Vehicle Pump Labyrinth Seal for Fluid Loss Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pumps experience unwanted pressure and fluid losses due to the lack of effective sealing between the pump housing and the motor housing, leading to inefficiencies in fluid conveyance and potential cooling issues.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of flange surfaces with an annular groove and circumferential web creates a labyrinth seal between the pump chamber and the outside space, reducing expansion and enhancing sealing without additional seals, and the pump housing and motor housing are connected using screws.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flat surfaces of the pump housing and motor housing rest against one another, then the structure is simple, but sealing is insufficient leading to pressure and fluid losses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an annular groove and circumferential web structure as an intermediary sealing mechanism between the pump housing and motor housing. This labyrinthine structure acts as a mediator that prevents direct fluid communication between chambers while maintaining structural integrity, thereby improving sealing performance without requiring additional seal components.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a simple flat surface contact (2D sealing) to a three-dimensional labyrinthine structure with annular grooves and circumferential webs. This dimensional change creates multiple sealing paths and increases the complexity of fluid leakage routes, significantly improving sealing effectiveness while integrating the feature directly into the housing structure.
2Reliability
If additional seal components are added to prevent fluid loss, then sealing improves, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sealing function directly into the housing structure by integrating annular grooves and circumferential webs into the pump housing and motor housing. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate seal components while achieving effective sealing, thereby maintaining reliability without increasing device complexity or component count.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure itself provides the sealing function through its own geometric features (annular grooves and circumferential webs). The structure serves dual purposes: structural support and sealing, allowing the housing to seal itself without requiring external seal components, thus reducing overall device complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the pump housing is rigid to maintain chamber volume, then structural stability is good, but expansion under pressure causes sealing issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the physical parameters of the housing structure by introducing annular grooves and circumferential webs that change the stiffness distribution and pressure response characteristics. These geometric modifications allow the housing to better accommodate pressure-induced expansions while maintaining effective sealing, resolving the contradiction between rigidity and sealing adaptability.
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 configuration minimizes unwanted pressure and fluid losses, improves sealing, and reduces expansion within the pump chamber, leading to more efficient fluid conveyance and enhanced cooling performance.
Implementation Method 1
The fluid conveyed by a pump is compressed by the rotation of the impeller. The impeller conveys the fluid from the inside to the outside into a spiral space.
Implementation Method 2
The annular groove and the circumferential web, on the other hand, create a kind of labyrinth seal, which ensures an improved seal between the pump chamber and the space outside the pump even without an additional seal.
Implementation Method 3
A further effect of the annular groove and the web is that an expansion of the pump housing is reduced in the pump chamber, particularly in a spiral space of the pump chamber.
Data Source
AI summary
A pump, in particular for a fluid circuit in a vehicle, for example a coolant pump with a multi-part housing that has a pump chamber, wherein an impeller is arranged in the pump chamber, wherein the pump chamber is bounded by a pump housing and a further housing part of the multi-part housing, wherein the pump housing and the further housing part each have a flange surface that rest against one another, and wherein one of the two flange surfaces has at least one annular groove and the other of the two flange surfaces has at least one circumferential web which engages in the annular groove.