Patent Application
20160230748
This invention relates generally to a drive mechanism for a pressure pump, and more particularly to a mechanical lever-driver for a positive displacement pressure pumps.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Positive displacement pumps come in many designs and operating ranges and work on a principle that a volume is opened for suction and is filled, closed, and moved to discharge. The flow is created by enclosing a predefined volume at suction point and moving such volume to release it. Pressure is a result of the flow and flow restriction. For example, if there is no restriction at the discharge end, the flow would exit the pump at atmospheric pressure.
Pressure in the positive displacement pumps is a function of the driver's horsepower. The driver is usually a motor that can be an electric, internal combustion (e.g. gas or diesel motor), pneumatic or hydraulic. In order for the pump to pump the fluid at the discharge end the motor needs to provide enough force to push the fluid through the flow restriction. For example, a conventional pressure pump may require a motor power of about 25 kW (approximately 33 horsepower) to provide a pressure of about 8000 psi (pounds per square inch). In order to get higher pressures the pump driver needs to provide more power and such pumps are very expensive and inefficient.
Therefore there is a need for a pressure pump that would be more efficient so that it can provide high pressures with a lower input power.
In one aspect a lever-driven pumping system is provided. The system comprises a motor that is configured to drive a motor crank, a positive displacement pump with at least one piston and a pump chamber, and a lever-driver with at least one lever therein to drive the at least one piston. The at least one lever has a load end in communication to the crank, a force end in communication with the piston and a body extending between the load end and the force end. A fulcrum point is formed at a predefined distance from the load end and the force end of the lever so that a distance from the fulcrum to the load end is greater than a distance from the fulcrum to the force end. The lever is configured to oscillate up and down on the fulcrum point. The lever-driver includes a load connector to connect the load end of the at least one lever to the crank and a force connector to connect the force end of the at least one lever to the piston. The motor provides an input energy to the crank and the lever oscillates up and down with the rotation of the crank wherein the output energy provided by the at least one lever at the force end of the lever is greater from the input energy provided by the motor via the crank at the load end of the at least one lever.
In another aspect the lever driver further comprises a pivot block so that the at least one lever is pivotally connected to the pivot block at the fulcrum point.
In yet another aspect the crank comprises a crank shaft and at least one crank plate connected to the crank shaft. The load connector of the at least one lever is eccentrically connected to the crank plate. The load connector comprises an elongated arm with a lobe end formed at one end of the elongated arm and a hinge at the opposite end. The lobe end of the elongated rod is connected to the crank plate while the hinge is connected to the load end of the lever.
In one aspect the lever-driven pumping system is powered by a battery.
In addition to the aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and study of the following detailed description.
Throughout the drawings, reference numbers may be re-used to indicate correspondence between referenced elements. The drawings are provided to illustrate example embodiments described herein and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not drawn to scale, and some of these elements are arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility.
The present invention is a mechanical advantage drive mechanism that can provide a more efficient pressure pump with a significantly lower input energy to obtain higher output energy. It comprises a leverage and mechanical advantage drive system that can be added to a conventional positive displacement pressure pump. By offsetting the input motor through the use of a lever and a fulcrum a mechanical advantage is gained thereby lowering the necessary input energy to reciprocate the pump's pistons/plungers while generating the same or higher pressures and volumes as in the conventional pumps.
The system 10 further comprises a lever driver 17 mounted between the pump 14 and the motor 12. The lever driver 17 comprises a housing 18, at least one lever 19 and means for connecting one end of the at least one lever 19 to the respective piston's rod 15 and the opposite end of the at least one lever 19 to the crank 16 or any other suitable structure configured to provide an input energy from the motor 12 to the lever 19. The number of levers 19 in the lever driver 17 is defined by the number of pistons in the pump 14. In case of a triplex pump (three pistons' pump), three levers 19 are provided. In the illustrated example, the lever driver 17 is positioned in the fluid tight housing 18 that is connected to the pump 14 so that the piston rods 15 can be connected to the respective levers 19. The housing 18 can comprise one or more seals to prevent any fluid leakage in or out of the housing 18. Alternatively, the housing 18 of the lever driver 17 can be omitted and the lever driver 17 can be mounted within the pump's housing and can make an integral part of the pump 14.
