Liquid pump provided with an elastic organ consisting of one of more blocks of elastic material with an alveolar structure and of a hydraulic plunger.
Liquid pump provided with an elastic organ consisting of one of more blocks of elastic material with an alveolar structure and of a hydraulic plunger.
The invention concerns a preferably hand operated liquid pump.
Known liquid pumps function based on the creation and preservation of an oscillating motion in the liquid in the tubing connecting the initial location of the liquid with the point where said liquid must be transferred.
These pumps provide for an elastic organ consisting of pieces of tubing of traditional elastic material, rubber and india rubber, or of spring powered pistons, or of compressed air capsules.
However, each of these solutions has disadvantages and limitations. The elastic material tubing limits the high pressure levels, and so the capacity and maximum lift possible at levels compatible with the mechanical resistance of the elastic materials used. The spring powered pistons can operate for limited periods only due to the wear and tear on the piston gaskets, and the compressed air capsules require frequent maintenance to renew the air pressure.
Currently some of these pumps provide on the top for the presence of a piston of various types and of lights whose opening and closing are effected directly or indirectly by the movement of the piston itself.
All of the above cited limitations and negative effects are completely overcome in the pump according to the invention, characterized by the presence of an elastic organ consisting of one or more blocks of elastic material with an alveolar structure and of a hydraulic plunger, with large size double lipped gaskets which can be used twice since they can be turned over once one part has been worn where said plunger is in turn moveable on re-usable rotating sliding guides and on one or more re-usable rings for guiding and centering. Said plunger is in turn operated by means of a connecting rod guided by a re-usable centering bushing.
The invention is shown in a preferred exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment in the attached drawings, in figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
In detail, the figures show container A equipped with threaded top C, respectively provided with connection tubings B and D; on the inside of container A there are four balls G of alveolar elastic material, such polyethylene with a cellular structure, or neoprene with a cellular structure or the like, preferably but not necessarily enclosed in elastic protective casings H; the small bars or the like, E and F, prevent the spheres from obstructing tubings B and D, a check valve L being applied to tubing B and tubing T being applied to tubing D to connect to the body of the pump Q, equipped with large size double-lipped gasket O, with hydraulic plunger N at the outlet P with one or more small washing openings X in its bottom, the manual operation lever M, the pans R to position and hold the rimmed gasket gasket O, the three, four or more circular or polygonal cylindrical guides S rotating to allow any adjustment, to prevent wear and tear, around the bolts U with threaded ends protruding from the body of the pump where the tightening nuts V are screwed on, the two or more guiding and centering rings Z coaxial with plunger N and supported by guides S, rotating around the plunger to allow any adjustment to prevent wear and tear, and the bushing with guiding and centering rectangular opening W of the connecting rod Y, where the bushing is symmetrical and so may be fixed in various positions so as to expose parts not yet worn to the sliding action.
The invention functions as follows: when container A is immersed in the"liquid to be pumped and when the body of the pump Q, tubing T and container A are all filled with liquid, operation of the hydraulic plunger N by means of lever M sends pressurized liquid through tubing T into container A; this liquid under pressure compresses the balls G which, thanks to being made of elastic material with an alveolar structure, that is with internal cavities, can be distorted to effect an overall reduction in volume and the accumulation of elastic potential energy, where the variation in volume of the balls is related to the pressure of the liquid, to the elastic properties of the basic material used in construction, to the ratio between the empty and filled spaces in the alveolar structure and to the initial volume of said balls.
Once the compression phase is complete, the plunger is raised to release gasket O, the compressed balls expand to expel a volume of water from the container equal to that put in previously, and that is equal to the variation in volume of the compressed balls, and sends said voluem in tubing T with a kinetic energy equal to the elastic energy imparted to the balls in the compression phase.
The liquid running through the tubing T continues its motion for a time, aspirating a certain quantity of liquid from the check valve L and expelling an equal quantity of liquid from the opening P, through the opening left above the gasket 0 of the hydraulic plunger N once it is raised.
When the kinetic energy of the liquid is exhausted and the pumping effect is finished, another liquid compression, expansion and pumping cycle is repeated, and so on; the small amount of liquid which flows through the small washing openings X is negligible in terms of the pump's operation and serves to maintain a certain turbulence inside the cavity of the plunger, preventing the deposit of any sand or other impurities present in the liquid.
In a variation due to shape and size considerations, the mass of elastic alveolar material may be concentrated in a different number of balls rather than 4, for instance in one ball only as in fig. 2, or in balls shaped differently (lengthened or non-spherical) as in fig . 3, or shaped as hollow cylinders with the container folded as in fig. 4, identical in function, or in several bodies of any shape.
The blocks of elastic material with an alveolar structure may be enclosed in coverings of non-alveolar elastic material, of the same chemical nature or not, both to protect the principle elastic material from any chemical attack of the liquid and to prevent the danger that over time the liquid penetrate in the cavities of the elastic mass, thus lowering its capacity to change volume.
It is evident furthermore that the wear and tear of the plunger N and the lip of gasket 0 takes away from the flexibility and usable length of the large lip of the gasket O; when the lip becomes too worn the gasket 0 may be mounted in such a way as to operate on the other not yet worn lip. When it becomes excessive, wear and tear of the three, four or more guides S may be obviated by rotating tyem to another position around the pins U of said guides, so that a new, unconsumed part is presented to the plunger; This rotation may be effected several times before the guides 5 need to be replaced, and is performed by loosening the nuts V which, t once the guides are rotated, are then tightened to hold the guides in the new position, by means of a small elastic deformation in the body of the pump Q.
It is also evident that the wear and tear of the plunger and the guides is kept to a minimum by the presence of one or more guiding and centering rings Z coaxial with the piston with the function of always keeping the piston oriented in the axial direction and of a fissured guide and centering bushing W with the funciton of laterally guiding the connecting rod to prevent any lateral oscillation being transferred to the piston and disturbing its good axial orientation; when rings Z show too much wear and tear in the most worked points, they are rotated to another position.
Since the rings are held in position by the guides 5, they are rotated by loosening and then re-tightening them as necessary.
When the bushing W shows too much wear and tear, this is obviated by mounting it in another position so as to expose different still unworn surfaces to the sliding.
A marked advantage of the invention is the fact that the overall elastic property may be obtained exactly as desired by selecting the initial volume of the balls, their number, the ratio between hollow and filled spaces, and a more or less elastic base material.
Other advantages are the lack of points in relative motion and the fact that the balls cannot be damaged by high liquid pressures; in fact, once the excessive pressure has crushed the hollow spaces, the balls are in effect made of compact, non-deformable material which can bear any pressure hydrostatically. In this way, the machine has a long life with minimum need for replacement parts since the wearable parts are re-usable several times.
Moreover, the elastic organ may be constructed with a minimum transverse bulk, at the least no greater than that of the tubing, allowing several elastic organs and so several independent pumps even in wells of small diameter.
Of course, while the principle of the invention re mains the same; the forms of realization and the particulars of construction may be widely varied from that described and illustrated, without going beyond the bounds of the invention.