Claims:We claim:

1. An oil-pump casting (100, 200) with multiple inlet provisions, said casting (100, 200) comprises the provisions for a single outlet (70) and multiple inlets (110, 120) for a respective strainer (114, 214), wherein said provisions for said outlet (70) and one of said inlets (110, 120) is machined for manufacturing the respective oil-pump variant meeting the requirements of the selected engine-layout for the targeted vehicles.

2. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) with multiple inlet provisions as claimed in claim 1, wherein said provisions (110, 120) are configured as thin-walled to sustain the usual oil-pump pressures.

3. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outlet provision (70) and one of said inlet provisions (110, 120) is machined to provide the opening therein for the respective oil-pump variant and the remaining of said inlet provisions (110, 120) is/are maintained closed or unmachined.

4. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 3, wherein said casting comprises at least two of said inlet provisions (110, 120) to be machined for providing the opening therein for a respective oil-pump variant meeting the requirements of the selected engine-layout for the targeted vehicles.

5. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said inlet provision (110) is positioned at the bottom of said oil-pump casting (100, 200) for catering to a bottom-opening oil-pump fitted with a bottom strainer (114).

6. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein said inlet provision (120) is positioned at the side of said oil-pump casting (100, 200) for catering to a side-opening oil-pump fitted with a side-strainer (214).

7. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said oil-pump casting (100, 200) is configured for a single-rotor oil-pump with two inlet provisions (110, 120).

8. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said oil-pump casting (100, 200) is configured for a gear-type oil-pump.

9. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said inlet provisions (110, 120) are configured to open into the volute of the respective oil-pump variant, after machining with an inlet opening for the suction side of said oil-pump for an efficient oil-flow thereby.

10. The oil-pump casting (100, 200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said oil-pump casting (110, 120) is configured for an off-road vehicle, such as a tractor, or an on-road vehicle, such as an SUV according to the oil-pan configuration and the tilting-capability of the diesel or gasoline/petrol engine thereof.

Dated this 23rd day of March 2022.

Digitally / e-Signed.

(SANJAY KESHARWANI)
APPLICANT’S PATENT AGENT
REGN. NO. IN/PA-2043. , Description:FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a versatile oil-pump casting for different vehicles, which have different engine-layouts. In particular, the present invention relates to a common oil-pump casting for oil-pumps for different engine-layouts in vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a common oil-pump having multiple inlets for efficient lubrication by oil-pumps catering to different engine-layouts and tilt-capabilities for on/off-road vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In current engines, oil pump is used to pump the oil from oil-pan to all parts of the engine requiring lubrication thereof.

The pump-housing consists of an inlet port and an outlet port along with the rotor and a relief valve.

While designing the mass-balancer for engine, the challenges were faced in providing a common oil-pump casting for different oil-pumps used for all applicable engine-models, because these engines are mapped to different vehicle platforms.

The key challenge was to provide a common oil-pump casting inlet configuration usable for all oil-pump variants because the inlet position varies depending on the oil-pan configuration and engine’s tilting capability.

Therefore, there is an existing requirement to overcome above disadvantages associated with the conventional oil-pumps, in which different inlet positioning is required to cater to different engine layouts depending on their oil-pan configuration and engine-tilting capability.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Some of the objects of the present invention - satisfied by at least one embodiment of the present invention - are as follows:

An object of the present invention is to provide a common oil-pump casting for the oil-pump variants for engines using different engine-layouts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a common oil-pump casting for the oil-pump variants for engines of off-road vehicle like tractors and adapted to the engine-layouts for different vehicle platforms.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a common oil-pump casting for the oil-pump variants for engines of on-road vehicle like SUVs.

A yet another object of the present invention is to provide a common oil-pump casting for the oil-pump variants for diesel engines of on/off-road vehicles.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved oil-pump casting for the oil-pump variants for gasoline/petrol engines of on/off-road vehicles.

