U.S. patent application number 12/629545 was filed with the patent office on 2010-06-10 for assembly with two indexed parts.
This patent application is currently assigned to TI Automotive Fuel Systems SAS. Invention is credited to Frederic Marchi, Bertin Roland Tatba, Dominique Veltin.
Application Number | 20100143107 12/629545 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40346522 |
Filed Date | 2010-06-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100143107 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Marchi; Frederic ; et
al. |
June 10, 2010 |
ASSEMBLY WITH TWO INDEXED PARTS
Abstract
In one exemplary implementation, an assembly may include two
indexed parts. A first part may have a void formed therein and an
axis, with the void defining at least one rotational stop and at
least one radial stop. A second part may have a projection that is
received at least partially in the void when the first and second
parts are assembled together. The projection may have at least one
rotational abutment surface adapted to engage said at least one
rotational stop to limit relative rotation between the first and
second parts, and the projection having at least one radial
abutment surface adapted to engage said at least one radial stop to
limit relative radial movement between the first and second parts
in a direction away from the axis.
Inventors: |
Marchi; Frederic; (Saint
Memmie, FR) ; Tatba; Bertin Roland; (Chalon en
Champagne, FR) ; Veltin; Dominique; (Ecury Sur Coule,
FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
REISING ETHINGTON P.C.
P O BOX 4390
TROY
MI
48099-4390
US
|
Assignee: |
TI Automotive Fuel Systems
SAS
Chalons en Champagne
FR
|
Family ID: |
40346522 |
Appl. No.: |
12/629545 |
Filed: |
December 2, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
415/182.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 29/628 20130101;
F02M 59/44 20130101; F05D 2260/36 20130101; F04D 5/002 20130101;
F02M 37/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
415/182.1 |
International
Class: |
F04D 29/40 20060101
F04D029/40 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 4, 2008 |
FR |
FR0858254 |
Claims
1. A pumping assembly, comprising: a first body having a void
formed therein and an axis, with the void defining at least one
rotational stop and at least one radial stop; a second body having
a projection that is received at least partially in the void when
the first and second parts are assembled together, the projection
having at least one rotational abutment surface adapted to engage
said at least one rotational stop to limit relative rotation
between the first and second parts, and the projection having at
least one radial abutment surface adapted to engage said at least
one radial stop to limit relative radial movement between the first
and second parts in a direction away from the axis; and at least
one pumping element disposed at least partially between the first
and second bodies.
2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said at least one radial stop
includes a pair of side walls of the void that have at least a
portion that converge as they extend away from said axis.
3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said void defines a pair of
opposed radial stops that are engaged by the projection to limit
relative radial movement between the components in directions
toward and away from the axis.
4. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the void includes a pair of
sidewalls that define said at least one radial stop and also define
said at least one rotational stop.
5. The assembly of claim 3 wherein the void includes an inside wall
that defines a radial stop that limits relative radial movement
between the components in directions toward the axis.
6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said void defines a pair of
rotational stops that are engaged by the projection to limit
relative rotational movement between the components in both
clockwise and counter-clockwise directions relative to the
axis.
7. The assembly of claim 1 which also comprises a pumping channel
defined at least in part between said at least one pumping element
and at least one of the first body or the second body, the pumping
channel having an inlet into which fuel enters the pumping channel
at a first pressure and an outlet from which fuel exits the pumping
channel at a second pressure that is higher than the first
pressure, and wherein the void and projection are located
circumferentially closer to the inlet than the outlet of the
pumping channel.
8. An assembly with two indexed parts, comprising: a first part
having a void formed therein and an axis, with the void defining at
least one rotational stop and at least one radial stop; and a
second part having a projection that is received at least partially
in the void when the first and second parts are assembled together,
the projection having at least one rotational abutment surface
adapted to engage said at least one rotational stop to limit
relative rotation between the first and second parts, and the
projection having at least one radial abutment surface adapted to
engage said at least one radial stop to limit relative radial
movement between the first and second parts in a direction away
from the axis.
9. The assembly of claim 8 wherein said at least one radial stop
includes a pair of side walls of the void that have at least a
portion that converge as they extend away from said axis.
10. The assembly of claim 8 wherein said void defines a pair of
opposed radial stops that are engaged by the projection to limit
relative radial movement between the components in directions
toward and away from the axis.
11. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the void includes a pair of
sidewalls that define said at least one radial stop and also define
said at least one rotational stop.
12. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the void includes an inside
wall that defines a radial stop that limits relative radial
movement between the components in directions toward the axis.
13. The assembly of claim 8 wherein said void defines a pair of
rotational stops that are engaged by the projection to limit
relative rotational movement between the components in both
clockwise and counter-clockwise directions relative to the
axis.
14. The assembly of claim 9 wherein the side walls are of concave
form.
15. The assembly of claim 8 wherein the side walls are of convex
form.
