Manually operated pump assembly

Abstract

A manually operated pump exhibiting numerous improvement over existing such 5 pumps is described. The pump can include a cylinder that is removeably mounted to a molded valve box of unitary construction. The valve box can feature a valve plate covering a valve chamber and housing an inlet valve and an outlet valve. In some instances, the pump includes a molded piston of unitary construction to which a pair of opposing piston cups is mounted. In some cases, the pump includes a filler cap forming an inlet adapted to deliver a priming fluid 10 into the cylinder. In some cases, the pump includes a stopper cap adapted to prevent a pump shaft from being fully pulled out of the cylinder.

1 . A method of assembling a manually operated pump, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a base;   pivotally mounting a molded valve box of unitary construction to the base;   attaching a valve plate to cover a valve chamber of the valve box;   inserting an inlet valve and an outlet valve into the valve plate;   mounting a molded piston of unitary construction to a distal end of a pump shaft;   mounting a pair of opposing piston cups to the molded piston;   disposing a cylinder about at least a portion of the pump shaft; and   removably mounting the cylinder to the valve box.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein removeably mounting the cylinder to the valve box comprises:
 threading the cylinder onto the valve box with a threaded interface.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 installing a stopper cap at a proximal end of the cylinder, the stopper cap being adapted to prevent the pump shaft from being fully pulled out of the cylinder.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 installing a filler cap forming an inlet at a proximal end of the pump shaft, the filler cap being adapted to deliver a priming fluid into the cylinder.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 introducing the priming fluid through the filler cap located at a top of the cylinder.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein introducing the priming fluid further comprises:
 leaving the pump shaft in the cylinder.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising
 installing a handle at a proximal end of the pump shaft.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the inserting the inlet valve and the outlet valve into the valve plate, further comprises:
 enabling the inlet valve to be in flow communication with the inlet chamber;   enabling the outlet valve to be in flow communication with the outlet chamber; and   placing a gasket having a groove in alignment with a divider of the molded valve box of unitary construction.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein removably mounting the cylinder to the valve box, further comprises:
 attaching the cylinder to a collar having threads that engage corresponding threads on the valve box.   inserting an inlet valve and an outlet valve into the valve plate;   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 inserting the inlet valve and the outlet valve into respective shaped apertures, wherein the respective shaped apertures are adapted to accept a part of the respective inlet valve and respective outlet valve having a shape complementary to the shaped apertures.