US2313551A - Metering pump - Google Patents

Description

J.. HURLBL JT METERING PUMP Mar'h 9, 1943.

Filed Sept. 23, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ja/m Hur/buz INVENTOR BY MXZW A TTORNE YS March 9, 1943. J. HURLBUT 2,313,551

METERING PUMP Filed Sept. 23, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet- 4/6 pic John Hur/buz INVEN TOR ATTORNEYS- Patented Mar. 9, 1943 METERING PUMP John Hu'rlbut, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company,

poratlon of New Jersey Application September 23, 1941, Serial No. 411,967

4jClaims. This invention relates to pumps and particuadjusted to furnish one or more fluids in exact proportions as for a coating operation. One object of my invention is to provide a pump in which a fluid to be pumped comes in contact with only a few metallic parts of-the pump. Another object is to provide a pump containing only a few metallic parts which contact with the material to be pumped, these parts being so constructed that they may be inexpensively made from inert materials or may be made inert by larly to a metering pump which can be readily silver plating or otherwise especially prepared for the particular fluids which are to be pumped. Another object of my invention is to provide a metering pump adapted to be used with diiferent fluids and so constructed that the pump can be rapidly assembled and disassembled for cleaning. Another object is to provide a pump with nested annular members which may be clamped in an operative relationship by a readily releasable clamp. Other objects will appear from the following specification, the novel features being particularly pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In many machines for coating on strip or web material it has been necessary .to accurately meter the coating fluid as it is passed to a coating pan or to a reservoir or an applicator which applies the coating material to the strip or web material. Where it is necessary to frequently change the type of coating; it has been necessary to either provide different metering pumps for the various coating fluids, or to disassemble the pumps, thoroughly clean them and reassemble them before using a diflerent coating. Both of these systems are expensive, the former because of the money tied up in a series of difierent pumps, and the latter because of the delay and expense in assembling and disassembling the I v pumps.

In accordance with my present invention, I have designed a metering pump which can be assembled or disassembled in a very few minutes so that the parts coming in contact withthe material being pumped can either be rapidly cleaned or so that a separate set of parts can be readily installed in the pum thereby preventing contamination of the coating material.

Coming now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts throughout:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a typical metering pump constructed in accordance with and embodying a preferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of that portion of the Rochester, N.

Y., a cormetering pump which can be readily assembled and disassembled for the purpose above described.

Fig. 3 is a section through a portion of the metering pumptaken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation partially in section showing a portion of the metering pump and the drive therefor; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken through a clutch mechanism by which the amount of pumped material can be changed, Fig. 5 showing the adjustment for the maximum flow of pumped material, and Fig. 6 showing the adjustment for a minimum flow thereof.

Referring to Fig. 1, my metering pump comprises broadly two sections, I and 2, section I consisting of parts which may be readily taken apart for cleaning and section 2 containing the'power drive which is in the form of a pulsator. 2 also carries a supplementary pump 3 which will be hereinafter more fully described. A

Broadly, my invention consists in producing a pump in which parts have only a minimum contact. with the fluid being pumped, these parts being readily and quickly removable and being free from contact with bearings, packing material and the like which might'contaminate the material being pumped.

Referring to Fig. 3, the fluid being pumped may enter through a pipe 4, this pipe leading to a plurality of apertures 5 which may be covered by a flexible diaphragm 6, having an aperture 1 which may lay against a support 8. The diaphragm 6 may be clamped between the periphery 9 of the support 8 and an annular ring II! when the parts are in an assembled position.

The annular ring III also with a second annular ring Ii may clamp the endwall I2 of a flexible sleeve I3 to one end of a cylinder 28, there being a similar clamping arrangement for the opposite s end ill of the sleeve l3that is an annular memthe opposite end of .position.

ber I 6 and a flange I! of a support I8 holding the sleeve l3 in a flxed Like. support 8, support l8 has a plurality of holes i9 leading to a chamber 20 from which I an exit pipe 2| leads from a cup-shaped member 22 to the applicator of a coacting machine.

The support l8 clamps a flexible diaphragm 23 between the periphery of the support and the rim 24 of the cup-shaped member. The flexible diaphragms 6 and 23 and the flexible sleeve l3 may flex between the positions shown in full and dotted lines to cause the fluid being pumped to enter through pipe 4, apertures 5 and apertures Section .in the Fig. 6 position,

I when the sleeve 13 flexes outwardly and to cause the n 'd being pumped to pass through apertures I3, 26 d out of the exit pipe 2| when the flexible sleeve l3 flexes toward the center of the cylinder l4. Thus, the fluid being pumped comes in contact with comparatively few parts of the apparatus and these parts can be very quickly assembled and disassembled as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The means for flexing the tube or sleeve 13 is a fluid, such as water, which fllls the chamber 11 between the flexible sleeve I3 and the cylinder 23. This water is pulsated in and out through a pipe 23 and through the ferrule 33 by means of the engine part of the mechanism designated broadly as 2. A plate 3| prevents the stream of water from directly striking the walls of the tubular sleeve I3. However, as the fluid 21 is sucked back and forth through the pipe 23, the fluid being pulsated will be metered and will be passed out through the exit pipe 2|.

