U.S. patent number 3,667,692 [Application Number 05/026,925] was granted by the patent office on 1972-06-06 for pump storage grinder.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Environment/One Corporation. Invention is credited to Richard C. Grace.
United States Patent |
3,667,692 |
Grace |
June 6, 1972 |
PUMP STORAGE GRINDER
Abstract
The pump storage grinder employs a tank having a sewage inlet
and a removable top cover supporting a depending sealed housing
having a motor and motor controls for driving a grinder or
comminutor and pump externally of the chamber by means of a common
motor shaft. The chamber is formed by a control housing integral
with the cover, a tube and pump head, all held together by means of
tension bolts secured between the pump head and cover. The motor
shaft extends through the pump head to drive a resilient helical
pump and a comminutor impeller disc with depending blades that
cooperate with a comminutor ring held between a comminutor inlet
shroud and a pump housing secured to the pump head. A pump
discharge chamber is provided in the head with a one-way valved
passage leading to a discharge conduit extending through the cover.
The level responsive motor control is provided with a liquid
pressure sensing tube extending through the chamber in
communication with a depending pipe secured to the pump head and
housing.
Inventors: |
Grace; Richard C. (Carlisle,
NY) |
Assignee: |
Environment/One Corporation
(Latham, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
21834587 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/026,925 |
Filed: |
April 9, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
241/36;
241/46.02; 241/258 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B02C
18/0092 (20130101); F04C 13/001 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F04C
13/00 (20060101); B02c 013/18 () |
Field of
Search: |
;241/36,46,46.02,46.06,46.11,46.17,257G,257R,258,259 ;418/48
;417/424 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Custer, Jr.; Granville Y.
Claims
I claim:
1. Apparatus for comminuting and pumping semi-fluid material,
comprising: a single piece upwardly opening cup-shaped receptacle
having an outwardly extending peripheral flange at its open end
provided with a plurality of flange holes extending in the axial
direction of the receptacle; an inlet pipe extending through said
receptacle, freely opening into the interior of said receptacle and
having a coupling exteriorly of said receptacle; a single piece
annular cover peripherally overlying said receptacle flange and
having holes axially aligned with said flange holes; an annular
gasket between said flange and said annular cover; fastener means
extending through said aligned holes to clamp said annular cover
and said flange sealingly together; a one-piece generally annular
control housing having an annular outer flange peripherally
overlapping the inside of said annular cover and further having a
depending annular wall extending into said receptacle; an outlet
pipe extending through one of said control housing annular flange
and said annular cover; a cover plate releasably secured to and
closing the upper end of said control housing; said control housing
having a downwardly extending cylindrical coupling portion and a
downwardly facing shoulder; a tube having an upper end abutting
against said shoulder and telescopically engaging said cylindrical
coupling portion; seal means between said tube and said cylindrical
coupling portion; band means surrounding and clamping said tube
radially tightly against said cylindrical coupling portion; a
one-piece generally annular head telescopically engaging at its
upper end with the lower end of said tube and having sealing means
therebetween; a plurality of bolt means, each engaging said control
housing at one of its ends and engaging said head at its other end
for tightly clamping said tube between said head and said control
housing; an electric motor within said tube and having a rotatable
shaft extending vertically downwardly and through said head;
bearing means rotatably receiving said shaft and mounting said
motor on said head; sealing means for preventing the passage of
fluid upwardly through said head into said tube; said cover plate,
said control housing, said tube, said head, said motor shaft, and
said sealing means forming a sealed motor and control chamber
within said receptacle; an outlet passage extending radially
through said head portion exteriorly of said sealed motor and
control chamber; conduit means extending between said outlet
passage and said outlet pipe; one-way valve means clamped directly
between said conduit means and said head for allowing fluid flow
only outwardly from said head; a one-piece annular pump housing
rigidly secured to the lower end of said head and having said motor
shaft extending axially therethrough; a resilient internally
helically threaded annular pump casing clamped between said pump
housing and said head; helical thread means drivingly on said motor
shaft within said pump casing for cooperation therewith during
rotation of said motor shaft to form means for pumping fluid
upwardly through said pump housing portion, into said head, through
