Modular Tubular Diaphragm Pump for Serviceability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional diaphragm pumps are often large, not easily reconfigurable, and difficult to service, limiting their practical applications due to their permanent installation and lack of portability and versatility.
Innovation Solution
A mechanical tubular diaphragm pump design featuring a resilient tube with integrated check valves and a motorized reciprocating unit, allowing for modular attachment and easy replacement of the tube, enabling portability, reconfigurability, and high performance in fluid pumping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional diaphragm pumps are designed for permanent installation with fixed diaphragms, then structural stability is improved, but portability and ease of servicing deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is divided into modular components: a reusable motorized reciprocating unit and replaceable pump assemblies (housing, tube, and valves). This segmentation allows the pump assembly to be easily removed and replaced without affecting the motor unit, significantly improving ease of servicing while maintaining structural stability through the standardized interface between components.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump assembly (housing, tube, and valves) is extracted as a separate removable module from the motorized reciprocating unit. This extraction allows the pump components to be easily serviced, replaced, or configured for different applications without disturbing the motor unit, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and ease of repair.
2Reliability
If conventional diaphragm pumps use fixed and integrated components, then device reliability is improved, but adaptability and reconfigurability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The motorized reciprocating unit is designed as a universal platform that can work with different pump assemblies configured for various fluid handling applications. The standardized interface and modular design allow the same motor unit to reliably drive different pump configurations, achieving both reliability through proven mechanics and adaptability through reconfigurable pump assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from fixed, static components to dynamic, reconfigurable modules. The pump assembly can be dynamically adjusted or replaced to suit different applications while maintaining reliable operation through the consistent motorized reciprocating mechanism, resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.
3Productivity
If conventional diaphragm pumps are designed as large permanent installations, then pumping performance is improved, but portability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pump system is segmented into a motorized reciprocating unit and a separate pump assembly, allowing the pump to be designed in a compact, portable form factor while maintaining effective pumping performance through the efficient reciprocating mechanism. The modular design enables portability without sacrificing productivity.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional diaphragm pumps use traditional diaphragm structures, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but ease of servicing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pump assembly is segmented into discrete components (housing, tube, valves) that can be manufactured using simple, conventional processes and then assembled as a modular unit. This segmentation maintains manufacturing simplicity while dramatically improving ease of servicing, as the entire pump assembly can be quickly removed and replaced without complex disassembly procedures.
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 design provides a portable, reconfigurable, and serviceable pumping solution that maintains high performance, allowing for efficient fluid transfer and easy maintenance by enabling the use of different tubes for various applications.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient tube cyclically depressed and released by mechanical reciprocation... Depression of the tube forces fluid downstream from the tube while release of the tube draws in upstream fluid
Implementation Method 2
A pair of check valves located along the same fluid pathway as the tube limits flow of fluid to an upstream-to-downstream direction
Data Source
AI summary
Mechanical tubular diaphragm pump features are presented herein. Such a tubular pump can include a resilient tube having a lumen and a pair of upstream and downstream check valves located along the same fluid pathway as the lumen. The tubular pump further includes a motorized reciprocating unit and a depressor configured to be moved by the motorized reciprocating unit to cyclically depress and release the resilient tube. The resilient tube forces fluid within the lumen downstream past the downstream check valve as the resilient tube is depressed by the depressor, and further pulls upstream fluid past the upstream check valve and into the lumen as the resilient tube returns upon release by the depressor. Multiple resilient tubes may be used in the same pump. The tube(s), depressor, and valves may be attached to a housing that is modularly removable from the motorized reciprocating unit.