial component of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, showing the three-dimensional state of the wheel housing of the intermediate unit and the bottom view angle of the inner guide cover; 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional view along the cutting plane line  5 - 5  in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional view along the cutting plane line  6 - 6  in  FIG.  1   ; and 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional view of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure with an additional extended intermediate unit as compared to  FIG.  5   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT 
     In order to illustrate the technical features of the present disclosure in detail, the following exemplary embodiment is cited and illustrated with accompanying drawings, among others. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  1  to  7   , an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure supports an assembly structure  10  of a multi-stage impeller and wheel housing for use in an immersion pump to be driving by a motor  91 . The assembly structure  10  of the multi-stage impeller and wheel housing for use in the immersion pump is mainly composed of a connecting seat  11 , shaft rod  21 , intermediate unit  31  and bottom unit  41 . 
     Specifically, the connecting seat  11  is connected to the motor  91 , and the bottom end of the connecting seat  11  has a cover  12  facing downward and a ring canopy  14  extending downward along the periphery of the cover  12 , and the connecting seat  11  has a shaft bore  16  through the cover  12 , and the shaft bore  16  is for the drive shaft  92  of the motor  91  to pass through. The connecting seat  11  also has a drainage channel  18 , with one opening  181  at one end of the drainage channel  18  through the cover  12  and another opening  182  at the other end on one side of the connecting seat  11 . The drive shaft  92  is provided with a rubber sleeve  19 , which is located above and covers the shaft bore  16 , so that the liquid can be blocked from spraying upward when the liquid is driven upward from the shaft bore  16 , so that the liquid can flow out to the periphery because of the block. 
     The shaft rod  21  is fixed at one end of the drive shaft  92  and is driven by the drive shaft  92  to rotate along the long axis of the shaft rod  21 . In practice, the bottom end of the drive shaft  92  is provided with a recess  921 , and the shaft rod  21  is tightly coupled to the drive shaft  92  with its top end penetrating into the recess  921  for a length of time. The connection is carried out by the technique of combining the shaft rod  21  with the drive shaft  92 . 
     The intermediate unit  31  has a wheel housing  32 , an inner guide cover  34 , and an impeller  36 . The wheel housing  32  has a spacer  321 , with an upper ring housing  323  extending upward along the perimeter of the spacer  321 , and a lower ring canopy  324  extending downward along the perimeter of the spacer  321 . The spacer  321  has a perforation  322  for allowing the shaft rod  21  to pass through, and the diameter of the perforation  322  is larger than the diameter of the shaft rod  21  so that the perforated edge of the perforation  322  is separated from the shaft rod  21  by a predetermined distance. The inner guide cap  34  is located below the spacer  321  and has a cover plate  341  and multiple guide plates  343  on the top surface of the cover plate  341 . The guide plates  343  are each connected to a ring foot  344  so that the ring foot  344  surrounds the cover plate  341  and retains a space between the ring foot  344  and the cover plate  341 . The cover plate  341  has a through hole  342  for the shaft rod  21  to pass through, and the aperture of the hole  342  is larger than the diameter of the shaft rod  21  so that the aperture edge of the hole  342  is separated from the shaft rod  21  by a predetermined distance. The impeller  36 , which is located above the spacer  321 , is fixed to and driven by the shaft rod  21  for rotation thereof. The intermediate unit  31  is connected with the ring canopy  14  of the connecting seat  11  through a rotating snap structure S. The upper ring shell  323  and the connecting seat  11  are pressed against each other with a sealing ring  38 , which fills the gap  345  between the upper ring shell  323  and the connecting seat  11  to prevent the liquid from passing through. 
     In this embodiment, the rotating snap structure S has the upper ring shell  323 . The ring canopy  14  is provided with inwardly projecting tabs  141 , and the outer wall is provided with snap recesses  39 . The tabs  141  are used to mate with the snap recesses  39  to form a rotating snap state. In practice, the snap recesses  39  have an inlet and an inclined section for tightening, and a horizontal section for maintaining a fixed state, a structure that is directly understood by those with ordinary knowledge in the art, and therefore not described in detail. In addition, the guide plates  343  may be set in a form extending in an arc toward the center, so as to produce a cyclonic effect when guiding the liquid flow toward the center. 
     In this embodiment, there is an additional extension intermediate unit  31 ′, which has the same structure as the intermediate unit  31  in that a wheel housing  32 ′, an inner guide cover  34 ′, and an impeller  36 ′, and the upper ring shell  323 ′ are joined to the lower ring  324  of the intermediate unit  31  by a rotating snap structure S, while the sealing ring  38  is further provided therebetween. The structure and setting relationship of the impeller  36 ′ are the same as that of the wheel housing  32 , inner guide cover  34 , and impeller  36  of the intermediate unit  31 , except that such is superimposed over each other in terms of position, and therefore a detailed structure thereof is not repeated, with the corresponding components marked with the same mark but adding a punctuation mark (i.e., the apostrophe symbol ‘) to show the difference. In practice, this additional extended intermediate unit  31 ’ is optional. If more than one is added, then the extended intermediate units  31 ′ are overlapped as shown in  FIG.  7   , which is a state where two extended intermediate units  31 ′ are added. If none is added, then the bottom unit  41 ′ is directly combined with the intermediate unit  31 . Therefore, the height of the top and bottom overlapping of the disclosure can be determined according to the user&#39;s needs. After deciding the number of additional extension units  31 ′, the shaft rod  21  can be correctly assembled by selecting the corresponding length without encountering the problem of the shaft rod  21  being too long or too short. 
