U.S. patent number 3,617,157 [Application Number 05/049,306] was granted by the patent office on 1971-11-02 for fuel pumps with reversible air dome and filter.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Airtex Products Division of United Industrial Syndicate, Inc.. Invention is credited to Claude F. Phillips.
United States Patent |
3,617,157 |
Phillips |
November 2, 1971 |
FUEL PUMPS WITH REVERSIBLE AIR DOME AND FILTER
Abstract
A diaphragm type fuel pump is provided made of body castings
with sheet ml stamped airdomes insertable in one of the cast bodies
in such a position as to provide airdomes for inlet and outlet
passages. One such airdome has incorporated therein a cylindrical
filter element to effect a unitary airdome and filter cartridge or
assembly. Airdomes and filters may be inserted in pumps of the
invention positioned as determined by the mode of mounting of any
such pump, i.e., whether the inlet and outlet conduits are above or
below the pumping diaphragm when the pump is mounted on an
engine.
Inventors: |
Phillips; Claude F. (Fairfield,
IL) |
Assignee: |
Airtex Products Division of United
Industrial Syndicate, Inc. (New York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
21959130 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/049,306 |
Filed: |
June 24, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
417/542; 417/571;
417/238 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04B
43/02 (20130101); F02M 1/00 (20130101); F04B
53/1037 (20130101); F02M 2700/439 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F04B
43/02 (20060101); F04B 53/10 (20060101); F02M
1/00 (20060101); F04b 011/00 (); F04b 039/10 ();
F04b 021/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;417/540,542,543,544
;138/28 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Croyle; Carlton R.
Assistant Examiner: Gluck; Richard E.
Claims
I claim:
1. A fuel pump comprising body means having a fuel section provided
with a well and fuel passage ingress means connected thereto; an
airdome removably inserted in said well, passage means in said well
effecting communication of fuel to said airdome at an open bottom
end thereof to effect air compression therein; a filter element in
said airdome and said filter element having a spacing from the
walls thereof to provide fuel communication between said open
bottom and an upstream side of said filter element within said
airdome; and fuel passage egress means connected to conduct fuel
from a downstream side of said filter element out of said well.
2. A fuel pump as set forth in claim 1, said airdome having a
closed end and slidably being insertable with said closed end
uppermost in said well; spring means in said well having a
removable end of said airdome and said airdome and said well having
a removable end cap, said spring means biasing said airdome towards
said end cap, said airdome being spaced at said open bottom from
said end cap by said filter element; said airdome being
foreshortened relative to said filter element to provide access of
fuel to said filter element and into the spacing between said
filter element and said airdome and into said airdome; said filter
element being restrained by said end cap against bias of said
spring means; whereby removal of said end cap permits said spring
means to at least partially eject said filter element from said
well for removal and replacement.
3. A fuel pump as set forth in claim 1, said filter element having
a hollow center and said well being closed at one end and having an
outlet conduit connected thereto open to the hollow center of said
filter element; said well being closed by a valve at the other end
openable by fuel pressure in the course of pumping; the walls of
said well being provided with recess means to permit flow of fuel
around said airdome from said valve to the open bottom end
thereof.
4. A fuel pump as set forth in claim 1, an end of said well being
provided with outlet means for fuel flow connection downstream of
said filter element; an opposite end of said well being provided
with a valve openable by pumping pressure; walls of said well
having grooves encompassing said airdome, said airdome being
shorter then said filter element so as to provide a gap for passage
of fuel from said grooves to said filter element and to the spacing
between said filter element and said airdome whereby fuel passing
said valve can flow past the sides of said airdome and have access
through said filter element to the interior thereof and thence to
said outlet means.
5. A fuel pump as set forth in claim 1, including an additional
well in said fuel section, an airdome in said additional well, a
valve in said additional well and secured therein and a spacing
between said airdome and said valve; the walls of said additional
well having groove means encompassing said airdome and effecting
passage therepast for fuel flow to said spacing and thence to said
valve; said airdome having a substantially open bottom end; inlet
means for effecting ingress of fuel into said well at said open
bottom, said inlet means connecting with said groove means.
6. A fuel pump comprising body means having a fuel section having
an inlet well and an outlet well, each of said well having walls
provided with grooves for fuel flow around an airdome in each well
and including an airdome in each well laterally located by radially
disposed ridges between grooves; a valve in each well seatingly
supported on the ends of the ridges therein, including means
effecting ingress of fuel to one well and egress from the other
well; and means for pumping fuel from the inlet well through the
valve thereof to the outlet well through the valve thereof.
7. A pump as set forth in claim 6 said valves comprising base rings
force fitted in respective wells and a filter element within the
airdome of the outlet well and communicating with the grooves
thereof.
8. A fuel pump as set forth in claim 7, said outlet well having an
airdome removable from said well upon removal of an end cap; and a
spring in said well biasing said outlet airdome and filter element
towards said end cap to effect at least partial ejection thereof
from said well when said end cap is removed.
Description
The invention relates to an improvement over assignee's prior
patents issued to Claude F. Phillips, 3,370,543, and W. J. Hicks,
3,224,377. In the present invention, the airdomes are inverted cups
as in the aforementioned patents and have differing lengths
although still manufactured by sheet metal stamping. to
An airdome cup downstream of the outlet valve of the pump can
accommodate a cylindrical filter spaced internally of the cup and
of conventional construction such as pleated filter paper or
equivalent structure. The filter element is longer than the airdome
to provide exposure to fuel, and a spring biases the airdome and
filter assembly against a removable body end cap to facilitate
removal for replacement when the end cap is removed.
