[0001] This invention relates to diaphragms for such uses as air-operated or mechanically
operated diaphragm pumps, brake actuators or other diaphragm-operated devices in which
a central plate or plates is connected to or makes contact with the central portion
of the diaphragm.
[0002] Diaphragm pumps are widely used in pumping a wide variety of materials including
materials which are abrasive, have high viscosity, or consist of slurries that might
damage other pump designs. Diaphragm pumps are often air driven which is advantageous
in pumping flammable liquids or in environments where electrically driven equipment
could otherwise be hazardous. Electrically or otherwise mechanically driven diaphragm
pump designs, however, are also utilised.
[0003] The pump diaphragm is the critical driving member of the diaphragm pump and is a
relatively flexible membrane that has an outer attachment portion that is clamped
or otherwise held in a stationary position against the pump housing. Such diaphragms
also include a centrally located portion and a working portion that joins the inner
attachment and outer attachment portions. The inner attachment portion is clamped
between a pair of clamping washers or the like during operation of the pump. The working
and inner attachment portions of the diaphragm are displaced in a reciprocating manner
along an axis to drive liquid out of the pump.
[0004] Pump diaphragms have traditionally been made of fabric reinforced rubber. Shown in
Fig. 3 is an example of a conventional rubber diaphragm 9 shown having a dish shape
with an inner attachment portion 6, an outer attachment portion 2 which may be dovetailed
or beaded for retention in an associated pump housing, and an innerconnecting flexure
sidewall working portion 4. Fabric reinforcement must be embedded in the body of these
diaphragms to achieve adequate flex fatigue life, which drives up the cost. If the
reinforcing fabric is not uniformly encased inside of the rubber, however, premature
diaphragm failure may still occur. In certain applications the lack of chemical resistance
presents problems as well.
[0005] Due to the wide nature of the different materials these pumps are used to move, a
correspondingly wide variety of materials are used in their construction. To a limited
extent, plastic materials with relatively stiff inner attachment portions and thinner,
more flexible sidewall portions have been used in some diaphragm applications, for
instance, as disclosed in US-A-3,011,758 thermoplastic polyurethane diaphragms have
also been used as pump diaphragms. These polyurethane diaphragms have been constructed
with a generally curvilinear flexure sidewall incorporating concentric ribs, terminating
in an outer beaded flange and radially inward bead for mounting to a split piston
plate.
[0006] In all cases the repetitive flexing of the diaphragm eventually causes failure of
the diaphragm. Failure of the diaphragm may result in materials being pumped contaminating
the pump equipment. A diaphragm failure may also cause the release of chemicals to
an air stream that subsequently gets released into the environment where it may result
in further damage or injury. Attempts have been made design the diaphragm to minimise
these operating stresses to improve the life of diaphragms. Such attempts included
varying the geometry of the diaphragms to minimise stress on the working portion during
operation of the pump.
[0007] Other materials that are stiffer than rubber have also been incorporated into diaphragms
for a number of reasons, among which are their low cost and ease of manufacturing
by injection moulding. One such group of stiffer materials are thermoplastic elastomers
(TPE's). SANTOPRENE TPE is an example of one type of TPE material typically used in
pump diaphragms and comprises a polypropylene polymer and an ethylene propylene (EPDM)
elastomer. Another group of stiffer materials are fluoropolymer materials. TEFLON
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an example of one type of fluoropolymer typically
used in pump diaphragms.
[0008] In the case of pump diaphragms manufactured using these stiffer materials such as
thermoplastic elastomer and fluoropolymer materials, however, relatively early fatigue
failures are known to occur in the flexible working portions of these diaphragms.
Attempts at varying geometry to increase flexure life in diaphragms of such thermoplastic
and fluoropolymer diaphragms have been made. For example, shown in US-A-4,864,918
is a diaphragm for pumps or the like of a dish-shaped body of non-reinforced thermoplastic
elastomer. The diaphragms have a curvilinear flexure sidewall portion of substantially
less thickness than the inner attachment and outer attachment portions to which it
connects. Shown in US-A-5,349,896. is a flexible pump diaphragm of PTFE having a number
of ribs or troughs located radially across its flexure portion. In such stiffer diaphragms,
however, the inner and outer attachment portions of the diaphragms are preloaded (i.e.,
not in the same plane) in the fully extended position thus subjecting the diaphragm
to flexure problems as discussed further in detail below.
