Rotary pump with a compact setting structure for adjusting the delivery volume

Abstract

A rotary pump exhibiting an adjustable specific delivery volume, the rotary pump including a housing featuring a delivery chamber for a fluid feed; a delivery rotor in the delivery chamber; a setting structure which surrounds the delivery rotor, a spring exerting a spring force which acts on the setting structure in a first setting direction; a setting pressure chamber for applying a setting pressure of a setting fluid, which acts counter to the spring force in a second setting direction, to the setting structure; and a housing abutment, wherein the setting structure includes: a recess on a circumference; and a counter abutment for the housing abutment in the recess.

Claims

1. A rotary pump exhibiting an adjustable specific delivery volume said rotary pump comprising: (a) a housing featuring a delivery chamber into which an inlet and an outlet for a fluid feed; (b) a delivery rotor which is rotated about a rotational axis in the delivery chamber in order to deliver fluid from the inlet to the outlet; (c) a setting ring which surrounds the delivery rotor and forms delivery cells with the delivery rotor, in order to deliver the fluid from the inlet to the outlet, and which is pivoted in order to perform a setting movement, which adjusts the specific delivery volume of the rotary pump, relative to the delivery rotor in a first setting direction and in a second setting direction counter to the first setting direction; (d) a spring device which is supported in a spring counter bearing of the setting structure, in order to exert a spring force which acts on the setting structure in the first setting direction; (e) a setting pressure chamber for applying a setting pressure of a setting fluid, which acts counter to the spring force, to the setting structure; (f) and a housing abutment rigidly coupled to the housing and which limits a movement of the setting ring in at least one of the setting directions by an abutting contact with the setting ring, (g) wherein the setting ring comprises: a radial recess on a circumferential wall which faces away from the delivery rotor; and a counter abutment or a first counter abutment and a second counter abutment in the recess, wherein the counter abutment or the first counter abutment passes into abutting contact with the housing abutment in the first setting direction and the second counter abutment passes into abutting contact with the housing abutment in the second setting direction, wherein (h) the housing comprises: an inlet into the housing for the fluid to be delivered; and an intake which connects the inlet into the housing to the inlet of the delivery chamber and overlaps with the delivery rotor, in an axial view onto the delivery rotor, orthogonally with respect to the spring force, and wherein the spring device extends in the intake and the inlet channels the fluid in the direction of the spring force to the inlet of the delivery chamber.

2. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the spring counter bearing overlaps with the delivery rotor, in an axial view onto the delivery rotor, orthogonally with respect to the spring force.

3. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the counter abutment or the first counter abutment and the second counter abutment is formed by a wall of the recess which is a trailing wall in relation to the setting movement which is limited by the abutting contact.

4. The rotary pump according to claim 3, wherein when the wall is in abutting contact, a region of the wall which forms the counter abutment, the first counter abutment or the second counter abutment encloses an angle of at most 40, or at most 30, with a tangential plane of the region of the wall which extends radially with respect to the rotational axis of the delivery rotor.

5. The rotary pump according to claim 3, wherein when the wall is in abutting contact, a region of the wall which forms the counter abutment, the first counter abutment or the second counter abutment encloses an angle of at most 40, or at most 30, with a tangential plane of the region of the wall which extends radially with respect to a pivot axis of the setting ring.

6. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the recess is shaped as an axial groove on the circumference of the setting ring which faces radially away from the delivery rotor.

7. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the housing abutment projects axially from an end-facing surface of the housing, which faces the setting ring.

8. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the setting ring forms a sealing gap for the setting pressure chamber with an inner circumferential surface of the housing, and the recess borders the sealing gap in the circumferential direction.

9. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein a length of the recess, as measured in the circumferential direction of the setting structure from the first counter abutment to the second counter abutment, is sufficiently small that a straight line placed onto the setting ring covers the recess over its entire length.

10. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein at least one of: the spring device comprises a spring member which acts on the setting ring in the direction of the delivery chamber and eccentrically with respect to the rotational axis of the delivery rotor; the spring force crosses the rotational axis of the delivery rotor, in an axial view onto the delivery rotor, within an inner circumference of the setting structure which faces the delivery rotor; the spring force crosses the rotational axis of the delivery rotor on a side which faces away from the pivot axis of the setting ring; and the spring device does not exhibit an overlap with the delivery rotor parallel to the spring force.

11. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the setting ring is pivoted, back and forth about the pivot axis which is stationary relative to the housing, in the first setting direction and the second setting direction.

12. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the setting ring is pivoted back and forth relative to the housing in a rotary joint about a pivot axis, which is stationary relative to the housing, in the first setting direction and the second setting direction.

13. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the spring counter bearing overlaps with the inlet of the delivery chamber, in an axial view onto the delivery rotor, orthogonally with respect to the spring force.

14. The rotary pump according to claim 1, wherein the rotary pump is used to supply an assembly of a motor vehicle with the fluid and is driven in a fixed rotational speed relationship by a drive motor of the vehicle, and wherein the rotary pump is a vacuum pump or an engine lubricating oil pump or transmission oil pump or a transmission oil pump of the motor vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An example embodiment of the invention is described below on the basis of figures. Features disclosed by the example embodiment, each individually and in any combination of features, advantageously develop the subject-matter of the claims and the aspects and embodiments described above. There is shown:

(2) FIG. 1 a rotary pump comprising a setting structure which can be rotationally moved, in a position for a maximum delivery volume; and

(3) FIG. 2 the rotary pump comprising the setting structure, in a position for a minimum delivery volume.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows a rotary pump in a vane cell design by way of example. The rotary pump is shown in an axial view onto a delivery rotor 10 of the pump. The pump comprises a housing 1, of which only a housing part is shown in FIG. 1, which surrounds a delivery chamber 2, in which the delivery rotor 10 is arranged such that it can be rotated about a rotational axis R, and a setting structure 20. The housing part also comprises an end-facing wall of the housing 1 which axially faces the delivery rotor 10 and can be seen behind the delivery rotor 10 in FIG. 1. Only a radially inner edge of a circumferential wall of the housing part is shown. A cover of the housing 1 has been removed, such that the functional components of the rotary pump can be seen. The delivery chamber 2 comprises an inlet 3 and an outlet 4 for a fluid to be delivered, for example engine lubricating oil. The delivery chamber 2 comprises a low-pressure side and a high-pressure side. When the delivery rotor 10 is rotary-driven, anticlockwise in FIG. 1, fluid flows through the inlet 3 on the low-pressure side into the delivery chamber 2 and is expelled at an increased pressure on the high-pressure side and discharged through the outlet 4.

(5) The delivery rotor 10 is a vane wheel comprising a rotor structure 11, which is central with respect to the rotational axis R, and vanes 12 which are arranged in a distribution over the circumference of the rotor structure 11. The vanes 12 are guided in slots 13 of the rotor structure 11, which are open towards the outer circumference of the rotor structure 11, such that the vanes 12 can be shifted, sliding, in a radial or at least substantially radial direction. They are supported radially on the inside of a supporting structure 15. The supporting structure 15 can be moved relative to the rotor structure 11, in order to be able to equalise setting movements of the setting structure 20.

(6) The outer circumference of the delivery rotor 10 is surrounded by the setting structure 20. When the delivery rotor 10 is rotary-driven, its vanes 12 slide over an inner circumferential surface of the setting structure 20. The rotational axis R of the delivery rotor 10 is arranged eccentrically with respect to a parallel central axis of the setting structure 20, such that when the delivery rotor 10 is rotated, delivery cells formed by the delivery rotor 10 and the setting structure 20 increase in size in the rotational direction on the low-pressure side of the delivery chamber 2 and decrease in size again on the high-pressure side. Due to this increase and decrease in the size of the delivery cells, which is periodic with the rotational speed of the delivery rotor 10, the fluid is delivered from the low-pressure side to the high-pressure side, where it is delivered at an increased pressure through the outlet 4.

