Gear pump or motor with features for determining if assembled correctly

Abstract

Provided is a gear pump or a motor provided with: a casing internally provided with a gear housing compartment in which a pair of gears are housed; a side plate interposed between the casing and the gears; and a gasket which is disposed on a non-slide surface, and which divides a space between the non-slide surface and the casing into a high pressure side and a low pressure side. The gear pump or the motor is configured such that, in order to discover early the mounting of the side plate in a wrong attitude, such as the upper and lower sides thereof being reversed or the high pressure portion side and the low pressure portion side being reversed, flow rate efficiency is decreased when the side plate is in an attitude other than a predetermined attitude, compared to when the side plate is in the predetermined attitude.

Claims

1. A gear pump or motor, comprising: a casing having a gear housing compartment inside, which houses a pair of gears; a side plate interposed between the casing and the gears; and a gasket provided on a non-slide surface, which is a surface on an opposite side of a slide surface that is a surface on a side of the side plate facing the gears, and the gasket dividing a space between the non-slide surface and the casing into a high pressure side and a low pressure side, wherein a meshing area is provided on the side plate, between the low pressure side and the high pressure side, and corresponding to a position where the pair of gears mesh together, wherein the meshing area is larger on the slide surface than on the non-slide surface.

2. A gear pump or motor, comprising: a casing having a gear housing compartment inside, which houses a pair of gears; a side plate interposed between the casing and the gears; and a gasket provided on a non-slide surface, which is a surface on an opposite side of a slide surface that is a surface on a side of the side plate facing the gears, and the gasket dividing a space between the non-slide surface and the casing into a high pressure side and a low pressure side, wherein the side plate has at least one protrusion that is in contact with the gear housing compartment and provided on the side of the side plate, wherein the at least one protrusion is disposed on the high pressure side, and the side plate is configured to contact the gear housing compartment only by the at least one protrusion on the side plate, wherein each of the at least one protrusion is shorter than one pitch of the gears.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the gear pump according to the first embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 in a state where the side plate according to the embodiment is mounted reversely.

(4) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing the gear pump according to the second embodiment of the invention.

(5) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4 in a state where the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the side plate according to the embodiment are mounted reversely.

(6) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing the conventional gear pump.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(7) The first embodiment of the invention will be described hereafter with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

(8) As shown in FIG. 1, the gear pump of the present embodiment mainly includes: a casing 1; an external gear pair; a driving shaft 4 and a driven shaft 5; a side plate 6; bushes 7; and a gasket 8, wherein the casing 1 formed by joining a body 11 having a gear housing compartment 11a inside; a front cover 12 closing the gear housing compartment 11a of the body 11 from the front; and a rear cover 13 that closes the gear housing compartment 11a of the body 11 from the rear, the external gear pair, that is, a driving gear 2 and a driven gear 3, housed and held inside the gear housing compartment 11a of the casing 1 and meshing with each other, the driving shaft 4 and the driven shaft 5 supporting the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3 respectively, the side plate 6 in contact with side surfaces of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3 respectively, the bushes 7 which are bearing parts respectively disposed between inner surfaces of shaft holes 12x, 12y, 13x, and 13y of the casing 1 for respectively housing the driving shaft 4 and the driven shaft 5, and the driving shaft 4 and the driven shaft 5, the gasket 8 disposed between the side plate 6 and the casing 1.

(9) Since the casing 1, the driving gear 2, the driven gear 3; the driving shaft 4, the driven shaft 5, and the bush 7 have the same configurations as those that have been used for this type of gear pump, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

(10) As shown in FIG. 1, the side plate 6 is disposed at two positions so as to be brought into contact with two side surfaces 2a and 3a of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3 for respectively sealing the side surfaces 2a and 3a of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, among the outer peripheral edges of the side plate 6, the edges on the low pressure side (that is, the side of a suction port X) and the high pressure side (that is, the side of a discharge port Y) form a shape corresponding to the inner surface of the gear housing compartment 11a. In addition, a slide surface 6a of the side plate is processed so as to reduce the friction between the side plate 6 and the driving gear 2 or the driven gear 3. Then, in the present embodiment, the portion, corresponding to a meshing portion of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3, on the side plate 6 is configured as follows. At the part near the suction port X and the discharge port Y, a total of two communication holes 6x and 6y are provided for guiding the hydraulic fluid to the side opposite to the gears 2 and 3 beyond the side plate 6. The parts between these communication holes 6x and 6y are meshing areas 6p and 6q that are in a flat plate shape and face the meshing portion of the gears 2 and 3 in order to seal leakage of the hydraulic fluid from the high pressure side (the side of the discharge port Y) to the low pressure side (the suction port X).

(11) Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the meshing area 6p on the side of the slide surface 6a is configured to be larger than the meshing area 6q on the side of the non-slide surface 6b. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a bottomed groove 6z that opens on the side of the non-slide surface 6b is connected to an edge, on the opposite side of the suction port X, of the communication hole 6x on the low pressure side. That is, at the part where the bottomed groove 6z is formed, the surface on the side of the slide surface 6a is continuous with the surface of the adjacent part and forms the meshing area 6p, whereas the surface on the side of the non-slide surface 6b is the groove bottom of the bottomed groove 6z and does not constitute the meshing area 6q. Therefore, a width d1 of the meshing area 6p on the side of the slide surface 6a is larger than a width d2 of the meshing area 6q on the side of the non-slide surface 6b.In other words, the area of the meshing area 6p on the side of the slide surface 6a is larger than the meshing area 6q on the side of the non-slide surface 6b only by a degree corresponding to the bottom area of the bottomed groove 6z.

