Tube Pump Drive Unit Radial Load Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tube pumps face issues such as drive unit failure and shortened service life due to radial loads, difficulty in properly placing the tube between the rotor and cover, and high processing costs for key grooves in shaft connection structures.
Innovation Solution
A tube pump design featuring a base with a cylindrical supporting part, a bearing, and a rotor with a coupling hole, where the drive shaft is coupled through a cylindrical coupling member, and a spline joint, allowing for improved load distribution and easier assembly, while reducing the outer diameter and processing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the rotor is supported by being coupled to a drive shaft of the drive unit, then the tube pump can be driven effectively, but the radial load causes drive unit failure and shortens service life
Solution Approach 1:
A bearing is introduced as an intermediary component between the rotor and the drive shaft. The bearing supports the rotor's radial load, preventing it from being transmitted to the drive shaft. This mediator absorbs the harmful radial force while allowing effective power transmission to continue.
2Ease of manufacture
If the cover is mounted on the base to cover the rotor, then the pump structure is completed, but the tube gets pressed and drops off the rotor during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The tube is preliminarily placed on the rotor before the cover is mounted. This preliminary action ensures the tube is in its correct position before the cover is attached, preventing the tube from being pressed off during assembly. The assembly sequence is carefully planned to avoid interference.
3Power
If a key groove is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the roller hole for shaft connection, then power transmission is efficient, but processing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The key groove formation process is extracted and replaced with a simpler alternative. Instead of cutting a key groove into the roller hole, a projection is provided on the shaft that fits into a corresponding groove on the roller. This extraction of the complex machining operation reduces processing cost while maintaining power transmission efficiency.
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 suppresses drive unit failure, elongates service life, facilitates easy assembly, and reduces processing costs by effectively managing radial loads and simplifying the assembly process.
Implementation Method 1
a bearing which supports the rotor rotatably
Implementation Method 2
a restoring force of the tube squeezed by the rollers acts on the rotor
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A tube pump according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base, a columnar inner peripheral surface disposed at one face side of the base, a tube of which at least a portion is disposed along the inner peripheral surface, a rotor disposed concentrically with the inner peripheral surface and rotatably supported by the base while squeezing the tube between the rotor and the inner peripheral surface, and a drive unit attached on an other face side of the base and having a drive shaft passing through the base and configured to couple with the rotor.