(7) The volume of fluid which is delivered by each revolution of the delivery rotor 10, the so-called specific delivery volume, can be adjusted. If the fluid is a liquid and thereforein a good approximationincompressible, the absolute delivery volume is directly proportional to the rotational speed of the delivery rotor 10. In the case of compressible fluids, for example air, the relationship between the delivered amount and the rotational speed may not be linear, but the absolute delivered amount and/or mass likewise increases with the rotational speed.

(8) The specific delivery volume depends on the eccentricity, i.e. the distance between the central axis of the setting structure 20 and the rotational axis R of the delivery rotor 10. In order to be able to change this axial distance, the setting structure 20 is arranged such that it can be rotationally moved in the housing 1, for example such that it can be pivoted about a polar axis P and/or pivot axis which is stationary relative to the housing 1. In variations, a modified setting structure can also be arranged such that it can be pivoted about a non-stationary polar axis in the housing 1.

(9) A pivot bearing region of the setting structure 20 is indicated by 21. The pivot bearing is embodied as a slide bearing, in that the pivot bearing region 21 of the setting structure 20 is in direct sliding contact with a co-operating surface of the housing 1. The housing 1 comprises a housing part (not shown) which surrounds the setting structure 20 on the outside and forms the co-operating surface of the housing 1. The cover of the housing 1 which can be seen in FIG. 1 seals off this other housing part on an axial end-facing side.

(10) A spring force F is applied to the setting structure 20 in a first setting direction. The spring force F is generated by a spring device 5 comprising one or more mechanical spring membersin the example embodiment, one spring member. The spring member is embodied and arranged as a helical pressure spring. A setting pressure of a setting fluid is applied to the setting structure 20 in a second setting direction counter to the first setting direction. For applying pressure using the setting fluid, a setting pressure chamber 6 is formed on the outer circumference of the setting structure 20, opposite the spring device 5 across the rotational axis R, wherein the setting fluid can be introduced into the setting pressure chamber 6 by the setting pressure which is dependent on the pressure of the high-pressure side of the rotary pump. The setting structure 20 forms a chamber wall of the setting pressure chamber 6. The setting pressure which acts on this chamber wall generates a fluid setting force which acts counter to the spring force F. The setting structure 20 assumes a pivoting position which corresponds to the current equilibrium between the spring force F and the fluid setting force. In FIG. 1, the setting structure 20 assumes the position which corresponds to the maximum specific delivery volume, i.e. the eccentricity of the central longitudinal axis of the setting structure 20 with respect to the rotational axis R of the delivery rotor 10 is at a maximum.

(11) The setting pressure chamber 6 is fed with the pressure fluid delivered by the rotary pump, in order to apply the setting pressure to the setting structure 20 in the second setting direction. The second setting direction is selected such that the eccentricity between the delivery rotor 10 and the setting structure 20 and therefore the specific delivery volume decreases in size when the setting structure 20 is moved in the second setting direction.

(12) FIG. 2 shows the setting structure 20 in a position for a minimum specific delivery volume. In the example embodiment, the proportions have been selected such that when the setting structure 20 is in this position, the central longitudinal axis of the setting structure 20 coincides with the rotational axis R of the delivery rotor 10, and the rotary pump does not deliver any fluid since the volume of the delivery cells does not change when the delivery rotor 10 is rotated.

(13) The setting structure 20 and a circumferential wall of the housing 1 (not shown) together form a radial sealing gap 7 which extends in the circumferential direction and separates the setting pressure chamber 6 from the low-pressure region of the housing 1 in the second setting direction. A sealing element 24 is arranged in the radial sealing gap 7 in order to better seal off the sealing gap 7. The sealing element 24 can be arranged in a receptacle of the setting structure 20.

(14) In relation to controlling or regulating the delivery volume by applying the setting pressure as described, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 8,814,544 B2, which is incorporated by reference in this respect and also with respect to other details of the functionality of the rotary pump.

(15) Unlike the known rotary pumps, however, the spring device 5 is not arranged laterally adjacent to the delivery rotor 10 and the delivery chamber 2, as viewed from the polar axis P across the rotational axis R. The spring force F crosses the rotational axis R on the side which faces away from the polar axis P, at a smaller distance than in the known rotary pumps. This reduces the width of the rotary pump as measured parallel to a connecting straight line between the polar axis P and the rotational axis R.

