Patent Application
20150369239
The present invention relates to a screw spindle pump comprising at least two parts.
A screw spindle pump is a so-called displacement pump, wherein the form of the rotating displacer resembles that of a spindle screw. The screw spindle pump comprises two or more contrarotating rotors and a pump housing which encloses the rotors. The rotors are constituted with a regular threaded profiling and engage with one another in a cogwheel-like manner. The rotors are also referred to as screw spindles and comprise at least a first shank section and a profiled section with a screw-like or helical profile. The hollow spaces, which are formed by the at least three structural elements—pump housing, first screw spindle and second screw spindle, form the delivery spaces for the delivered medium. When the screw spindles are rotated, the delivery spaces move in a machine direction and deliver the medium inside the pump housing from the suction side (=inlet channel) to the pressure side (=outlet channel).
This type of pump is particularly well suited for incompressible as well as viscous media and for generating high pressures. Screw spindle pumps are used for the transport of single-phase as well as multi-phase fluids. The three-spindle screw spindle pump is used predominantly for pumping lubricants that are free of abrasive materials. They are characterised in particular by the fact that it is possible to generate high pressures up to 160 bar with them.
In the case of three-spindle screw spindle pumps, the three spindles are usually disposed in such a way that a drive spindle lying in the middle (also referred to as the male screw) drives two laterally engaging female screw spindles. The drive spindle, for its part, is connected to a drive motor, which can be constituted both as an electric motor and as an internal combustion engine. In embodiments known from the prior art, the torque generated by the drive is transmitted from the drive spindle via the spindle profile to the driven spindles. The spindle profiles engaging with one another produce closed delivery chambers, in which the delivery medium is enclosed and transported in the axial direction from the suction side to the pressure side.
In order to reduce the loads acting on the male screw, the female screws can be positioned, proceeding from the rotational axis of the male screw, at an angle of 180° in the pump housing, which balances out the radial force effect on the male screw.
Pumps in which fluid is transported by means of the pump with the application of pressure via a stationary inlet to an outlet are already known in the prior art.
Such a pump is known for example from WO 2011/063870 A2. WO Offenlegungsschrift shows a screw spindle pump with a pump housing and a flange section, wherein the flange section is constituted as a stationary component of the pump housing. The pump housing must therefore be aligned, together with its flange section, with respect to the position of the corresponding mating flange.
The problem of the invention, therefore, is to make available a screw spindle pump which displays greater flexibility with regard to its possible installation.
The aforementioned problem is solved by a screw spindle pump in accordance with the present invention.
The invention relates to a screw spindle pump for pumping delivery media, said screw spindle pump comprising at least two parts. In preferred embodiments, the delivery media are constituted by fluid media, such as lubricants, water, suspensions or suchlike. In connection with the present invention and the screw spindle pump according to the invention, the term “pumping” is understood to mean a process in which the delivery medium is transported and subjected to pressure.
The first of the at least two parts of the screw spindle pump comprises a housing and at least one spindle system disposed in the housing and driven in a rotational manner. The spindle system comprises a male drive spindle, which is coupled with one or more further female spindles driven in a rotational manner by the male drive spindle. In particular, the male drive spindle is coupled with the respective female spindle by the respective spindle profile following the law of gearing.
The male drive spindle is preferably driven by one or more actuators. The one or more actuators can be constituted for example as an electric motor and/or an internal combustion engine. In various embodiments, the rotation frequency of the male drive spindle is preselectable in a defined manner via the one or more actuators and can be adapted if need be to the given delivery medium and the desired delivery rate.
Furthermore, the first part comprises a pressure region downstream of the spindle system and at least one outlet opening connected to said pressure region, said outlet opening discharging the delivery medium out of the pressure region. The delivery medium is thus delivered via the spindle system into the pressure region. The outlet opening is constituted for example as a bore in the housing and/or as a channel in the housing. It is conceivable, for example, for the outlet opening to be constituted as a passage in the housing emerging into the pressure region and set angled against the rotational axis of the male drive spindle. According to a further embodiment, the outlet opening is constituted as a passage emerging into the pressure region and lying perpendicular to the rotational axis of the male drive spindle.
