Patent ID: 8628317

Claim:
A vacuum pump suitable for mounting at a lower region of an engine, the vacuum pump comprising: a pump casing having an exterior, a cavity within the pump casing, the cavity including a reservoir and a rotor having a rotational axis, an oil gallery defined between the rotor and the casing and radially displaced from the rotational axis so as not to be intersected thereby, and a vane slidably mounted in a slot of the rotor, wherein the cavity is provided with an inlet and an outlet and the rotor and the vane are movable to draw fluid into the cavity through the inlet and out of the cavity through the outlet so as to induce a reduction in pressure at the inlet, wherein the vacuum pump is provided with an oil feed conduit to supply oil to the cavity, the oil feed conduit being in fluid communication with the reservoir via the oil gallery and provided with an oil feed conduit valve to prevent the flow of oil to the cavity during periods when the pump is not operating, the oil feed conduit valve is provided within the pump casing and the oil feed conduit extends through the casing from the exterior thereof to the cavity via the oil gallery, and the inlet to the pump cavity is provided with an inlet valve which is arranged to close when the vacuum pump is not operating.