In-line centrifugal pump
First Claim
1. An in-line centrifugal pump comprising:
- a housing;
an impeller mounted within said housing for preferred sense rotation about an axis;
means on said housing defining an inlet for fluid flow along a first direction perpendicular to said axis; and
means on said housing defining an outlet for fluid flow along a second direction perpendicular to said axis;
wherein said first and second directions define a deflection angle therebetween of less than approximately 90%, said preferred sense of rotation of said impeller being such that fluid flowing from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller covers an arc subtending said deflection angle, and wherein said impeller has a predetermined outer diameter and said housing has inner dimensions related to said diameter to define a substantial first clearance between said housing and said impeller over a portion of said impeller'"'"'s travel extending from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A ladder pump for use with a hydraulic dredge to increase the main pump efficiency comprises a casing and a vaned impeller located in the casing and mounted for rotation about a normally horizontal axis transverse to the ladder. The casing has an inlet and an outlet defining respective axes lying in a common plane perpendicular to the impeller axis and defining a deflection angle therebetween, with approximately 60° being typical. The diameter of the impeller and the inner dimensions of the casing together define a substantial clearance over at least that portion of an impeller vane'"'"'s travel between the inlet and the outlet, so that large solid objects entering the pump may pass under the impeller and out the pump outlet. The impeller may have substantially rigid vanes, or the vanes may be flexible. The ladder pump fits in-line with respect to the suction pipe, and has an axial extension little wider than the pipe itself. Thus it is readily positioned proximate the suction mouthpiece where it can work most effectively.
110 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An in-line centrifugal pump comprising:
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a housing; an impeller mounted within said housing for preferred sense rotation about an axis; means on said housing defining an inlet for fluid flow along a first direction perpendicular to said axis; and means on said housing defining an outlet for fluid flow along a second direction perpendicular to said axis; wherein said first and second directions define a deflection angle therebetween of less than approximately 90%, said preferred sense of rotation of said impeller being such that fluid flowing from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller covers an arc subtending said deflection angle, and wherein said impeller has a predetermined outer diameter and said housing has inner dimensions related to said diameter to define a substantial first clearance between said housing and said impeller over a portion of said impeller'"'"'s travel extending from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. Apparatus for use on a hydraulic dredge for providing positive pressure at the inlet of a main dredge pump on a barge comprising:
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a ladder extending downwardly from the bow of said barge; a suction pipe extending from said main pump and downwardly along said ladder, said suction pipe having a mouthpiece proximate a lower end of said ladder; a housing disposed in line with said suction pipe at a position proximate said mouthpiece and having means defining an inlet and outlet, said inlet and outlet defining first and second directions being displaced by an angle relative to one another of less than approximately 90°
; andan impeller having a predetermined outer diameter mounted within said housing for preferred sense rotation about an axis perpendicular to said first and second directions, said preferred sense of rotation being such that fluid flowing from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller covers an arc subtending said angle of less than approximately 90°
. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. In a dredge including a barge, a ladder extending downwardly from the bow of said barge, a cutter at a leading end of said ladder, a main pump on said barge, a suction pipe extending from said main pump and downwardly along said ladder, said suction pipe having a suction mouthpiece proximate said cutter head, an improved ladder pump situated on said ladder mounted in-line within said suction pipe and at a position proximate said suction mouthpiece, said ladder pump comprising:
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a housing; an impeller of predetermined outer diameter mounted within said housing for preferred sense rotation about a normally horizontal axis transverse to said ladder; means on said housing defining an inlet for fluid flow along a first direction perpendicular to said axis; and means on said housing defining an outlet for fluid flow along a second direction perpendicular to said axis, said second direction defining a deflection angle relative to said first direction of less than approximately 90°
, said preferred sense of rotation of said impeller being such that fluid flowing from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller covers an arc subtending said deflection angle;wherein said housing has inner dimensions defining a substantial radial clearance around said impeller over a portion of said impeller'"'"'s travel extending from said inlet to said outlet along the direction of rotation of said impeller. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. In a method of dredging solid material located at a first lower level including the steps of cutting and agitating said solid material, entraining said cut material in a liquid stream to form a slurry, flowing said slurry along a flow path upwardly to a main pump at a second upper level, the improvement comprising the steps of:
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submerging a vaned impeller in said slurry over a region of said flow path proximate said lower level; rotating said impeller about an axis perpendicular to the direction of the flow path in said region so that said vanes move in the direction of said flow path over an arc;
of their rotation subtending an angle of less than approximately 90°
, thereby adding kinetic energy to said slurry over said region of the flow path, while maintaining the proportion of solids to liquid in the slurry substantially constant and while avoiding sharp bends in the flow path, such that said slurry enters said main pump at a positive pressure to increase the efficiency of said main pump.
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Specification