Patent ID: RE39891

Claim:
An impeller for a regenerative turbine pump, said impeller comprising: (a) a hub defining an aperture at a center thereof into which a shaft of said turbine pump is securable to allow said hub to rotate about a center axis therewith, said hub having an outer cylindrical surface; (b) an outer ring concentric to said hub, said outer ring having an inner cylindrical surface; and (c) a plurality of vanes extending between said outer cylindrical surface of said hub and said inner cylindrical surface of said outer ring with each said vane comprising an entrance portion that extends from said outer cylindrical surface of said hub and an exit portion that extends from a radially outward terminus of said entrance portion to said inner cylindrical surface of said outer ring, each of said vanes (i) having a V-shape of a prespecified angle centered relative to a plane normal to said center axis and (ii) having said entrance portion and said exit portion aligned in a non-linear disposition with respect to one another along a dimension of each of said vanes extending between said outer cylindrical surface of said hub and said inner cylindrical surface of said outer ring along at least one of an upstream face and downstream face of said vane from said entrance portion thereof through said exit portion thereof, said entrance and said exit portions of each said vane each having a pair of outer sidewalls, each of said outer sidewalls of each said entrance portion being chamfered along a trailing corner thereof at a predetermined angle relative to said plane.