Water Pump Assembly via Hook Fixing and Overmolding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing water pumps with electrical machines face challenges in secure and easy assembly, particularly with the use of rare earth metals that can be damaged by fluids, requiring additional packaging, and suffer from inefficiencies in heat transfer and weight due to complex part configurations.
Innovation Solution
A method for assembling a water pump with an impeller-driven electrical machine using a housing cap and volute connected via axial and radial hooks, allowing for secure fixing without screws, reduced parts, and improved heat transfer through over-molding, which reduces weight and enhances vibration resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional screwing or clamping processes are used to assemble water pump parts, then secure fixing is achieved, but assembly complexity and manufacturing effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical fastening systems (screws, clamps) with an integrated overmolding process where plastic material is injected to directly bond the volute and boot components. This substitution eliminates complex assembly steps while maintaining secure fixing through the molded joints that create permanent structural connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the assembly operation with the molding process itself. The overmolding operation combines multiple functions: creating structural joints, securing components, and forming the final assembly in a single manufacturing step, thereby eliminating separate fastening operations and reducing overall device complexity.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate parts are used in water pump assembly, then ease of manufacture is improved, but heat transfer efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges previously separate components (volute, boot, and associated parts) into an integrated overmolded assembly. This consolidation creates continuous thermal pathways through the molded joints, eliminating thermal breaks that would exist between separate parts, thereby improving heat transfer efficiency while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through the single-shot overmolding process.
3Strength
If standard die-cast pumps are used, then structural strength is achieved, but weight and vibration resistance are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite construction by overmolding plastic material onto metal components (volute and boot). This composite approach creates a hybrid structure that leverages the strength of metal where needed while using the lighter plastic material for surrounding structures, thereby reducing overall weight while maintaining adequate structural strength and improving vibration resistance through material damping properties.
4Reliability
If additional packaging is added to protect rare earth metals from fluid damage, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and assembly effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the protective packaging function with the structural boot component itself. The overmolded boot serves dual purposes: it provides the necessary structural support and simultaneously acts as the protective barrier against fluid contact for the rare earth magnets. This integration eliminates separate protective packaging layers and reduces assembly complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Method to assemble a water pump with an impeller driven by an electrical machine comprising a housing cap and a volute with an inlet and an outlet and a boot hosting a stator and a rotor of the electrical machine and an electronic board mounted at the side apart from the impeller and covered by the cap housing, the boot having a radial extending rim comprising at least slots defined by the following steps:connecting the volute to the boot by inserting axial hooks in the boot's slots,twisting the volute versus the boot to fix the axial hooks,inserting radial hooks of the cap housing in the same slots.