US2166530A - Fluid-handling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

July 18, 1939. P. s. MORGAN 2,155,530

FLUID-HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed Sept. 18, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 lid! A? 5 a 4 4 r H T Z a l /a 4 4c //b INVENTOR I I P027152 5. MaeaA/v ATTORNEYS July 18, 1939. R 8. MORGAN 2,166,530

FLUID-HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed Sept. 18, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 1H

$70,646: a I INVENTOR TANK 02752 6. Maze/w ATTORNEYS y 18, 1939- P. s. MORGAN ,166,530

FLUID-HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed Sept. 18, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG EH1 INVENTOR 100R TEE 5. MUPGA/V ATTORNEYS Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES FLUID-HANDLING APPARATUS Porter S. Morgan, New York, N. Y., aslignor, by

ntl, to Bohleber a Ledbetten New York, N. Y., a partnership composed of William Bohleber, James Camrod Lcdbetter, Francis 11. Fassct, and John M. Montstream Application September 18,1935, Serial No. 41,051 Renewed May 1'1, 1989 lClaim.

This invention relates to pumping apparatus intended primarily for gasoline dispensing systems; and the disclosed apparatus operates both to pump the gasoline as-required for dispensing and to separate from the gasoline entrained air or other gas. The invention may, however, be used for pumping other liquids. and various features of the invention relate to pumping apparatus without regard to the air separation feature.

An object of the invention is to provide, for liquid dispensing systems, fluid handling apparatus which pumps the liquid as required for dispensing and effectively separates out entrained air or other gas without requiring the usual air separator unit.

Another object of the invention is to provide such apparatus which satisfactorily lends itself to manufacture on a mass production basis.

Another object of the invention is to provide for ready and convenient'mounting of the pump with self-contained air separator upon the various frames of the different manufacturers (or assemblers) of gasoline dispensing systems.

A further object of the invention is to provide a liquid pumping apparatus which will automatically separate out any quantity of entrained air whether large or small.

A still further object of the invention is to provide satisfactory gasoline dispensing apparatus which does not require by-passes or floats.

Fig. I is a fragmentary elevation showing apparatus of the present invention mounted upon the supporting frame of a dispensing system.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section taken on the line II--II of Fig. I.

Fig. III is a view showing structurally the portion of the apparatus which will be referred to as the fluid handling unit. Part of the structure is in elevation and part in central vertical section. Various attached parts of a complete dispensing system are indicated diagrammatically.

Fig. IV is a vertical section of the fluid handling unit with the outlet valve omitted.

Fig. V is a horizontal section of the auxiliary pump taken on line V--V of Fig. IV.

Fig. VI is a plan view of the upper wear plate of the auxiliary pump.

-Fig. VII is a plan view of the lower wear plate of the auxiliary pump.

Fig. VIII is a plan view of the lower casting of the auxiliary pump.

GENERAL Onesmzarron AND Momv'rmo Referring to Figs. I and II, the supporting frame comprises four vertical channel irons I, I", I9, and I, to which are bolted horizontally arranged arcuate brackets 2, 2", 2 and 2. Bolted,.as shown, to the brackets 2', etc. is a U-shaped metal support 4 having depending legs 4' and l and on the bottoms of the legs are inwardly pro- ,jecting lips or flanges l9 and 4 Supported on top of the U-shaped member! -'and bolted thereto is an electric drive motor 5 having a vertical shaft 8 which projects downwardly through the member 4. Supported beneath the U-shaped member 4 and designated as a whole by 3, is a fluid handling unit composed of quite a number of internal parts which are housed in various external parts or casings welded and bolted together. Shown in Fig. I is a strainer chamber I, main pump chamber 8, auxiliary pumping chamber 9, and discharge valve chamber Ill. The auxiliary pumping chamber 9 is closed by a cover 9*, secured by bolts 9'; and the cover is provided with integral depending stub arms II and II", the ends of which are adapted to engage the lips 4 and 4. Thus in mounting the fluid handling unit 3, it may be supported temporarily by the engagement of arms li and ll with the lips 4 and 4 Then bolts l2 (four shown) may be placed to fixedly secure the unit 3. A coupling l3 forms a. driving connection between the motor shaft 6 and shaft M on which are mounted the driven elements of both the main pump and the auxiliary pump.

