Fluid pump systems

Abstract

A fluid pump system has a housing having a housing cover removably connected to a housing base. A plurality of fluid pump assemblies are inside of the housing. Each fluid pump assembly has an electric motor operatively connected to a fluid pump. Each fluid pump has a fluid inlet extending through a wall of the housing to an exterior of the housing and a fluid outlet extending through the wall of the housing to the exterior of the housing. An electrical component inside of the housing is electrically connected to each electric motor. The electrical component has an electrical connector extending through a wall of the housing to connect to a source of electrical power. The fluid pump system can dispense three different fluids, such as two detergents and a fabric softener in a laundry machine.

1 . A fluid pump system, comprising:
 a housing having a housing cover removably connected to a housing base;   a plurality of fluid pump assemblies inside of the housing, each fluid pump assembly having an electric motor operatively connected to a fluid pump;   each fluid pump having a fluid inlet extending through a wall of the housing to an exterior of the housing and a fluid outlet extending through the wall of the housing to the exterior of the housing; and   an electrical component inside of the housing and electrically connected to each electric motor, the electrical component having an electrical connector extending through a wall of the housing to the exterior of the housing.   
   
   
       2 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the housing base has a plurality of fluid pump mounting locations inside of the housing;
 the fluid pump of each fluid pump assembly is mounted to the base at one of the fluid pump mounting locations; and   the electric motor of each fluid pump assembly is positioned vertically above the fluid pump.   
   
   
       3 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the electrical component is a circuit board having a common lead electrically connected to all of the electric motors and having separate power leads each power lead electrically connected to one electrical motor. 
   
   
       4 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein each fluid pump is a peristaltic pump, comprising:
 a front casing portion;   a rear casing portion;   a plurality of open-ended boxes on one of the front and rear casing portions;   a plurality of spring clip pairs on the other of the front and rear portions, each one of the spring clip pairs being snap-fitted with a corresponding one of the open-ended boxes;   a rotor confined between the front casing portion and the rear casing portion, the rotor having a triangular shaped front face having three tips and a triangular shaped rear face having three tips, each tip of the front face aligned with a corresponding tip of the rear face, the rotor having a roller mounted at each aligned front and rear face tips; and   a flexible tube compressed by the rollers.   
   
   
       5 . The fluid pump system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a tongue on one of the front and rear casing portions and a mating recess in the other one of the front and rear casing portions, the tongue extending into the recess and forming a seal.   
   
   
       6 . The fluid pump system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a plurality of mated inserts and barrels formed integrally on the rotor and carrying the rollers.   
   
   
       7 . The fluid pump system of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 a dowel mounted inside the rotor and inserted into a bore such that the plurality of mated inserts and barrels are aligned with each other.   
   
   
       8 . The fluid pump system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a reinforcement T-shaped support on at least one of the front and rear faces of the rotor.   
   
   
       9 . The fluid pump system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a barrel having a motor shaft bore on one of the front and rear faces of the rotor;   a first support reinforcement portion extending from the barrel in a first direction and being connected to the one of the front and rear faces; and   a second support reinforcement portion extending from the first support reinforcement portion in a second direction and being connected to the one of the front and rear faces.   
   
   
       10 . The fluid pump system of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second support reinforcement portions form a generally T-shape. 
   
   
       11 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein each fluid pump is a peristaltic pump, comprising:
 a front casing portion;   a rear casing portion;   a rotor positioned between the front casing portion and the rear casing portion and having a plurality of rollers;   a plurality of spaced-apart open-ended boxes on one of the front and rear casing portions;   a plurality of corresponding spaced-apart spring clip pairs on the other of the front and rear portions, each one of the spring clip pairs snap-fitted with a corresponding one of the open-ended boxes;   an elongated tongue extending longitudinally along one of the front and rear casing portions; and   an elongated recess extending longitudinally along the other one of the front and rear casing portions;   wherein the elongated tongue extends into the elongated recess forming a seal.   
   
   
       12 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the housing base has a fluid drain passage through a wall of the housing for allowing fluid leaking from a pump assembly to drain from inside of the housing to outside of the housing. 
   
   
       13 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the fluid outlet is slidably mounted to the housing and is slidable relative to the fluid pump. 
   
   
       14 . The fluid pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the fluid outlet has a guide notch and the fluid pump system further comprises a tab positioned in the guide notch;
 wherein the fluid outlet slides back and forth along the tab.   
   
   
       15 . A laundry machine fluid pump system, comprising:
 a housing having a housing cover removably connected to a housing base;   a plurality of fluid pump assemblies inside of the housing, each fluid pump assembly having an electric motor operatively connected to a fluid pump;   each fluid pump having a fluid inlet extending through a wall of the housing to an exterior of the housing for fluid connection to a source of fluid;   each fluid pump having a fluid outlet extending through the wall of the housing to the exterior of the housing for supplying fluid to a wash compartment of the laundry machine; and   an electrical component inside of the housing and electrically connected to each electric motor, the electrical component having an electrical connector extending through a wall of the housing to the exterior of the housing for connection to a source of electrical power in the laundry machine.   
   
   
       16 . The laundry machine fluid pump system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of fluid pump assemblies comprises a first fluid pump assembly for pumping a first detergent, a second fluid pump assembly for pumping a second detergent, and a third fluid pump assembly for pumping a fabric softener. 
   
   
       17 . The laundry machine fluid pump system of  claim 15 , wherein each fluid pump is a peristaltic pump, comprising:
 a front casing portion;   a rear casing portion;   a plurality of open-ended boxes on one of the front and rear casing portions;   a plurality of spring clip pairs on the other of the front and rear portions, each one of the spring clip pairs being snap-fitted with a corresponding one of the open-ended boxes;   a rotor confined between the front casing portion and the rear casing portion, the rotor having a triangular shaped front face having three tips and a triangular shaped rear face having three tips, each tip of the front face aligned with a corresponding tip of the rear face, the rotor having a roller mounted at each aligned front and rear face tips; and   a flexible tube compressed by the rollers.   
   
   
       18 . The laundry machine fluid pump system of  claim 15 , wherein the fluid outlet is slidably mounted to the housing and is slidable relative to the fluid pump. 
   
   
       19 . The laundry machine fluid pump system of  claim 15 , wherein the fluid outlet has a guide notch and the fluid pump system further comprises a tab positioned in the guide notch;
 wherein the fluid outlet slides back and forth along the tab.