Delaware Capital Formation, Inc.

William J Bohr

Thomas D Stoll

Michael Douglas Walters

Mark Wordley

A rotary vane suction pump that includes a housing that defines a pump chamber. A shaft is rotatably mounted to the housing. A rotor is fixed to the front end of the shaft to rotate in unison with the vanes. The vanes that form the fluid cavities, into which the fluid is drawn into and discharged from, are seated in radially directed slots that extend longitudinally, end-to-end along the length of the rotor. Discs located at the opposed inboard and outboard ends of the rotor are mounted to the shaft and rotor to turn in unison with the rotor. The discs have diameters greater than that of the rotor and the pump chamber. The discs thus close the ends of the pump chamber and the ends of the slots in which the vanes are seated.

Vane pump with integrated shaft, rotor and disc

A system (,) for monitoring the quantity of air in a liquid-state fuel stream discharged from a dispenser (,). The dispenser includes a pump (,) that draws the fuel from a storage tank (,). The fuel stream discharged from the pump is applied to an air separator (,) in which the air and vapor-state fluids are removed from the fuel stream. The gas-removed fuel stream is allowed to flow to nozzle (,) for dispensing. The gas stream created by the air separator is flowed to an air elimination chamber (,). The fuel in the gas stream separates from the air in the air elimination chamber and is returned to an input side of the pump. The air in the air elimination chamber is vented through a fixed opening to the ambient environment. The monitoring system (,) includes a transducer (,) that monitors the rate of air flow through the air elimination chamber. This monitoring may be performed by monitoring the air pressure in the chamber upstream of an orifice through which the air is vented to atmosphere. If the air flow rate is greater than a set level, the system closes a valve (,) that regulates fuel flow to the nozzle (,). Thus, this system (,) prevents fuel that contains an excessive quantity of gaseous-state fluids from being dispensed.

System and method for evaluating the presence of air in a liquid-state fuel stream

A hinged vane rotary pump including a cylindrical chamber, a rotor eccentrically mounted within the chamber, and a plurality of vanes. Each vane is hinged for pivoting movement at its approximate middle to balance hydraulic pressure across the face of the vane. The balanced pressure reduces the force applied by the vane against the chamber liner and therefore reduces wear. As one end of each vane wears against the chamber liner during operation, the axis effectively moves to the center of the vane. Preferably, stops are provided to limit movement of the vanes after maximum wear has occurred.

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Georgetown, MI, United States of America

William J Bohr