(16) The spring device 5 acts on the setting structure 20 in a spring counter bearing 22 which is formed by the setting structure 20 and which overlaps with the delivery rotor 10 and the delivery chamber 2, in an axial view onto the delivery rotor 10, in relation to a direction which points orthogonally with respect to the spring force F. The spring force F crosses the rotational axis R, in the axial view, within the inner circumference of the setting structure 20 which radially faces the delivery rotor 10 and, as is preferred, even within an outer circumference of the central rotor structure 11. Due to the spring counter bearing 22 being arranged such that it overlaps transverse to the spring force F, and the spring force F being introduced with shortened leverage, the setting structure 20 can be more closely approximated to a radially compact annular shape than the setting structures known from the prior art, comprising a radially projecting appendage for introducing the spring force, allow.

(17) The position for a maximum delivery volume (FIG. 1) and the position for a minimum delivery volume (FIG. 2) are each predetermined by an abutting contact between the setting structure 20 and a housing abutment 8 which cannot be moved relative to the housing 1. In order to keep the setting structure 20 radially compact, a first counter abutment 26 and a second counter abutment 27 for the housing abutment 8 are provided in a recess 25 which is formed on the outer circumference of the setting structure 20. The housing abutment 8 protrudes into the recess 25. The counter abutments 26 and 27 are formed by a side wall of the recess 25 each. If the torque generated by the spring force F about the polar axis P exceeds the torque generated by the setting pressure about the polar axis P, the setting structure 20 pivots in the first setting direction, anticlockwise in the figures, until the first counter abutment 26, which is a trailing counter abutment in relation to the first setting direction, passes into abutting contact with the housing abutment 8 in the first setting direction. In FIG. 1, this abutting contact has been established. If the torque generated by the setting pressure exceeds the torque generated by the spring force F, the setting structure 20 pivots in the second setting direction, clockwise in the figures, until the setting structure 20 comprising the second counter abutment 27, which is a trailing counter abutment in relation to the second setting direction, passes into abutting contact with the housing abutment 8. This state is shown in FIG. 2.

(18) The housing abutment 8 can be shaped as a cam which projects radially from an inner circumferential surface of the housing 1 into the recess 25. In order to be able to mould the circumferential contour of the housing 1 as simply as possible, for example using casting moulds, the housing abutment 8 can however be formed, as in the example embodiment, as a pin or bolt which projects from an end-facing surface of the housing 1 which axially faces the setting structure 20. When formed in this way, the housing abutment 8 can in particular, as in the example embodiment, project from a housing part which surrounds the setting structure 20 or from a cover of the housing 1. If the housing abutment 8 projects from a cover of the housing 1, a housing part which surrounds the setting structure 20 at its circumference can be simplified.

(19) The spring device 5 is arranged in a space-saving way in an intake 9 which connects a fluid inlet of the housing 1 to the inlet 3 which feeds into the delivery chamber 2. It is favourable if the spring force F forms, in a linear elongation as shown, a secant of the reniform inlet 3 which is curved in accordance with the inner circumference of the setting structure 20. The intake 9 can extend in the housing 1 towards the inlet 3 in the direction of the spring force F along the spring device 5, in order to reduce the flow resistance between the inlet into the housing 1 and the inlet 3 which feeds into the delivery chamber 2 and to fill the delivery chamber 2 particularly uniformly on the low-pressure side. The intake 9 can in particular extend in a spiral from the inlet into the housing 1, into the inlet 3.

REFERENCE SIGNS

(20) 1 housing 2 delivery chamber 3 inlet 4 outlet 5 spring device 6 setting pressure chamber 7 sealing gap 8 housing abutment 9 intake 10 delivery rotor 11 rotor structure 12 vane 13 slot 14 15 supporting structure 16 17 18 19 20 setting structure 21 pivot bearing region, bearing surface 22 spring counter bearing 23 24 sealing element 25 recess 26 counter abutment 27 counter abutment F spring force P polar axis, pivot axis R rotational axis