With the frames used by different manufacturers (assemblers) of dispensing systems there is a variation in the spacing and form of uprights I, I. l, and I However, the entire structure shown in Fig. I can be mounted readily on the diiferent frames without any change except the provision of brackets 2, etc. suited to the I particular frame.

Strainer and main pump Strainer chamber 1 and main pumping chamber 8 (Fig. I) are formed in an open casting 20 (Fig. IV) which is closed by a stamped metal partition 2|. The partition 2| is secured by a series of bolts 22 and is sealed by a gasket 24. A cylindrical strainer 25 is provided with an annular head 26 that is adapted to make substantially fluid tight engagement with seat 21. Normally the strainer is held in the position shown in the drawings by the pressure of spring 28 held by removable cover 29. The cover 29 is sealed by gasket 30; and the cover and strainer can be removed in an obvious manner for the purpose of cleaning the strainer.

a "sleeve 55 against rotation. Cooperating with Arotaryimpellerfliskeyedbykeyfltothe lower end of shaft u and is clamped re lo tudinal movement on the shaft 11 se l i redbylock washer. The clampingpressure of the nut is received by washer ll. which is held against upward movement by spring ring 2! that grips an annular groove in shaft II. hie impeller includes upper shrouding ll, lower shrouding ll. and a series ofhradially extending blades 44. The lower shrouding II merges into a primary intake port 45, and the upper shrouding merges into a secondary intake port ll. An annularly arranged series of holes 41 establish communication between secondary intake port It and the bladed area of the impeller. Burrounding the impeller is an annular flow space or impeller chamber I! having a bottom which descends in the direction of impeller rotation. The bottom may be considered as beginning at Ii, continuing at It, and terminating at Ii adjacent to discharge port I]. This configuration facilitates the pumping of large volumes of liquid with no increase in the over-all diameter of the fluid handling unit.

Permanently mounted at 2. in casting 2| is a funnel shaped bearing support 54. Mixed to this bearing support is a depending bearing sleeve 55, having a notched annular flange 56 which is lightly clamped by ring". Ring 51 is secured by metal of support it which is swaged over at SI; and fins 54', integral with support 54, enter the notches of flange 56 and hold the bearing sleeve 55 is a bearing ring which is permanently aflixed to theexterior of the impeller intake port 45. While bearing sleeve 55 is held against rotation by fins 5|", slight sidewise movement of the sleeve is permitted by the clearances provided and the light clamping by ring 51. Thus in assembling the pump, the sleeve 55 is self aligning with respect to bearing ring 58. This avoids the necessity for the troublesome manufacturing accuracy that would otherwise be required to obtain perfect alignment.

The partition 2I, which constitutes a cover for the main pumping chamber is so formed that it provides an annular space 59 extending upwardly from the periphery of the impeller 32. Aflixed beneath partition 2I is a cup-shaped sheet metal member 60 which provides an'annular passageway from the top of space 59 to a zone adjacent the center portion of the impeller 32. The partition 2I is formed with an annularly arranged series of depressions 62, and at these points member ill is spot welded 'to partition 2|. Near the inner edge of member 60 it is provided with annularly arranged drain holes 64.

Auxiliary pump and associated parts For these parts refer primarily to Fig. IV and secondarily to Figs. V to VIII.

Theauxiliary pump is built up about a lower casting 65, a central casting and an upper casting 61. The lower casting is sealed to partition 2| by a gasket 68 and has a hollow boss 69 which projects through a central aperture in partition 2I and makes a running flt with impeller intake throat 4G. Aflixed in the casting 65 is a bearing bushing for shaft It. A metal wear plate II, which acts as a bearing for the lower edges of the blades of the auxiliary pump, is seated in a recess 12 (Fig. VIII) in the upper surface of casting 65 and is sealed by a gasket 13. The main intake to the auxiliary pump is via vertical passage l5, radial passage 16, arcuate passage 11 Springs such as Ill and mouse VIII), and vertical hole ll (Fig. VII) in wear-plate II. A secondary intake to the auxiliary pump is via vertical passage ll (Fig. VIII), horizontal e II, and vertical hole II (rig. VII) inwearplateII. Inassemblythewearplate II is indexed by a dowel 82 (Fig. VIII) which cooperates with a hole ll (Fig. VII).

'lhelowercastingliisrecessed atlltoreceive a gasket II which seals a drain valve seat It. From this valve seat a drain passage l|, I, ll leads to the upper intake throat of the impeller. A plug ll merely closes the outer end of passage ll after drilling.

