High pressure variable vane pump with vane pins

Abstract

A vane pump has a rotor and a control slide mounted within an internal chamber of a housing. The rotor has a number of vane mounting openings and vanes. Rotation of the rotor generates a pressure differential between inlet and outlet ports of the pump to draw fluid in and output the fluid out. Both the vane mounting openings and vanes are arranged in pairs that are diametrically opposed to one another with respect to the rotor axis. The vanes in each said pair have an intermediate transfer member extending therebetween that shifts with one vane of each said pair retracting radially inwardly by engagement with the internal surface of the rotor receiving space for extension of the opposing vane of each said pair radially outwardly toward the internal surface of the rotor receiving space. The intermediate transfer member may be a pin provided between the vanes of the pair.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vane pump comprising:
 a housing comprising an internal chamber;   an inlet port;   an outlet port;   a rotor rotatably mounted in the internal chamber for rotation about a rotor axis, the rotor having a plurality of vane mounting openings and a plurality of vanes mounted in and extending radially from the vane mounting openings, the vanes being slidable radially in the vane mounting openings;   a control slide mounted in said internal chamber, the control slide having an internal surface defining a rotor receiving space, wherein the rotor receiving space is in communication with the inlet and outlet ports and the rotor is received in the rotor receiving space with the vanes slidably engaging the internal surface of the control slide such that rotating the rotor generates a pressure differential between the inlet and outlet ports to draw fluid in through the inlet port and output the fluid out through the outlet port;   wherein the plurality of vane mounting openings are arranged in pairs of vane mounting openings that are diametrically opposed to one another with respect to the rotor axis and wherein the plurality of vanes include pairs of vanes that are diametrically opposed to one another with respect to the rotor axis,   wherein the vanes in each said pair have an intermediate transfer member extending therebetween that shifts with one vane of each said pair retracting radially inwardly by engagement with the internal surface of the rotor receiving space for extension of the opposing vane of each said pair radially outwardly toward the internal surface of the rotor receiving space.   
     
     
         2 . The vane pump of  claim 1 , wherein the intermediate transfer member for each pair of vanes is a pin provided between the vanes of the pair. 
     
     
         3 . The vane pump of  claim 2 , wherein each pin is cylindrical. 
     
     
         4 . The vane pump of  claim 1 , wherein the rotor includes a rotor body with a central opening and the vane mounting openings extend radially inwardly from an outer radial surface of the rotor body,
 the rotor body further comprising a plurality of receiving bores each extending from a respective vane mounting opening to the central opening of the rotor body,   the receiving bores for each pair of vane mounting openings being radially aligned with one another and having the intermediate transfer member for the associated pair of vanes slidably received therein,   each radially aligned pair of receiving bores being spaced axially with respect to the rotor axis from each other pair of radially aligned pair of receiving bores such that the intermediate transfer members cross over one another in the central opening of the rotor body.   
     
     
         5 . The vane pump of  claim 4 , wherein the intermediate transfer member for each pair of vanes is a pin provided between the vanes of the pair. 
     
     
         6 . The vane pump of  claim 5 , wherein each pin and each receiving bore is cylindrical. 
     
     
         7 . The vane pump of  claim 1 , further comprising a vane pressure inlet port and a vane pressure outlet port each on an axial inner surface of the housing, the vane pressure inlet port and the vane pressure outlet port opposing each other with respect to the rotor axis,
 wherein the rotor includes a plurality of vane ports in communication with an associated vane mounting opening and facing the axial inner surface of the housing,   the vane pressure inlet port being arranged in a low-pressure region of the internal chamber in which the vanes are extending radially outwardly to enable the vane pressure inlet port to communicate with the vane port for at least one vane mounting opening passing thereover to enable the associated vane extending radially outwardly to draw fluid into said vane mounting opening,   the vane pressure outlet port being arranged in a high-pressure region of the internal chamber in which the vanes are retracting radially inwardly to enable the vane pressure outlet port to communicate with the vane port of at least one vane mounting opening passing thereover to enable the associated vane retracting radially inwardly to eject fluid through said vane mounting opening.   
     
     
         8 . The vane pump of  claim 7 , wherein the inlet port and the outlet port are on the axial inner surface of the housing, the vane pressure inlet port being adjacent to and radially inward of the inlet port and the vane pressure outlet port being adjacent to and radially inwardly of the outlet port. 
     
     
         9 . The vane pump of  claim 8 , wherein the axial inner surface of the housing is provided by a plate attached to the housing of the pump, the plate closing off and sealing an axial side of the internal chamber and sealing against the rotor and the control slide. 
     
     
         10 . The vane pump of  claim 9 , wherein the inlet port, the outlet port, the vane pressure inlet port, and the vane pressure outlet port extend through a thickness of the plate in the axial direction of the rotor axis. 
     
     
         11 . The vane pump of  claim 1 , wherein the control slide is movable in (a) a displacement increasing direction to increase an eccentricity between the rotor axis and the rotor receiving space for increasing the pressure differential between the inlet and the outlet, and (b) a displacement decreasing direction to decrease the eccentricity between the rotor axis and the rotor receiving space for decreasing the pressure differential between the inlet and the outlet.