[0009] According to the present invention, there is provided a partially preloaded diaphragm,
comprising an outer attachment portion defining a first plane and disposed about an
axis substantially perpendicular to said first plane, and an inner attachment portion
disposed substantially perpendicular to said axis of said outer attachment portion
and defining a second plane, said inner attachment portion being movable away from
said outer attachment portion into a fully extended pumping position defining a third
plane, said first plane and said second plane being spaced at a distance to define
a preload distance when said diaphragm is at rest, and said first and third plane
being spaced to define a pump stroke distance when said diaphragm is fully extended,
said preload distance being from about 25 percent to about 85 percent of said pump
stroke distance.
[0010] For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried
into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings,
in which:-
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional pump diaphragm having coplanar
inner and outer attachment portions;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a preloaded pump diaphragm
according to one embodiment of the present invention and taken along line 2--2 in
Fig. 4;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional preloaded pump diaphragm;
Fig. 4 is a planar view of the preloaded pump diaphragm shown in Fig. 2;
Figs. 5-7 are cross-sectional, sequential views of the pump diaphragm of Fig. 2 and
4 shown with immediately adjacent parts of a driven diaphragm pump during operation
of the pump through a pumping stroke; and
Fig. 8 is a graph illustrating the output fluid pressure curves obtained for a given
motive (input) air pressure curve comparing a conventional coplanar diaphragm configuration
shown in Fig. 1 with a partially preloaded configuration according to the present
invention and shown in Fig. 2.
[0011] As used herein, the term "diaphragm" means a flexible barrier that divides two fluid
containing chambers or compartments. Typically, such barriers are useful with diaphragm
pumps, however, these diaphragms may also be employed as a barrier layer between two
compartments in any application where a fluid exists in one compartment and would
cause deleterious effects if present in the other compartment. The term "preloaded
diaphragms" means a diaphragm that in a free state has inner and outer attachment
portions that are not substantially coplanar.
[0012] To evaluate the effect of geometry on the failure mode of diaphragms made using materials
stiffer than prior art rubber diaphragms, the present inventors tested competitor's
benchmark diaphragms made of SANTOPRENE® TPE having conventional preloaded configurations
like those shown in Fig. 3. The present inventors found that utilising these stiffer
materials with preloaded configurations created problems, however, because thermoplastic
elastomers (TPE's) are substantially stiffer than fabric reinforced rubber used in
traditional diaphragms. One such problem encountered was during mechanical assembly
of a pump using diaphragms made of stiffer materials. Unlike fabric-reinforced rubber
diaphragms that can be easily inverted by hand, preloaded TPE diaphragms generally
require the use of assembly fixtures such as a chain fall or press to overcome the
preload in the diaphragm in order to clamp the outer attachment portion between housing
portions. Another problem encountered when using stiff preloaded diaphragms was buckling
of the diaphragm when inverted during installation. This buckling caused the formation
of typically six or eight radial wrinkles in the working portion of the diaphragm.
Because each fold or wrinkle in the working portion is known to be a natural place
for the premature formation of a crack, the buckling that occurs is believed to have
a detrimental effect on diaphragm life.
[0013] In early investigations by ARO Fluid Products, a subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand Company,
it was learned that upon cycling preloaded diaphragms (i.e., diaphragms having inner
and outer attachment portions in different planes) made of stiff materials such as
PTFE, failures appearing as radial or "wagon-wheel" cracks occurred in the working
portion of diaphragms. With these radial cracks, it was observed that the working
portion of the diaphragm was formed into a convoluted shape. To alleviate this radial
cracking problem, a diaphragm 7 shown in Fig.1 was provided having no preload with
substantially coplanar inner and outer attachment portions (6,2) and a convoluted
working portion 3 provided to join the attachment portions. This diaphragm having
an improved flex life is available today from ARO Fluid Products as the Model PD20
series diaphragm.
[0014] In an attempt to prevent the buckling that occurred with a preloaded TPE diaphragm,
the present inventors similarly considered moulding a diaphragm with the inner and
outer attachment portions in a coplanar configuration, i.e., without a preload, like
that shown in Fig. 1. With the use of stiffer materials such as TPE, however, the
extra force required to deform such a diaphragm as it approaches the fully extended
position becomes significant and can result in a pressure loss from the air to the
liquid side of the pump. Parenthetically, the diaphragm performs work on the fluid
being pumped by force transfer. The force transferred to the liquid side of the diaphragm
is the air pressure times the area of the diaphragm minus frictional losses, minus
the force to extend each diaphragm. Thus, as the stiffness of the diaphragms increases,
the pressure loss of the air causes a decreasing output fluid pressure as the diaphragm
moves into its forward pumping position.