A detailed description of the invention now follows in conjunction
with the appended drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross section in a vertical plane of a
fuel pump incorporating the invention;
FIG. 2 is a section through 2--2 of FIG. 1, shown
fragmentarily;
FIG. 3 is a plan view looking into the fuel section of the pump on
the parting line 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 shows the airdome arrangement when the pump is mounted
inverted, shown fragmentarily; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective of the airdome and filter cartridge or
assembly.
Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a pair of cast body sections, lever section
10 and fuel section 15 having pump chamber are provided wherein the
section 10 mounts a lever arm 18 (details of mount not shown) for
upward pull on the diaphragm stem 22 against bias of spring 26,
whereby diaphragm 30 is flexed upwardly for a suction stroke in the
usual manner. Fuel enters through the inlet conduit nipple 33
secured in cast conduit channel 34 at the bottom of valve well 36,
in fuel section 15, and via the vertical recesses or grooves 38 in
the casting walls separated by ribs 43. The fuel passes around the
cup of inlet airdome 50, to spacing 53 and thence to inlet valve 54
above the airdome. Spacing 53 is intermediate the top closed end of
the airdome and the valve, as shown.
The airdome 50 has a frictional slide fit therein against
projecting shoulders 55 on three of the ribs 43 with an
intermediate screen disc 56. One side of the airdome can rest on
the conduit channel 34 which is part of the casting, as seen in
FIG. 1. The top ends of the ribs provide a seat for the ring base
58 of the valve unit 54. The ring base 58 is force fitted against
the inner periphery surface of the well to seat against the top
ends of ribs 43.
Valve unit 54 is a conventional component and need not be further
described save to say that it is similar with the outlet valve unit
62 mounted in reverse position, all as commonly understood by
persons familiar with the art.
The airdome 50 is a cup of stamped sheet metal or other suitable
material mounted to be open at the bottom to effect air entrapment
in the manner taught by the previously mentioned patents. The
screen 56 is a mesh having a radial flange seating between a narrow
inturned flange of the airdome and the rib shoulders. It has been
found that the use of such a screen across the mouth of an airdome
has certain beneficial aspects, e.g., as described in various prior
art patents such as W. T. Tabb, 2,405,466, and F. G. Schweisthal,
1,809,394.
From the foregoing description it will be apparent that on the
suction stroke fuel will pass through the opened valve 54 into pump
chamber as the diaphragm 30 rises and upon the pressure stroke
effected by force of spring 26, the valve 54 closes and the fuel
then passes from the pump chamber to the discharge or outlet valve
62 forcing that valve to open whereby fuel then has entry into an
outlet well 70 in which is disposed an open bottom airdome 75.
Airdome 75 is likewise a cup of stamped sheet metal or suitable
material and formed with a socket 78 at its upper closed end wall
for receiving the upper end of a cylindrical filter element 82 of
conventional construction such as pleated paper, or the like, the
other end of which cylindrical filter is socketed in a metal cap
86, which rests against a gasket 90, contiguous with a bored
closure cap 93 threaded into the fuel section 15 to which is
secured outlet nipple 93a.
Airdome 75 has an easy sliding fit in well 70 and vertical recesses
or grooves 94 (FIG. 3) similar to recesses 38 are provided
separated by ribs 95, the top ends of which form support surfaces
or shoulders to seat the outlet valve 62, which is forced fitted
within the well. A spring 96 is compressed between the valve cage
and a depression 99 in the closed upper end of the airdome in order
to insure retention of the filter cylinder between the socket 78
and socket 86 against the closure cap 93 via gasket 90.
Thus, by providing a sliding fit between airdome 75 and well 70,
the filter cylinder may readily be changed by merely removing the
end cap 93, spring 96 pushing the airdome and filter assembly as a
unit (FIG. 5) out of the well so it can be readily grasped.
The airdome is foreshortened relative to the filter cylinder to
provide a flow gap 102 for fuel flow from recesses 94, (FIG.
3).
From the foregoing description it will be apparent that flow
through outlet valve 62 will pass downwardly through the recesses
94 longitudinally of well 70 past the exterior of the airdome 75
and to the filter cylinder 82 via gap 102. A concentric spacing
105, as shown, is provided between the interior walls of the
airdome 75 and filter 82 to provide substantial flow area.
Accordingly, fuel flows through gap 102 rising upwardly in spacing
105 to the extent permitted by the pressure of air trapped in
airdome 75, depending on engine operation conditions, and through
filter 82 to the interior thereof, having egress via outlet nipple
93a.
Referring to FIG. 4, all essential components heretofore described
are found therein and identical reference characters are used for
identical parts. It will be noted that the pump has now been
inverted and, accordingly, the airdome 50 is inverted with respect
to the fuel section 15. The airdome 50 is, at the open end, spaced
for fuel flow as by spacing 112, a small fraction of an inch, from
the valve ring base 58, and seats at its upper or closed end
against the shoulders of the ribs. The screen 66 can grip the ribs
43 frictionally around its periphery or be secured by spot
soldering to the ribs, or suitably fastened to the airdome.
The outlet airdome 115 differs somewhat in shape from airdome 75,
but has been inverted so that the closed end is disposed via the
gasket 90 against the end cap 93. Spring 117 maintains the assembly
of an end socket 120, filter cylinder 82 and airdome 115 as a unit,
whereby removal of end cap 93 will permit the spring to push the
airdome and filter assembly out of the well sufficiently so that it
can be grasped and removed, for replacement of the filter
cylinder.
The unit comprising the airdome, filter and socket 120 can be
cemented together or fastened by crimping to effect and integral
replacement unit, if desired.
* * * * *