said outlet passage, through said one-way valve means through said
conduit means, and outwardly through outlet pipe; said pump housing
having an annular lower impeller casing portion; an imperforate
impeller disc drivingly secured to said motor shaft below said
pumping means and within said impeller casing; an annular inlet
shroud having a lower continuously smooth internal peripheral wall
being rigidly secured below and to said pump housing; a comminuting
ring tightly clamped between said pump housing and said inlet
shroud; said comminuting ring having an inner annular wall
substantially axially aligned with the periphery of said impeller
disc; said inner annular wall consisting essentially of a lower
continuously smooth wall portion and a second upper comminuting
wall portion composed of a plurality of peripherally arranged axial
comminuting slots; a plurality of impeller blades on the lower face
of said impeller disc extending downwardly and generally radially
aligned with said comminuting slots; said comminuting slots
extending from a distance substantially below said impeller blades
axially upwardly for a distance substantially above said impeller
blades; pressure actuated control means for starting and stopping
said motor and being contained within said control housing; sealed
conduit means extending from said pressure actuated control means
downwardly and opening adjacent said inlet shroud, but upwardly
from the lower terminal edge of said inlet shroud so that fluid
sucked in by said pumping means will have an axial velocity
component away from said conduit means opening for preventing
clogging; and a fluid vent pipe extending through said control
housing portion to provide free air passage from the upper portion
of said receptacle to the exterior of said receptacle.
2. Apparatus for comminuting and pumping semi-fluid material
comprising: a tank having an upper open end; cover means releasably
and sealingly mounted to the periphery of said upper open end; a
plurality of substantially vertical tension bolts extending through
said cover means downwardly into said tank for a substantial
distance; a comminutor, a pump, and a motor directly driving said
comminutor and pump being arranged such that fluid is pumped
upwardly through said comminutor from said tank and then through
said pump; chamber means extending from said upper open end
downwardly into said tank and sealingly containing therein said
motor, said motor being mounted upwardly from the lower terminal
end of said tension bolts; the terminal lower end of said bolts
being secured to said chamber means for carrying the entire weight
of said chamber means, motor, pump and comminutor in tension from
said cover.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, including motor means carried in the
upper portion of said chamber means for actuating said motor in
response to the level of fluid within said tank.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said cover means is annular;
and a cover plate being releasably and sealingly mounted within
said annular cover means to provide access to said motor controls
and together with said annular cover means completely sealing the
upper end of said tank.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said tank is of a one-piece
construction with a bottom wall, a substantially cylindrical side
wall, and an outwardly extending upper flange; said cover means
being releasably secured to said upper flange; and an inlet pipe
sealingly extending through said side wall and having an outer
coupling end and a free inner end for discharging directly into
said tank.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, including an outlet pipe sealingly
extending through said cover means; and said pump having a
discharge directly fluid connected to said outlet pipe.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said pump includes a one-piece
pump head having said discharge; said outlet pipe being directly
secured to said pump head; and including a resilient flapper
one-way valve clampingly secured directly between said outlet pipe
and said pump head.
8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said pump includes a one-piece
pump head forming the lower portion of said chamber means; said
motor being mounted directly on the upper end of said pump head and
having a shaft extending vertically downwardly through said pump
head; and bearing and packing means being operatively mounted
between said pump head and said motor shaft.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said pump includes an outer
one-piece casing being directly releasably secured to and below
said pump head.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said pump includes a pump
impeller secured to the periphery of said motor shaft within said
pump casing; and said comminutor including an imperforate impeller
disk secured to the terminal lower end of said motor shaft, a
comminutor ring operatively surrounding said impeller disk, and a
one-piece inlet shroud releasably secured directly to the lower end
of said pump casing with said comminutor ring clampingly retained
between said inlet shroud and said pumping casing.
