The present disclosure relates to a vane pump.
A vane pump includes a casing, a rotor, and vanes. The casing of the vane pump is directly or indirectly fixed to a motor that rotates the rotor.
Depending on applications of the vane pump, it is important to suppress fluctuations in the discharge pressure.
A vane pump includes a casing defining a pump chamber therein, a rotor disposed in the casing and configured to eccentrically rotate relative to the casing around a rotational axis, a plurality of vanes configured to rotate together with the rotor to slidably move on an inner surface of the casing, a motor configured to rotate the rotor, and a fixed member to which both the motor and the casing are fixed. The casing has an outer side wall surface and a flange. The flange protrudes outward from the outer side wall surface at an intermediate position between both ends of the pump chamber in a rotational axis direction of the rotor. The flange is fixed to the fixed member at a plurality of positions.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings;
To begin with, examples of relevant techniques will be described.
A vane pump includes a casing, a rotor, and vanes. The casing of the vane pump is directly or indirectly fixed to a motor that rotates the rotor. Depending on applications of the vane pump, it is important to suppress fluctuations in the discharge pressure.
In terms of the request to suppress fluctuations in the discharge pressure of the vane pump, the known vane pump has the following problems.
The casing may expand or contract along with temperature changes due to various factors. If the casing is fixed to a fixed member such as a motor housing, a pump chamber may be deformed when the casing expands or contracts.
Deformation of the pump chamber may lead to uneven changes in clearances between the casing and the rotor and between the casing and the vanes, depending on how the pump chamber is deformed. As a result, it may be difficult to suppress fluctuations in discharge pressure of the vane pump.
It is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a vane pump that can suppress fluctuations in discharge pressure due to temperature changes.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a vane pump includes a casing defining a pump chamber therein, a rotor disposed in the casing and configured to eccentrically rotate relative to the casing around a rotational axis, a plurality of vanes configured to rotate together with the rotor to slidably move on an inner surface of the casing, a motor configured to rotate the rotor, and a fixed member to which both the motor and the casing are fixed. The casing has an outer side wall surface and a flange. The flange protrudes outward from the outer side wall surface at an intermediate position between both ends of the pump chamber in a rotational axis direction of the rotor. The flange is fixed to the fixed member at a plurality of positions.
In the vane pump of the above aspect, the casing has the flange at the intermediate position and is fixed to the fixed member at the flange. As a result, when the casing expands or contracts due to a temperature change, it is easy to suppress an uneven deformation of the casing caused by a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the casing and the fixed member. As a result, the amount of deformation of the pump chamber can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress fluctuations in discharge pressure of the vane pump 1 due to temperature changes.
As described above, according to the above aspect, it is possible to provide a vane pump that can suppress fluctuations in discharge pressure due to temperature changes.
A vane pump of one embodiment will be described with reference to
As shown in
The casing 2 defines a pump chamber 20 therein. The rotor 3 is arranged inside the casing 2 and rotates eccentrically with respect to the casing 2 around a rotational axis. Each of the vanes 4 rotates together with the rotor 3 and slidably moves on an inner surface of the casing 2. The motor 5 rotates the rotor 3. Both of the motor 5 and the casing 2 are fixed to the fixed member 6.
The casing 2 has an outer side wall surface 25 and a flange 23 defined as follows. That is, the flange 23 protrudes from the outer side wall surface 25 at an intermediate position between both ends of the pump chamber 20 in a rotational axis direction Z of the rotor 3. The flange 23 of the casing 2 is fixed to the fixed member 6 at multiple positions.
Hereinafter, the rotational axis direction Z of the rotor 3 is also appropriately referred to as an axial direction Z. As shown in
The casing 2, the rotor 3, and the vanes 4 are made of resin. Specifically, for example, the casing 2 is made of a phenol resin, and the rotor 3 and the vanes 4 are made of a PPS resin (i.e., a polyphenylenesulfide resin).
The motor 5 is arranged on one side of the casing 2 in the axial direction. The fixed member 6 is interposed between the motor 5 and the casing 2 in the axial direction Z. The fixed member 6 is made of a material having a linear expansion coefficient that is different from that of the casing 2. In this embodiment, the fixed member 6 is made of a metal material such as plated steel.
Then, the motor 5 and the casing 2 are fixed to the fixed member 6. That the motor 5 is fixed to the fixed member 6 means a state in which a stator of the motor 5 is directly or indirectly fixed to the fixed member 6. The state shown in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the first flange 211 is the flange 23 at the intermediate position. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the second flange 221 is not the flange 23 at the intermediate position.