16. The assembly of claim 8 wherein the side walls are in the form
of a dovetail.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from French Patent
Application No. 0858254 filed Dec. 4, 2008, the contents of which
is hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The disclosure relates to a mechanical assembly with two
indexed parts, such as a pumping mechanism, whose body houses one
or more pumping elements.
BACKGROUND
[0003] There exist several ways to index parts relative to one
another. With regard to liquid pumping devices, limitation of the
movement between different parts is effected by indexing features,
namely nipples or bosses, used to limit rotary motion of the
different parts of the pumping element. However, this type of
indexing limits travel in one direction only. This can result in a
relatively weak retention of the different parts, undesirably large
relative movement between the parts, or even separation of the
components during the assembly of the pump.
SUMMARY
[0004] In at least one exemplary implementation, an assembly may
include two indexed parts. A first part may have a void formed
therein and an axis, with the void defining at least one rotational
stop and at least one radial stop. A second part may have a
projection that is received at least partially in the void when the
first and second parts are assembled together. The projection may
have at least one rotational abutment surface adapted to engage
said at least one rotational stop to limit relative rotation
between the first and second parts, and the projection having at
least one radial abutment surface adapted to engage said at least
one radial stop to limit relative radial movement between the first
and second parts in a direction away from the axis.
[0005] In one exemplary implementation, a pumping assembly may
include a first body, a second body and at least one pumping
element. The first body may have a void formed therein and an axis,
with the void defining at least one rotational stop and at least
one radial stop. The second body may have a projection that is
received at least partially in the void when the first and second
parts are assembled together. The projection may have at least one
rotational abutment surface adapted to engage said at least one
rotational stop to limit relative rotation between the first and
second parts, and the projection may have at least one radial
abutment surface adapted to engage said at least one radial stop to
limit relative radial movement between the first and second parts
in a direction away from the axis. The pumping element may be
disposed at least partially between the first and second
bodies.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The following detailed description of exemplary embodiments
and best mode will be set forth with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a pumping assembly with conventional indexing
features;
[0008] FIG. 2A is a fragmentary perspective view of the pumping
assembly of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an upper component of the
pumping assembly of FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a plan view of a lower component of the pumping
assembly of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an exemplary
pumping assembly;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the pumping
assembly of FIG. 4;
[0013] FIG. 6 is a plan view of a pump body of the pumping assembly
of FIG. 4 that includes a projection; and
[0014] FIG. 7 is a plan view of an exemplary pumping element that
may be used in the pumping assembly of FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Referring in more detail to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3
illustrate a conventional pumping element 1 that includes two
components 10, 20, which can be upper and lower end caps or a
housing of the pumping element. As shown, the two components 10, 20
of the pumping element 1 have a generally cylindrical shape and an
axis of rotation Z. Indexing along axis Z of the components 10, 20
of the pumping element 1 is effected by indexing features 35
composed of two parts, namely a groove 30 in component 20, and a
tab 40 in component 10, with the shapes of the groove and of the
tab 40 being complementary.
[0016] The groove 30 includes two side walls 32, a rear wall 34 and
a bottom 36. It is of generally parallelepiped shape, with the side
walls 32 parallel, and the rear wall 34 curving inward and defined
by a cylinder of revolution around the Z axis. The bottom 36 is in
a plane that is perpendicular to the axis Z. The tab 40 also has
two side walls 42, a rear wall 44 and a lower wall 46. The shape of
the side walls 42 and of the rear wall 44 of the tab 40 is similar
to the shape of the side walls 32 and of the rear wall 34 of the
groove 30.
[0017] During assembly, in which the components 10, 20 are brought
together by a linear movement along the axis Z, the lower wall 46
butts up against the bottom 36, thus limiting the movement of the
parts of the pumping element along the direction of the axis Z. The
rear wall 34 of the groove 30 will also act as a stop for the rear
wall 44 of the tab 40, and thus limits the motion in the direction
of arrow E. The side walls 42 of the tab 40 will butt up against
the side walls 32 of the groove 30, thus limiting the rotary
movement of the components around the axis Z. However, as shown in
FIG. 3, motion in the direction of arrow D remains possible, and
can lead to the components 10, 20 becoming separated and/or dropped
during assembly. That is, the tab 40 can slide radially out of the
groove 30 in the direction of the arrow D.
[0018] One exemplary embodiment of a fuel pumping assembly 50
including two components that have indexing features that prevent
radial and rotational movement of the components is shown in FIGS.
4-7. The two components of the pumping assembly 50 may include
upper and lower pump bodies 52, 54 between which one or more
pumping elements 56 (FIG. 7) may be received. The pumping element
56 may be an impeller having a plurality of vanes 55 or blades (as
shown, or of a different construction), a gerotor set, or any other
suitable mechanism or device. The upper and lower pump bodies 52,
54 may include generally opposed, planar surfaces 56, 58 that are
oriented perpendicular to the axis Z. The surface 56, 58 of one or
both of the upper and lower pump bodies 52, 54 may be recessed
relative to an outer peripheral edge 60, 62 of the bodies to
facilitate receipt and enclosure of the pumping element(s) 56
between the bodies. A pumping channel 57 may be defined at least in
part between the pumping element 56 and at least one of the upper
body 52 or the lower body 54. The pumping channel 57 may have an
inlet 59 into which fuel enters the pumping channel at a first
pressure and an outlet from which fuel exits the pumping channel at
a second pressure that is higher than the first pressure, as is
known in the art.