11. A grinder-pump unit comprising: a motor having a vertical axis
of rotation; vertically downwardly extending motor drive shaft
means; a hollow pump head below said motor and surrounding said
motor shaft means; bearing and packing means supportingly and
sealingly connected to said shaft means between said pump head
hollow interior and said motor; a pump casing extending below and
secured directly to said pump head; a comminutor inlet shroud
extending below and directly secured to said pump casing; pump
means extending between said motor shaft means and said pump
casing; comminutor impeller means secured to lower terminal end of
said motor shaft means below said pump means; stationarily mounted
cooperating comminutor stator means secured between said pump
casing and said inlet shroud; said pump head including an annular
discharge chamber surrounding said motor shaft means upwardly of
said pump means and said pump casing, and an outlet passage
radially extending through said pump head above said pump casing
into said annular discharge chamber; said pump means being a
helical pump having a resilient material relatively fixed portion
comprising an outwardly extending mounting flange clampingly
secured directly between said pump head and said pump casing, an
outer annular wall integrally depending from said mounting flange
and extending away from the adjacent surface of said pump casing to
a lower terminal end, an inner annular wall portion integrally
extending upwardly from said outer annular wall terminal end, said
inner annular wall having a helical thread on its internal surface
surrounding said motor shaft means; and cooperating helical thread
means on said motor shaft means interengaging with said helical
thread during rotation of said motor shaft means to pump fluid
upwardly therebetween.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, including a discharge pipe directly
and releasably secured to said pump head in fluid communication
with said outlet passage; and a resilient flapper valve clampingly
sealed between said discharge pipe and said pump head for valving
said discharge outlet.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said pump head is of a
one-piece construction, said pump casing is of a one-piece
construction and said inlet shroud is of a one-piece
construction.
14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said comminutor impeller
includes an imperforate impeller disk and at least one impeller
blade secured to the lower face of said impeller disk and extending
downwardly therefrom with a radially outer terminal end
substantially flush with the outer periphery of said impeller disk;
and said comminutor stator means is a cutter ring having an
internal annular wall consisting essentially of a first lower
annular continuously smooth surface and a second annular cutting
surface of a plurality of uniformly peripherally spaced identical
axially extending slots.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said impeller blades are of
substantially the same thickness as said impeller disk, as measured
in the vertical direction; said axially extending slots extending
from below said impeller blades vertically upwardly to terminate
above said impeller blades, but below the adjacent upper surface of
said impeller disk; said cutter ring internal annular wall being
outward of the periphery of said impeller disk.
16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said pump head has an
axially extending passage; said pump casing having at its lower end
an outwardly facing slot substantially axially aligned with said
pump head axially extending passage; a pipe having an upper end
threadingly received in said pump head axially extending passage
and a lower free end engaging within said pump casing slot; a strap
secured at one end to said pump casing on one side of said slot to
extend tightly around said pipe to the other side of said slot and
having its other end secured to said pump casing; and automatic
control means communicating through said pipe for actuating said
pump means in response to fluid level.
17. A comminutor, comprising: a one-piece annular inlet shroud
having a free terminal lower end, an upwardly facing annular
shoulder, and an annular internal surface extending completely from
said terminal lower end to said annular shoulder; a comminutor ring
having an internal diameter substantially the same as the internal
diameter of said shroud internal surface and resting on said
annular shoulder; a substantially annular impeller housing having a
downwardly facing annular shoulder substantially aligned with said
upwardly facing annular shoulder and being releasably secured to
said inlet shroud for clamping therebetween said comminutor ring; a
shaft extending through said impeller housing and having drive
means at its upper end; a comminutor impeller drivingly secured to
the lower terminal end of said shaft within said impeller housing
for cooperation with said comminutor ring; said comminutor impeller
including an imperforate disc having a peripheral edge closely
adjacent to the inner periphery of said comminutor ring; and pump
means driven by rotation of said shaft for sucking fluid upwardly
through said inlet shroud and only between said imperforate
impeller disc and said comminutor ring.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said inlet shroud annular
inlet surface is continuously smooth; and said comminutor ring
includes an inner wall consisting essentially of a first
continuously smooth annular surface substantially forming a
continuation of said inlet shroud internal surface and a second
upper cutter surface having a plurality of peripherally uniformly
spaced axially extending slots.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, including at least one impeller
blade mounted on the lower surface of said impeller disc and
extending downwardly in radial opposition with said slots.
