Hydraulic torque motor

Abstract

A fluid operated device in which an externally toothed rotor is rotatably disposed in a chamber and an internally toothed member is orbitally but not rotatably disposed in the chamber about the rotor. The rotor and orbital member are operative upon relative rotation to form fluid containing pockets therebetween and suitable fluid ducts are provided for conveying fluid to and from the fluid containing pockets. The orbital member is provided with means to cooperatively engage the housing to limit, or prevent unidirectional rotational motion of the orbiting member but to allow orbital movement about the axis of rotation of the rotor.

I claim: 
     
       1. A hydraulic motor includes a housing defining a motor chamber, a rotor supported for rotation upon a shaft within said chamber, said rotor having angularly spaced external lobes thereupon, an orbital member encircling said rotor, internal lobes on said orbital member cooperable with the external lobes of said rotor, the number of internal lobes exceeding by one the number of external rotor lobes, and said housing having pairs of inlet and outlet ports, said inlet ports communicating with the areas between said lobes on said orbital member and rotor as these areas are increasing in size and being closed by said orbital member as said areas are decreasing in size and said outlet ports communicating with said areas as said areas decreasing in size and closed by said orbital member as said areas are increasing in size, and means on said orbital member directly engaging said rotor housing for holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said rotor. 
     
     
       2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said inlet and outlet ports are at a substantially common radius from said shaft axis. 
     
     
       3. The structure of claim 1 and in which the means for holding the orbital member from rotation comprises a similar number of teeth on said orbital member and said housing. 
     
     
       4. The structure of claim 3 and in which the width of the teeth on the orbital member is narrow relative to the width of the space between the teeth on said housing. 
     
     
       5. A hydraulic torque motor including: a rotor housing defining a rotor chamber,   a shaft supported by said housing and rotatable with respect thereto,   an orbital member within said housing and having a series of angularly spaced lobes,   an externally lobed rotor within said orbital member and mounted upon said shaft for rotation therewith,   said orbital member having a greater number of lobes than said rotor and in mesh therewith to travel in an orbital path, said rotor rotating an angular distance for each orbit of said orbital member,   means for closing the axial ends of the spaces between the lobes of said rotor and said orbital member,   at least one of said closing means including angularly spaced inlet ports and outlet ports which are opened and closed by said orbital member whereby fluid under pressure may enter the spaces between certain of said lobes to cause rotation of said rotor and may leave the spaces between others of the lobes to permit rotation of said rotor, and   means on said orbital member directly engaging said rotor housing for holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said shaft.   
     
     
       6. The structure of claim 5 and in which said means holding said orbital member from rotation includes external projection on said orbital member and cooperate internal projection on said housing. 
     
     
       7. The structure of claim 6 and in which said external projection and internal projection are equal in number. 
     
     
       8. The structure of claim 5 and in which both of said closing means include said inlet and outlet ports in opposed aligned relation whereby said orbital member is subjected to substantially equal and opposite forces. 
     
     
       9. The structure of claim 6 and in which said inlet ports are connected by a manifold, and said outlet ports are similarly connected by a manifold. 
     
     
       10. A hydraulic motor including: a. a housing defining a motor chamber;   b. a rotor supported for rotation upon a shaft within said chamber, said rotor having angularly spaced external lobes thereupon;   c. an orbital member encircling said rotor, internal lobes on said orbital member cooperable with the external lobes on said rotor, the number of internal lobes exceeding by one the number of external rotor lobes;   d. means for holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said rotor, said means including cooperable portions on said orbital member and on said housing adapted for direct engagement; and   e. means for communicating fluid to and from the areas between the lobes on said orbital member and said rotor as said areas are increasing and decreasing in size.   
     
     
       11. A hydraulic motor including: a. a housing defining a motor chamber;   b. a rotor supported for rotation upon a shaft within said chamber, said rotor having angularly spaced external lobes thereupon;   c. an orbital member encircling said rotor, internal lobes on said orbital member cooperable with the external lobes on said rotor, the number of internal lobes exceeding by one the number of external rotor lobes;   d. means for holding said orbital member from substantial rotation about the axis of said rotor, said means including cooperable portions on said orbital member and on said housing adapted for direct engagement; and   e. means for communicating fluid to and from the areas between the lobes on said orbital member and said rotor as said areas are increasing and decreasing in size.   
     
