Water Pump

Abstract

A water pump is constructed to have a rotating member that is adapted to be rotated by an external driving source, a housing that forms a part of a pump chamber from which a cooling water is led to an internal combustion chamber for cooling the engine upon rotation of the rotating member, a mechanical seal unit that is installed between the housing and the rotating member to seal the pump chamber and a bearing that is operatively disposed between the rotating member and the housing at a position other than the pump chamber, in which an annular slinger is arranged at an axial end of the bearing and fixed to a fixed portion, the annular slinger having a given portion that slidably contacts to the rotating member.

1 . A water pump comprising:
 a rotating unit including a pulley, a drive shaft and an impeller which rotate as a single unit;   a housing covering the drive shaft and having a pump chamber for receiving therein the impeller;   a mechanical seal unit installed between the housing and the drive shaft to seal the pump chamber;   a bearing including an outer race fixed to one of the rotating unit and the housing, an inner race fixed to the other one of the rotating unit and the housing and a plurality of rotating bodies operatively disposed between the outer and inner races;   an annular seal member arranged at an axial end of the bearing and having a peripheral portion that is fixed to one of the outer and inner races and another peripheral portion that slidably contacts with the other one of the outer and inner races; and   an annular slinger fixed to the housing in a manner to face the annular seal member, the annular slinger having a given portion that slidably contacts with a given portion of the rotating unit.   
     
     
         2 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the outer race of the bearing is tightly disposed in a first cylindrical portion provided by the pulley and the inner race of the bearing is tightly disposed on an outer cylindrical surface of the housing. 
     
     
         3 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 2 , in which the pulley has a second cylindrical portion that surrounds the first cylindrical portion. 
     
     
         4 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 3 , in which the first and second cylindrical portions are connected through an annular wall portion that faces toward the impeller and in which the first cylindrical portion is connected to one end of the drive shaft that is opposite to the other end to which the impeller is connected. 
     
     
         5 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 4 , in which another annular wall portion that extends from the first cylindrical portion toward the one end of the drive shaft is formed, at an annular zone thereof facing one end of the inner race, with a plurality of openings and in which the inner race of the bearing is press-fitted onto the outer cylindrical surface of the housing. 
     
     
         6 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 5 , in which the pulley and the drive shaft are separate members. 
     
     
         7 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the given portion of the annular slinger is arranged to slidably contact with one of the outer race of the bearing and the pulley. 
     
     
         8 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the given portion of the annular slinger is arranged to slidably contact with one of the outer race of the bearing and the pulley through a rubber member. 
     
     
         9 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 8 , in which the rubber member is integral with a rubber cover member that intimately covers the annular slinger. 
     
     
         10 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the annular slinger is arranged to slidably contact with the annular seal member. 
     
     
         11 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the given portion of the annular slinger is provided with a solid lubricant film of which outer surface slidably contacts with either one of the outer race of the bearing and the pulley. 
     
     
         12 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 11 , in which the annular slinger is made of a resilient member. 
     
     
         13 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the annular slinger is tightly put between an axial end of the bearing and a stepped portion provided by the housing, and in which the stepped portion of the housing is provided with an annular groove to which an inner peripheral portion of the annular slinger is exposed. 
     
     
         14 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which grease is applied to the given portion of the annular slinger. 
     
     
         15 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which an outer peripheral portion of the annular seal member is fixed to the outer race of the bearing that is fixed to the rotating unit and in which an inner peripheral portion of the annular seal member has seal lips that slidably contact to the inner race of the bearing that is fixed to the housing. 
     
     
         16 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the annular slinger is made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity. 
     
     
         17 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 16 , in which the annular slinger is made of an aluminum alloy. 
     
     
         18 . A water pump as claimed in  claim 1 , in which the bearing is a ball bearing of single ball-row type. 
     
     
         19 . A water pump comprising:
 a rotating unit including a pulley, a drive shaft and an impeller which rotate as a single unit;   a housing covering the drive shaft and having a pump chamber for receiving therein the impeller;   a mechanical seal unit installed between the housing and the drive shaft to seal the pump chamber;   a bearing including an outer race fixed to one of the rotating unit and the housing, an inner race fixed to the other one of the rotating unit and the housing and a plurality of rotating bodies operatively disposed between the outer and inner races; and   an annular slinger arranged in a passage extending between the bearing and the mechanical seal unit, the annular slinger being fixed to the housing and having a given portion that slidably contacts to a rotating member fixed to the rotating unit, the rotating member being either one of the outer and inner races of the bearing.   
     
     
         20 . A water pump comprising:
 a rotating member adapted to be rotated by an external driving source;   a housing that forms at least a part of a pump chamber from which a cooling water is led to an internal combustion chamber for cooling the engine upon rotation of the rotating member;   a mechanical seal unit installed between the housing and the rotating member to seal the pump chamber;   a bearing operatively disposed between the rotating member and the housing at a position other than the pump chamber; and   an annular slinger arranged at an axial end of the bearing and fixed to a fixed portion, the annular slinger having a given portion that slidably contacts to the rotating member.