The second case 22 has a substantially flat plate shape. On the other hand, as shown in
The outer surface of the outer circumferential wall portion 212 forms the outer side wall surface 25 of the casing 2. That is, the first flange 211 (i.e., the flange 23 at the intermediate position) protrudes outward from the outer circumferential wall portion 212. Further, as shown in
Here, as shown in
In this embodiment, the joint portion 231 of the first flange 211 that is the flange 23 at the intermediate position extends over the central plane F. In other words, the central plane F passes through the joint portion 231 of the flange 23 at the intermediate position.
As shown in
The first flange 211 and the second flange 221 overlap with each other in the axial direction Z and are in contact with each other at the three leg portions 215. The first flange 211 and the second flange 221 are fixed to the fixed member 6 at multiple contact points. That is, the contact points between the first flange 211 and the second flange 221 are fastened to the fixed member 6 by screws 11. The number of the fastening points, that is, the number of the leg portions 215 is three in this embodiment, but is not particularly limited and may be four or more. Alternatively, if the pump chamber 20 can be defined appropriately, the number of the fastening points may be two.
Each of the screws 11 is inserted into an insertion hole 216 of the first flange 211 and an insertion hole 226 of the second flange 221, and is screwed into a female screw 66 of the fixed member 6. As a result, the first flange 211 and the second flange 221 are fixed to the fixed member 6 in the axial direction Z, and the first flange 211 and the second flange 221 are fixed to each other. Although not shown, the screw 11 may pass through the fixed member 6 and be screwed into a nut arranged on a downside of the fixed member 6.
Further, in the state before fixing the first case 21 to the second case 22 or the like, the lower ends of the leg portions 215 are arranged slightly above the lower end of the outer circumferential wall portion 212. As a result, the lower end of the outer circumferential wall portion 212 can be reliably pressed against the upper surface of the second case 22.
In the vane pump 1 of this embodiment, the rotor 3 is controlled to rotate at a constant rotational speed. That is, the motor 5 that rotates the rotor 3 is controlled to rotate at a constant rotational speed.
Even if the driving power of the vane pump 1 is constant, the rotation speed of the vane pump 1 may fluctuate due to various factors such as fluctuations in frictional resistance. On the other hand, depending on applications of the vane pump 1, it may be necessary to prevent fluctuations in the rotation speed. Therefore, in such case, constant rotation control is performed to control the rotation speed to be constant.
The vane pump 1 of this embodiment is used, for example, in an evaporative fuel processing apparatus provided with a leak diagnosis unit for evaporative fuel, That is, for example, the vane pump 1 is used as a decompression pump for depressurizing a diagnosis system including a canister.
For example, the leak diagnosis unit is configured to diagnose a leak of the diagnosis system based on pressure change when the pressure in the system is reduced by the vane pump 1.
The present embodiment provides the following functions and advantages.
In the vane pump 1, the casing 2 has the flange 23 at the intermediate position and the flange 23 is fixed to the fixed member 6. As a result, even when the casing 2 expands or contracts due to a temperature change, uneven deformation of the casing due to a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the casing 2 and the fixed member 6 can be easily suppressed. That is, even if the temperature of the casing 2 is changed due to the influence of heat generation caused by sliding of the rotor 3, heat transfer from the motor 5, or a change in the environmental temperature, it is easy to suppress uneven deformation of the casing 2. As a result, the amount of deformation of the pump chamber 20 can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to suppress fluctuations in discharge pressure of the vane pump 1 due to temperature changes.
The above-mentioned functions and advantages will be described in comparison with a vane pump 9 of a comparative example shown in
In the vane pump 9 of the comparative example, as shown in
In the vane pump 9 having such configuration, there are the following concerns. That is, when the casing 2 is fixed to the fixed member 6 having a relatively small linear expansion coefficient, the casing 2 may be deformed unevenly due to the difference in the linear expansion coefficient between the casing 2 and the fixed member 6. For example, at high temperatures, the casing 2 expands more than the fixed member 6.
At this time, as shown in
In this case, dimensional change of the pump chamber 20 differs in the axial direction Z, and uneven deformation of the pump chamber 20 is likely to occur. Then, the clearance between the inner surface of the pump chamber 20 and the rotor 3 and between the inner surface and the vanes 4 is likely to fluctuate greatly. As a result, fluctuations in the discharge pressure of the vane pump 1 are likely to occur.
Further, at a low temperature, the casing 2 contracts more than the fixed member 6. Therefore, as shown in
On the other hand, in the vane pump 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in
That is, as shown in
Also in case that the casing 2 contracts at a low temperature and is slightly deformed, as shown in
The first case 21 and the second case 22 constituting the casing 2 are fixed to each other and fixed to the fixed member 6 at the first flange 211 and the second flange 221. The first flange 211 is the flange 23 at the intermediate position. As a result, an assembly of the casing 2 and a fixation to the fixed member 6 are performed at the same positions. Therefore, it is possible to improve productivity as well as simplification of the vane pump 1.