The center casting and pump rotor are shown in Figs. IV and V. This casting has an outer rim I and an interior rim 92, connected together by webs 93 and 94. Also formed in the casting is a vertical valve chamber 95 (Fig. IV) having four lugs 26 (Figs. 1V and V) which serve to center the stem of the valve. Pressed inside of the inher rim 82, which is eccentric to shaft I4, is an annular wear member 91 with which the tips of the pump blades engage. A number of dowels 98 project upwardly and downwardly from center casting 6i and serve to index the lower easting 85 and the lower upper casting 61 when the partsare assembled. Bolts 52 (four shown) pass through castings 66 and 61, and are threaded into casting 65 to hold the parts together.

Mounted within the eccentrically positioned annular wear member 91 is a cast pump rotor ll having eight radial slots IIII. Slidably mounted in each slot I II is a pumping blade III, preferably of composition material such as a suitable Bakelite product. The rotor 99 is adapted to be locked to shaft II by spring. pressed pin "2 (Fig. IV) .i It will be seen that this-locking arrangement permits pin "2 to be pushed outwardly so that the shaft I 4 can be inserted through the hole in the rotor 89. Then when the shaft is so telescoped that the keyway aligns with pin I 02, the spring pushes the pin into the keyway and locks the rotor to the shaft.

Upper casting 61 is of more or less skeleton construction with the areas I03, I, I", and I II in communication with one another. A bushing 5! acts as a bearing for shaft I4. I08 press a wear plate II! (see also Fig. VI) against the upper edges of pump blades IQI. This plate is provided with a hole I II which receives a dowel to index the plate; and it is also provided with a two part outlet slot II I, I li and a pressurerelieving slot 2 (see Figs. V and VI). fluid that is trapped in advance of the blades III is forced out through slots III, lll into the space I04, I25. In operation the blades III are biased outwardly by centrifugal force, but when they are-in the discharge phase they are being forced gradually inward by the cam action of ring 91. During this inward movement slot II2 serves to permit the escape of fluid which may be trapped in the roots of blade slots I. Die fluid expelled through slots III, I II and H2 is delivered to the space I" from which gas is expelled and liquid returned in a way which will be described later.

Mounted in casting 61 is a bushing III, and above the bushing is a tubular extension Ill. A valve stem 5 is provided with a washer II that has small notches in its periphery and makes a sliding fit with bushing I. Above and below washer H6 are spacer weights III and II! which are confined longitudinally on stem 5 by washers and spring rings as shown in th As the rotor 99 rotates its assembly can be removed by opening cover plate In and removin ug in.

Top bearing and lubrication A reservoir casting I-is provided. with a closure I26 that is sealed by gasket I21 to the outside cover 8. Casting I25 nests as shown with casting 61 and is secured thereto by screws such asSI. Ap1ugI28 anddependingflllertube I26 permit the reservoir to befilled with oil up to the level of the bottom of tube I26. Integral with the reservoir casting is an annular riser I36 which is so perforated that oil can flow into it. Mounted within the riser I3! is a pressed steel metal cone cup I3I and a ball bearingassembly' I32. As shown in the drawings, the inner race of the ball bearing is confined longitudinally on shaft I4 by washers and spring rings, and a spring washer I34 exerts a clamping action. An inverted cup I35 is nested within the cone cup III and mounted to rotate with shaft I4. Dur-, ing rotation of the shaft the cups I3I and I35 act to elevate the oil the slight distance required to lubricate the ball bearing.

Direct flow of oil downwardly around shaft I4 is prevented by tube I36; and leakage is prevented by a sealing gland comprising packing I31 which is compressedby spring I36. Felt packing II! provides a suillcient seal where shaft I4 passes through the top of the bearing chamber. Discharge value This is best shown in Fig. III. A valve stem I is biased downwardly by spring I and is attached to a valve head I42 to which is clamped a valve disk I43. Clamped with disk I43 is a pan-like member I44, but only disk I43 engages valve seat I45. It will be understood that when the pump is incorporated in the usual dispensing system, outlet I46 is connected by piping to a metering device which discharges into a flexible dispensing hose having acut-oif valve at its free end. In Fig. III, these parts are indicated diagrammatically, IIII being the piping, I'll the metering device, I12 the flexible hose and I13 the hose valve. With the system standing idle and valve I43 closed, an increase of temperature will result in pressure being built up in the flexible hose and connecting piping; and check valve I41 permits reverse flow as required to relieve such pressure. An adjustable detent I46 limits the degree of valve opening; and closure I46 has an end formation I56 which permits it to be used as a wrench'to adjust the detent.

