Vane Pump Assembly

Abstract

The vane pump has a housing with an inner wall which surrounds an inner chamber and has circumferentially spaced inlet ports and circumferentially spaced outlet ports. The vane pump assembly further includes a rotor which is rotatably disposed in the inner chamber of the housing and has a circular outer surface and presents at least two passages which are spaced from a center axis of the rotor. A curved or rocker vane is disposed in each of the passages, and each of the curved or rocker vanes extends between opposite vane ends that project past the circular outer surface of the rotor for sealing against the inner wall. The curved or rocker vanes are articulatable back and forth within the passages to maintain the vane ends in sealing engagement with the inner wall of the housing as the rotor rotates relative to the housing within the inner chamber.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vane pump assembly, comprising:
 a housing with an inner wall which surrounds a non-circular inner chamber and at least two circumferentially spaced fluid inlet ports for conveying a fluid into said inner chamber and at least two circumferentially spaced fluid outlet ports for conveying the fluid out of said inner chamber;   a rotor rotatably disposed in said inner chamber of said housing and having a circular outer surface and presenting at least two passages which are spaced from a center axis of said rotor;   a curved or rocker vane disposed in each of said passages, each of said curved or rocker vanes extending between opposite vane ends that project past said circular outer surface of said rotor for sealing against said inner wall; and   said curved or rocker vanes being articulatable back and forth within said passages to maintain said vane ends in sealing engagement with said inner wall of said housing as said rotor rotates relative to said housing within said inner chamber.   
     
     
         2 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said passages are curved and said vanes are curved and are slidable within said curved passages for articulating back and forth within said curved passages. 
     
     
         3 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said vanes are pivotable about a pivot for articulating back and forth within said passages. 
     
     
         4 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said non-circular inner chamber is elliptical in shape. 
     
     
         5 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said at least two passages is exactly two passages. 
     
     
         6 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein each of said vanes includes a vane body and wherein each of said vane ends includes at least one primary roller received in a U-shaped groove of said vane body for rolling along said inner wall of said housing as said rotor rotates relative to said housing. 
     
     
         7 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said inner wall of said housing has at least one thin walled portion between one of said fluid inlet ports and one of said fluid outlet ports and further including an adjustable biaser that applies a force against an opposite side of said thin walled portion from said rotor to seal said thin walled portion against said rotor. 
     
     
         8 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 7  wherein said biaser includes at least one bar which is received in a passage of said housing and includes at least one adjustment screw which engages said bar to move said bar and adjust the force applied by said bar against said thin walled portion of said housing. 
     
     
         9 . A vane pump assembly, comprising:
 a housing with an inner wall which surrounds an inner chamber and at least two circumferentially spaced fluid inlet ports for conveying a fluid into said inner chamber and at least two circumferentially spaced fluid outlet ports for conveying the fluid out of said inner chamber;   a rotor rotatably disposed in said housing and having an outer surface which contacts or nearly contacts said inner wall of said housing in at least one location between one of said fluid inlet ports and one of said fluid outlet ports;   at least one vane at least partially received within a passage of said rotor and extending outwardly therefrom for establishing a seal against said inner wall of said housing;   said inner wall of said housing including a thin walled portion in at least one location where said rotor contacts or nearly contacts said inner wall; and   a biaser disposed on an opposite side of said thin walled portion from said rotor and applying a force against said thin walled portion to establish a seal between said thin walled portion of said inner wall and said rotor.   
     
     
         10 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 9  wherein said biaser includes a bar received in a passage of said housing on an opposite side of said thin walled portion of said inner wall from said rotor. 
     
     
         11 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 10  wherein said biaser further includes at least one adjustment screw which engages said bar for adjusting said force applied by said biaser against said thin walled portion of said inner wall of said housing. 
     
     
         12 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 9  wherein said at least one vane is further defined as at least two vanes and wherein each of said vanes extends between a pair of vane ends. 
     
     
         13 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 12  wherein said vanes are curved vanes that are slidable within said respective passages for sliding back and forth within said passages to maintain said vane ends in sealing contact with said inner wall of said housing. 
     
     
         14 . The vane pump assembly as set forth in  claim 12  wherein said vanes are rocker vanes. 
     
     
         15 . A vane pump assembly, comprising:
 a housing with an inner wall which surrounds an elliptically shaped inner chamber and a pair of circumferentially spaced fluid inlet ports for conveying a fluid into said inner chamber and a pair of circumferentially spaced fluid outlet ports for conveying the fluid out of said inner chamber;   said inner wall of said housing including a thin walled portion between one of said fluid inlet ports and one of said fluid outlet ports;   a rotor rotatably disposed in said inner chamber of said housing and having a circular outer surface and presenting at least two passages which are spaced from a center axis of said rotor;   said rotor being in contact or nearly in contact with said thin walled portion of said inner wall of said housing;   a biaser disposed on an opposite side of said thin walled portion of said inner wall from said rotor and applying a force against said thin walled portion to seal said thin walled portion of said inner wall against said rotor, said biaser including a bar disposed in a passage of said housing, and said biaser including at least one adjustable screw in engagement with said bar for adjusting the force applied by said bar against said thin walled portion of said inner wall of said housing;   a curved or rocker vane disposed in each of said passages, each of said curved or rocker vanes extending between opposite vane ends that project past said circular outer surface of said rotor for sealing against said inner wall; and   said curved or rocker vanes being articulatable back and forth within said passages to maintain said vane ends in sealing engagement with said inner wall of said housing as said rotor rotates relative to said housing within said inner chamber.