Rotary Pump Lubricant Flow Control via Adjustable Orifice
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rotor pumps used in motor vehicles face challenges in maintaining consistent lubricant supply due to fluctuating engine speeds and pressures, leading to inefficient lubricant delivery and energy wastage.
Innovation Solution
A lubricant delivery limiting device with an adjustable orifice and mandrel system that regulates lubricant flow based on engine speed and pressure, ensuring sufficient lubrication at low speeds and reducing excess lubricant delivery at high speeds, using a self-regulating mechanism that adjusts the orifice opening to maintain constant lubricant supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the feed pump delivers a large amount of lubricant to ensure sufficient lubrication at low engine speeds, then the rotor pump receives adequate lubricant at low speeds, but at high engine speeds the rotor pump receives excessively large amounts of lubricant that must be discharged, wasting energy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the orifice opening adjustable based on operating conditions. The mandrel can be positioned at different depths in the orifice plate, changing the effective orifice area dynamically. This allows the system to adapt the lubricant flow rate to match the rotor pump's actual needs at different engine speeds, preventing both insufficient lubrication and excessive flow that would waste energy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the orifice opening area to control flow rate. By varying the depth of mandrel insertion into the orifice, the effective cross-sectional area for lubricant flow is changed. This parameter change enables the system to deliver appropriate lubricant quantities across different operating conditions, resolving the contradiction between ensuring adequate lubrication and avoiding energy-wasting excess flow.
2Reliability
If the feed pump delivers a large amount of lubricant to account for pressure fluctuations, then sufficient lubricant is always available, but the rotor pump cannot utilize the excess lubricant and must discharge it, requiring additional energy for removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the rotor pump's operating conditions (pressure, speed) indirectly control the orifice opening size through the mandrel position. The negative pressure in the rotor pump housing and lubricant pressure work together to position the mandrel, creating a self-regulating system that matches lubricant delivery to actual pump needs, preventing excess discharge.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the rotor pump's own operating parameters (negative pressure in housing, lubricant pressure) to automatically regulate the orifice opening. The mandrel position is determined by the balance between these pressures, making the system self-regulating without external control, ensuring lubricant delivery matches the pump's actual requirements.
3Device complexity
If an fixed orifice size is used in the supply line, then the structure is simple, but the lubricant delivery quantity cannot be adjusted to match varying engine speeds and pump requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static orifice into a dynamic one by introducing a movable mandrel that can be positioned at different depths. This dynamic element allows the orifice effective area to change with operating conditions while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure. The mandrel's movement is passive, driven by pressure differences, keeping the mechanism simple yet adaptable.
Solution Approach 2:
The mandrel is nested within the orifice plate structure, with the mandrel fitting into the orifice opening. This nested arrangement allows the movable element (mandrel) to be integrated within the existing orifice structure, maintaining compactness and simplicity while enabling adjustable flow control through depth variation.
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 solution reduces energy consumption by preventing unnecessary lubricant delivery and maintains consistent lubricant supply to the rotor pump, independent of pressure fluctuations, thereby enhancing pump efficiency and reducing lubricant waste.
Implementation Method 1
the depth of entry of the mandrel into the orifice opening depends on the prevailing negative pressure of the rotor pump and/or the pressure of the lubricant. With increasing lubricant pressure, which increases the flow rate, the mandrel is pushed further into the orifice opening
Implementation Method 2
The lubricant flowing through the orifice, which subsequently impinges on the mandrel, is deflected since the mandrel represents an obstacle in the flow path of the lubricant
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a rotary pump which comprises a pump housing (12), a rotor (18), mounted to rotate in the pump housing, and at least one vane (20), mounted to be displaceable in the rotor and resting with at least one of its vane tips against an inner circumferential surface of the working chamber (16), thereby subdividing the latter into an intake chamber and a pressure chamber. The pump also comprises a lubricant supply device (32) having a supply line (34) the outlet of which leads either directly or indirectly to the working chamber, a device (36) limiting the amount of lubricant being provided in the supply line.