(12) When the side plate 6 configured as described above is inserted with the slide surface 6a and the non-slide surface 6b reversed, the following situation occurs.

(13) That is, if the slide surface 6a and the non-slide surface 6b of the side plate 6 are reversed, the area of the meshing area 6q that faces the portion corresponding to the meshing portion of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3 is smaller than the area of the meshing area 6p when the side plate 6 is inserted in the correct direction. Therefore, during operation of the gear pump, the amount of hydraulic fluid that leaks from the discharge port Y to the suction port X increases, and the flow rate efficiency decreases.

(14) That is, according to the present embodiment, the configuration as described above makes it easy to discover that the side plate 6 is mounted reversely through the decrease in flow rate efficiency during a trial operation. Accordingly, such a gear pump can prevent problems that the gear pump is delivered with the side plate 6 mounted reversely, or after delivery, the decrease in slidability between the gears 2 and 3 and the side plate 6 results in damage or the strange noise generated from such a gear pump resonates with the vehicle body of the vehicle equipped with the gear pump and causes loud noise.

(15) Next, the second embodiment of the invention will be described hereafter with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

(16) The gear pump of the present embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment described above except for the shape of the side plate which is as described below Parts corresponding to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same names and reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

(17) The side plate of the gear pump according to the present embodiment is disposed at two positions so as to be brought into contact with two side surfaces 2a and 3a of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3 for respectively sealing the side surfaces 2a and 3a of the driving gear 2 and the driven gear 3. Among the outer peripheral edges of the side plate 6, an edge 6e on the low pressure side (that is, the side of the suction port X) has a shape corresponding to the inner surface of the gear housing compartment 11a, as shown in FIG. 4, whereas an edge 6f on the high pressure side (that is, the side of the discharge port Y) has a shape as shown below. A part of the edge 6f on the side of the discharge port Y is provided with a protrusion 6f1 that is in contact with the gear housing compartment 11a. The edge 6f is configured to be opposed to the inner surface of the gear housing compartment 11a only by the protrusion 6f1 with a slight gap, and largely separated from the inner surface of the gear housing compartment 11a in other portions. Then, a circumferential length of the protrusion 6f1 is set shorter than one pitch of the gears 2 and 3.

(18) When the side plate 6 is mounted correctly, as shown in FIG. 4, the side plate 6 is pressed to the side of the suction port X by the force derived from the hydraulic fluid pressure, and the edge 6e on the side of the suction port X collides with the inner surface of the gear housing compartment 11a by the surface and prevents the hydraulic fluid from leaking to the side of the suction port X beyond the side plate 6.

(19) Furthermore, if the gear pump operates in a state where the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the side plate 6 configured as described above are mounted reversely, the following situation occurs. That is, when the side plate 6 is pressed to the side of the suction port X by the force derived from the hydraulic fluid pressure, as shown in FIG. 5, the edge 6f located on the side of the suction port X collides with the inner surface of the gear housing compartment 11a only by the protrusion 6f1. In addition, the protrusion 6f1 is shorter than one pitch of the gear as described above. Therefore, when the space between the teeth of the gears 2 and 3 reaches a position facing the protrusion 6f1, the space filled with the hydraulic fluid of the high pressure side communicates with the low pressure side (the side of the suction port X) through the space between the teeth. Thereby, the flow rate efficiency during operation of the gear pump is decreased.

(20) That is, according to the present embodiment, the configuration as described above makes it easy to discover that the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the side plate 6 are mounted reversely through the decrease in flow rate efficiency during a trial operation. Accordingly, such a gear pump can prevent problems that the gear pump is delivered with the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the side plate 6 mounted reversely, or after delivery, the strange noise generated from the gear pump resonates with the vehicle body of the vehicle equipped with the gear pump or motor and causes loud noise.

(21) Nevertheless, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above.

(22) For example, the configurations of the features of the first and second embodiments described above may be applied to the same side plate. That is, a bottomed groove that opens on the side of the non-slide surface of the side plate may be provided, and a part of the edge on the high pressure side may be provided with a protrusion in contact with the gear housing compartment and the circumferential length of the protrusion may be set shorter than one pitch of the gear.

(23) In addition, the configuration for facilitating discovery of the side plate being mounted reversely through the decrease in flow rate efficiency is not limited to the configuration of the first embodiment described above. However, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, by making the area of the meshing area that faces the portion corresponding to the meshing portion of the driving gear and the driven gear smaller than the area of the meshing area when the side plate is inserted in the correct direction, as described above, a difference in flow rate efficiency depending on the direction of the side plate can be generated effectively with a simple configuration.

(24) Furthermore, the configuration for facilitating discovery of the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the side plate being mounted reversely through the decrease in flow rate efficiency is not limited to the configuration of the second embodiment described above. However, according to the configuration of the second embodiment, as described above, the length of the protrusion of the edge to be disposed on the high pressure side is made shorter than one pitch of the gear when the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the side plate are mounted reversely, so that if the edge and the protrusion are disposed on the low pressure side, the flow rate efficiency is greatly decreased. Therefore, this can also effectively generate a difference in flow rate efficiency depending on the direction of the side plate with a simple configuration.

(25) In addition, various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.