20. A comminutor, comprising: a one-piece annular inlet shroud
having a free terminal lower end, an upwardly facing annular
shoulder, and a continuously smooth annular internal surface
extending completely from said terminal lower end to said annular
shoulder; a comminutor ring having an internal diameter
substantially the same as the internal diameter of said shroud
internal surface and resting on said annular shoulder; a
substantially annular impeller housing having a downwardly facing
annular shoulder substantially aligned with said upwardly facing
annular shoulder and being releasably secured to said inlet shroud
for clamping therebetween said comminutor ring; a shaft extending
through said impeller housing and having drive means at its upper
end; a comminutor impeller drivingly secured to the lower terminal
end of said shaft within said impeller housing for cooperation with
said comminutor ring; said inlet shroud and said comminutor ring
having their internal annular surfaces substantially axially
aligned in the vertical direction; and the internal surface of said
inlet shroud flaring slightly radially outward from said shoulder
to its terminal lower end, and the internal surface of said
comminuting ring consisting of a first lower continuously smooth
annular surface and a second upper bladed
21. A sewage installation, comprising a closed tank having an upper
removable cover and an inlet pipe below said cover for discharging
sewage directly into said tank; a sewage grinding and pumping unit
supportingly mounted only on and depending from said unit having
housing means forming a substantially sealed chamber with respect
to the inside of said tank; motor and motor control means mounted
within said sealed chamber; a downwardly opening comminutor and
upper pump mounted externally from and below said housing means;
and said cover including a first annular portion rigidly supporting
said unit and a second cover mounted for removal to expose the
interior of said sealed chamber.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said pump has a discharge
side; and including a discharge pipe extending from the discharge
side of said pump upwardly through said cover.
23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said tank and housing means
include a free sewage area below said unit and annularly
surrounding said unit from the bottom of said tank continuously
upwardly the full length of said unit to said cover.
24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said motor includes a motor
shaft extending through said housing means and having mounted
directly thereon a pump impeller and a lower comminuting
impeller.
25. A sewage installation, comprising a closed tank having an upper
removable cover and an inlet pipe below said cover for discharging
sewage directly into said tank; a sewage grinding and pumping unit
supportingly mounted only on and depending from said cover entirely
within said tank; said unit having housing means forming a
substantially sealed chamber with respect to the inside of said
tank; motor and motor control means mounted within said sealed
chamber; a downwardly opening comminutor and upper pump mounted
externally from and below said housing means; said housing means
including a one-piece control housing integral with said cover and
having therein said motor control means; said housing means further
including a tube telescopically engaging said control housing and
depending therefrom; and said housing means further including a
pump head telescopically engaging the lower end of said tube.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, including sealing means at each of
said telescopic connections and means extending between and tightly
clamping said pump head and said control housing together axially
with said tube interposed.
27. A sewage installation, comprising a closed tank having an upper
removable cover and an inlet pipe below said cover for discharging
sewage directly into said tank; a sewage grinding and pumping unit
supportingly mounted only on and depending from said cover entirely
within said tank; said unit having housing means forming a
substantially sealed chamber with respect to the inside of said
tank; motor and motor control means mounted within said sealed
chamber; a downwardly opening comminutor and upper pump mounted
externally from and below said housing means; said comminutor
including a stationary comminuting ring and a rotatably mounted
impeller disc within said ring; said pump being operable to pump
fluid upwardly between said impeller disc and said comminuting
ring; said impeller disc being imperforate to pumped fluid and
having at least two diametrically opposed downwardly extending
impeller blades; each of said impeller blades having an outer edge
substantially axially flush with the outer periphery of the
impeller disc; said impeller disc having a lowermost at least
annular planar surface extending substantially to its outer
periphery and being perpendicular to the axis of rotation; each of
said impeller blades having a height, as measured in the axial
direction, beyond said impeller disc planar surface within the
range of 0.200 - 0.250 inch.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sewage handling systems are known wherein sewage is pumped upwardly
to a gravity feed pipe as in a lift station or through pressure
pipes leading to a disposal site independently of ground elevation.
Sewage pumps and sewage grinders are known, but there is a need for
a compact sewage holding or storage device that will periodically
pump sewage with a high pressure according to automatic operation,
and which will be economical to mass produce and operate over long
periods of time without servicing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pump storage
grinder for pressurized sewage systems of the like, which will meet
the above-mentioned needs.
According to the present invention, a sewage holding and storage
tank has an inlet and a separate cover, with the cover supporting a
depending sewage grinder-pump unit. A control housing is integral
with the cover and together with a motor containing tube and pump
head having packing and motor shaft bearings form a sealed chamber.
