Sealing mechanism for water pump

Inactive Publication Date: 2005-11-10
AISIN SEIKI KK
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sealing mechanism for a water pump that allows for an easy inspection for faults that may be present in internal spaces of a block, such as an annular groove having a branching groove segment for holding a protruding segment of an annular sealing member used for determining a proper installation of the annular sealing member, and a vortex chamber surrounded by the annular groove.
[0011] As mentioned above, according to the present invention, the pump body and the block respectively have attachment surfaces that surround an opening defined by the vortex chamber, and the first one of the attachment surfaces is provided with the annular groove. Moreover, the annular sealing member embedded in the annular groove is provided and has the protruding segment protruding from the periphery of the annular sealing member such that the protruding segment extends outward from the outer periphery of the second one of the attachment surfaces. Furthermore, the annular groove includes the branching groove segment which branches out from the annular groove and is provided in the first one of the attachment surfaces such that the protruding segment is embedded in the branching groove segment. Consequently, after the water pump is fabricated by combining the pump body and the block via the respective attachment surfaces, the protruding segment may be visually checked to determine whether the annular sealing member is properly installed. Furthermore, since the first attachment surface has a single plane and extends continuously around the annular groove and the branching groove segment in a surrounding manner, a gas-leakage test can be performed by applying gas pressure to the internal space of the block in a state where a leakage-test sealing member is in contact with the first attachment surface at the outer periphery side of the annular groove and the branching groove segment such that the internal space surrounded by the first attachment surface is sealed. Accordingly, an inspection process for faults in the annular groove and the internal space can be readily performed while achieving a simple and low-cost structure. Furthermore, since the leakage-test sealing member is not to be embedded in the annular groove, the leakage-test sealing member may have a large width. This achieves a longer life span of the leakage-test sealing member. Moreover, the block may be positioned roughly with respect to the leakage-test sealing member.
[0012] In addition, since the protruding segment protruding from the periphery of the annular sealing member may extend outward from the outer periphery of the pump body, and the branching groove segment branching out from the annular groove and holding the protruding segment may be provided in the attachment surface of the block, the protruding segment may be visually checked to determine whether the annular sealing member is properly installed after the water pump is fabricated by combining the pump body and the block via the respective attachment surfaces. Furthermore, since the attachment surface has a single plane and extends continuously around the annular groove and the branching groove segment in a surrounding manner, a gas-leakage test can be performed by applying gas pressure to the internal space of the block in a state where a leakage-test sealing member is in contact with the attachment surface at the outer periphery side of the annular groove and the branching groove segment such that the opening in the attachment surface defined by the vortex chamber is sealed. Accordingly, an inspection process for faults in the annular groove and the internal space can be readily performed while achieving a simple and low-cost structure. Furthermore, since the leakage-test sealing member is not to be embedded in the annular groove, the leakage-test sealing member may have a large width. This achieves a longer life span of the leakage-test sealing member. Moreover, the block may be positioned roughly with respect to the leakage-test sealing member.

Problems solved by technology

However, the narrow leakage-test sealing member is problematic in that its life span is extremely short.
If the sealing member is made in contact with the attachment surface at an inner side of the annular groove to seal the opening of the attachment surface defined by the vortex chamber, the annular groove cannot be inspected for casting faults.

Method used

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  • Sealing mechanism for water pump
  • Sealing mechanism for water pump
  • Sealing mechanism for water pump

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Embodiment Construction

[0020] A first type of water pump 10 provided with a sealing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. In the description below, the terms “front” and “rear” respectively refer to the left and right sides of a water pump in cross section shown in each of FIGS. 1, 4, 5, and 6. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the water pump 10 includes a block 11 which is a part of a chain case fixed to a front face of a cylinder block of an engine. A front portion of the block 11 has an attachment surface 14 to which a pump body 12 is fixed with a bolt 13. The attachment surface 14 is depressed and thus provided with an opening functioning as a vortex chamber 16 that houses an impeller 15. The impeller 15 rotates and creates a centrifugal force that allows coolant water in the vortex chamber 16 to flow outward and to be pressurized. The coolant water thus travels through a water duct 19 disposed around the periphery of the vortex c...

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Abstract

A water pump includes a pump body and a block which are respectively provided with attachment surfaces that surround an opening defined by a vortex chamber. A first one of the attachment surfaces is provided with an annular groove. An annular sealing member is embedded in the annular groove. A sealing mechanism for the water pump includes the annular sealing member having a protruding segment protruding from a periphery of the annular sealing member such that the protruding segment extends outward from an outer periphery of a second one of the attachment surfaces; and the annular groove having a branching groove segment which branches out from the annular groove and is provided in the first one of the attachment surfaces such that the protruding segment is embedded in the branching groove segment.

Description

[0001] This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application 2004-131195, filed on Apr. 27, 2004, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to a sealing mechanism for a water pump. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] A typical water pump is disclosed in, for example, pages 3 and 4 and FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-314491. In this water pump, a front portion of a pump body 12 is provided with a cylindrical supporting section 12b having a small diameter. The cylindrical supporting section 12b rotatably supports a pulley 20 via a bearing unit 14. The pulley 20 is provided with a shaft 25 which extends towards the rear side of the water pump through a center hole 26 provided in the cylindrical supporting section 12b, such that a rear end portion of the shaft 25 is integrally c...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): F04D29/08F04D29/42F04D29/60F16J15/06
CPCF04D29/086F16J15/061F04D29/426
InventorOZAWA, YASUOKIMURA, ICHIROHASHIGUCHI, ITSUROKOGA, HIROYOSHI
OwnerAISIN SEIKI KK