Furthermore, the second part of the screw spindle pump comprises at least one low-pressure chamber upstream of the spindle system and at least one inlet opening for the fluid medium into the low-pressure chamber. With regard to their diameter, it is conceivable for the at least one outlet opening and the at least one inlet opening to be constituted identically or differently. The second part and the first part are connected to one another preferably in a sealed the manner, so that no delivery medium can unintentionally escape from the low-pressure chamber of the screw spindle pump.
According to the invention, provision is made such that the first part and the second part of the screw spindle pump are coupled together, preferably in a rotational manner, so that they can assume at least two different relative positions.
For example, it is conceivable for the inlet opening and the outlet opening to be constituted as an inlet channel and as an outlet channel, wherein a parallel course of the inlet channel and the outlet channel is constituted in a first relative position. Furthermore, it may be the case that, in the second relative position, a skewed course of the inlet channel and the outlet channel is constituted.
Furthermore, it is conceivable for the first part and the second part to be connected to one another detachably in the given relative position. For example, it is conceivable for the detachable connection to take place by screw joints or suchlike. In addition, it is conceivable, during the operation of the screw spindle pump, for the first and the second part to be held in the given relative position for example by shrink joints and/or adhesive joints and/or weld joints. In preferred embodiments, it may be the case that the first part and the second part are connected together detachably in their given relative position during an operation of the screw spindle pump.
In preferred embodiments, the first part and the second part are coupled with one another in a rotational manner. For example, it is conceivable for the housing to have at least in sections a cylindrical shape and for the relative rotational movement of the first and second part to be able to be produced about a longitudinal axis of the cylindrically shaped housing or housing part.
It is also conceivable for the second part of the screw spindle pump to sit in a rotational manner on the first part. For example, one of the two parts comprises contact means for this purpose and the other of the two parts comprises corresponding counter-contact means, wherein the contact means and counter-contact means engage with one another as required.
It is also conceivable that a change from a first of the at least two relative positions into a second of the at least two relative positions can be brought about by means of a relative rotational movement of the first part with respect to the second part around a longitudinal axis, which longitudinal axis is constituted as the rotational axis of a male drive spindle of the spindle system. The male drive spindle can, as already mentioned previously, be defined as the spindle which is coupled with the drive by an actuator, such as for example an electric motor and/or internal combustion engine. Alternatively, embodiments are possible in which the longitudinal axis is constituted as the rotational axis of another of the spindles.
In particular, embodiments have proved successful in practice wherein the low-pressure chamber of the second part has at least in sections a shell-like shape. The flow behaviour of the delivery medium in the second part of the screw spindle pump is improved by means of this shaping.
Furthermore, it is conceivable for a flange section for fixing to a corresponding mating flange to be constituted in the region of the inlet opening and/or in the region of the outlet opening. The flange section in the region of the inlet opening or the flange section of the second part is thus preferably rotated together with the first part in the presence of a relative rotational movement of the second part with respect to the first part.
In order to limit excess pressure in the pressure region, it is possible with various embodiments for the first part to comprise at least one return channel, which at least one return channel is in fluidic communication with the pressure region and with the low-pressure chamber. For example, it is conceivable for the return channel to be constituted for conveying the delivery medium from the pressure region into the low-pressure chamber. In further embodiments, a plurality of such return channels for example are provided, which run parallel with one another, as the case may be. Embodiments have proved to be particularly successful in practice wherein one or more return channels are aligned parallel with a rotational axis of one or more drive spindles. It is also conceivable for the return channel to lead from the pressure region in the direction of the low-pressure chamber and to be closed at an end pointing in the direction of the low-pressure chamber. It is also conceivable for the return channel to comprise for example branching and/or a deflection, which deflection leads in the direction of one or more means for limiting a predefined set-point pressure level in the pressure region, said means being described in greater detail below.
In order to be able to integrate the at least one return channel in the simplest possible way during the production of the screw spindle pump, it is for example possible for the at least one return channel to be constituted through the housing of the first part. The at least one return channel is constituted for example as a bore in the housing, which extends from the pressure region up to the low-pressure chamber.