Operation When the pump is incorporated in a complete dispensing system ready to operate, inlet 3| is connected by piping with a subterranean storage tank. These are indicated diagrammatically in Fig. III as piping I15 and tank I16. Also an air discharge pipe replaces plug 3'! (Fig. III).

Operation of the motor 5 results in rotation of impeller 32 and also in rotation of rotor 69 of the auxiliary pump. Until primed the impeller 32 is ineffective, but the auxiliary pump primes the impeller by withdrawing air through impeller holes 41 into inlet passage I5. As soon as the liquid reaches the impeller 32, the impeller commences to function as a centrifugal pump and delivers liquid under pressure to discharge valve unit II.

When the valve at the end of the dispensing hose is opened, the pressure of the liquid opens valve I41 and liquid is disp s When the dispensing hose valve is closed, the flow is forced to cease and spring I closes valve I43, but impeller 32 may be kept in operation without causing any damage. At the instant that the dispensing hose valve is opened, the full static pressure built up by impellerfl acts on valve disk I42 to open the valve. As soon as flow commences, the resultant pressure on disk I43 diminishes, but the flow is then effective on the entire area of pan member I44. Thus, the valve is held well open, without flutter, as long as the flow continues. As a result this discharge valve offers little flow resistance during dispensing and the impeller is enabled to .deliver a copious discharge of liquid.

As the impeller-pumps liquid with entrained gas, the gas is centrifugally separated due to the great difference in specific gravity of gas and liquid. The gas tends to stay adjacent to the hub of the impeller and is continuously drawn off (through holes 41) by the auxiliary pump. Under some conditiohs, the initial centrifugal separation of the gas may notbe one hundred per cent perfect, with the result that in such case some.

gas is discharged by the impeller 32. Any such gas collects in the annular space 59, from which it passes behind shield 60 and out through holes 64. This movement of gas from area 59 is due to the liquid pressure built up by the impeller in the space below area 58, plus the fact that holes 64 are at a low pressure area due to the whirling influence of the impeller 32. The air or gas particles tend to hug the center of the impeller and are forced by the pressure built up by impeller 32 to pass between the running fit of parts 69 and 46 to the low pressure area within port 69. Normally the running fit between parts 69 and 46 furnishes a suflicient passage from the exterior to the interior of throat 46, but if desired special bleeder passages may be provided from the inside to the outside of throat 46. Thus any gas which gets through the impeller is returned to'a point where it is under the influence of the auxiliary pump and is drawn off.

Of course, some liquid is also drawn in bythe auxiliary pump, so that this pump will eventually flll with liquid and discharge both liquid and gas. From discharge space I06 the gas passes through the notches in washer II6, to passage I45, and thence to space I46 which communicates with the air outlet pipe that is substituted for plug 31 (Fig. 111).

The notches in washer II6 can pass a very large quantity of gas, but only a very small quantity of liquid. When liquid accumulates to the point where it is trying to pass washer II6, it raises the washer and lifts the drain valve from its seat 86. This permits liquid to drain back through passageway 81, 88, 89; and the major portion of such returned liquid passes through holes 41 and is added to the liquid stream of impeller 32. If any liquid passes out through passageway I45, it collects on top of partition 2I and is picked up again by the auxiliary pump through secondary intake port 19 (Fig. VIII).

The present invention has been put into practical commercial service and has been found to function very effectively. In pumping liquid the disclosed organization utilizes to advantage the desirable characteristics of a centrifugal pump. It also automatically separates out any quantity of entrained gas with unusual completeness,

though special air separators and all floats have been eliminated. In compliance with the patent statutes I have disclosed the best form in which I have contemplated applying my invention, but as various modifications and mutations are possible, the disclosure is to be consideredas iilusaperture adjacent to the shaft of the impeller;

and an auxiliary pump mounted on the shaft and an inlet communicating with the impeller casing through said aperture in said closure, and an outlet 4 into a separating chamber, an air outlet port leading to atmosphere. from said separating chamber, and a float-valve controlled liquid outlet. passage leading from said separating chamber to said impeller casing 1 through said closure aperture.

. PORTER S. MORGAN.

' on top of said closure, the auxiliary pump having

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