     
       12. The apparatus of claim 10 in which the motor chamber is cylindrical and the outer surface of the orbital member is substantially cylindrical and the means for holding the orbital member from rotation about the axis of the rotor includes cooperatively, directly inter-engaging portions extending radially inwardly of the cylindrical portions of the housing and radially outwardly of the cylindrical portion of the orbital member. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of claim 11 in which the motor chamber is cylindrical and the outer surface of the orbital member is substantially cylindrical and the means for holding the orbital member from rotation about the axis of the rotor includes cooperatively, directly inter-engaging portions extending radially inwardly of the cylindrical portion of the housing and radially outwardly of the cylindrical portion of the orbital member. 
     
     
       14. A hydraulic torque motor including: a. a rotor housing defining a rotor chamber;   b. a shaft supported by said housing and rotatable with respect thereto;   c. an orbital member within said housing and having a series of angularly spaced lobes;   d. an externally lobed rotor within said orbital member and mounted upon said shaft for rotation therewith; said orbital member having a greater number of lobes than said rotor and in mesh therewith to travel in an orbital path, said rotor .[.rotational.]. .Iadd.rotating .Iaddend.an angular distance for each orbit of said orbital member;   e. means for closing the axial ends of the spaces between the lobes of said rotor and said orbital members, at least one of said means for closing the axial ends of the spaces including angularly spaced inlet ports and outlet ports which are opened and closed by said orbital member whereby fluid under pressure may enter the spaces between certain of said lobes to cause rotation of said rotor and may leave spaces between others of the lobes to permit rotation of said rotor; and   f. means holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said shaft, said means including external projections on said orbital member and a like number of interal projections on said housing directly engaging said external projections.   
     
     
       15. The apparatus of claim 14 in which the internal and external projections are comprised of a plurality of equally angularly spaced teeth. .Iadd. 16. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 17. The apparatus of claim 2 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 18. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 19. The apparatus of claim 4 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 20. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 21. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 22. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 23. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 24. The apparatus of claim 9 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 25. The apparatus of claim 14 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend..Iadd. 26. The apparatus of claim 15 in which the ports are disposed on a radius greater than the radius of the external rotor lobes. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 27. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chambers including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly arrayed about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being equal to a number evenly divisible by the number of teeth on the internally toothed gear member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member and cooperable with the orbiting internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, and means connecting said ports with at least one of said port means. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 28. A fluid energy translating device as defined in claim 27, wherein each of said ports serially communicates with each of said chambers. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 29. A fluid energy translating device as defined in claim 27, wherein the cooperating surfaces include internal teeth in said chamber, and an equal number of external teeth on said internally toothed member in operational engagement therewith. .Iadd. 30. A fluid energy translating device as defined in claim 27, wherein said ports are positioned to be opened and closed by the teeth on the internally toothed member. .Iaddend..Iadd. 31. A fluid energy translating device as defined in claim 30, wherein each of said ports is positioned to be opened and closed by only one of said teeth on the internally toothed member. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 32. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, and valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chambers including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly arrayed about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, means connecting said ports with at least one of said port means, said ports lying on a circle greater in diameter than the root diameter of the teeth on said internally toothed member, and a plurality of slots in the side of internally toothed member adjacent said valve plate and communicating with said chambers, said slots extending radially a sufficient distance to serially communicate with said ports. .Iadd. 33. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, and valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chambers including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly arrayed about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member and cooperable with the orbiting internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, means connecting said ports with at least one of said port means, a casing surrounding toothed members, said chamber being generally cylindrical and defined in said casing, an output shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and rotatably fixed to said externally toothed member, said inlet and outlet ports means including an inlet port and an port in said casing, said valve plate ports being equal in number to twice the number of teeth on said internally toothed member, means connecting alternate ones of said valve plate ports to said inlet port, and means connecting the other valve plate ports to said outlet port. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 34. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, and valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chamber including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member and cooperable with the orbiting internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, means connecting said ports with at least one of said ports means, a casing surrounding toothed member, said chamber being generally cylindrical and defined in said casing, an output shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and rotatably fixed to said externally toothed member, said inlet and outlet port means including an inlet port and an outlet port in said casing, said valve plate ports being equal in number to twice the number of teeth on said internally toothed member, means connecting alternate ones of said valve plate ports to said outlet port, and the number of teeth on said externally toothed member being one less than the number of teeth on the internally toothed member. .Iaddend.