Integrated motor/gear pump

Abstract

Pinion and ring gears intermeshed at one location within a pump chamber are rotationally supported therein by a cylindrical bearing portion of a housing sealingly enclosing said pump chamber between side plates of the housing within which stator windings are mounted in operative alignment with permanent magnets carried in one of the gears acting as a motor rotor as a result of interaction between such magnets and magnetic fields produced by electrical input power fed to the stator windings.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. In combination with an internal gear pump having a housing enclosing a pump chamber within which a pair of gears are enmeshed at one location from which the gears separate during rotation thereof while acting as impellers for displacement of fluid between inlet and outlet ports connected to the housing, the improvement residing in: magnetic motor means sealed within the housing for imparting rotational torque to one of the gears to induce said rotation of the gears causing said displacement of the fluid through the pump chamber. 
     
     
       2. The improvement as defined in claim  1 , wherein said magnetic motor means includes: a plurality of permanent magnets mounted within said one of the gears and stator winding means fixedly mounted within the housing in operative alignment with said permanent magnets for producing magnetic fields interacting with the permanent magnets within the pump chamber to exert said rotational torque on said one of the gears. 
     
     
       3. The combination as defined in claim  2 , wherein said housing comprises: a pair of side plates having annular grooves within which the stator winding means is located; cylindrical bearing means axially separating the side plates in sealed relation to the pump chamber for rotational support of the gears therein; and sealant means covering the stator winding means within said annular grooves for sealing the pump chamber therefrom. 
     
     
       4. The combination as defined in claim  3 , wherein said side plates are formed with flow passages therein extending between the inlet and outlet ports and the pump chamber angularly spaced from said one location at which the gears are enmeshed. 
     
     
       5. The combination as defined in claim  1 , wherein said housing comprises: a pair of side plates; and cylindrical bearing means axially separating the side plates in sealed relation to the pump chamber for rotational support of the gears therein, said side plates being formed with flow passages therein extending between the inlet and outlet ports and the pump chamber angularly spaced from said one location at which the gears are enmeshed. 
     
     
       6. The improvement as defined in claim  5 , wherein said magnetic motor means includes: a plurality of permanent magnets mounted within said one of the gears and stator winding means fixedly mounted within the housing in operative alignment with said permanent magnets for producing magnetic fields interacting with the permanent magnets within the pump chamber to exert said rotational torque on said one of the gears. 
     
     
       7. The combination as defined in claim  6 , wherein said cylindrical bearing means of the housing has an annular gap within which the stator winding means is disposed.