SUBMERGED DC BRUSHLESS MOTOR AND PUMP

• US 20090202366A1
• Filed: 03/13/2009
• Published: 08/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vaporless Manufacturing, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vaporless Manufacturing, Inc.
• Inventors: Johnson, Mark C., Young, Gregory E., Klopfenstein, Scott D., Geisinger, Penrod, Addink, Jason L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,079,829 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 417/366
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 13/086 the pump and drive motor are both submerged
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 29/183 Semi axial flow rotors
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 29/605 specially adapted for liquid pumps

Abstract

An in-line motor and pump assembly is supported at the bottom of a fuel storage tank by a pipe and an internal concentric conduit for housing electrical conductors extending therewithin to the motor. An impeller, coaxial with the rotor of the motor, draws the fuel into an annular passageway surrounding the stator of the motor. Further passageways convey the fuel to an annular passageway defined between the pipe and the conduit for discharge external of the storage tank. A low pressure environment attendant the inflow of the fuel is used to channel fuel for lubrication and cooling purposes to a lower journal bearing and thrust bearing supporting a common shaft for the impeller and the motor. A high pressure environment attendant outflow of fuel is used to channel fuel for lubrication and cooling purposes to a journal bearing supporting the upper end of the shaft.

Claims

1. In a fuel delivery assembly having a storage tank for the fuel, a superstructure mounted upon the storage tank, a leak detector for receiving fuel to be dispensed from a chamber in the superstructure, the improvement comprising:

a) an in-line motor and pump assembly for pumping fuel from the storage tank to the chamber, said in-line motor and pump assembly including a brushless direct current motor;

b) a pipe and an internal conduit defining a first annular passageway for conveying the fuel from said in-line motor and pump assembly to the chamber;

c) said in-line motor and pump assembly including a common shaft and bearings for supporting the rotor of said motor and an impeller of said pump;

d) a throat unit defining a throat adapted in configuration to said impeller for conveying the fuel in response to rotation of said impeller;

e) a motor mount assembly for mounting the stator of said motor;

f) a housing in combination with said motor mount assembly for defining a second annular passageway to receive fuel from said throat and convey the fuel through said bearings and said motor for purposes of lubrication and cooling; and

g) a tube holder attached to said motor mount assembly for channeling flow of fuel from said second annular passageway to said first annular passageway.

2. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 1, said motor mount assembly including three converging arcuate passageways for conveying fuel from said second annular passageway to said tube holder.

3. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 1, including an inlet section upstream of said impeller, a journal bearing and a thrust bearing for supporting a lower end of said shaft and at least one passageway for conveying fuel into said inlet section via said journal bearing and said thrust bearing to lubricate and cool said journal bearing and said thrust bearing.

4. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 1, including a plurality of vanes disposed in said second annular passageway for urging the flow of fuel therein into an axial flow.

5. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 1 including an inlet section disposed at the lower end of said motor and pump assembly for introducing fuel, said inlet section including a plurality of inlets and a screen for filtering the fuel flowing into said inlets.

7. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said motor is a brushless DC motor.

8. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 7, including an electrical control circuit and a plurality of electrical conductors disposed within said conduit and interconnecting said control circuit with said motor.

9. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pipe and said conduit are threadedly detachably attachable to said motor and pump assembly and to the superstructure.

6. A fuel delivery assembly as set forth in claim 6, wherein said screen is a sleeve encircling said inlet section.

10. A motor and pump assembly for conveying fuel from a storage tank to a chamber external to the storage tank, said motor and pump assembly comprising in combination:

a) a common shaft journaled in bearings for supporting a rotor of said motor and an impeller of said pump, said motor being a brushless direct current motor;

b) a throat unit defining a throat adapted in configuration to said impeller for conveying fuel in response to rotation of said impeller;

c) a motor mount assembly for mounting the stator of said motor;

d) a housing in combination with said motor mount assembly for defining an annular passageway to receive fuel from said throat and direct the fuel through and about said motor and said bearings; and

e) a tube holder for channeling flow of fuel from said annular passageway to a pipe in fluid communication with the chamber.

11. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 10, said motor mount assembly including at least one passageway for conveying fuel from said annular passageway to said tube holder.

12. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 11, including an upper bearing for supporting the upper end of said shaft and at least one further passageway in fluid communication with said passageway for conveying fuel to lubricate and cool said upper bearing.

13. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 10, including a plurality of vanes disposed in said annular passageway for urging the flow of fuel therein into an axial flow.

14. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 13, wherein said plurality of vanes includes three sets of vanes spaced apart from one another, each set of vanes of said plurality of vanes being oriented at an angle different from the vanes of the other sets of vanes.

15. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 10, including an inlet section disposed at an end of said motor and pump assembly for introducing fuel, said inlet section including a plurality of inlets and a screen for filtering the fuel flowing into said inlets.

16. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 15, wherein said screen is a sleeve encircling said inlet section.

17. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 10, wherein said motor is a brushless DC motor.

18. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 10, including an electrical control circuit disposed external of the storage tank and a plurality of electrical conductors interconnecting said control circuit and said motor.

19. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 10, including a conduit disposed within said pipe and defining a further annular passageway therebetween, said pipe and said conduit interconnecting said tube holder and the chamber to convey fuel from said tube holder to the chamber.

20. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 19, including an electrical control circuit disposed external of the storage tank and a plurality of electrical conductors extending from said control circuit through said conduit to said motor.

21. A motor and pump assembly as set forth in claim 20, wherein each of said pipe and said conduit is threadedly engaged with said tube holder.

22. A method for drawing fluid from a tank with a submerged direct current motor and pump assembly, said method comprising the steps of:

a) drawing a fluid from the tank with an impeller of the pump rotationally mounted within a throat unit;

b) directing the fluid to bearings supporting a shaft common to the impeller and the motor to lubricate and cool the bearings;

c) further directing the fluid into and through the motor to cool the motor;

d) channeling the fluid to an outlet subsequent to exercise of said steps of further directing; and

e) further conveying the fluid from the outlet into a pipe for discharge external of the tank.

23. A method for drawing fluid from a tank as set forth in claim 22, wherein the motor is a brushless DC motor and including the step of transmitting power to the motor through conductors interconnecting the motor and a control circuit.

24. A method for drawing fluid from a tank as set forth in claim 23, including a conduit disposed within the pipe for housing the electrical conductors and the step of directing the flow of fluid from the outlet into the space intermediate the pipe and the conduit.

25. A method for drawing fluid from a tank as set forth in claim 24, including a high pressure environment attendant the annular passageway and the step of urging fluid into a bearing supporting the shaft to lubricate and cool the bearing.

26. A method for drawing fluid from a tank as set forth in claim 25, including a low pressure inlet section for introducing fluid to the impeller and the step of drawing fluid into the inlet section adjacent a journal bearing and a thrust bearing supporting the shaft to lubricate and cool the journal bearing and the thrust bearing.

27. A method for drawing fluid from a tank as set forth in claim 22, wherein said steps of channeling includes the steps of directing the fluid from the annular passageway into passageways converging at the outlet.