The pipe 23 as indicated in Fig. 1 leads to a cylinder 33 in which there is a piston 34 operated by a crank 35 carried on an eccentric 36 which is turned by a shaft 31. This shaft may be mounted on suitable ball bearings 38 and may be driven from a source of power through a worm 39 and wormwheel 40. With the setting, as shown in Fig. 4, the pump is set for its maximum delivery and its stroke is set for its full range of movement. As the piston 34 moves back and forth, the fluid is pulsated back and forth into the chamber 21 to flex the flexible sleeve I3 and to pump the fluid.

If a change is required in the amount pumped, the engine can be adjusted in the following manner. n the end of the shaft 31 there is a handwheel 4| which has a threaded connection at 42 with the shaft. This handwheel may be turned releasing the clamping action between a pair of spaced washer- like members 43 and 44. This permits the clutch elements 45 and 46 to be separated so that the teeth 41 of these elements may be uncoupled. .By utilizing the knurled edge 48 of clutch member 46 it may then be turned up to 180", which movement is permitted by a pin 43 carried by clutch member 46 traveling in a slot 53 cut in the clutch member 45. The pin 49 may carry an indexing arrow which may be brought opposite to a graduation of the scale 52 carried by indicating the amount pumped for any particular setting.

From Figs. 5 and6 it will be noticed that C is the center line of the power driven shaft 31, EC is the center line of the eccentric for movin the crank arm 35, and CE is the center line of a hub member which is also eccentric and which is indicated by the reference character 53. Thus, 53 has an eccentric shape and is positioned in such' a manner that by ber 46 180 relative to clutch member stroke of the crank 35 can be altered from its full stroke position of Fig. 5 to the position of Fig. 6 in which it makes no stroke at all. Thus. the eccentric 36 carried by the clutch element 46 is centered on the center of the shaft 31 so shaft is operating, the piston 34 will remain stationary. However, each movement of the clutch face 46 relative to clutch 45 from the position shown in Fig. 6. toward the position shown in Fig. 5, will increase the stroke of the piston 34.

It will be noticed that the hub 53 is attached by a key 55 to the clutch member 45 and that turning the clutch mem that, even though this comparatively of small clutch member 45, thus of fluid which will be the hub 53 is likewise attached by a key 53 to the main drive s'haft 31. Consequently the drive shaft will always transmit motion to the clutch member 45 and, when the handwheel 4| holds the clutch members 46 and 45 together, the shaft 31 will transmit motion to the eccentric 33 which operates the crank 35.

Referring again to Fi 3, the means for disassembling that part of the pump which contacts with the fluid being pumped will now be described. When it is necessary to clean the P p, by merely loosening the two setscrews 63 and 6|. when setscrew 63 is turned on its threaded connection 62 with a semi-cylindrical member I4, the end 63 of the setscrew releases the cupshaped member- 22 and with it all of the following parts: The diaphragm 23, the support l3, the clamping ring l6, the flexible sleeve I3, the clamping ring II, the annular member I, the diaphragm 6, the support 8, and the annular member 64 which carries the inlet pipe 4.

Before releasing the setscrew 60, it is desirable to release the setscrew 6|, so that the U-shaped yoke 65 can be swung about its pivot 66 and so that the ferrule 30 may be removed from the packing 61 which connects it through the ferrule 68 to the pipe 29. a

All oi. the parts can be removed through the open section 10 of the semi-cylindrical member l4, this open section extending approximately as best shown in Fig. 2 where the numeral indicates the edge walls of the semi-cylindrical member l4. 3 As will be noted the removed parts are either annular members or flat parts which can be readily placed in a container for suitable solvents or cleaning materials so that they can all be quickly and easily washed out. They can then be very. quickly reassembled for use with a different type of coating material or, if desired, a fresh set of parts can be reassembled for the next coating material to be used with the improved meter pump.

As the parts are all simple in construction and size, they can readily be made of a material which is inert toward the 'material being pumped. It is well known, for

instance, that photographic emulsions will not tolerate any iron because this produces spots in the coatings made from such emulsions. It is sometimes desirable to have such emulsions contact only with an inert surface, such as silver plating. Except for the flexible diaphragms, all parts of my pump which contact with emulsion can be readily silver plated without undue expense. The flexible diaphragms, if the pump is to be used for photographic emulsions, must be free from sulphur, but if the proper type of rubber is used, this is suitable material for the sleeve I3 and the diaphragm 23 and 6. It is also possible to use some of the artiflcially prepared flexible material, such as the material sold under the name of Koroseal.