In particularly preferred embodiments, the screw spindle pump comprises one or more means which are brought into an operative connection with the low-pressure chamber and the pressure region, in such a way that a predefined maximum pressure level in the pressure chamber can be set by one or more means when a predefined pressure level is exceeded in the pressure chamber. It is conceivable for such means to be disposed in the region of the low-pressure chamber. It is also conceivable for the means to comprise one or more pressure relief valves.
Especially in the case of embodiments with the previously described at least one return channel, there is the possibility of the means being brought into an operative connection with the low-pressure chamber and the pressure region and of being constituted as a component of the second part of the screw spindle pump. In this embodiment, therefore, the means can be moved together with the second part as a component of the second part when there is a relative rotational movement of the first part and the second part.
It is for example conceivable for the previously mentioned at least one return channel to comprise branching, wherein a branch conveys the delivery medium onward to the one or more means.
The one or more means can comprise a base body with a hollow space, in which a piston is mounted with a stroke motion against the restoring force of a compression spring, as well as at least one bore disposed at the end face in the base body. A bolt coupled with the piston can be guided preferably coaxial with the piston through the bore and be in contact with the given delivery medium. The maximum cross-section of the bolt is preferably constituted reduced in terms of its area to the maximum cross-section of the piston. The maximum cross-section of the bolt is preferably constituted reduced in terms of area to the minimum cross-section of the piston.
Moreover, it is possible for the bore to be constituted as a component of a front cover of the base body and for the cover to comprise one or more further apertures preferably disposed radially around the bore for the entry of the delivery medium into the hollow space of the base body. After entry via one or more further bores, the delivery medium can come directly into contact with the piston and in particular with a head section of the piston, described in greater detail below, and can press the latter, thereby assisting the bolt, against the restoring force of the spring away from the one or more bores.
When the piston moves or when the piston performs a stroke motion, the delivery medium is able to penetrate into a hollow space of the base body that becomes accessible due to the stroke motion, as a result of which a pressure reduction in the pressure region or in the low-pressure chamber results.
In principle, the one or more means can be constituted as a valve, wherein the valve comprises a base body, a piston, a compression spring and a so-called pilot system. The pilot system serves to reduce the pressure in a pressure region by opening and closing the valve when a maximum pressure level is exceeded. With this embodiment, the opening takes place by the pressure applied by a control bolt. If pressure is present at an opening bore of the valve, a pressure relief in the pressure region is produced by opening the valve by means of the control bolt. The control bolt is hereby brought into contact with the previously mentioned piston and preferably has a smaller cross-sectional area than the piston, as a result of which a reinforcing effect results when the valve is opened.
When the pressure in the pressure region falls, the piston in the described embodiment is moved by the force of the compression spring into a seat of the valve and closes the pressure opening through which the control pin is guided. At the same time, an aperture or channel disposed laterally in the base body is opened, said aperture or channel being connected to the low-pressure chamber. The pressure level in the base body is thus reduced when the aperture or the channel is opened and adapted to the pressure level of the low-pressure chamber.
There is therefore the possibility for the one or more means to comprise, as appropriate, a base body with a hollow space, in which a piston is mounted with a stroke motion against the restoring force of a compression spring and a bolt connected to the piston, the maximum cross-section of said bolt being constituted reduced in area to the maximum cross-section of the piston, is guided with a stroke motion in the base body when a predefined maximum pressure level is exceeded. Resulting from the stroke motion, a lateral opening of the base body is preferably cleared for the return flow of the delivery medium from the pressure region into the low-pressure chamber.
It is therefore also conceivable that, when the maximum pressure level in the pressure region is not exceeded, a head section of the piston is guided by means of the compression spring into a seat and the hollow space of the base body is brought into fluidic communication with the low-pressure chamber via the opening disposed laterally in the base body, so that the pressure level in the hollow space of the base body is essentially identical to the pressure level in the low-pressure chamber.
It is also conceivable for the one or more means to be constituted as a component of the second part and to comprise a rear cover, which can be removed by means of one or more screw joints and which is disposed at an outer side of the second part.