[0015] As described in greater detail below, to alleviate the problems associated described
above, the present inventors have developed a partially preloaded diaphragm having
outer and inner attachment portions spaced at a distance to define a preload distance
when the diaphragm is at rest, of from about 25 percent to about 85 percent of the
pump stroke distance. Shown in Fig. 8 is a graph illustrating the output fluid pressure
curves obtained for a given motive (input) air pressure curve for a forward pumping
stroke using two SANTOPRENE® TPE diaphragms, one having a conventional configuration
with coplanar inner and outer attachment portions shown in Fig. 1, and the other having
a partially preloaded configuration shown in Fig. 2 according to the present invention.
As can be seen from the graph, the output fluid pressure obtained using the partially
preloaded configuration results in an output fluid pressure that substantially corresponds
to the motive air (input) pressure while the prior art coplanar configuration has
a decreasing output fluid pressure as the diaphragm moves to the forward position
in its stroke. This pressure loss is due to the air pressure needed to extend the
inner attachment portion from its coplanar position with the outer attachment portion.
[0016] Shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5-7 is a pump diaphragm 10 that is partially preloaded according
to the present invention. Diaphragm 10 includes a outer attachment portion 12 that
is clamped or otherwise attached and held stationary between pump housing sections
50 and 53 during operation of the pump as shown sequentially in Figs. 5-7. Preferably,
outer attachment portion 12 is adapted for attachment to a pump. For instance, outer
attachment portion 12 can be formed with an enlarged bead, or a dovetailed portion
as shown or may alternately be provided with a plurality of holes for receiving fastening
members to retain the diaphragm in the pump housing.
[0017] Diaphragm 10 also includes an inner attachment portion 16 having an opening 18 located
at approximately the centre of the diaphragm. Preferably, an annular working portion
20 connects the outer and inner attachment portions.
[0018] As shown in Figs. 5-7, inner attachment portion 16 is attached to a pump to define
a motive fluid chamber 49 and a pumping fluid chamber 54 by clamping between a pair
of clamping washers 51, 52 each having a centrally positioned opening to be aligned
with diaphragm opening 18. The openings in clamping washers 51, 52 and inner attachment
portion 16 are adapted to attach to an end of a diaphragm rod 36 or other member for
moving the annular working portion 20 and the inner attachment portion 16 in a reciprocating
manner, relative to the fixed outer attachment portion 12, along axis 21. Preferably,
one end of diaphragm rod 36 is connected to clamping washers 51, 52 at diaphragm inner
attachment portion 16 by a threaded bolt 37 passing therethrough as shown. Diaphragm
rod 36 may also be either operatively connected to a mechanical driving means or may
be connected to a second diaphragm.
[0019] As best seen in Fig. 6, in which the diaphragm is shown moving through the at rest
position shown in Fig. 2, outer attachment portion 12 defines a first plane (P) and
is disposed about an axis 21 that is substantially perpendicular to the first plane.
Inner attachment portion 16 is disposed substantially perpendicular to axis 21 of
the outer attachment portion 12 and defines a second plane (C). Inner attachment portion
16 is movable away from the outer attachment portion 12 into a fully extended pumping
position defining a third plane (F). The first plane (P) and the second plane (C)
are spaced at a distance to define a preload distance (PC) when the diaphragm is at
rest. The first plane (P) and third plane (F) are spaced to define a pump stroke distance
(PF) when the diaphragm is fully extended with the preload distance (PC) being from
about 25 percent to about 85 percent of the pump stroke distance. Preferably the preload
distance is from about 50 percent to about 75 percent of the pump stroke distance
with most preferred loading being at 67 percent.
[0020] Preferably, annular working portion 20 is provided in a convoluted form shown in
Figs. 2 and 6 comprising empirically derived radii such that when inner attachment
portion 16 is moved to the fully extended position (shown in Fig. 7), the annular
working portion 20 is stretched to form a linear wall. Most preferably, the radii
of annular working portion 20 are provided such that, when inner attachment portion
16 is in the fully extended position, a peripheral portion 17 forms annularly between
the inner attachment portion 16 and the annular working portion 20. Additionally,
the convoluted portion of annular working portion 20 is preferably spaced from outer
attachment portion 12 as shown to reduce wear caused by pump housing sections 50 and
53 during operation of the pump. In this manner, excess material at the juncture between
the inner attachment portion 16 and the annular working portion 20 is eliminated and
wear of the juncture between the annular working portion 20 and the outer attachment
portion 12 is reduced, thereby prolonging the flex life of diaphragm 10.