The control housing, tube and pump head are telescopically engaged
and drawn together by means of tension bolts extended between the
cover and pump head. A small cover plate will provide access to the
sealed chamber without requiring the removal of the main cover.
A one-piece pump housing or casing is secured directly to the pump
head and contains therein a resilient helical pump driven by the
motor shaft. An inlet shroud for the comminutor is directly secured
to the lower end of the pump housing to clamp a comminutor ring
between opposed shoulders of the pump housing and inlet shroud. An
imperforate impeller disk with opposed blades is mounted on the
terminal lower end of the motor shaft to cooperate with the
comminutor ring.
The pump head is provided with a discharge chamber having a radial
discharge passage leading to a discharge conduit extending through
the cover. A one-way valve is clamped between the pump head and
discharge conduit to prevent backflow of sewage into the holding
tank.
Automatic operation of the pump-grinder is obtained by means of
motor controls having a pressure sensing passage opening adjacent
the inlet shroud to sense the liquid head at this point and thus
the terminal liquid level within the holding tank.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become more clear from the following detailed description of
the drawing, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken on a vertical plane
extending through the central axis of a pump storage grinder
employing the features of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the impeller and
comminuting ring as they are shown in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of FIG. 2, with line 2--2 showing where
the cross-section of FIG. 2 would be taken with respect to the
structure of FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The pump storage grinder of FIG. 1 includes a single piece upwardly
opening cup-shaped receptacle 1, which may be metallic, having an
outwardly extending peripheral flange 2 at its open end, a bottom
3, a substantially cylindrical side wall 4, and boss 5 having an
inlet pipe 6 welded or otherwise rigidly secured thereto. The inlet
pipe 6 is provided with a coupling at its outer end, which may be
threaded, for connection to a pressurized or gravity sewage line
for discharge of sewage directly into the receptacle 1. An annular
cover 7 is sealingly clamped to the flange 2, with the
inter-position of an annular gasket (not shown in detail) by means
of a plurality of peripherally spaced bolts 8 extending through
aligned holes in the cover 7 and flange 2, which bolts 8 have nuts
9 threaded thereon.
As an integral part of the cover 7, a one-piece motor control
housing 10 is welded at its peripheral outwardly extending flange
11 to form a rigid unit. A small removable cover plate 12 is
releasably secured by means of conventional fasteners 13 to the
inner periphery of the annular cover 7.
The depending motor control housing 10 has a downwardly facing
annular shoulder 14 in abutting engagement with a cylindrical tube
15 telescopically received on a depending cylindrical coupling
portion (not shown) of the control housing 10, the details of which
coupling are identical to the later described coupling for the
lower end of tube 15. A tension band 16 provides sealing clamping
pressure to this telescopic coupling.
The other end of the tube 15 is telescopically received on a
cylindrical coupling portion 17 of a pump head 18 for abutting
engagement with an upwardly facing annular shoulder 19 of the pump
head 18. An O-ring seal 20 is provided between the coupling portion
17 and the adjacent internal surface of the tube 15. To further
assure a sealing coupling, the coupling portion 17 is provided with
a triangular cross-section ridge 21, which will bite into the
adjacent internal surface of the tube 15; preferably, the tube 15
is constructed of a synthetic material, for example, a polymer. The
seal caused by the ridge 21 is assured by a constricted band 22.
The sealing structure 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 is a mirror image of the
above-described sealing structure including elements 14, 16.
The weight of and forces transmitted to the pump head 18 are
carried by a plurality of tension bolts 23 threaded or otherwise
secured at their lower end to the pump head 18 and at their upper
end to the flange 11 of the cover 7 by means of nut heads 24.
Because of this structure, the tube 15 is needed only for sealing
purposes and may therefore be of a relatively weak, light and
inexpensive structure. In this manner, the cover 7, control housing
10, cover plate 12, tube 15, and pump head 18 form a sealed chamber
25 for housing therein a motor and motor controls as will
hereinafter be described in more detail.
To drive the pump and comminutor or grinder, there is provided a
motor 26, of conventional commercially obtained structure
supportingly mounted to the upper surface of the pump head 18. The
left hand shown tension bolt 23 extends outside of the motor casing
and its lower portion appears in FIG. 1 for purposes of
illustration only by a deviation of the cross-section line and
cutting away the lower portion of the motor 26. A conventional
bearing 27 and sealing means or packing 28 mounts the motor shaft
29 in the pump head 18 to complete the seal for the chamber 25.
