CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
None
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
None
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
None
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The concept of inexpensive siphon utility pumps for pumping or siphoning a liquid from one location to another is known in the art. One such pump, which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,231, contains a static immersible one-way inlet valve located on an inlet end of a pump cylinder and a plunger having a dynamic one-way valve located in a lumen within the pump cylinder. The dynamic one-way valve can be axially stroked within the lumen through a handle extending through a top end of the pump cylinder to draw liquid into and through the pump cylinder. Typically, most or all of the components of the siphon pump are made from polymer plastics which provides an inexpensive pump as well as a pump that resists oxidation.
The siphon utility pump includes an upper outlet, which is located on the top end of the pump cylinder or pump barrel with the upper outlet connectable to a flexible hose or the like. As the dynamic one-way valve is stroked back and forth within the pump cylinder it draws liquid into and through the pump cylinder. That is, during an upstroke of the dynamic one-way valve liquid is directed into and through the cylinder and the upper outlet and when the dynamic one-way valve is stroked in the opposite direction the dynamic one-way valve opens to allow liquid to pass therethrough while an immersible one-way valve located at the inlet end of the pump remains in a closed condition to prevent liquid from back flowing out of the pump cylinder. If the end of the hose, which is attached to upper outlet of the pump cylinder, is located below a liquid air interface (i.e. the liquid line) of the liquid where the static one-way valve is immersed in the liquid can be siphoned from one location to another since the two one-way valves of the pump cooperate with the pump chamber to allow flow from pump inlet to pump outlet. On the other the one-way valves prevent back flow from pump outlet to pump inlet of siphon action is lost.
One of disadvantages of such utility siphon pumps is that the one-way static inlet valve needs to be immersed in a liquid i.e. below the liquid line before the liquid can be drawn into the utility pump. As the immersible one-way inlet valve is located on the inlet end of the pump and extends radially outward from the pump barrel it limits where the pump may be used. While the external size disadvantage of the immersible one-way valve does not effect the use of the pump for removing liquids such as water from open sources of water it makes it more difficult to remove liquids where the size of the access port to the liquid is limited.
One of the features of the utility siphon pump, which is enjoyed by a user, is the use of a large diameter pump cylinder, typically, a diameter of 2 inches or more which enables the user to quickly draw liquid through the pump and start either a siphon process or a pumping process without excessive stroking. For example, with such a large diameter pump barrel one can remove a gallon of water with four strokes of the pump, which makes it desirable for field use. If the utility siphon pump is to be used to remove liquids from a source of water or the like that has only a small access port the user needs to use a siphon pump with a smaller diameter. However, a smaller diameter pump has a lesser stroke volume or stroke capacity and requires additional strokes to push the same amount of liquid through the pump.
Thus, a pump which has high stroke efficiency or capacity and a large one-way inlet valve may not be suitable for extracting liquid from sources where the inlet access port to the source is smaller than the one-way valve on the end of the pump. Since the immersible one-way valve is threadingly mounted on the exterior surface of the pump it precludes the use of conventional pipe reducers since the reducers would interfere with the operation and placement of the immersible one-way inlet valve.
The invention described herein accommodates multiple uses of a utility siphon pump of high stroke efficiency, without adversely impacting the operation of the static immersible one-way inlet valve. One can access both open sources of liquids or sources of liquids where the size of the access port is smaller than the one-way valve without having to compromise the stroke capacity of the pump since the same pump can be used in either application.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A hand secureable one piece pump adaptor for reducing the size of a pump inlet port to a size less than the size of the one-way immersible valve located on the inlet end of the utility pump without affecting the stroke capacity of the utility pump. The pump adaptor includes a constricting band for forming a suction seal with a portion of an exterior surface of the pump barrel, which is located downstream of the immersible one-way valve. The pump adaptor includes an encapsulation band for extending over and past a one-way valve so as not to adversely affect the operation of the one-way valve. An inlet suction port having a size smaller than the size of the one-way inlet valve can be attached to the inlet band of the adaptor to permit field use of the pump in locations where the access port to the liquids are smaller than the one-way immersible valve.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a prior art siphon utility pump in partial cross section;
FIG. 1A shows an end view of a prior art immersible one-way valve;
FIG. 2 is an exploded side view of the immersible one-way valve and the adaptor
FIG. 3 is a front view of the adaptor mounted on the end of a pump;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the adaptor;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the adaptor mounted on the end of a siphon pump taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4; and
FIG. 6 shows a top view of the adaptor.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows a partial cross sectional view of a prior art siphon utility pump 10 comprising an elongated pump cylinder or pump barrel 11, an immersible one-way inlet valve 15 and a pump outlet tube 14 which connects to one end of a flexible drain hose 13. For convenience in transporting the utility pump the free end of the flexible hose is held proximate barrel 11 by a friction clip 16. A handle 12, which is axially displaceable with respect to cylinder 11, connects to a pump rod 18, which includes a piston or plunger 17 containing a dynamic one-way valve. That is, as the plunger 17 is pushed toward the end of the cylinder containing the immersible one-way inlet valve 15 the dynamic one-way valve in the plunger opens to allow liquid in the pump cylinder 11 to flow upward through the plunger. As the plunger is pulled away from the immersible one-way inlet valve 15 the dynamic one-way valve in plunger 17 closes and the liquid is drawn through the immersible one-way inlet valve 15 and into the pump cylinder or pump barrel 11 of pump 10. Thus, the cooperation of the immersible one-way valve 15 located at the inlet end of the pump barrel 11 and the dynamic one-way valve located on plunger 17 allow one to draw liquid through the immersible one-way valve 15 and discharge it from the open end of flexible hose 13 either through stroking the pump or through a siphon action or both.
