Parker-Hannifin Corporation

Robert E Oehman, Jr

William Power

A viscous seal for fluid transfer devices that deviates from the conventional wisdom of avoiding contact between the seal and a rotating drive shaft of the fluid transfer device. Instead of avoiding contact, contact between the seal and drive shaft is used to effect axial alignment of a sealing sleeve with the shaft. As a result, the viscous seal is compliant in that the sealing sleeve can follow the axis of the drive shaft. Accordingly, the sealing sleeve can fit snugly around the drive shaft for more effective prevention of leakage of low or any viscosity fluid along the drive shaft, but without any significant radial load being applied to the sealing sleeve that might cause undue wear or damage due to galling.

Compliant viscous seal for fluid transfer device

A metering assembly includes a motor removably coupled to a pump using a flange clamp. An annular connection flange is provided at one end of the motor housing; and a cooperating annular connection flange is provided at one end of the pump housing. The connection flanges have opposed, mating end surfaces which are located in flush relation with each other. The flange clamp includes a pair of arcuate clamping arms which are pivotally supported at one end, and a locking member connecting the other, distal free ends of the arms together, and which can be manually tightened and untightened, so that the flange clamp can be easily located around and tightened down around the annular connection flanges of the pump and motor to create a mechanical face seal between the pump and motor.

Pump mount using sanitary flange clamp

A fluid transfer machine includes a positive displacement, rotary-type pumping mechanism driven by a drive shaft. The drive shaft is lubricated and cooled by locating the drive shaft in a primary flow path in the machine. Fluid is directed from the inlet through a passage that intersects a cavity surrounding the drive shaft, at a location between a pair of journal bearings. The fluid then continues directly to the suction side of the pumping mechanism. The drive shaft could also be located on the pressure side of the pumping mechanism. The primary flow cools and lubricates the drive shaft and drive shaft bearings, and reduces the size and complexity of the machine, as additional cooling and lubrication flow passage(s) are not required.

Fluid transfer machine with drive shaft lubrication and cooling

A metering pump includes a set of externally-toothed gears, with a first of the gears, the drive gear, having a central opening to receive a drive shaft. The gears are supported within a housing defined between first and second housing plates. The first and second housing plates each have central openings aligned with the central opening in the drive gear, and inner wall surfaces adjacent opposite side surfaces of the gears. The first and second gears are rotatably supported within the housing such that the rotational axis of the gears are parallel to one another, and certain of the gear teeth intermesh together when the gears rotate. A first port in the housing provides an inlet fluid flow to an inlet side of the meshing gear teeth, while a second port provides an outlet fluid flow from an outlet side of the meshing teeth. An annular resilient, face-type lip seal is disposed against each side surface of the drive gear, surrounding the central opening in the gear. The lip seals are located in annular grooves formed in the opposing surfaces of the adjacent housing plates surrounding the central openings in the plates, and fluidly seal to the respective surfaces of the first gear during rotation of the gears to prevent fluid leakage into the central opening in the gear.

External gear pump with drive gear seal

A gear pump includes a pump body having a pair of cylindrical gear chambers, and high pressure and low-pressure fluid ports into the chambers. A pair of cover plates enclose the open ends of the pump body. A drive gear on a drive shaft and a driven gear on an arbor shaft are rotatably supported on a pair of bearing assemblies within the gear chambers, with the drive shaft extending through an opening in at least one of the cover plates for rotation of the gears. A recirculating flow path is provided to draw fluid from the high pressure fluid port along the sides of the gears, between the bearings and the sides of the gears, axially through the bearings from the inner side of the bearings to the outer side of the bearings, and through channels formed in the respective adjacent cover plates to direct the fluid to a pair of return bores in the pump body. The return bores are parallel to one another and to the rotational axis of the gears, and tangentially intersect the low-pressure fluid port in elongated, arcuately-extending elliptical openings to direct the fluid into the central region of the intermeshing gear teeth.

Growing community of inventors

Raleigh, NC, United States of America

Robert E Oehman, Jr