Further, at least a part of the joint portion 231 of the flange 23 at the intermediate position is located on each side of the central plane F. Thereby, the uneven deformation of the pump chamber 20 due to the temperature change can be suppressed more effectively.
Further, the vane pump 1 is controlled to rotate at a constant rotational speed such that the rotational speed of the rotor 3 is constant. This makes it possible to suppress fluctuations in the pump discharge pressure. Then, in the vane pump 1 that performs such control, the uneven deformation of the pump chamber 20 along with the temperature change is suppressed. Thus, the fluctuation in the pump discharge pressure can be effectively suppressed.
Further, as described above, when the vane pump 1 is used in the fuel processing apparatus provided with the leak diagnosis unit, it is important to keep the pump discharge pressure, that is, to keep the negative pressure constant. This is because a high accurate leak diagnosis becomes difficult if the pump discharge pressure fluctuates. Therefore, the constant rotation control as described above is performed. As a result, the pump discharge pressure can be kept constant and the accuracy of leak diagnosis can be improved. However, even when the rotation speed of the rotor 3 is kept constant, the pump discharge pressure may be affected by a deformation of the pump chamber 2 along with a deformation of the casing 2, Therefore, in the vane pump 1 that performs constant rotation control, a configuration in which the flange 23 at the intermediate position is provided as in the present embodiment is preferable from the viewpoint that the pump discharge pressure can be kept constant more accurately.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a vane pump that can suppress fluctuations in discharge pressure due to temperature changes.
In this embodiment as shown in
In the vane pump 1 of the present embodiment, the second case 22 also has an outer circumferential wall portion 222. That is, the second case 22 has the outer circumferential wall portion 222 that has a substantially cylindrical shape and a bottom plate portion 223 connected to the lower end of the outer circumferential wall portion 222. The second flange 221 protrudes outward from the upper end of the outer circumferential wall portion 222. Further, in the first case 21, the first flange 211 protrudes outward from the lower end of the outer circumferential wall portion 212.
Further, the fixed member 6 has a contact portion 61 in contact with the lower surface of the second flange 221. The contact portion 61 of the fixed member 6 is located above a portion of the fixed member 6 located inward of the contact portion 61.
In this embodiment, as described above, both the first flange 211 and the second flange 221 form the flange 23 at the intermediate position. Further, at least a part of the joint portion 231 of the flange 23 at the intermediate position is located on each side of the central plane F.
Other portions are the same as in the first embodiment.
Those of reference numerals used in the second and subsequent embodiments which are the same reference numerals as those used in the above-described embodiments denote the same components as in the previous embodiments unless otherwise indicated.
Also in this embodiment, as shown in
That is, as shown in
Also in case that the casing 2 contracts at a low temperature and is slightly deformed, as shown in
In addition, this embodiment has the same functions and advantages as in the first embodiment.
In this embodiment as shown in
The screws 11 pass through the first flange 211, the spacer 12, and the second flange 221 and fixed to the fixed member 6. The spacer 12 can be made of, for example, the same resin as the first case 21 and the second case 22.
The other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and exhibits the same functions and advantages.
As in this embodiment, the first flange 211 and the second flange 221 may be configured not to be in direct contact with each other.
In this embodiment as shown in
However, in the present embodiment, as in the second embodiment, both the first flange 211 and the second flange 221 serve as the flange 23 at the intermediate position, and the spacer 12 is interposed therebetween. Further, the spacer 12 is formed in an annular shape extending entirely in the circumference direction of the pump chamber 20 when viewed in the axial direction Z.
In this embodiment, the central plane F passes through the spacer 12. The first flange 211, which serves the flange 23 at the intermediate position, and the second flange 221, which also serves as the flange 23 at the intermediate position, are arranged on opposite sides of the central plane F, respectively.
In addition, this embodiment has the same functions and advantages as in the first embodiment.
The present disclosure is not limited to the respective embodiments described above, and various modifications may be adopted within the scope of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.
Although the present disclosure has been described in accordance with the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such embodiments or structures. The present disclosure encompasses various modifications and variations within the scope of equivalents. In addition, while the various elements are shown in various combinations and configurations, which are exemplary, other combinations and configurations, including more, less or only a single element, are also within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-146174 | Aug 2019 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2020/028788 filed on Jul. 28, 2020, which designated the U.S. and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-146174 filed on Aug. 8, 2019. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
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8549896 | Kobayashi | Oct 2013 | B2 |
20070102060 | Palmer | May 2007 | A1 |
20110138885 | Kobayashi et al. | Jun 2011 | A1 |
20180347563 | Wollmann | Dec 2018 | A1 |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20220145883 A1 | May 2022 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2020/028788 | Jul 2020 | WO |
Child | 17586093 | US |