FIG. 1A shows an end view of the prior art immersible one-way valve 15 revealing a rigid skeleton frame 15b having a set of pie shaped ports 15a for liquid to enter the pump barrel supporting the one-way valve 15. Located on the downstream side of frame 15b is a resilient disk member or flap 15c which flexes to open ports 15a and allow liquid to flow through ports 15a and into the pump barrel when a suction force is generated on the downstream side of valve 15 by stroking the plunger 17. Flap 15c remains in a closed condition when there is no suction pressure downstream of the flap thus preventing liquid from back flowing out of the pump through the one-way valve 15.
FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the end of the pump barrel or pump cylinder 11 of pump 10 with the immersible one-way inlet valve 15 secured to the exterior end surface of the pump barrel 11 through pipe threads, adhesives or other means (not shown). The one-piece pump adaptor 21 is positioned in axial alignment with the immersible one-way inlet valve 15 to enable an operator to axially slide adaptor 21 over the one-way static inlet valve 15 until a constricting band 25 of the adaptor 21 is suctionally sealed to a portion of the outer cylindrical surface 11a of pump barrel 11 located downstream of the one-way inlet valve 15. Suctionally sealed is understood to mean that the surface to surface engagement of an interior surface of the adaptor 21 to the exterior surface 11a of the pump barrel 11 is such that it prevents fluid leakage therepast or any fluid leakage therepast is insufficient to defeat the suction forces generated by the pump plunger 17 since defeat of the suction forces would prevent liquids from being siphoned or pumped through the pump.
In the example shown a friction collar 20 is also located on pump barrel 11. Friction collar 20 may be used in the event one wishes to apply additional compression force to more securely maintain the adaptor 21 in a suction seal on the pump barrel 11. The friction collar 20 is shown in cross section in FIG. 5 and includes an internal frusto conical surface 20a which mates with an external frusto conical surface 21c on pump adaptor 21 so that downward axial displacement of friction collar 20 on pump barrel 11 radially constricts the constricting band 25 of pump adaptor 21. However, for most applications the use of a friction collar is unnecessary since a resilient adaptor made from an elastomer can generate a constriction force to suctional seal the band 25 to the exterior surface 11a of pump barrel 11. For example, sufficient sealing forces can be generated by having the internal diameter D4 of the constricting band 25 less than the external diameter D1 of the pump barrel. For example, a pump adaptor 21 made from an elastomer such as rubber, is normally sufficient radially contractible to suctionally seal the adaptor 21 to the exterior surface of the pump barrel. On the other hand in some cases one may want to use only a collar to form a fluid tight seal to the pump barrel. In such cases various types of compression collars may be used.
FIG. 3 shows a front view of a lower end of the pump barrel 11 with one end of the adaptor 21 resiliently secured to a portion of the exterior cylindrical surface 11a of pump barrel 11, which is located downstream of the immersible one-way valve, and the opposite end to an inlet pipe 22 having an external diameter D7, which is smaller in diameter than the immersible one-way valve located on the end of the pump barrel 11. The use of an inlet pipe which is smaller than the immersible one-way valve 15 enables the pump 10 to used in areas where the access port to liquid to be removed is less than the size of the immersible one-way inlet valve or where the liquid to be removed is in a location that is remote or inaccessible to the pump operator. With use of adaptor 21 the end of the pump 10 and the one-way inlet valve thereon need not be located below the liquid line i.e. the interface between air and the liquid. In addition to the resilient securement of the adaptor to the pump barrel 11a a compression collar 20 may be used to further secure the adaptor 21 to the pump barrel 11 through application of a radial constricting force on the outer exterior surface 21c of the pump adaptor 21.
FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional isolated view of the one-piece resilient pump adaptor 21 for reducing the size of a siphon pump access inlet to a size less than the external dimensions of the immersible one-way valve, located on the inlet end of the pump. The reduction occurs without decreasing pump stroke capacity, without disrupting the external configuration of the utility pump and allows one to use the pump in conditions where the one-way valve 15 is located above the liquid line of the liquid being suctioned.
The pump adaptor 21 is preferably made from a resilient elastomer and can be radially expanded to allow the pump adaptor to be axially slipped over the one-way valve 15 by user hand pressure. FIG. 5 shows the pump adaptor 21 frictionally and mechanically mounted on the end of pump barrel 11 proximate the immersible one-way valve 15. The upper portion of pump adaptor 21 includes a radially elastically stretchable siphon pump constricting band 25 having an annular sealing surface 21a of diameter D4 for forming a radially constricting suction seal against the larger diameter exterior cylindrical surface 11a of pump barrel 11 through the resiliency of the material of adaptor 21. By having the inside diameter D4 of the constricting band 25 less than the outside diameter D1 of the pump barrel 11 the resiliency of the constricting band 25 exerts a radial inward pressure to maintain a suction seal between the exterior cylindrical surface of pump barrel 11 and the interior annular sealing surface 21a of adaptor 21.
FIG. 4 shows an encapsulation band 24 having a chamber 40 with the chamber therein preferably having a diameter D5 which larger than both the internal diameter of the pump constricting band 25 and the diameter D3 of the static one-way valve 15 as well as a length greater than the length of the one-way valve 15. The purpose of the encapsulation band 24 is to allow one to encapsulate and fluidly isolate the one-way valve 15 so that the adaptor 21 will not adversely affect the performance of the one-way valve 15. While the encapsulation band could be made to constrict to the exterior surface of pump adaptor it is preferred that for ease of application and because of the lack of peripheral sealing surfaces on the one-way valve 15 that the encapsulation band have a diameter equal to or greater than the diameter D3 of the one-way valve 15. The encapsulation band 24 is configured so as to not interfere with the operation of the one-way valve 15 by providing a fluid chamber 27 (FIG. 5) proximate the inlet end of the one-way valve 15 so the inlet region of one-way valve 15 can remain in contact with a liquid i.e. an equivalent of an immersed condition when liquid is being drawn through pump 10.
FIG. 4 shows an annular lip 21b that functions to smoothly connect the constricting band 25 with the encapsulation band 24, however, it can also function as an axial stop to prevent adaptor 25 from being accidentally pulled free from pump barrel 11 since lip 21b can mechanically engage a top edge 15a (FIG. 2) of one-way valve 15 if an axial withdrawal force is applied to adaptor 25.
FIG. 4 illustrates that adaptor 25 includes a further axial stop comprising a set of axial protrusions 31 for engaging the non-operative parts of the one valve 15 and an inlet passage 28 which provides continuous fluid access to a chamber 27 proximate the inlet end of the one-way valve 15. The chamber 27 allows liquid to be drawn into and through the one-way valve 15 without interfering with the conventional operation of the immersible one-way valve 15 by providing for liquid in the region proximate the ports 15a of the one-way valve 15. The lower axial stop 31, which is shown as set of axial protrusions prevents the adaptor 21 from sliding upwards which would block the ports 15a of one-way valve 15. Thus, a feature of the invention is that the pump adaptor 15 can be mounted on a pump barrel with the pump adaptor maintained in a static axial position on the pump barrel 11 through a constriction band 25 of the adaptor 21 engaging the pump barrel. Alternatively where axial forces may disrupt a friction engagement between the adaptor on the pump barrel the constriction band 25 together with the coaction of the annular axial stop 21b and the lower axial stop 31 may be used to prevent axial displacement of the pump adaptor with respect to the pump cylinder.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 shows that an inlet band 29 is integral to encapsulation band 21 with inlet band 29 having an external diameter D6 which is less than the internal diameter of the siphon pump constricting band 25, the pump barrel 11 and the diameter of the one-way valve 15. That is, when the inlet band 29 is used for immersion into a liquid, which is to be suctionally extracted, the inlet band provides for a smaller profile to allow the siphon pump to be used in places where the liquid access ports are too small to accommodate the immersible one-way valve 15 on the end of pump 10. To accommodate even smaller access ports a suction pipe 22 of diameter D7 can be suctionally sealed to inlet band 29. If a suction pipe 22 is attached to the inlet band 29 of the pump adaptor 15 the external diameter D6 of the inlet band 29 need not have a reduced diameter as shown in FIG. 5 since the external diameter D7 of the suction pipe 22 will determine the size of ports that can be accessed 4. Thus, the one-piece cylindrical siphon pump adaptor 21 may include an elongated suction tube 22 suctionally sealed to the inlet band 29 with the elongated suction tube 22 having an outside diameter less than the internal diameter D5 of the encapsulation band 24.
