Patent ID: 7520720

Claim:
A pump comprising: a pump housing including an inlet adapted to fluidly couple with an inlet conduit, and an outlet adapted to fluidly couple with an outlet conduit; a pump shaft rotatably supported in the pump housing; a plurality of impellers coupled for rotation with the pump shaft, the plurality of impellers being operable to pressurize a fluid in the pump housing; a motor removably coupled to the pump housing and having an output shaft drivably coupled to the pump shaft; and a spacer positioned between the plurality of impellers and the motor and coaxial with the output shaft and the pump shaft, the spacer including at least one aperture located and sized to enable access to the output shaft and the pump shaft to de-couple the output shaft and the pump shaft, allowing the motor, the spacer, the pump shaft, and the plurality of impellers to be removed from the pump housing as a single unit without disconnecting the inlet conduit and the outlet conduit from the pump housing; and a suction cap positioned upstream of each impeller; and a diffuser positioned downstream of each impeller; wherein the spacer at least partially compresses the suction caps and the diffusers against a portion of the pump housing when the motor is coupled to the pump housing.