Fluid Pump

Abstract

A pump which may be used in debris laden fluid. The pump has a sucker valve attached to the end of a handled rod. The sucker valve and a check valve are enclosed in a main body housing provided with entrance and exit openings. The sucker valve pushes the fluid from the entrance opening to the exit opening.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a fluid pump.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Fluid pumps have, in the past, transferred fluid from one location to another location by means of a piston-cylinder device. These devices are composed of a slidable piston sealed to the interior walls of the cylinder. The fluid is sucked up the cylinder as the piston is pulled upwardly. In many cases, the fluid is debris laden with the result that the pump becomes clogged rendering the pump partially or entirely ineffective.

The present invention replaces the piston with hinged valves. The valves are shaped like a flat bottom V and fit within a housing with the sides of the V pointed up. The valves provide large passages for debris to pass through without the pump becoming jammed or clogged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a pump composed of a main body housing containing a check valve and a slidable sucker valve mounted on the end of a handled rod. The valves are made from plastic and have sections which are hinged by means of grooves. The sections operate to transfer the fluid from one location to another location. The sucker valve is pulled through the length of the housing and thereby pushes the fluid from the bottom to the top of the pump. Entrance openings are provided at the bottom of the pump while the exit opening for the fluid is located at the top of the pump. The check valve opens to allow fluid to enter the pump and closes to prevent the fluid from escaping.

It is the object of this invention to provide a light-weight, simple pump which is not easily plugged by foreign particles or suspended solids.

It is another object of this invention to provide a pump which does not require extensive maintenance and which has a long useful life.

Related objects and advantages will be apparent from the drawings, claims and the portion of the specification which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fluid pump.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the fluid pump taken along the lines 2--2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is the same view as the lower portion of FIG. 2 with the rod descending.

FIG. 4 is the same view as FIG. 3 with the rod ascending.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the fluid pump looking in the direction of arrows 5--5 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the check valve.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the check valve looking in the direction of arrows 7--7 in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a fluid pump with a main body casing 10, a rod 11, and a handle 12. The pump illustrated may be made from plastic or similar material. In FIG. 2 there is shown a cross sectional view of the fluid pump. Attached to the end of rod 11 is a plastic sucker valve 20. The sucker valve 20 is attached to rod 11 by headed pin 31. Also shown is a check valve 40 which is attached to the main body casing 10. The check valve is made of the same material as the sucker valve.

The operation of the fluid pump may be best described by referring to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 4 shows the pump as the rod 11 and the sucker valve 20 are being pulled in an upward direction. As the rod is pulled up, the sucker valve presses against the inside surface of the main body casing 10. At the same time, the check valve 40 opens and allows fluid to flow in the bottom of the fluid pump and toward the top of the fluid pump in the direction of the arrows. As shown in FIG. 3 with the rod 11 moving in a downward direction, the check valve 40 closes and seals off the bottom of the pump to trap the fluid between the check valve and sucker valve so that the fluid may not exit the pump through the lower passages during the downward stroke. With the rod descending, the sucker valve 20 opens and allows the fluid to pass by the sucker valve. As the rod is pulled again in an upwardly direction the sucker valve 20 closes and forces the trapped fluid out through the exit opening 18 shown in FIG. 1. With the rod ascending, the check valve 40 opens, allowing fluid to enter the pump and allowing the process to be repeated.

The structure providing for the invention will now be described. It will be understood that although the structure will be described as relating to one specific embodiment of the invention, that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further embodiments in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Thus, although the present fluid pump is illustrated and described as being hand operated it is understood that the present fluid pump can be powered by any power source which can be converted to linear motion.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fluid pump showing the main body casing 10, rod 11, handle 12, and the main body cap 13. The pump illustrated in the drawing is shown as rectangular; however, the pump may be virtually any shape. The main body casing 10 has a front wall 14, a back wall 15, and side walls 16 and 17. Shown along the bottom edge of the four walls of the main body are cutouts 19. The cutouts 19 allow the fluid to enter the pump while preventing large objects and debris from entering. Also shown in FIG. 1 is the exit opening 18. The opening 18 allows the fluid trapped by the sucker valve 20 to exit the pump through the front wall 14. A spout 18' may be attached to opening 18.

A section view of the fluid pump is shown in FIG. 2. Attached to rod 11 is a handle 12. The rod and handle may be made from a plastic such as polypropylene. Thus, the handle may be attached to the rod by spin-welding, adhesives or by fastening devices. The main body casing 10 is sealed at the top by the main body cap 13. The main body cap 13 has a step 21 around the perimeter of the cap for receiving the walls of the main body. The cap maybe sealed to the main body by adhesives. Cavities 33 may be molded in the main body cap to reduce the weight of the cap. The cap has a circular rod opening 29 complementary in shape to rod 11 in order to allow the rod to extend through the cap. The bottom surface of the cap has a counter bore 30 around the rod opening 29 to receive an O-ring 32. The O-ring prevents the fluid within the pump from escaping through the rod opening 29. The O-ring is only one of many possible sealing devices and is illustrative of a possible seal which may be used in the present pump. The O-ring is held in place by circular snap ring 22 which fits into a notch surrounding the wall of the counter bore. The sucker valve is attached to the end of rod 11 by headed pin 31. The headed pin 31 may be a fastener such as a pan head screw. The sucker valve may also be attached to rod 11 by various means, such as, welding, bonding and adhesives.

The check valve 40 is shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The sucker valve 20 is identical to the check valve 40 with the exception that the sucker valve does not have rib tabs 23 and 24 and instead has a circular hole through central rib 25 for receiving the headed pin 31. Both valves have a shape complementary to casing 10 and are made from a plastic material having excellent "memory" characteristics, such as, polypropylene. Grooves 26 and 27, of a radius approximately 0.015 of an inch, allow the stiff section on either side of stiff rib 25 to pivot. Grooves 25 and 26 are referred to as "living hinges." FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the pump showing the main body casing 10 and the check valve 40. The width of the sucker and check valves, shown as A in FIG. 6, should equal the interior width of the main body casing shown as C in FIG. 5. The length of the valves, shown as B in FIG. 6, should be approximately twice the interior length of the main body casing shown as D in FIG. 5.

As previously described, the sucker valve 20 attaches to rod 11 by headed pin 31. The check valve 40 attaches to the front wall 14 and the back wall 15 of the main body casing 10 by rib tabs 23 and 24. Tabs 23 and 24 fit within slots 28 provided at the bottom of walls 14 and 15. Both valves should be assembled in the pump in such a manner that grooves 26 and 27 face downward.

It will be evident from the above description that the present invention provides a fluid pump which is light and very inexpensive. It will be further evident that the pump is not easily plugged by foreign particles or suspended solids.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.

Claims

The invention claimed is:

1. A fluid pump operable in a debris laden fluid comprising a main body casing, a rod slidable in said casing, a sucker valve attached to said rod, a check valve attached to said casing, a main body cap attached to said casing, said rod being slidably sealed and extending through an opening in said cap and having a handle attached thereto; and wherein:

said sucker valve and said check valve are of a material with excellent memory characteristics, said sucker valve and said check valve have a central rib with sections hingedly connected on both sides, each of said sections are hinged to said ribs by means of a separate groove extending the length of said ribs, said sucker valve is attached to said rod by a pin extending through said rib of said valve, said check valve is attached to said casing by rib tabs.

2. The fluid pump of claim 1 wherein said rod is sealed to said cap by means of an O-ring.

3. The fluid pump of claim 2 wherein said casing has an internal width and length and said valves each have a width equal to the internal width of said casing and a length twice the internal length of said casing.