A feature of the use of a separate suction pipe 22 for attachment to the pump adaptor 21 is that the external diameter of the inlet band 29 need not be smaller than the inside diameter of the encapsulation band 24 since suction tubes of different and lesser external diameters may be interchangeable connected to the inlet band 29 of adaptor 21 through conventional pipe fittings or the like thus allowing the operator not only the choice of the size of the external diameter of the suction tube but to make on-the-go changes of the size of suction tube while at a job site.
If desired, in some cases, the portion of the one-piece cylindrical siphon pump adaptor wherein the elongated tube is suctionally sealable through resilient engagement therewith may includes a set of external buttresses 38 for stiffing or preventing suction collapse of the inlet band during suction of liquids therethrough.
As can be seen in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 pump adaptor 21 may consist of a one-piece resilient member with axially spaced multiple bands with each of the bands cooperating to quickly allow one to slip the pump adaptor 21 over an immersible one-way valve 15 located on the end of a pump 10 to reduce the size of the suction inlet to the pump 15 without affecting the stroke capacity of the pump. In addition, the adaptor 21 allows the existing one-way valves in the pump 10 to function in therein normal manner while at the same time providing a siphon pump that can be used to draw liquids from areas where the access port is normally to small for access by the immersible one-way valve located at the inlet end of pump 10.
Thus the siphon utility pump as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 includes a pump cylinder 11 having a lower inlet 15 and an upper outlet 14 and a lumen 11b therein. Located in lumen 11b is an axially slideable plunger 17 having a one-way valve thereon for drawing liquid from the inlet to the outlet of the cylinder.
As shown in the drawings the liquid immersible one-way valve 15 is located on an inlet end of the pump cylinder 11 to enable a liquid to be suctioned through the liquid immersible one-way valve 15 by axially stroking the plunger 17 within the cylinder 11. Attached to the lower end of the pump cylinder 11 is a three part resilient adaptor 21 with the resilient adaptor 21 having a constricting band 25 sealingly engaging an exterior cylindrical surface 11a of cylinder 11, an encapsulation band 24 for encapsulating the liquid immersible one-way valve 15, an inlet extension 29 having an outside diameter preferably smaller than an outside diameter of the liquid immersible one-way valve 15 and a suction chamber 27 for suctioning of fluid through an extension 22 and into proximity of the liquid immersible one-way valve 15. If desired one can lock the pump adaptor 21 in position through an annular stop 21b that mechanically prevents the pump adaptor from sliding off the pump barrel 11 and a stop 31 that mechanically prevents the pump adaptor 15 from sliding to far over the one-way valve and thus interfering with the operation of the one-way valve 15.
A further feature of the invention includes a field method of reducing the inlet size of a siphon utility pump having an immersible one-way valve without the aid of tools by on-the-go placing a sealing surface 21a of a pump adaptor 21 into a suction sealing engagement with an exterior surface 11a of a pump barrel 11 by radially expanding a constricting band 25 on the adaptor to slide the sealing surface 21a past the one-way valve 15 and into a position proximate an exterior surface 21a of a pump barrel. Allowing the resilient constricting band 25 to radially contract brings the constricting band into a suctional seal with the external surface of pump barrel. One can then place an encapsulation band 24 of the pump adaptor circumferentially around the non-immersible one-way valve 15 with a rigid frame 15b of one-way valve 15 in engagement with axial stop 31 to form a suction chamber proximate the one-way valve 15. An extension 22 on the adaptor can then be used for suction of liquids therethrough. The extension may include a tube that can be frictional secured thereto in a suction seal to prevent air leakage therepast during the operation of the utility pump.
Patent Application
20130014836
