Patent ID: 7997882

Claim:
A vane pump, comprising: a pump chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a rotor assembly rotatably received in the pump chamber, the rotor assembly comprising: a rotor having a circular rotor head with a cylindrical wall extending therefrom and an integrally formed drive shaft extending opposite the cylindrical wall; a set of vanes slidably extending through slots formed in the cylindrical wall of the rotor head; and a vane ring located within the cylindrical wall of the rotor head to maintain the radially outer tip of each vane in contact with a wall of the pump chamber, the vane ring axially extending a distance substantially two-thirds the length of each vane, the set of vanes in sealing cooperation with the rotor head and the pump chamber to define a series of expanding and contracting pumping chambers as the rotor rotates, said expanding pumping chambers in fluid communication with said inlet and said contracting pumping chambers in fluid communication with said outlet.