High Pressure Pump Check Valve Keeper Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high pressure direct drive pumps experience premature fatigue and increased maintenance due to high pressure variations and complex assembly processes, particularly affecting check valve components and threaded retainer nuts.
Innovation Solution
The design integrates check valve assemblies without threaded parts, consolidating multiple components into unitary manifolds, reducing the number of parts and using metal-to-metal seals to enhance durability and simplify assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional threaded retainer nuts are used to secure check valve components, then assembly is straightforward, but fatigue failure occurs prematurely due to high pressure variations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the retainer nut and check valve body into a single unitary component. The check valve body is formed as an integrated piece that eliminates the need for separate threaded retainer nuts, thereby removing the source of fatigue failure while simplifying the overall assembly structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the threaded retainer nut from the check valve assembly. By removing this vulnerable component that is subjected to high cyclic stresses, the design prevents fatigue failure and extends the service life of the pump system.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple individual components are used in check valve assemblies, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the number of parts increases leading to higher complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple check valve components into a single unitary check valve body. This integration reduces the total number of parts while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through processes like casting or forging, thereby simplifying assembly without sacrificing ease of manufacture.
3Ease of operation
If threaded parts are used to secure check valve components, then assembly is simplified, but fatigue-related failures increase under high pressure cycling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the securing function into the unitary check valve body itself, eliminating the need for separate threaded fasteners. This design maintains ease of assembly through simple installation while inherently resisting fatigue failure by removing threaded interfaces that are vulnerable to high pressure cycling.
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 approach extends the service life of high pressure pumps by reducing fatigue-related failures and simplifying assembly, while maintaining high pressure performance and precision.
Implementation Method 1
using metal-to-metal seals to enhance durability and simplify assembly
Data Source
AI summary
High pressure pumps and associated check valves for use with, e.g., waterjet systems, are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, high pressure pumps configured in accordance with the present disclosure include check valve assemblies that eliminate threaded parts for restricting the motion of check valve components which are subjected to very high pressure variations at relatively high frequencies. Additionally, embodiments of the pumps described herein can include unitary structures that integrate the individual parts associated with multiple cylinders (e.g., cylinders, check valve bodies, etc.) into a single part (e.g., a cylinder manifold, check valve manifold, outlet manifold, etc.) that can substantially reduce the number of different parts required to assemble the pump.