The pump includes a one-piece metallic pump housing or casing 30
rigidly secured directly to the bottom of the one-piece pump head
by means of bolt type fasteners 31. A mounting flange 32 for the
resilient pump casing is peripherally clamped between opposed
shoulders of the pump head 18 and pump housing 30. An outer annular
wall 33 of the resilient casing depends from the flange 32 and at
its terminal end is integrally connected with an inner casing wall
34, which elements 32, 33 and 34 are constructed in one piece of
rubber or other resilient material. The internal surface of the
inner wall 34 is provided with a helical thread or groove that
cooperates with helically threaded member 35 carried by the motor
shaft 29 to form a helical pump in a known manner.
The pump discharges fluid upwardly into an annular discharge
chamber 36 formed in the pump head 18 around the motor shaft 29
externally of the sealed chamber 25. A radially extending discharge
port 37 leads from the discharge chamber 36 to a discharge elbow 38
that is suitably and releasably secured to the pump head 18 with
the mounting portion of a one-way flapper valve 39 clamped
therebetween. The flapper valve 39 is the same as that disclosed in
application Ser. No. 573, "PSG-02 Check Valve," filed Jan. 5, 1970,
of common assignee, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein
in its entirety by reference. A vertically extending pipe 40 passes
upwardly through the cover 7 with the inter-position of a sealing
O-ring 41. The pipe 40 and elbow 38 together form a discharge
conduit.
Power for the motor 26 is obtained from an input wire 42 that
extends through the cover 7 to a motor control 43, which will
actuate the motor 26 through wires 44 in response to the attainment
of a predetermined level of fluid within the receptacle 1. The
motor control 43 is supported on a suitable shoulder (not shown)
provided on the inside of the motor control housing 10. To sense
the fluid level within the receptacle 1, the motor control 43 is
provided with a flexible pipe 45 extending downwardly through the
sealed chamber 25 to where it is sealingly attached by means of a
threaded pipe coupling 46 to a passage 47 formed in the pump head
18, which passage 47 is threaded to receive a vertically extending
pipe 48 that opens at 49 substantially flush with the lower edge of
the pump housing 30. The lower end of the pipe 48 is secured to the
lower end of the pump housing 30 by means of an outwardly opening
and axially extending slot 50 in the side wall of pump housing 30
and a clamping band 51 secured at its terminal ends to the pump
housing 30.
For venting the receptacle 1 to the atmosphere, the control housing
10, preferably a casting, is formed with a depending pipe 52 that
provides a fluid passage opening at one end to the inside of the
receptacle 1 and its opposite end above the cover 7. The passage
formed within pipe 52 is not in communication with the sealed
chamber 25.
The comminutor of the present invention employs an imperforate
impeller disk 53 drivingly secured to the lower terminal end of the
motor shaft 29. At least two diametrically opposed impeller blades
54 are secured to the downwardly facing surface of the disk 53 to
pick up and impell fluid radially outwardly as the shaft 29
rotates. An impeller stator or ring 55 is clampingly received
between opposed shoulders 56 and 57 of an annular inlet shroud 58
and the pump housing 30, respectively. The one-piece metallic inlet
shroud 58 is directly secured to the lower end of the pump housing
30 by means of a plurality of peripherally spaced bolt type
fasteners 59. The inlet shroud 58 has a continuously smooth
internal surface 60 that extends completely around the exposed
inside of the shroud from the lower-most terminal edge 61 upwardly
and inwardly to the shoulder 56.
As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the impeller disk 53 is provided
with a hub 62 to rigidly secure it to the impeller shaft. The
impeller blades 54 are respectively mounted within radially
extending slots 63 by means of headed screw fasteners 64. As a
variation, the blades 54 may be formed in one piece with the
impeller disk 53 by casting or they may be integrally attached by
welding or the like. As seen, the outer terminal edge of each blade
54 is axially flush with the periphery of the impeller disk 53.