The lever 19 has a force end 19a (see
Force FA applied to point A is the input energy and the force FB at point B is the output energy amplified by the lever 19. Point A is actually defined as a connecting point between the lever 19 and the crank 16 or point at which the motor 12 applies the input force to the lever 19 via the crank 16. Point B is a connecting point between the lever 19 and the piston's rod 15. The lever 19 can comprise a bushing/bearing 27a (at point B) to support the hinge 27 of the connecting rod 21 and a bushing/bearing 28a (at point A) to support the hinge 28 of the arm 23. So the mechanical advantage of the system 10 can be optimized by optimizing the size of the lever 19 and more particularly the position of the fulcrum 25 with respect to the load end 19b (the load point A), and the force end 19a (force point B).
The crank 16 and the load connector 22 facilitate the necessary travel of the lever 19 to drive the pump's pistons. In one implementation the crank 16 can be positioned within the lever-driver housing 18.
In operation, the motor 12 provides an input energy so that the crank shaft 46 of the crank 16 can rotate. As the crank shaft 46 rotates so thus the separating plates 45 and the load connector 22 connected thereon transition up and down during one circular movement of the shaft 46. So the position of the load end 19b and the force end 19a of the lever 19 will oscillate between their upper to lower positions in relation to the fulcrum 25 during the rotation of the crank shaft 46. When the load end 19b travels from its lower (downward) position toward its upper position the force end 19a travels in opposite direction (from its upper position toward its lower position) and actuates the pump's piston pushing it downward and forcing the volume trapped within the pump's chamber through the discharge line and flow restriction. As the load end 19b travels from its upper position toward its lower position the force end 19a goes toward its upper position opening the pump chamber to the suction line to fill up the chamber with a fluid. Since the distance from the hinge 28 (load point A) to the fulcrum 25 is bigger than the distance between the hinge 27 (force point B) and the fulcrum 25, the input energy that is applied by the motor 12 is multiplied (in accordance with the law of the lever explained herein above) and the lever 19 driving the pump 14 can apply higher power/torque to the fluid and thus higher pressures can be provided. The volume of the pump can be defined by the size of the pump's chamber and the distance the piston can travel which can also be control by the length of the lever 19 and the distance “b” at the force end 19a.
The pumping system 10 can further comprise a control system with a pressure sensor (not shown) that is in communication with the pump's chamber, so that when the outlet valve in the pump 14 is closed the pressure sensor can send a signal to the control system to open the relief valve. The pressure sensor can be any known fast or ultra-fast pressure sensors capable to track pressure change in the pump's chamber. The relief valve can be a solenoid valve or a piezo valve with a driver that is in electrical communication with the control system.
Example of the pumping systems can be used to provide the same effect with less input energy (smaller motors) as the inefficient conventional pressure pumps that are driven with powerful electrical of internal combustions motors. Furthermore, the system 10 can be battery operated/driven so it can be used at places where there is no access to huge electrical supplies or enclosed spaces where combustion engines cannot be used. For example, the system 10 can operate using a 120 V, 15 A battery circuit.
While particular elements, embodiments and applications of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it will be understood, that the scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto, since modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, particularly in light of the foregoing teachings. Thus, for example, in any method or process disclosed herein, the acts or operations making up the method/process may be performed in any suitable sequence and are not necessarily limited to any particular disclosed sequence. Elements and components can be configured or arranged differently, combined, and/or eliminated in various embodiments. The various features and processes described above may be used independently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. All possible combinations and subcombinations are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. Reference throughout this disclosure to “some embodiments,” “an embodiment,” or the like, means that a particular feature, structure, step, process, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in some embodiments,” “in an embodiment,” or the like, throughout this disclosure are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment and may refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, additions, substitutions, equivalents, rearrangements, and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions described herein.
Various aspects and advantages of the embodiments have been described where appropriate. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such aspects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, it should be recognized that the various embodiments may be carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other aspects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without operator input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. No single feature or group of features is required for or indispensable to any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.
The example calculations, simulations, results, graphs, values, and parameters of the embodiments described herein are intended to illustrate and not to limit the disclosed embodiments. Other embodiments can be configured and/or operated differently than the illustrative examples described herein.
