Gear Pump Assembly Alignment With Single-Side Bearing Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pump assemblies face challenges with nonuniform loadings and bending of shafts due to precise coordination requirements of bearing points, leading to inefficiencies and complexity in alignment and assembly.
Innovation Solution
A pump assembly design featuring intermeshing gear wheels with centering pins and bearing bushings mounted on one side, forming a pressure chamber within a housing, allowing for precise alignment and reduced tolerance chains, and using a method that includes press fits and integrally bonded connections for efficient fluid conveyance and reduced radial force transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If shafts are mounted on bearing points on both sides of the conveying means, then the conveying means are securely supported, but the positional tolerances of the bearing points must be precisely coordinated, leading to nonuniform loadings and bending loadings of the shafts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts one of the two bearing points from the conventional dual-sided mounting arrangement, leaving only a single bearing point on one side of the conveying means. This eliminates the need to coordinate positional tolerances between multiple bearing points while maintaining adequate support through the single bearing point combined with the shaft's structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the support function by using the single bearing point for primary support while relying on the shaft's inherent stiffness and the housing structure to provide additional support, distributing the support function across different elements rather than requiring multiple precisely coordinated bearing points
2Reliability
If multiple bearing points are used to support the shafts, then the conveying means are well-supported, but the assembly complexity increases due to the need for precise coordination of positional tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes unnecessary bearing points from the assembly, retaining only the essential single bearing point that provides adequate support without requiring coordination with other bearing points, thereby simplifying the assembly process and reducing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft itself serves as a structural element that provides support and positioning functions that would otherwise require multiple bearing points, eliminating the need for complex bearing point coordination and simplifying the overall assembly
Data Source
AI summary
A pump assembly comprising at least one housing and two gear wheels. The housing comprises at least one base plate and a cover element, which are interconnectable to form a pressure chamber. An outer circumferential surface of each of the two gear wheels has a toothing, and the gear wheels intermesh via the toothings to convey a fluid. The gear wheels are arranged along an axial direction in the pressure chamber between the base plate and the cover element. The pressure chamber is formed in the housing at least by two bores. The first gear wheel is arranged in a first bore and the second gear wheel is arranged in a second bore. Centering pins are provided for aligning the bores and the gear wheels with respect to one another, wherein all centering pins are arranged exclusively in the cover element or exclusively in the base plate.