The possibility also exists for the one or more means to comprise one or more adjusting means for selecting the restoring force of the compression spring, said adjusting means being accessible from the exterior and preferably operable by means of a tool. For example an external square key or suchlike. An adaptation of the maximum pressure level in the low-pressure chamber or in the pressure region advantageously takes place simply by operating the one or more adjusting means from the exterior, without a replacement of components having to be made.
Examples of embodiment of the invention and its advantages are explained in greater detail below with the aid of the appended figures. The size ratios of the individual elements with respect to one another in the figures do not always correspond to the actual size ratios, since some forms are represented simplified and other forms magnified compared to other elements for the sake of better clarity.
Identical reference numbers are used for identical or identically acting elements of the invention. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, only reference numbers that are required for the description of the given figure are represented in the individual figures. The represented embodiments only represent examples as to how the screw spindle pump according to the invention can be constituted and do not represent a conclusive limitation.
First part 3 comprises a pressure region 15 and an outlet opening 13, which is brought into connection with pressure region 15 thereby discharging the delivery medium from pressure region 15. The delivery medium thus flows from pressure region 15 and via outlet opening 13 out of housing 7 of first part 3. In the present case, pressure region 15 is defined as the region via which the delivery medium is passed on from spindle system 4 to outlet opening 13. In further embodiments, a screw spindle pump 1 can also comprise one or more pressure chambers, which are disposed upstream of outlet opening 13.
The embodiment of
Return channel 21 connects pressure region 15 of first part 3 to low-pressure chamber 16 of second part 5, but is closed in the region of low-pressure chamber 16, so that the delivery medium cannot flow back from pressure region 15 into low-pressure chamber 16. As described in greater detail below in
Screw spindle pump 1 also comprises at least one low-pressure chamber 16 disposed upstream of spindle system 4, said low-pressure chamber being constituted shell-shaped in
An inlet opening 14 of second part 5 is also represented. The delivery medium enters via inlet opening 14 into low-pressure chamber 16. Disposed in the region of inlet opening 14 and in the region of outlet opening 13, in each case, is a flange section 18 and respectively 19 for fixing to a corresponding mating flange (not represented).
First part 3 and second part 5 are coupled together in a rotational manner so they can assume two different relative positions. For this purpose, second part 5 sits in the present case on first part 3.
The cross-section of
With regard to its function, valve 2 is constituted in such a way that a predefined maximum pressure level in pressure region 15 can be produced by valve 2 when a predefined pressure level in pressure region 15 is exceeded.
In the example of embodiment of
As can be seen in
Piston 31 also comprises a head section 33 at a free end pointing in the direction of bore 44. Head section 33 is accommodated play-free in hollow space H of base body 35 in the assembled state of valve 2 or of the pressure relief valve. A lateral opening 37 in base body 35 is also represented, past which lateral opening head section 33 of piston 31 is conveyed when a stroke motion is performed.
Until the maximum pressure level in pressure region 15 is reached, piston 31 does not perform any stroke motion. Head section 33 is disposed in a seat S of front cover 41 as a result of a restoring force of compression spring 27. For example, seat S of front cover 41 can be such that head section 33 can be accommodated essentially play-free in seat S.
The delivery medium can penetrate through lateral opening 37. The pressure level of the delivery medium penetrating into lateral opening 37 is always identical to the actual pressure level in low-pressure chamber 15 or in pressure region 15. If piston 31 performs a stroke motion due to the maximum pressure level being exceeded and head section 33 of piston 37 leaves seat S, delivery medium with the excess pressure can penetrate through return channel 21, bore 44 and radially provided openings of control bolt 39 and additionally assist the stroke motion of piston 31 against the restoring force of compression spring 27 in order to open, following the delivery medium, the path into hollow space H of base body 35 via opening 37 into low-pressure chamber 16.
As already mentioned and as can be seen in
The individual components of valve 2 can be fitted together by means of fixing means 29 also represented in FIG. 5—in the present case constituted as screw joints.
The embodiment of
The invention has been described by reference to a preferred embodiment. The person skilled in the art can however imagine that modifications or changes to the invention can be made without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102013102031.3 | Mar 2013 | DE | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/DE2014/000088 | Feb 2014 | US |
| Child | 14837028 | US |
