Patent ID: 7874817

Claim:
A fuel pump assembly, comprising: a housing having generally opposed ends; a fuel pump adjacent one end of the housing and having a pump chamber, a fuel pumping element disposed in the pump chamber, a fuel inlet adjacent the one end of the housing and communicating with the pump chamber, a fuel outlet communicating with the pump chamber downstream of the fuel inlet and configured to supply fuel under pressure to an engine, and at least one vapor purge passage separate from the fuel outlet, and communicating with the pump chamber downstream of the fuel inlet, upstream of the fuel outlet and between the fuel inlet and the fuel outlet; and an electric motor adjacent the other end of the housing for rotatably driving the fuel pumping element, including: a motor armature with one end adjacent the fuel pumping element and a generally opposed other end adjacent the other end of the housing; a commutator adjacent the one end of the housing and positioned between the one end of the motor armature and the fuel pumping element; and a brush holder housing with commutator brushes contacting the commutator; the fuel outlet routing the fuel under pressure away from and not in contact with the commutator, brushes and armature of the electric motor; and the vapor purge passage communicating with the commutator, brushes and armature to supply pressurized fuel vapor from the pump chamber to the rotating armature, commutator and brushes to cool them and decrease viscosity drag on the rotating armature and commutator.