Independently Driven Pump Drivers Eliminate Gear Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gear pumps suffer from contamination issues due to the grinding of gear teeth, leading to the dispersion of sheared materials in the fluid, which can damage critical components and cause system failure.
Innovation Solution
The use of a pump design with at least two independently driven fluid drivers, each integrated with a prime mover, eliminates the contamination problems of traditional driver-driven gear pump configurations by avoiding direct mechanical interlocking of gear teeth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gear teeth are interlocked to transmit rotary motion from drive gear to driven gear, then fluid pumping function is achieved, but contamination and system failure occur due to grinding and sheared materials
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is divided into two independently driven fluid drivers instead of one driver driving another. Each fluid driver has its own prime mover, eliminating the mechanical interlocking between drive and driven gears. This segmentation prevents the grinding and shearing that causes contamination while maintaining the fluid pumping function through independent operation of the two fluid drivers.
2Productivity
If drive gear mechanically drives driven gear through meshing teeth, then fluid is transferred from inlet to outlet, but sheared materials disperse in fluid and damage critical components
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful mechanical interlocking between drive and driven gears is extracted and removed from the system. Instead of one gear driving another through meshing teeth, both fluid drivers are independently driven by separate prime movers. This extraction eliminates the source of sheared materials that damage critical components like O-rings and bearings, while the fluid pumping productivity is maintained through the coordinated independent operation of both fluid drivers.
3Device complexity
If single prime mover drives both drive gear and driven gear, then system complexity is reduced, but contamination issues arise from gear tooth grinding
Solution Approach 1:
The single prime mover is segmented into two independent prime movers, each driving one fluid driver. This segmentation increases the number of prime movers but eliminates the mechanical coupling between drive and driven gears, thereby preventing contamination from gear tooth grinding and improving overall system reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pump having at least two fluid drivers and a method of delivering fluid from an inlet of the pump to an outlet of the pump using the at least two fluid drivers. Each of the fluid drives includes a prime mover and a fluid displacement member. The prime mover drives the fluid displacement member to transfer fluid. The fluid drivers are independently operated. However, the fluid drivers are operated such that contact between the fluid drivers is synchronized. That is, operation of the fluid drivers is synchronized such that the fluid displacement member in each fluid driver makes contact with another fluid displacement member. The contact can include at least one contact point, contact line, or contact area.