Description:MONOBLOC PUMP ASSEMBLY

Field of invention

The present invention in general relates to operating mechanism of pump-sets that are generally applied for domestic purpose as well as in large industrial distribution. More particularly, the invention relates to a monobloc pump mechanism provided with improved adapter and volute casing and directed towards providing an advantage of easy replacement in wear and tear while providing a leak-proof mechanism to steer the flow of fluid.

Background of the invention

An industrial monobloc pump is a type of centrifugal pump that is designed for industrial use. It is called a “monobloc” pump because it is made of a single block of metal, with the motor and pump casing integrated into a single unit. This design offers several advantages, including compact size, ease of installation, and improved reliability. Monobloc pumps are commonly used in extensively industrial applications used from domestic to civil as well as used in industrial applications which include irrigation, agriculture, water supply for building, civil schemes, and water supply for the public, de-watering of mines & for numerous other industrial applications.

Monobloc pumps are designed for ease of installation, and since it comprises integrating the motor and pump, there are fewer connections and parts, reducing the risk of failure and increasing the overall reliability of the pump, and these pumps take up less space. In general, these monobloc pumps are made of high-quality materials, such as cast iron or stainless steel. These pumps can handle a variety of liquids and are suitable for different applications, such as water transfer, irrigation, and pressure boosting. These pumps have a very smooth size and shape due that customers mostly demand these pumps. These can also use without coupling to the base plate, which makes them very useful in agriculture.

In the accompanying drawings, figure 1 depicts a conventional monobloc pump (100’) showing its components in an exploded view. An adapter (106’) is used in the monobloc pump for coupling the motor with the pumping portion which consists of a volute casing (104’). The pump (100’) works on the principle of centrifugal force. The motor (102’) rotates an impeller (138’), which is inside the volute casing (104’).

As the impeller (138’) rotates, it generates a centrifugal force that pushes the liquid towards the outer edges of the impeller blades. The liquid is then expelled from the volute casing (104’) through the discharge outlet, creating a flow of liquid. The inlet and outlet portions are have flanges (140’, 142’) its internal design. It has a body of cast iron. The volute casing (104’) is incorporated with the cast iron back plate.

The particular pump (100’) shown in figure 1 is self-priming pump having mechanical seal ring (148’). These pumps can utilizes air-water composition to attain a complete primed pumping range and hence called a self-priming monobloc pump. Self-priming pumps are specially manufactured to re-prime water under lifting conditions. Now, in the present practice of manufacturing, component of the monobloc pump requires a core-type casting. Where with time, as the pump is used, the components, specifically the adapter is subjected wear and tear. Therefore disadvantageously, when at least one side (mostly the impeller side) of the adapter is damaged or wore-off user has to replace the component at its entirety. There exist no such pump assembly having such adapter assembly that addresses this problem.

Furthermore, the core type casting of at least the adapter and volute casing, causes inconvenience in terms of time, money and environmental hazards. Since cast iron is ferrous material, it is generally subjected to fast galvanic corrosion, leading to oxidation on pump. This eventually leads to crack or breakage of components and further leads to replace complete product/parts.

More disadvantageously, this process causes health hazards, and environmental pollutions due to the toxic gases that are released at the time of casting. The existing components are bulky in nature causing inconvenience in assembly and moving the pump from one position to another position. Further, this weight of these components create obstruction while replace at an event of wear and tear.

With a view therefore to overcome the technical problems associated with existing monobloc pumps, the inventors felt the need to develop a novel and modular monobloc pump assembly having provision for easy replacement of components in case of wear and tear, as disclosed in this idea. This invented monobloc pump assembly provides an adapter assembly with poka yoke feature allowing user to seamlessly replace the adapter assembly and provides an effecting sealing in the motor to stop leakage of fluids.

Object of the invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a monoblock pump assembly having an adapter assembly with poka yoke feature with easy replacement provision in case of wear and tear of the component.

It is another object of the invention to bring about an advantageous manufacturing of components of a monobloc pump with reduced manufacturing cost, reduce weight and bulkiness of pump.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved sealing to the monobloc pump to stop leakage of water from pump side.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a spilt provision to the volute casing for improved manufacturing using deep draw punching, core or non-core casting, injection moulding, 3D printing, or sintering.
Summary of the invention

Accordingly, the present invention provides a monobloc pump assembly having modularity for component replacement, said monobloc pump assembly comprising a motor, a volute casing, an adapter assembly disposed between said motor and said volute casing, and an oil seal removably attached with said adapter assembly. The volute casing is operably coupled with said motor. The adapter assembly being engaged with said motor and thereupon is configured to receive said volute casing. The oil seal forms a seal between the motor and said volute casing.

According to one object of the invention, said adapter assembly comprises an end-shield member and a face plate removably attached with said end-shield member. The end-shield member comprises a central hole and plurality of protruding legs. The protruding legs are disposed around said central hole in a spaced apart manner, wherein one of said protruding legs being longer than the rest of said protruding legs. The face plate comprises a hollow cylindrical protrusion and a recessed notch formed on said face plate. The hollow cylindrical protrusion is received within said central hole. The recessed notch is formed to receive said longer protruding leg of said end-shield member.

According to one embodiment of the invention, volute casing is a split volute casing configured to be disassembled into at least two portions.

According to another embodiment of the invention, said volute casing is moulded as a single piece.

According to one object of the invention, said end-shield member comprises:
- an outer periphery having plurality of attachment projections provided with holes to attach said motor; and
- a circular ridge formed concentric to outer periphery between said outer periphery and said central hole.

According to another object of the invention, said circular ridge is formed with plurality of curved protrusions provided with holes to be attached with corresponding curved protrusions of said volute casing.

According to yet another object of the invention, said volute casing comprises:
- a suction inlet,
- a delivery outlet, and
- a central cavity connecting said suction inlet with said delivery outlet, said central cavity accommodates an impeller.

According to a further object of the invention, said monobloc pump assembly comprises:
- a suction flange attached to said suction inlet;
- a delivery flange attached to said delivery outlet, said suction flange and said delivery flange being formed by deep drawing.

According to another object of the invention, said suction flange and said delivery flange are provided with slotted holes allowing restrictive movement for adjusted attachment.

According to yet another object of the invention, said hollow cylindrical protrusion of the face plate is provided tapered base for tight sealing with the end-shield member.

According to another object of the invention, said pump assembly comprises a mechanical seal ring fixed with said adapter assembly, said mechanical seal ring has central bore commensurating with that of said oil seal.

According to a further object of the invention, said adapted assembly and said volute casing are formed of metallic compound by deep draw, core or non-core casting, pressure die casting, injection moulding, 3D printing or sintering.

Brief description of drawings

For better understanding, an illustrative embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will however be appreciated that the embodiment exemplified in the drawings is merely illustrative and not limitative to the scope of the invention, because it is quite possible, indeed often desirable, to introduce a number of variations in the embodiment that have been shown in the drawings. In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 depicts an exploded view of an existing monobloc pump assembly.

Figure 2 depicts an exploded view of the presently invented monobloc pump assembly.

Figure 3 depicts a sectional view of the presently invented monobloc pump assembly.

Figure 4 depicts a perspective view of the adapter assembly of the monobloc pump assembly.

Figure 5(a) depicts a perspective view of the face plate of the adapter assembly according to one preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 5(b) depicts a sectional side view of the face plate.

Figure 6 depicts a perspective view of the end-shield member of the adapter assembly according to one preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 7 depicts a sectional view of the end-shield member.

Figure 8 illustrates a perspective view of the split volute casing of the monobloc pump assembly.

Detailed description of the invention

In the following, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough description of the preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciate that, despite of the detailed nature of the exemplary embodiment provided here; changes and modifications may be applied to said embodiments without limiting or departing from the generally intended scope. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

In figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, the components of the invented monobloc pump assembly (100) are shown in an exploded view. The monobloc pump assembly (100) comprises: a motor (102), a volute casing (104), an adapter assembly (106), and an oil seal (108) removably attached with said adapter assembly (106). The adapter assembly (106) is disposed between said motor (102) and said volute casing (104). On the other hand, the oil seal (108) is disposed between the volute casing (104) and the adapter assembly (106). The adapter assembly (106), in combination with said oil seal (108), operably couples said volute casing (104) is with said motor (102), which can be seen in the sectional view of the monobloc pump assembly (100) illustrated in a figure 3.

There are plurality of hex bolts (152,154) of different dimensions employed to connect at least two of the components. For example, according the preferred embodiment of figures 2 and 3, a first set of three hex bolts (154) are used to attach the volute casing (104) with the adapter assembly (106). Similarly, a second set of three hex bolts (152), having larger shaft portion are used to removably attach said adapter assembly (106) with said motor (102). In a preferred assembly sequence, the adapter assembly (106) is first engaged with said motor (102) and thereupon the volute casing (104) is attached with the adapter assembly (106).