For many purposes stainless steel is an extremely desirable material for those parts of the pump which may contact with the material being pumped. If the use of the pump is to be highly specialized, those parts which contact with the material can be made of any suitable inert material, either synthetic material, molded material, metals, or alloys.

Since my pump was especially designed for metering two different fluids for a coating ma chine, I have also provided a supplementary all of the parts may be disassembled pump 3 of simple construction which can be omitted if desired. As indicated in Figs. 1. and 4, this supplementary pump may be driven by a rod 80 extending from the piston 34 and operated by the crank shaft 35. The stroke of the rod 80 and the piston 8| movable with it must, therefore, necessarily coincide with the stroke of the piston 34. Piston 8i passes through a suitable bearing 82 and through a packing 83, terminating at 84 in a pumping cylinder 85. This cylinder is provided with an inlet pipe 86 and an outlet pipe 8? in which known types of ball valves 88 and 89 are provided so that at each stroke of the piston 8! a known quantity of fluid will be pumped out of the exit pipe 81 which may lead directly to the coating apparatus or it may lead into the pipe 89 which leads from the exit 2! of the main pump i,

so that the materials may be mixed before reaching the coating chamber.

With my improved pump, as above described, it will be noticed that the operation of assembling and disassembling for cleaning is extremely simple and it should be noticed that the parts which come in contact with the material being pumped are parts which can be easily cleaned and wiped out before reuse. I have found with a pump constructed as above described, the operation of taking out the removable partsand assembling a cleaned set of parts is an extremely rapid one, so that a coating machine can be kept in active operation with a very short time out for changing over from pumping one fluid to pumping a second fluid, which might otherwise be contaminated by the fluid which had been previously used in the machine.

What I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. For use in pumping fluids, a pumping element comprising a support, spaced endson the support, said support including a semi-cylindrical wall extending from one end to the other and having an opening extending approximately the full distance between the spaced ends thereof, a flexible tubular diaphragm, a pair of apertured circular diaphragms, a plurality of annular nested members adapted through frictional contact to support said diaphragms in a flxed position inside of the semi-cylindrical support, an apertured valve plate adjacent each apertured circular diaphragm positioned to form with the diaphragm a one-way valve, one valve to admit fluid to the flexible tubular diaphragm and the other valve to pass fluid from the flexible tubulardiaphragm, one spaced end of the support form i ing an abutment, a single setscrew having a threaded connection with the other spaced end and positioned axially thereof, said setscrew being adapted to clamp said diaphragms and annular nested members frictionally in an operative position when said setscrew is'tightened, the opening extending between the ends and the semi-cylindrical wall being of a size to remove or assemble said diaphragms and annular nested members by releasing or tightening the singlesetscrew whereby saidparts may be readily assembledand disassembled for cleaning. 2. For use-with pulsators including a pisto and cylinder for forcing pumping fluid back and forth, a cylinder adapted to be connected to the cylinder of the pulsator, a flexible sleeve, flexible 70 perforated diaphragms, and perforated plates adjacent said diaphragms, .all carried by the cylinder forming flexible pumping and valve members, said perforated plates supporting one side of each of the flexible diaphragms and constituting annular members to-form with the diaphragms one-way valves, one for passing fluid to, and the other for passing fluid from the flexible sleeve as the latter is moved in its cylinder through the pulsator, a plurality of -annular sleeves supporting the flexible members through frictional contact therewith, a semi-cylindrical support having an opening parallel to the axis thereof including an abutment at one end, a setscrew at the other end positioned for exerting an axial thrust upon the cylinder, flexible sleeve, flexible diaphragms and annular parts for positioning these parts to hold them in assembled relationship, all of said parts being removable from the opening in said support when said setscrew is released.

3. For use with pulsators including a piston and cylinder for forcing pumping fluid back and forth, a cylinder adapted to be connected to the cylinder of the pulsator, a flexible sleeve, flexible perforated diaphragms, and perforated plates adjacent each diaphragm, all carried by the cylinder forming flexible pumping and valve members, said perforated plates supporting one side of the flexible diaphragm and constituting annular members to form with the flexible diaphragms one-way valves, one for passing fluid to, and the other for passing fluid from the flexible sleeve as the latter is moved in the cylinder through the pulsator, a plurality of annular flanged sleeves forsupporting and. holding the two valves, one connected to each end of the flexible sleeve, each valve comprising a perforated flexible diaphragm and a perforated plate, all

carried by the cylinder forming flexible pumping and valve members, one for passing fluid to, and the other for passing fluid from the flexible sleeve as the latter is moved through the pulsator, a plurality of annular flanged sleeves for supporting and holding the flexible members in an operative position in said cylinder, a support comprising connected spaced end members, one end constituting an abutment, a setscrew in the other end member for holding all the annular members and flexible members in an operative position in which the parts are in frictional engagement, said annular and flexible members being released from operative position by releasing the setscrew, the shape of said support being such that said released parts may be re-

Images