A head for a diaphragm pump

Abstract

 A head for a diaphragm pump comprising a flat annular base (3) or coupling to a body of the pump, the annular base (13) comprising a groove for receiving a rim of a diaphragm, and four seatings (2) comprising bores for mounting the pump on the body by means of bolts, a hemispheric chamber (4) rising from the flat annular base (3) which hemispheric chamber (4) constitutes a pumping chamber from which an aspirating conduit (41) and a discharge conduit (42) depart. A profiled external wall (5) departs from a top of the hemispheric chamber (4) and is connected to the flat annular base (3) in a direction by the body of the aspirating conduit (41) and the discharge conduit (42), and in a perpendicular direction thereto by two opposite rib structures (52) forming a single unit with the hemispheric chamber (4).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to high-pressure diaphragm pumps and in particular to a head comprising, besides the pumping chamber, aspirating and discharge conduits.

[0002] Diaphragm pumps, which can be realised with either one or more pumping elements, comprise a piston sliding alternatingly inside a guide cylinder for each pumping element.

[0003] The guide cylinder of the piston is separated from the pumping chamber by a diaphragm which is peripherally located between the pumping chamber and the cylinder and which is centrally mounted to the centre of the piston.

[0004] The pumping chamber is afforded inside a head which also comprises the aspirating and discharge conduits.

[0005] The head is subjected to high mechanical stress and is connected by bolts to the body of the pump, which contains the guide cylinder of the piston and the means for alternating actuation thereof.

[0006] The mechanical stress exerted on the head by the pumping pressure is very high; for this reason the head must be rigid enough to prevent deformation which would compromise the liquid seal between the head and the body of the pump.

[0007] The prior art includes a head made of metal, which guarantees the necessary rigidity and the absence of any deformations between the bolts of the head and the body of the pump.

[0008] Attempts to construct a head with synthetic material, for obvious economic reasons, have required the use of more than four bolts, generally six, between the head and the upper pump.

[0009] An example of this type of pump is described in patent no. US 5, 567, 130.

[0010] Although the use of six bolts has proven to be sufficient in preventing damaging deformations to the head, it has nonetheless occasioned further drawbacks, since it also requires the design of the body of the pump to provide six seatings for the bolts, instead of the usual four seatings.

[0011] This makes it difficult, to say the least, to use synthetic heads for pumps which have been designed to house heads made of metal, and, consequently, it has severely limited the use of synthetic materials for the construction of heads.

[0012] The aim of the invention is to make available a head made of synthetic material which exhibits a rigidity comparable to that of metal heads and which therefore can be mounted on the body of a pump designed to house heads fixed by just four bolts.

[0013] The aim is attained thanks to the particular configuration of the head recited in the first independent claim.

[0014] The dependent claims recite the subordinate characteristics aimed at improving the performance of the invention.

[0015] The advantages and constructional and functional characteristics of the invention will emerge from the detailed description that follows, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the figures of the accompanying tables of drawings and relating to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates the invention in a partially-sectioned plan view.

Figure 2 illustrates the invention viewed from below.

Figure 3 illustrates section III-III of figure 2.

Figure 4 illustrates the view from IV of figure 2.

Figure 5 illustrates section V-V of figure 2.

Figure 6 illustrates section VI-VI of figure 1.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the invention.

[0016] The figures illustrate the monolithic body 1 of the head, made of high-resistance synthetic materials and equipped with four shaped seatings 2 containing the bores for mounting the pump on the body (not illustrated).

[0017] At the bottom thereof the body 1 exhibits a flat annular seating 3 for receiving a seal which separates it from the body of the pump, not shown (Fig. 2).

[0018] The base 3 comprises an annular groove 31 for accommodating a rim of the diaphragm.

[0019] A hemispheric chamber 4 is afforded above the base 3 and the groove 31 (Fig. 5), i.e. a structural component of the pump itself which constitutes the pumping chamber.

[0020] A diametrically-positioned dome 40 is positioned at the centre of the chamber 4, which cup (40) is smaller in diameter than the chamber 4 (Fig. 5).

[0021] Two opposite conduits 41 and 42, respectively the aspirating conduit and the discharge conduit, depart from the chamber 4 and the dome 40.

[0022] The body of the conduits 41 and 42 is connected uninterruptedly to the shaped seatings 2 of the mounting bores, and is crossed by holes 43 (Fig. 1) which connect it to the tubing of the pump.

[0023] At the top of the head, a slightly-profiled external wall 5 extends around the chamber 4 and the dome 40 and is substantially parallel to the seating 3 (Fig. 3).

[0024] The wall 5 is connected to the flat base 3, through the chamber 4, by four gusset plates 51 located diagonally between and at the shaped seatings 2, but is detached from the base 3 and thus from the base 4 at the areas between the shaped seatings 2.

[0025] The wall 5 is joined to the base 3 by the body of the aspirating and discharge conduits 41 and 42.

[0026] In a perpendicular direction to the axes of the bores 41 and 42, the wall 5 is connected to the base 3 by a rib structure 52 on each side.

[0027] The base 3 and the wall 5 form a substantially sandwich-like structure having the seating 3 at its base the base 3 and the wall 5 at its top.

[0028] The presence between the base 3 and the top (wall 5) of the body 1 of the rib structures 52 of the body of the aspirating and discharge conduits 41 and 42, as well as of the gusset plates 51, lends a rigidity to the structure between the shaped seatings 2 which is comparable to that of a metal body.

[0029] In practice, it has been found that the wall 5 - joined to the base 3 at localised zones defined by the ribs 52 and the body of the conduits 41 and 42 - acts as a reinforcing element for the structure of the body 1 of the head of the pump, while at the same time not constituting an extra heaviness of the head thanks to the fact that it remains substantially separated from the base 3 in the zones located between the seatings 2.

[0030] Any variants and improvements may be made to the invention without its forsaking the ambit of the following claims.

Claims

1. A head for a diaphragm pump comprising a flat annular base (3) for coupling to a body of the pump, the annular base (3) comprising a groove (31) for receiving a rim of a diaphragm, and four shaped seatings (2) comprising bores for mounting the pump on the body by means of bolts, a hemispheric chamber (4) rising from the flat annular base (3) which hemispheric chamber (4) constitutes a pumping chamber and from which an aspirating conduit (41) and a discharge conduit (42) depart, characterized in that a profiled external wall (5) departs projectingly from a top of the hemispheric chamber (4), which external wall (5) is separated from the wall of the hemispheric chamber (5) and which external wall (5) is connected to the flat base (3), in a direction, by the body of the aspirating conduit (41) and the discharge conduit (42), and in a perpendicular direction thereto by two opposite rib structures (52) forming a single unit with the hemispheric chamber (4).

2. The head of claim 1 characterized in that the profiled external wall (5) is connected to the hemispheric chamber (4) by four gusset plates (51) located diagonally between the shaped seatings (2) comprising the mounting bores.

3. The head of claim 1 characterized in that at the centre of the hemispheric chamber (4) there is a diametrically-developing dome (40), which is smaller in diameter than the hemispheric chamber (4).

4. The head of claim 1 characterized in that the body of the aspirating and discharge conduits (41, 42) is uninterruptedly connected to the shaped seatings (2) of the mounting bores, and is crossed by holes 43 for connection thereof to a tubing of the pump.

Drawing