Yet further object of the present invention is to provide an improved oil-pump casting for the oil-pump variants for engines mapped to different vehicle platforms.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, when read with the accompanying figures of drawing, which are however not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to configuring an oil-pump casting with multiple inlets for the oil-pump variants to meeting different engine-layouts and tilt-capabilities for on/off-road vehicles. This is achieved by providing a predefined number of inlets at the casting stage itself. Each of these inlets is connected to the volute of the oil-pump for a proper oil-discharge therefrom.

Based on the oil-pump variant of the on/off-road vehicle and the engine layout thereof, one of these inlets corresponding to the oil-pump variant appropriate for the relevant engine layout is machined and the remaining inlets in the casting are left in closed condition, unmachined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a common oil-pump casting with multiple inlet-provisions for oil-pump variants in different engine-layouts, the casting comprises a single outlet provision and multiple inlet provisions for a respective strainer, wherein the outlet-provisions and one of the inlet-provisions is machined for manufacturing the respective oil-pump variant meeting the requirements of the selected engine-layout for the targeted vehicles.

Typically, the provisions are configured as thin-walled sections for easy machining thereof, however robust enough to sustain the usual oil-pump pressures.

Typically, the outlet-provision and one of the inlet-provisions are machined to provide the opening therein for the respective oil-pump variant and the remaining inlet-provisions are maintained closed or unmachined.
Typically, the casting comprises at least two of the inlet-provisions to be machined for providing the opening therein for a respective oil-pump variant.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the inlet-provision is positioned at the bottom of the casting for catering to a bottom-opening oil-pump fitted with a bottom strainer.

In a second embodiment of the invention, the inlet-provision is positioned at the side of the casting for catering to a side-opening oil-pump fitted with a side-strainer.

Typically, the casting is configured for a single-rotor oil-pump with two inlet-provisions.

Typically, the casting is configured for a gear-type oil-pump.

Typically, each of the inlet-provisions are configured to open into the volute of the respective oil-pump variant, after machining with an inlet opening for the suction side of the oil-pump for an efficient oil-flow thereby.

Typically, the casting is configured for an off-road vehicle, such as a tractor, or an on-road vehicle, such as an SUV according to the oil-pan configuration and the tilting-capability of the diesel or gasoline/petrol engine thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The present invention will be briefly described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional configuration of the oil-pump casting having an opening for bottom-strainer fitted in the engine-housing of a typical engine-layout.

FIGURE 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting shown in Figure 1 and used in an oil-pump variant for another engine having a different layout.

FIGURE 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting having provisions for multiple inlets configured in accordance with the present invention to cater to the oil-pump variants for different engine-layouts.

FIGURE 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting of Figure 3 with the first provision duly machined for making an inlet available therein for the bottom-strainer for an exemplary first embodiment of the bottom-opening oil-pump variant in the selected engine-layout. All other inlet provisions being kept closed or unmachined.

FIGURE 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting shown in Figure 3 and used in an oil-pump variant requiring another inlet position for another exemplary second embodiment of the side-opening oil-pump variant in the selected engine-layout and fitted in the engine-housing thereof.

FIGURE 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting of Figure 3 with the second provision duly machined for the inlet for a side-strainer of the selected side-opening oil-pump variant shown in Figure 5. All other inlet provisions being kept closed or unmachined.

FIGURE 7 shows the cross-sectional view of the engine-housing fitted with the oil-pump casting of Figure 3 depicted with a single outlet for oil-pumps shown in Figures 4-6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional configuration of the oil-pump casting 10 having an opening for bottom-strainer fitted in the engine-housing 50 of a typical engine-layout. It shows an oil-pump casting 10 having a bottom-strainer 2 draining into an oil-pan located at the bottom of the engine-housing 50.

FIGURE 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting 10 shown in Figure 1 and used in another oil-pump variant for another engine having a different layout. However, in this oil-pump casting 10, the bottom-strainer 2 is fouling with oil-pan in the engine housing 50, which necessitates to configure a new oil-pump, which is an expensive proposition. It was contemplated by the inventors to rather configure a novel oil-pump casting for common different oil-pump variants catering to different engine-layouts.

