Flexible Gerotor Pump for Pulse Attenuation and Leak Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pumps face issues with mechanical seals that lead to fluid leakage, wear, and pulsation in fluid pressure and flow rate, particularly in applications requiring precise fluid dispensing, and existing solutions for pulsation reduction compromise dispensing accuracy or introduce delays.
Innovation Solution
A gerotor pump design with flexible gerotors and a pulse attenuating arrangement that maintains a flexibly compressed gap between gerotors, using antiphase correction to reduce output port pulsations, and incorporates a motor arrangement with a motor cavity for fluid cooling and sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional mechanical seals are used to prevent fluid leakage, then sealing performance is improved, but wear and leakage increase with prolonged usage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the mechanical seal component entirely from the pump system. Instead of using traditional mechanical seals between the motor and pump head, the invention integrates the motor directly with the pump head, eliminating the need for seals and thereby preventing wear and leakage issues associated with prolonged seal usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the motor and pump head into a single integrated unit. The motor is positioned such that its rotor extends into the pump head, creating a unified structure that eliminates the boundary requiring sealing, thus solving the reliability-duration contradiction.
2Reliability
If mechanical seals are used for preventing leakage, then sealing is improved, but manufacturing costs increase due to increased tolerance requirements
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the mechanical seal from the system, the patent eliminates the need for high-precision manufacturing tolerances that would be required to achieve effective sealing. This integration approach significantly reduces manufacturing complexity and cost.
3Productivity
If conventional pumps are used, then fluid transport is achieved, but temporal pulsation in fluid pressure and flow rate occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible gerotor components that can dynamically adapt during operation. The flexible material allows the gerotor teeth to deform and compensate for pressure variations, smoothing out pulsations while maintaining fluid transport capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the gerotor material from rigid to flexible. This parameter change allows the components to absorb and dampen pressure pulsations, improving fluid pressure stability without compromising productivity.
4Ease of manufacture
If gaps are present between movable components, then ease of assembly is improved, but fluid leakage and stagnancy increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible gerotor components that can deform to close gaps dynamically during operation. The flexible material allows the components to maintain contact and seal gaps without requiring precise manufacturing tolerances, thus maintaining both ease of assembly and fluid sealing reliability.
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
The gerotor pump effectively reduces pulsations and prevents fluid leakage, ensuring accurate and efficient fluid dispensing without delays, suitable for applications like microelectronic and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
a pulse attenuating arrangement for reducing an amplitude of periodic pulses present at the output port arrangement generated in response to rotation of the outer gerotor and inner gerotor when in use
Implementation Method 2
at least one of the outer gerotor and the inner gerotor are fabricated from a flexible material and/or are internally structured so as to exhibit a flexible peripheral exterior surface in operation
Implementation Method 3
The pump is operable to direct the fluid medium via the pump head and the motor cavity when pumping the fluid medium
Data Source
AI summary
A gerotor pump includes a pump head including a configuration of gerotors for pumping in operation a fluid medium from an input port arrangement to an output port arrangement, and a motor arrangement for providing mechanical power in operation for actuating the configuration of gerotors. The configuration of gerotors includes an outer gerotor and an inner gerotor that are operable to cooperate to entrap and propel the fluid medium from the input port arrangement to the output port arrangement. At least one of the outer gerotor and the inner gerotor are fabricated from a flexible material and/or are internally structured so as to exhibit a flexible peripheral exterior surface in operation. Moreover, the outer gerotor and the inner gerotor are loaded and/or are assembled together in a preloaded state, within the pump head, so that a gap formed between the gerotors whereat they mutually cooperate for entrapping and propelling the fluid medium is maintained in a flexibly compressed state when the pump is in operation. Optionally, at least one of the outer and inner gerotors is fabricated as a hybrid component including regions of a flexible material therein, and regions of an inflexible material therein. More optionally, the flexible material has a Young's modulus in a range of 1 MegaPascal (MPa) to 5 GigaPascals (GPa), and the inflexible material has a Young's modulus in a range of 2 GPa to 420 GPa. Optionally, at least one gerotor gerotor pump is includes in a gerotor pump apparatus that includes a pulse attenuating arrangement at an output port of the gerotor pump apparatus for attenuating periodic pulses and fluctuations in a fluid flow provided in use at the output port.