Pump Body Assembly Piston Sleeve Eccentric Rotation Prevention

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Solution Overview

Problem

The working efficiency of pump body assemblies is affected due to the piston sleeve's tendency to rotate eccentrically and aslant, causing friction and performance issues.

Innovation Solution

The pump body assembly includes at least two structure members, a cylinder, and a piston assembly with a piston sleeve and piston. Position-limiting protrusions and grooves are strategically placed to prevent radial movement of the piston sleeve, ensuring it rotates normally.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the piston sleeve is allowed to rotate freely in the cylinder, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the piston sleeve rotates eccentrically and aslant causing friction and reduced working efficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveworking efficiencyVSAvoidstructure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces position-limiting protrusions on the piston sleeve that engage with position-limiting grooves on the cylinder wall. These intermediary features act as mediators between the piston sleeve and cylinder, preventing eccentric rotation while maintaining the overall simplicity of the structure. The protrusions and grooves work together as a coordinated system to guide and constrain the piston sleeve's motion.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The position-limiting grooves are pre-formed on the cylinder wall before the piston sleeve is installed. This preliminary action ensures that when the piston sleeve is assembled, the pre-positioned protrusions and grooves automatically engage to prevent eccentric rotation from the outset, eliminating the need for additional adjustment or complex alignment mechanisms during operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If position-limiting protrusions and grooves are added to prevent radial movement, then the piston sleeve rotates normally without eccentricity, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoperation reliabilityVSAvoidstructure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The position-limiting function is segmented into two separate components: protrusions on the piston sleeve and corresponding grooves on the cylinder. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently with standard machining processes, and the two parts work together to provide the position-limiting function. The segmentation reduces the complexity of any single component while achieving the overall reliability goal.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The position-limiting protrusions and grooves are localized features positioned at specific locations on the piston sleeve and cylinder. Rather than requiring complex mechanisms throughout the entire assembly, the solution applies local quality by concentrating the position-limiting function at specific points where the protrusions and grooves engage, maintaining simplicity elsewhere in the structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3779197B1Pump body assembly, fluid machine, and heat exchange device
Publication Date: 2025.04.23 GREE ELECTRIC APPLIANCE INC OF ZHUHAI
  • EP3779197B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3779197B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP3779197B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

A pump body assembly, fluid machinery, and a heat exchange device. The pump body assembly includes: at least two structure members; a cylinder (20) disposed between the two structure members; and a piston assembly disposed in the cylinder (20). The piston assembly includes a piston sleeve (40) and a piston (50) slidably disposed in the piston sleeve (40); an upper end surface of the piston sleeve (40) fits and is limited by a lower end surface of one structure member disposed above the piston sleeve (40), so as to prevent the piston sleeve (40) from displacing along a radial direction relative to the one structure member, thereby effectively solving a problem in prior art that working efficiency of the pump body assembly is affected because the piston sleeve (40) of the pump body assembly is prone to eccentrically rotate.