FIGURE 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting having provisions 110, 120, 130… etc. for multiple inlets at the casting stage itself and configured in accordance with the present invention to cater to the oil-pump variants for different engine-layouts. For example here, provisions 110, 120 for two closed (X-marked) inlets 112, 122 are shown in the present oil-pump casting.

Accordingly, the oil-pump casting is made with the provisions 110, 120 for machining of at least one opening each for a bottom-strainer or a side-strainer, anyone of which can be machined according to the oil-pump variants for the selected engine-layout on which this oil-pump casting 100/200...is to be used and other/remaining provision/s can be left closed/unmachined.

FIGURE 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment 100 of the oil-pump casting 100/200…of Figure 3 with the first inlet provision 110 duly machined for making an inlet 112 available therein for the bottom-strainer 114 for an exemplary first embodiment of the bottom-opening oil-pump variant in the selected engine-layout and the second unmachined provision 120 closed (X-marked). In case of more than two inlet provisions in the casting shown in Figure 3, all other inlet provisions being kept closed or unmachined.

FIGURE 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting shown in Figure 3 and used in an oil-pump variant requiring another inlet position for another exemplary second embodiment 200 of the side-opening oil-pump variant in the selected engine-layout. Here, the oil-pump casting 200 of Figure 5 has a side strainer and fitted in the engine-housing thereof according to the engine-layout on which this side-opening oil-pump is to be used.

FIGURE 6 shows the cross-sectional view of the oil-pump casting of Figure 3 with the second provision 120 duly machined for making the inlet for a side strainer 214 for the selected side-opening oil-pump variant 200 shown in Figure 5 and keeping the first provision 110 or all other provisions kept closed (X-marked) or unmachined.

FIGURE 7 shows the cross-sectional view of the engine-housing 50 fitted with a common oil-pump casting 100/200 depicted in Figure 3 and having a side strainer 214 according to the engine-layout on which this side-opening oil-pump 200 is to be used.

TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES AND ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE

The oil-pump casting having multiple inlet provisions and an outlet configured in accordance with the present invention offers the following advantages:

• Single oil-pump casting caters to oil-pumps catering to different engine-layouts.

• Eliminates separate oil-pump design for different engine-layouts.

• Reduced numbers of oil-pump variants is cost-effective in terms of production, handling and storage costs thereof.

• Invention can be implemented both for diesel and gasoline/petrol engines.

• Single rotor oil-pump can also be used with geared-type oil-pumps.

• Enables even more than two inlet provisions for oil-pump castings for multiple oil-pump variants for different engine-layouts.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments.

It is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation. The exemplary embodiments described in this specification are intended merely to provide an understanding of various manners in which this embodiment may be used and to further enable the skilled person in the relevant art to practice this invention.
Although, the embodiments presented in this disclosure have been described in terms of its preferred embodiments, the skilled person in the art would readily recognize that these embodiments can be applied with modifications possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention as described in this specification by making innumerable changes, variations, modifications, alterations and/or integrations in terms of materials and method used to configure, manufacture and assemble various constituents, components, subassemblies and assemblies, in terms of their size, shapes, orientations and interrelationships without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, shall be understood to imply including a described element, integer or method step, or group of elements, integers or method steps, however, does not imply excluding any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or method steps.

The use of the expression “a”, “at least” or “at least one” shall imply using one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as used in the embodiment of the disclosure in order to achieve one or more of the intended objects or results of the present invention.

In the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top”, and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “inwardly”, “outwardly”; “downwardly”, “upwardly” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion.

These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the corresponding apparatus or device be constructed or operated in a particular orientation.
Terms concerning attachments, coupling and the like, such as “connected” and “interconnected”, refer to a relationship, wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise.