Flexible Impeller Installation Tool with Cam Sleeve
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Installing flexible impellers in water pumps, especially in larger applications, is challenging due to their rigidity and the limited visibility when engine-mounted, and existing methods like using screwdrivers can cause damage.
Innovation Solution
A tool with a sleeve smaller than the impeller's relaxed diameter, a support, and a translation assembly that includes a pushing surface and threaded rod to compress and guide the impeller into the pump cavity, ensuring precise alignment and installation without damaging the impeller.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional hand installation method is used, then the impeller can be installed without special tools, but the installation is very difficult and time-consuming especially when engine mounted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an installation tool as an intermediary device between the installer and the impeller. This tool includes a sleeve that receives the impeller, a cam surface that applies controlled force to deform the impeller blades, and a translation assembly that moves the pushing surface to advance the impeller into the pump cavity. This intermediary tool makes the installation process straightforward and time-efficient, especially in engine-mounted applications with limited visibility.
2Ease of manufacture
If screw driver or blade is used to bend impeller into place, then the impeller can be deformed to fit, but damage may be caused to the impeller
Solution Approach 1:
The cam surface acts as an intermediary mechanism that provides controlled, distributed force to deform the impeller blades. Instead of using a screwdriver or blade that concentrates force at a single point and risks damage, the cam surface gradually deforms the flexible impeller material into the desired shape, bending the blades uniformly without causing damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the flexibility parameter of the impeller material, which allows the impeller to be deformed during installation and then recover its shape once installed. The cam surface temporarily changes the shape parameters of the impeller blades by applying controlled deformation, enabling the impeller to fit into the pump cavity without damage.
3Illumination intensity
If impeller is installed on bench or horizontal surface, then visibility is good, but the installation task becomes difficult due to gravity and positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The translation assembly with the pushing surface provides a mechanism to advance the impeller axially into the pump cavity without requiring the installer to manually position and press the impeller against gravity. The cam surface maintains consistent contact with the impeller blades throughout the translation process, ensuring uniform deformation and alignment regardless of the pump's orientation, making installation equally easy whether engine-mounted or on a bench.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool for installing a flexible impeller within a water pump includes a sleeve having a diameter smaller than an initial diameter of an impeller in a relaxed state, a support extending about an end of the sleeve, and a translation assembly engaged with the support and configured for translating a pushing surface of the translation assembly. In operation, an impeller is contracted into a constrained state and placed in the sleeve, the sleeve is then positioned proximal or in engagement with an opening of the water pump, and the translation assembly is translated such that the pushing surface pushes the impeller into the engine assembly as the translation assembly is translated.