With reference to figure 4, the adapter assembly (106) comprises an end-shield member (110) and a face plate (116) removably attached with said end-shield member (110). As shown in figure 6, the end-shield member (110) comprises a central hole (112) and plurality of protruding legs (114-1,114-2). The protruding legs (114-1,114-2), according to one embodiment of the invention are formed as rectangular-shaped columns that are disposed around said central hole (112) in a spaced apart manner. The protruding legs (114-1,114-2) extends vertically outwards from the surface of the end-shield member (110).

According to one object of the invention, one of said protruding legs (114-2) is formed longer than the rest of said protruding legs (114-1). In one preferred embodiment, three of the protruding legs (114-1) have same dimension are disposed symmetrically around said central hole (112).The fourth protruding leg (114-2) has a larger length and disposed between any of the pairs of said rest of the protruding legs (114-1), as shown in figure 7.

The end-shield member (110) is formed as a plate-like structure having an outer periphery (122), and a circular ridge (126) formed concentric to outer periphery (122). The circular ridge (126) is disposed between said outer periphery (122) and said central hole (112). The outer periphery (122) comprises plurality of attachment projections (124) provided with holes (125) to attach said adapter assembly (106) with said motor (102). The second set of three hex bolts (152), having larger shaft portion, are inserted through said holes on said attachment projections (124) and tightened with said motor (102).

Similar to the outer periphery (122), the circular ridge (126) of the end-shield member (110) is formed with plurality of curved protrusions (128). According to the present embodiment of figure 6, the curved protrusions (128) are aligned in-line with the attachment projections (124). The curved protrusions (128) of the end-shield member (110) are provided with holes (129) to be attached with corresponding curved protrusions (158) of said volute casing (104).

With reference to figures 5(a) and 5(b), the face plate (116) comprises a hollow cylindrical protrusion (118) and a recessed notch (120). Similar to the end-shield member (110), the face plate (116) also has a plate-like structure having a diameter matching with that of said circular ridge (126) on said end-shield member (110). The recessed notch (120) is formed to receive said longer protruding leg (114-2) of said end-shield member (110).

Thus a poka yoke feature is established which guides a user to assemble the face plate (116) with the end-shield member (110) to form the adapter assembly (106). Further, in the assembled condition, the hollow cylindrical protrusion (118) is received within said central hole (112) creating an opening for the rotor shaft (150) to pass therethrough. According to one preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in figure 5(b), said hollow cylindrical protrusion (118) of the metal face plate (116) is provided with a tapered base (146) for tight sealing with the end-shield member (110).

The oil seal (108) forms a seal between the motor (102) and said volute casing (104). Assembly-wise, the oil seal (108) is disposed between the volute casing (104) and the adapter assembly (106). This oil seal ensures that there is no water leakage from the pump side. In addition to the oil seal (108), the monobloc pump assembly (100) comprises a mechanical seal ring (148) having similar central bore. The mechanical seal ring (148) is attached with the adapter assembly (106), and thereupon ensures that there is no water leakage from the pump side. Thus, with the oil seal (108) and the mechanical seal ring (148), water leakage is prevented from both pump side and motor side of the monobloc pump assembly (100).

With reference to figure 8 of the accompanying drawings, the volute casing (104) is formed as a two-part component (104-1,104-2). In one embedment, it is split in a vertical direction where it does not require a core to be manufactured. It can be manufactured using deep draw/punching, core or non-core casting, injection moulding, 3D printing, or sintering. Without restriction, said volute casing (104) case be spilt-formed into more than two pieces with either vertical splitting or horizontal splitting. The volute casing (104) can also be formed as a single component.

In the embodiment of figure 8, along with reference to figure 2, the volute casing (104) comprises a suction inlet (130), a delivery outlet (132), and a central cavity (134). The central cavity (134) connects said suction inlet (130) with said delivery outlet (132). The central cavity (134) as shown in first component of the volute casing (104-1), accommodates an impeller (138) of the monobloc pump assembly (100). The second component of the volute casing (104-2) is placed on said first component of the volute casing (104-1). The volute casing (104) is designed to guide the flow out of the impeller (138).

The impeller (138) is configured to be mounted on a rotor shaft (150) of the pump, which is coupled to an external source of energy. The rotor shaft (150) is the central part of the pump which rotates together with the impeller (138) when connected. The flow out through the impeller (138) converts the fluid flow's kinetic energy into static pressure it serves to collect the fluid discharged from the impeller (138) and route it to the delivery outlet (132). Further details regarding working of the monobloc pump is avoided for the sake of brevity.

With reference to figure 2, the monobloc pump assembly (100) comprises a suction flange (140) attached to the suction inlet (130) and a delivery flange (142) attached to said delivery outlet (132). These flanges (140,142) are also manufactured by deep drawing having lesser thickness and provided with slotted holes (144) allowing restrictive movement for adjusted attachment.

Hex bolts can be used to attach these flanges (140,142) to the volute casing (104). These flanges (140,142) are configured to connect piping system with the monobloc pump assembly (100). Additionally, flange gaskets (156) can be disposed between the suction flange (140) and suction inlet (130) as well as between a delivery flange (142) and delivery outlet (132). These flange gaskets (156) prevent fluid leakage from suction inlet (130) and delivery outlet (132).

As already mentioned, the foregoing description is illustrative of the invention and not limitative to its scope, because it will be apparent to persons skilled in the art to devise other alternative embodiments without departing from the broad ambit of the disclosures made herein.


Part-List:

Monobloc pump assembly (100, 100’) Suction flange (140, 140’)
Motor (102, 102’) Delivery flange (142, 142’)
Volute casing (104, 104’, 104-1, 104-2) Slotted holes (144)
Adapter assembly (106, 106’) Tapered base (146)
Oil seal (108) Mechanical seal ring (148, 148’)
End-shield member (110) Rotor shaft (150)
Central hole (112) Hex bolts (152, 154)
Protruding legs (114-1, 114-2) Flange gasket (156)
Face plate (116)
Hollow cylindrical protrusion (118)
Recessed notch (120)
Outer periphery (122)
Attachment projections (124)
Holes of attachment projections (125)
Circular ridge (126)
Curved protrusions (128, 158)
Holes of curved protrusions (129)
Suction inlet (130)
Delivery outlet (132)
Central cavity (134)
Impeller (138, 138’)
, Claims:We claim:

1. A monobloc pump assembly (100) having modularity for component replacement, said monobloc pump assembly (100) comprising:
- a motor (102);
- a volute casing (104) operably coupled with said motor (102);
- an adapter assembly (106) disposed between said motor (102) and said volute casing (104), said adapter assembly (106) being engaged with said motor (102), receives said volute casing (104); and
- an oil seal (108) removably attached with said adapter assembly (106) to form a seal between the motor (102) and said volute casing (104),
wherein said adapter assembly (106) comprises:
- an end-shield member (110) comprising:
- a central hole (112); and
- plurality of protruding legs (114-1,114-2) disposed around said central hole (112) in a spaced apart manner, wherein one of said protruding legs (114-2) being longer than the rest of said protruding legs (114-1); and
- a face plate (116) removably attached with said end-shield member (110), said face plate (116) comprising:
- a hollow cylindrical protrusion (118) to be received within said central hole (112); and
- a recessed notch (120) formed on said face plate (116) to receive said longer protruding leg (114-2) of said end-shield member (110).

2. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said volute casing (104) is a split volute casing (104-1,104-2) configured to be disassembled into at least two portions.

3. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said volute casing (104) is moulded as a single piece.

4. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein said end-shield member (110) comprises:
- an outer periphery (122) having plurality of attachment projections (124) provided with holes (125) to attach said motor (102); and
- a circular ridge (126) formed concentric to outer periphery (122) between said outer periphery (122) and said central hole (112).

5. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said circular ridge (126) is formed with plurality of curved protrusions (128) provided with holes (129) to be attached with corresponding curved protrusions (158) of said volute casing (104).

6. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein said volute casing (104) comprises:
- a suction inlet (130),
- a delivery outlet (132), and
- a central cavity (134) connecting said suction inlet (130) with said delivery outlet (132), said central cavity (134) accommodates an impeller (138).

7. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 6, wherein said monobloc pump assembly (100) comprises:
- a suction flange (140) attached to said suction inlet (130);
- a delivery flange (142) attached to said delivery outlet (132), said suction flange (140) and said delivery flange (142) being formed by deep drawing.

8. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein said suction flange (140) and said delivery flange (142) are provided with slotted holes (144) allowing restrictive movement for adjusted attachment.

9. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 8, wherein said hollow cylindrical protrusion (118) of the face plate (116) is provided tapered base (146) for tight sealing with the end-shield member (110).

10. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 9, wherein said pump assembly (100) comprises a mechanical seal ring (148) fixed with said adapter assembly (106), said mechanical seal ring (148) have central bore commensurating with that of said oil seal (108).

11. The monobloc pump assembly (100) as claimed in any of the preceding claims 1 to 10, wherein said adapted assembly , and said volute casing (104) are formed of metallic compound by deep draw, core or non-core casting, pressure die casting, injection moulding, 3D printing or sintering.