Gas Vane Pump Lubricant Supply Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas vane pumps face increased structural complexity and manufacturing costs due to the need for a metering device to manage lubricant supply, leading to excessive load on vanes and other elements when the rotor is stopped.
Innovation Solution
A method and design where the lubricant supply passage is closed outside a predetermined angular range and opens within it, allowing the lubricant mass to be divided into two portions by an initial divider vane, enabling sequential discharge and reducing the load on vanes, without the need for a metering device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a metering device is provided to manage lubricant supply, then the lubricant supply is controlled, but the structural complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the metering device from the system and replaces it with a lubricant supply passage that opens and closes based on rotor angular position. This extraction of the complex metering device while maintaining lubricant control functionality directly resolves the contradiction between quantity control and structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The lubricant supply passage automatically opens and closes based on the rotor's angular position without requiring external control mechanisms. The system uses the rotor's own motion to regulate lubricant supply, eliminating the need for complex metering devices while maintaining proper lubricant quantity control
2Reliability
If the rotor is stopped and lubricant remains in the housing, then lubrication is maintained, but excessive load acts on vanes and elements when rotation resumes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the lubricant mass into multiple portions using divider vanes within the pump chamber. This segmentation allows the lubricant to be discharged in smaller, manageable amounts rather than as a single large mass, reducing the peak load on vanes when rotation resumes while maintaining adequate lubrication
Solution Approach 2:
The divider vanes are positioned to segment and prepare the lubricant mass for discharge before the rotor fully rotates back to operating speed. This preliminary action of dividing and positioning the lubricant reduces the impact load when the rotor accelerates from stopped condition
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 reduces the load on vanes and other elements by allowing sequential discharge of lubricant portions, improving operational efficiency and maintaining pump performance without increasing manufacturing costs.
Implementation Method 1
a lubricant supply passage formed through the housing and the rotor, the lubricant supply passage being closed when the rotor is placed at an angular position relative to the housing, which angular position is outside a predetermined angular range, and opened for communication with an external lubricant supply source when the rotor is placed at an angular position within the predetermined angular range
Implementation Method 2
when the rotor is stopped at an angular position relative to the housing, which angular position is within the predetermined angular range, a mass of a lubricant remaining in a lowest portion of the pump chamber is divided into a first portion and a second portion, by an initial divider vane which is provided by one of the at least one vane portion
Data Source
AI summary
A gas vane pump wherein a lubricant is intermittently introduced into a housing during rotation of a rotor, through a supply passage formed through the housing and the rotor, and the relative position between the rotor having a diametric hole and the housing having a communication groove is determined such that when the rotor is at an angular position in the middle of a predetermined angular range relative to the housing and the hole is in communication with the groove, a point of contact between a vane movably held by the rotor and the inner circumferential surface of the housing is located at the lowest position of the inner circumferential surface. When the rotor is stopped within the predetermined angular range, the vane divides the remaining lubricant into two portions, which are discharged at different times, making it possible to reduce the load on the vane upon restarting the pump.