Pump Housing Grooves for Hygienic Seal Flushing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fluid pumps used in the food industry face contamination risks due to particle collection in cavities and pockets, especially around static and rotary seal elements, which can lead to fluid contamination if not properly cleaned.
Innovation Solution
The design features a pump housing device with grooves extending through the rear wall element, creating a pressure gradient that promotes fluid flow and flushing between the static and rotary seal elements, enhancing cleaning efficiency and reducing contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the pump housing is designed with traditional seal element arrangement, then the sealing function is maintained, but particles and food can collect in cavities and pockets around the seal elements causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing is segmented into functional zones using grooves that divide the cavity into distinct regions. These grooves create separate flow paths that prevent particle accumulation in dead zones while maintaining the overall sealing function of the housing structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a new dimensional feature - grooves extending from the rear surface toward the seal elements - that creates three-dimensional flow paths. This dimensional addition eliminates two-dimensional dead zones where particles would otherwise collect, enabling fluid to reach all surfaces including the seal element areas.
2Productivity
If grooves are added to the pump housing to improve fluid flow and cleaning, then particle removal is enhanced, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves are designed with specific geometric parameters - depth, width, and orientation - that optimize fluid flow and cleaning efficiency. By carefully controlling these parameters, the invention achieves effective particle removal while keeping the groove geometry simple enough for standard manufacturing processes.
3Productivity
If the static seal element is positioned between the impeller and rotary seal element, then a small diameter sealing cavity is created improving efficiency, but the cavity becomes harder to access for cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves act as intermediary channels that provide indirect access to the difficult-to-reach sealing cavity. While the static seal element remains positioned optimally for efficiency, the grooves serve as mediator pathways that allow cleaning fluid to reach and flush the cavity, solving the accessibility problem without compromising the efficient seal arrangement.
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 design improves the hygienic properties and fluid flow within the pump, ensuring effective cleaning and reduced contamination risks by utilizing the pressure difference across the grooves to flush out particles and maintain lubrication of seal surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
one or more grooves extend through the rear wall element and through the rear surface and the cylindrical surface, wherein each of said one or more grooves has a bottom line that extends from the rear surface to the cylindrical surface
Implementation Method 2
a small quantity of the rotating fluid that is pumped may, by means of the centrifugal forces, be present between the plane seal surface
Data Source
AI summary
A pump housing device for a fluid pump comprises a rear wall element comprising a rear surface turned towards an impeller. The rear wall element comprises an opening defining a cylindrical surface along a longitudinal central axis. The opening receives a rotating drive shaft of the impeller. A static seal element has a plane seal surface that seals against a plane seal surface of a rotary seal element mounted to the drive shaft and rotating with the drive shaft. The plane seal surface of the static seal element is turned away from the rear surface. One or more grooves extend through the rear wall element and through the rear surface and the cylindrical surface. Each groove has a bottom line that extends from the rear surface to the cylindrical surface.