Centrifugal pump cover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heaters for household appliances, particularly centrifugal pumps, face issues with dry operation management, where the safety device can fail catastrophically if the resistor overheats without water circulation, leading to pump damage.
Innovation Solution
A cover with an electric resistor that crosses through it, allowing direct contact with the liquid and featuring a control device sensitive to both resistor and liquid temperatures, along with a safety device on the outer face, optimizing heat exchange and sensitivity to prevent damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the resistor is placed inside the cover chamber with the cover interposed between resistor and water, then the resistor is protected from direct water contact, but heat exchange efficiency between resistor and water is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the cover as a thermal mediator that conducts heat from the resistor to the water. The cover is designed with specific thermal conductivity properties to efficiently transfer heat while maintaining the physical separation between resistor and water, thus protecting the resistor while ensuring effective heat exchange.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the thermal parameters of the cover material and its geometric configuration to optimize heat transfer. By changing the thickness, material composition, or surface area of the cover, the heat exchange efficiency is improved while maintaining resistor protection.
2Reliability
If the safety device (thermal fuse) is coupled to the cover, then it can detect resistor temperature, but its sensitivity is insufficient compared to direct resistor contact
Solution Approach 1:
The cover serves as a thermal intermediary that transmits temperature information from the resistor to the safety device. The cover's thermal conductivity is optimized to ensure that temperature changes on the resistor are accurately reflected on the cover surface where the thermal fuse is mounted, maintaining high detection sensitivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal fuse is pre-positioned on the cover at a location that maximizes its sensitivity to resistor temperature changes. The cover is designed to conduct heat preferentially to the safety device location, ensuring early detection of overheating conditions.
3Ease of operation
If the thermostat is coupled to the cover to control water temperature, then it can manage heating, but its sensitivity to water temperature changes is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cover acts as a thermal mediator between the water and the thermostat. It is designed with thermal properties that allow it to accurately reflect water temperature changes to the thermostat, enabling precise temperature control despite the indirect measurement approach.
4Device complexity
If the cover is designed with resistor and safety device coupling, then structural integration is achieved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the resistor mounting, safety device attachment, and water flow channeling into a single cover component. This merging of functions reduces the total number of parts and assembly steps, simplifying manufacturing despite the enhanced functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously serves as a structural element, a thermal conductor for heating, a mounting surface for the safety device, and a flow guide. This universality reduces the need for separate components, easing manufacturing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances heat exchange efficiency, improves safety device sensitivity, prevents lime scale accumulation, and allows accurate temperature control, making the heater more reliable and energy-efficient while reducing the risk of pump damage from dry operation.
Implementation Method 1
an electric resistor for heating the liquid, fixed to the cover and having a heating stretch
Implementation Method 2
at least one control device sensitive both to the temperature of the liquid and to the temperature of the electric resistor, fixed to the outer face
Implementation Method 3
at least one safety device sensitive to the temperature of the electric resistor, fixed to the outer face
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A cover (1 ) for a centrifugal pump which comprises a heating element (8), which has a heating stretch (10) and two end stretches (12) connected to the heating stretch (10), wherein the heating element (8) crosses the cover (1 ) so that the heating stretch (10) is under the cover (1 ) and the two end stretches (12) are over the cover (1 ), wherein at least one safety device (20), sensitive to the temperature of the electric resistor (8), fixed to the outer face (6), is provided and at least one control device (22), sensitive to both the temperature of the liquid and the temperature of the electric resistor (8), fixed to the outer face (6), is provided, wherein at least one first portion (14) of the heating stretch (10) is in contact with the cover (1 ), so that the heating stretch (10) is adapted to be contact with the liquid.