The comminutor ring 55 has a continuously smooth internal surface
65, which as shown in FIG. 1 substantially forms a continuation of
the shroud surface 60. The surface 65 continuously extends from the
lower terminal edge 66 upwardly and tapered outwardly to a
transition line 67. Upwardly from the transition line 67 to the
upper terminal edge 68 of the ring 55, there is formed a cutting
surface consisting of a plurality of peripherally uniformly spaced
axially extending semi-circular cross section slots 69, which
cooperate with the rotating blades 54 to comminute sewage material
passing therebetween. From FIG. 2, it is seen that the slots 69
extend from below the blades 54 upwardly past the blades to
approximately the mid-point of the adjacent periphery of the disk
53. Also, it is seen that the internal surface of the ring 55,
including the surface 65 and cutting surface having the slots 69
extends outwardly or is substantially axially aligned with the
periphery of the disk 53, that is, there is no inward overlapping
that would tend to catch woven material or the like. With this
construction, any solid material or woven fabric material would be
picked up by the blades 54 and freely rejected downwardly if it
could not pass between the impeller disk 53 and ring 55.
Thereafter, the rejected material would again be sucked upwardly
for additional rejections until it is either completely passed
upwardly to the pump or reduced in size until it falls to an
inaccessible portion of the bottom 3 of the container 1. Thus, the
comminutor will not clog.
Since the operation of the pump storage grinder has been described
along with its specific structure, there will be no specific
discussion of the operation, which has been fully disclosed above.
Further variations, modifications and embodiments are contemplated
according to the broader aspects of the present invention and the
specifically described structure is that of a preferred embodiment
and there is no intention to be expressly limited thereto.
It is important that the load created by the submerged cutter
elements of the comminutor moving water and refuse be kept to a
minimum. If not, the result can be an over-sized motor adding cost,
over-heating of the motor, or such a large current drain that it
cannot be handled by conventional home branch circuit. The cutter
bars or blades must be kept to a minimum height below the level of
the impeller disk to keep this load low. On the other hand, it has
been found that the cutter blades cannot be reduced below a certain
minimum or the characteristic swirling action created by the
impellers ceases and there are no currents attending to draw
materials into the cutter. This is particularly critical with the
impeller of the present invention that is imperforate and has
material sucked upwardly around it. Experience has shown the
optimum height of the cutter bars, as measured in the vertical
direction of FIG. 1 parallel with the axis of shaft 29, below the
adjacent plane surface of the impeller disk to be between 0.200 and
0.250 inch as the best compromise between low load and adequate
swirling action. With the construction of FIG. 2 where the cutter
blades 54 extend into slots formed in the cutter disk, the
above-mentioned critical height would be the actual height of the
cutter blades minus the depth or height of the slots 63, that is,
the net height of the cutter blades. As a specific example, each
cutter blade would have an overall height of 0.138 to 0.313 inch, a
radial extent from the center line of the screw 64 to the outer
edge of 0.509 to 0.505 inch, an overall radial extent of 1.258 to
1.250 inches, a circumferential width of 0.375 to 0.372 inch, and
its bevelled surface extending at approximately 15.degree. to the
radial direction. As a specific illustration of the dimensions for
the impeller disk, the disk would have a diameter of between 5.69
to 5.61 inches, a disk height (excluding the hub) of 0.527 to 0.463
inch with the depth of the slot 63 being between 0.097 and 0.093
inch. According to the more specific form of the invention, the
above-mentioned height range for the extent of the cutter blades
downwardly from the adjacent lowermost point of surface of the
impeller disk being between 0.200 and 0.250 inch is critical; the
above-mentioned specific examples being within this range and being
a preferred embodiment. Also, it has been found that the cutter
bars must be essentially flush with the edge of the impeller disk
for optimum performance. If the cutter bars or blades project over
the edge of the disk items such as cloth and plastic tend to wrap
around the cutter blade causing objectionable load and vibration
and very slow processing of the items. If the bars are recessed
back from the edge of the disk, grinding does not occur. Also, for
the optimum rejecting and reprocessing of hard materials such as
metal, or non-metallic flexible items such as cloth or plastic, it
is critical that the grinding mechanism be mounted in the inverted
position, that is, that the inlet for the comminutor face
downwardly. The above-mentioned items would plug the grinder if the
grinder were not in the inverted position, or at the least greatly
reduce its efficiency.
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