     The bottom unit  41  has a bottom wheel housing  42  and a bottom impeller  44 . The bottom wheel housing  42  has a bottom plate  421 , with the bottom ring housing  423  extending upward along the periphery of the bottom plate  421 . The bottom impeller  44  is fixed to the shaft rod  21 , and located above the bottom plate  421 . The bottom impeller  44  is driven by the shaft rod  21  to rotate, and the bottom unit  41  is connected to the lower ring  324 ′ of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ by a rotating snap structure S, with the bottom ring housing  423  of the bottom unit  41  connected to the ring foot  344 ′ of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ by a rotating snap structure S. The bottom unit  41  is connected to the lower ring canopy  324 ′ of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ by a rotating snap structure S, and the bottom unit  41  has a sealing ring  48  between the bottom ring shell  423  and the ring foot  344 ′ of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ and is pressed against each other. The bottom wheel housing  42  also has a water suction port  422 . 
     The aforementioned paragraphs described the structure of the exemplary embodiment, with the forthcoming paragraphs describing the operational state of the exemplary embodiment. 
     Although not shown in  FIGS.  5  and  6    to avoid confusion and difficulty in identification, water can be used as the liquid in the exemplary embodiment. When pumping water, at least the water suction port  422  of the bottom unit  41  and the bottom impeller  44  of the disclosure should be placed under the water surface, and the water will enter the bottom wheel housing  42  through the water suction port  422 . After the motor  91  is driven, the drive shaft  92  drives the shaft rod  21  to rotate, which in turn drives the intermediate unit  31 , the impeller  36 ′ of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ and the bottom impeller  44  to rotate, which in turn drives the water inside the bottom wheel housing  42  to move around, and the water is forced to move upward and pass through the inner guide of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′. The water is forced to move upward and pass through the gap  345 ′ and the through hole  342 ′ of the inner guide cover  34 ′ of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′, and is located above the inner guide cover  34 ′, and is then guided by the multiple guide plates  343 ′. The water is then driven by the impeller  36  of the intermediate unit  31  and moved upward in the same manner to the lower part of the cover  12 , and then discharged through one opening  181  of the drainage channel  18  at the cover  12  and to the other opening  182  at the other end. 
     If the driving force is too strong, water may also overflow upward from the shaft bore  16 . At this point, the water will be stopped by the rubber sleeve  19  and will not move upward to the motor  91 , but instead will flow outward. 
     From the above description, it is clear that the disclosure basically has an intermediate unit  31  between the connecting seat  11  and the bottom unit  41 . When the length is increased, one or more extension intermediate units  31 ′ can be added. After the number of extended intermediate units  31 ′ is determined, the shaft rod  21  of the corresponding length can be selected to complete the finished product as required by the user. During assembly, the intermediate unit  31 , the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ and the bottom unit  41  are combined by means of a rotary snap joint. In this way, the disclosure can achieve the following results. 
     First, the disclosure allows the intermediate unit  31 , each of the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ and the bottom unit  41  to be rotatably fastened to each other, i.e., to be connected by their own structure, without the need to use fixing bolts for tightening as previously implemented in the conventional field. Next, when the shaft rod  21  and the drive shaft  92  of the present disclosure are combined, the manufacturer can determine how many extension units  31 ′ are needed based on the depth of used as required by the user, and accordingly select the shaft rod  21  of suitable length after the number of extension units  31 ′ needed is determined. In this way, the manufacturer only needs to stock the extended intermediate unit  31 ′ and the shaft rod  21  of different lengths to meet the different length requirements, thus reducing the inventory pressure on the manufacturer. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  1 - 7   , the assembly structure of the multi-stage impeller and wheel housing for use in the submersible pump includes a submersible pump  10 ; connecting seat  11 ; cover  12 ; ring canopy  14 ; shaft bore  16 ; drainage channel  18 ; rubber sleeve  19 ; shaft rod  21 ; intermediate unit  31 ; wheel housing  32 ; inner guide cover  34 ; impeller  36 ; seal ring  38 ; snap recesses  39 ; bottom unit  41 ; bottom wheel housing  42 ; bottom impeller  44 ; seal ring  48 ; motor  91 ; drive shaft  92 ; tab  141 ; openings  181  and  182 ; spacer  321 ; perforation  322 ; upper ring shell  323 ; lower ring canopy  324 ; cover plate  341 ; through hole  342 ; guide plate  343 ; ring foot  344 ; gap  345 ; bottom plate  421 ; water suction port  422 ; bottom ring housing  423 ; recess  921 ; swivel snap structure S; extension intermediate unit  31 ′; wheel housing  32 ′; inner guide cover  34 ′; impeller  36 ′; spacer  321 ′; perforations  322 ′; upper ring shell  323 ′; lower ring canopy  324 ′; through hole  342 ′; guide plate  343 ′; ring foot  344 ′; and clearance  345 ′. 
     The present disclosure has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiment, and such description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. It should be understood that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but is limited by the accompanying claims. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the present disclosure. Without departing from the object and spirit of the present disclosure, various modifications to the embodiments are possible, but they remain within the scope of the present disclosure, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.