[0021] Although not intending to be bound by or otherwise limited to any theory, it is believed
that the useful life of the partially preloaded diaphragm may be further enhanced
by reducing the amount of excess material to reduce the tendency of the diaphragm
to buckle during mid-stroke. The chord length of annular working portion 20 is, preferably,
the minimum that is needed to prevent overstressing at the end of the stroke. Thus,
diaphragms having an annular working portion 20 that stretches to form peripheral
portion 17, described above and shown in Figure 7, is most preferred because it achieves
this reduction in diaphragm material.
[0022] Suitable thermoplastic elastomers which may be employed include SANTOPRENE® blend
of EPDM rubber and polypropylene (available from Advanced Elastomer Systems, Akron,
OH), HYLENE® diisocyanate and HYTREL® polyester elastomers (available from DuPont
Company, Wilmington, DE), GEOLAST® polypropylene and nitrile rubber blend (available
from Advanced Elastomer Systems, Akron, OH), SARLINK® elastomer (available from DSM
Elastomers, The Netherlands), and various thermoplastic urethanes including polyether
and polyester based polyurethanes, such as ESTANE® thermoplastic polyurethane (available
from B F Goodrich, Cleveland, OH). A suitable listing of usable thermoplastic elastomers
is given in "Elastomerics," Oct. 1986, v. 118, no. 10. pp. 13-19. Although the polyurethanes
yield superior abrasion resistance and have excellent flexing properties, SANTOPRENE®
thermoplastic elastomer is preferred for many applications because of lower cost,
and long flex life when employing the preferred wall design. The thermoplastic elastomers
provide advantages of both thermoplastics and elastomers separately. Additionally,
fluoropolymers such as TEFLON® polytetrafluoro-ethylene (available from DuPont Company,
Wilmington, DE) may also be employed in the diaphragms.
[0023] Although described above with respect to thermoplastic elastomers, it is envisaged
that diaphragms of other materials with similar or greater stiffnesses may be utilised
to improve their useful flexure lives.
1. A partially preloaded diaphragm (10), comprising:
an outer attachment portion (12) defining a first plane (P) and disposed about an
axis (21) substantially perpendicular to said first plane, and
an inner attachment portion (16) disposed substantially perpendicular to said axis
of said outer attachment portion and defining a second plane (C), said inner attachment
portion being movable away from said outer attachment portion into a fully extended
pumping position defining a third plane (F),
said first plane and said second plane being spaced at a distance to define a preload
distance (PC) when said diaphragm is at rest, and said first and third plane being
spaced to define a pump stroke distance (PF) when said diaphragm is fully extended,
said preload distance being from about 25 percent to about 85 percent of said pump
stroke distance.
2. A diaphragm according to claim 1, wherein said preload distance is from about 50 percent
to about 75 percent of said pump stroke distance.
3. A diaphragm according to claim 2, wherein said preload distance is about 50 percent
of said pump stroke distance.
4. A diaphragm according to claim 2, wherein said preload distance is about 67 percent
of said pump stroke distance.
5. A diaphragm according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said outer and inner
attachment portions (12, 16) are adapted for attachment to a pump and further comprise
an annular working portion (20) connecting said outer and inner attachment portions.
6. A diaphragm according to claim 5, further comprising a peripheral portion (17) formed
annularly between said inner attachment portion (16) and said annular working portion
(20) when said inner attachment portion is moved into a fully extended pumping position.
7. A diaphragm according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said diaphragm comprises
a thermoplastic elastomer.
8. A diaphragm according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said diaphragm comprises
a thermoplastic elastomer selected from the group consisting of an EPDM rubber and
polypropylene blend and a thermoplastic urethane.
9. A diaphragm according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said diaphragm comprises
a thermoplastic elastomer selected from the group consisting of SANTOPRENE, ESTANE,
HYLENE, HYTREL, GEOLAST, SARLINK elastomers, and combinations thereof.
10. A diaphragm according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said diaphragm comprises
a fluoropolymer.
11. A diaphragm according to claim 10, wherein said fluoropolymer is polytetrafluoroethylene.
12. A diaphragm according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said outer attachment
portion (12) comprises a bead or a dovetailed portion.
13. A diaphragm according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said outer attachment
portion (12) comprises a plurality of holes for receiving fastening members.