[0019] The indexing features may include a void 64 and a projection
66 adapted to be received in the void. The void 64 may be in the
form of a slot, groove, cavity, or the like, and may be a generally
parallelepiped shaped void with one or more open sides, a partial
sphere, cylinder, or any other suitable shape. As shown, the void
64 is formed in the lower body 54 and the projection 66 is carried
by or formed on the upper body 52. Of course, the void 64 could be
formed in the upper body 52 and the projection 66 could be carried
by the lower body 54, or the upper and lower body could each have
more than one void and/or projection. That is, the each of the
lower body 54 and upper body 52 may have one or more voids 64, one
or more projections 66, or one or more voids and projections.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 5, the void 64 may define side walls 70, an
inside wall 72 and a bottom 74. The sidewalls 70 may define part of
a radially oriented opening 76 that is spaced from the inside wall
72 generally at the periphery 62 of the lower body 54. That is, the
opening 76 may be the radially outermost portion of the void 64,
relative to the axis Z. The opening 76 may have a circumferential
length that is less than a portion of the void 64 that is radially
inwardly spaced from the opening 76. As shown, for example, the
void 64 becomes longer (circumferentially) in the direction from
the opening toward the inside wall 72. Here, the void 64 takes the
form of a dovetail, but could equally well have other shapes, such
as being formed with arcuate or rounded side walls, zig-zag side
walls, concave or convex side walls, or other shapes.
[0021] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the projection 66 may be
complementarily shaped to the void 64. In this way, the projection
66 may have an end 80, side walls 82 and an inner wall 84 that are
adapted to be positioned adjacent to the bottom 74, side walls 70
and the inside wall 72, respectively, of the void 64. The
projection 66 may also have a radially outer edge 86 (or edge
portion) with a circumferential length that is less than at least a
portion of the projection 66 that is radially inwardly spaced from
the outer edge 86. As shown, the projection 66 becomes longer
(circumferentially) as the projection extends radially from the
outer edge 66 to the inner wall 84. The side walls 82, 70 of the
projection 66 and the void 64 may be oriented at similar or
different angles. In the example shown, the side walls 70 and 82
are oriented at similar angles relative to the axis Z. Also in the
embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-6, the sidewalls 70 of the void 64 and
the sidewalls 82 of the projection 66 converge in the radial
direction away from the Z axis.
[0022] The void may define at least one rotational stop and at
least one radial stop. In the implementation shown, the radial stop
limits radial movement of the upper body 52 relative to the lower
body 52 in a direction away from the axis Z when the projection 66
is at least partially received in the void 64. In the
implementation shown, the sidewalls 70 of the void 64 define
rotational stops that are engaged by the projection to limit
relative rotational movement between the upper and lower bodies 52,
54 in each of a pair of opposed directions relative to the axis Z
(e.g. clockwise and counter-clockwise). The sidewalls 70 also
define the radial stop that limits radial movement of the upper
body 52 relative to the lower body 52 in a direction away from the
axis Z. Another radial stop is defined by the inside wall 72 of the
void, which limits radial movement of the upper body 52 relative to
the lower body 52 in a direction toward the axis Z. In this way,
the void provides a pair of radial stops and a pair of rotational
stops. In this regard, while the void 64 shown includes an opening
76, the void need not have a radially oriented opening, and may
instead have only an axially facing opening (e.g. opposite the
bottom 74). The void 64 and projection 66 may be located
circumferentially closer to the inlet than the outlet of the
pumping channel 57. The void 64 and projection 66 may also be
located circumferential between (although they may be radially
outboard of) the inlet and the outlet of the pumping channel 57. To
limit rotational and radial movement as noted, the void 64 and
projection 66 may, but need not, be complementary in shape.
[0023] During assembly, the upper and lower bodies 52, 54 are
brought together in a linear movement along the axis Z, so that the
projection 66 is received in the void 64. If desired, the end 80 of
the projection 66 may engage the bottom 74 of the void 64, thus
limiting the movement of the bodies along the direction of the axis
Z. Otherwise, the axial length of the projection 66 may be less
than the axial depth of the void 64 so that, with normal
manufacturing tolerances, the faces 56, 58 of the upper and lower
bodies 52, 54 engage, and the projection 66 does not engage the
bottom 74 of the void 64.
[0024] While the forms of the invention herein disclosed constitute
presently preferred embodiments, many others are possible. It is
not intended herein to mention all the possible equivalent forms or
ramifications of the invention. It is understood that the terms
used herein are merely descriptive, rather than limiting, and that
various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or
scope of the invention.
* * * * *