US-12624690-B2 - Long-life non-contact pump

US12624690B2US 12624690 B2US12624690 B2US 12624690B2US-12624690-B2

Abstract

The inventive concept provides long-life non-contact pump including a pump cylinder having a certain pumping space, an inlet valve and an outlet valve respectively located at a part of the pump cylinder to prevent backflow of a fluid and to allow the fluid to flow in and out, a bellows provided in the pumping space of the pump cylinder and varying a volume of the pumping space to pump the fluid flowing in/out along the inlet and outlet, and a reciprocating drive unit provided on the outside of the cylinder cover to cause a reciprocating driving of the piston along the connected reciprocating rod. Accordingly, airtightness in a pumping operation without friction between parts may be maintained, the generation of foreign substances in the fluid due to friction may be prevented, and the replacement life of consumables may be improved.

Inventors

Myoung Chul Park

Assignees

Myoung Chul Park

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20211220
Priority Date: 20210128

Claims (5)

1 . A long-life non-contact pump comprising: a pump cylinder having a certain pumping space for accommodating introduced fluid and receiving/discharging the fluid through a pumping operation via an inlet and an outlet formed on both sides thereof, the pump cylinder including an outlet valve that is provided on an outlet side and prevents backflow of the fluid when the fluid flows in along the inlet and an inlet valve that is provided on an inlet side and prevents backflow of the fluid when the fluid is discharged along the outlet; a bellows provided in the pumping space of the pump cylinder and varying a volume of the pumping space so as to pump the fluid flowing in/out along the inlet and outlet; a piston that closes one end of the bellows and moves together with the bellows; a reciprocating rod that is integrally connected to the piston and extends outward of the pump cylinder to expand and contract the bellows by reciprocally driving together with a movement of the piston; a cylinder cover that closes a part of the pump cylinder and fixes the other end of the bellows, and through which the reciprocating rod passes; and a reciprocating drive unit provided on the outside of the cylinder cover to drive the piston reciprocally along the connected reciprocating rod, wherein a vacuum space is formed, and vacuum is maintained inside the bellows in an expanded and contracted state through a vacuum line formed in the cylinder cover.
2 . The long-life non-contact pump of claim 1 , wherein the bellows includes: a first bellows pipe including rubber and having a vacuum space therein, a volume of which is variable and capable of expending and contracting; and a second bellows pipe formed on the outside of the first bellows pipe and including a thin metal plate so that a rigidity of the first bellows pipe is maintained against repeated volume changes.
3 . The long-life non-contact pump of claim 1 , further comprising: a drain hole for discharging the fluid entering the vacuum space in the cylinder cover; and a leak sensor coupled to the drain hole and configured to detect the fluid entering the vacuum space when the bellows is damaged, to confirm that the fluid entered the vacuum space from the outside, and to remove the entering fluid.
4 . The long-life non-contact pump of claim 1 , further comprising, on a part of the pump cylinder, a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature of the fluid flowing in/out of the pumping space by pumping of the bellows.
5 . The long-life non-contact pump of claim 1 , further comprising on a part of the pump cylinder, a pressure sensor configured to sense a pressure of the fluid flowing in/out of the pumping space by pumping of the bellows.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates to a non-contact pump, and more particularly, to a long-life non-contact pump capable of maintaining airtightness during a pumping operation without friction between parts, preventing the generation of foreign substances in a fluid due to friction, having improved lifespan and reducing replacement costs for consumables, increasing the operation rate of equipment, allowing replacement of consumables more easily, and capable of being applied in various industrial fields. BACKGROUND ART In general, as shown in FIG. 1, a piston reciprocating pump includes an inlet valve 1 for preventing backflow of a fluid at an inlet through which the fluid enters the pump; an outlet valve 2 for preventing backflow of the fluid from the outlet through which the fluid is discharged from the inside of the pump; a pump cylinder 3 having a space for accommodating the fluid inside the pump; a piston 4 that expands and contracts a space so that the fluid may enter and exit the pump cylinder 3; a sealing member 5 for sealing the pump cylinder 3 so that the fluid does not leak between the pump cylinder 3 and the piston 4; a sealing guide 6, a fluid injection container 7 for injecting a fluid to reduce wear of the sealing member 5; and a pumping drive unit 8 in which the piston 4 performs a reciprocating motion. The piston reciprocating pump has a structure such that when a volume inside the pump cylinder 3 increases, a corresponding fluid enters the pump through the inlet valve 1, and when the volume inside the pump cylinder 3 decreases, the corresponding fluid is discharged to the outside of the piston reciprocating pump through the outlet valve 2. In the case of an existing piston reciprocating pump, a material used for sealing is worn out by the reciprocating motion and friction between the piston 4 and the pump cylinder 3, and thus, the material should be replaced with a consumable after a certain number of operations. Therefore, as the production capacity of equipment improves and the number of operations increases, the replacement cycle of related consumables is gradually shortened. Depending on the production capacity of the equipment, consumables are replaced once every 1 to 2 weeks on some production lines. In other words, like the structure of a piston reciprocating pump, in a structure in which a gap between the pump cylinder 3 and the piston 4 is sealed so as not to allow the fluid to leak and the piston 4 reciprocates while rubbing the sealing member 5, it is necessary to make a surface where the piston 4 rubs the sealing member 5 more smooth or increase the replacement cycle of consumables by selecting a material with less frictional force and wear for the sealing member 5. However, processing a contact surface and changing the sealing member 5 may have limitations in increasing the lifespan of consumables to several times or more in a structure in which materials undergo a friction operation. In addition, as the replacement period is shortened, the frequency of replacing consumables by workers by stopping the equipment increases, which results in loss for a manufacturer, such as the increase in consumables costs, equipment downtime, and labor costs. In addition, when consumables are replaced, there are many replacement works and parts to be replaced such as disassembling and lubricant injection into the sealing member 5, the sealing guide 6, and the fluid injection container 7, and in assembling the sealing member 5 and the sealing guide 6, if the sealing member 5 is damaged or not tightly assembled in a correct position, because the skills of workers are different from each other, there may a problem in that easiness of replacement work and maintenance may not be achieved. In particular, Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-1449047 discloses that, in using a bellows material as a resin material, in order to prevent severe deformation of the bellows due to external pressure, the bellows includes an incompressible indirect medium including a fluid such as oil to maintain the pressure in the bellows. That is, in using a resin-based fluid in a structure for pumping a small amount of fluid, deformation occurs when the fluid is compressed, and an incompressible medium must be filled for 48 hours to compensate for the deformation. In addition, in order to apply an incompressible indirect medium inside the bellows, a configuration of a complicated structure is required, and thus, the manufacturing costs and product prices increase. In addition, in a piston reciprocating pump, foreign substances may be generated due to friction of the sealing materials during the reciprocating operation, and there is a drawback in that the foreign substances may flow into the fluid. Thus, the piston reciprocating pump may have an improper structure for pumping fluids such as medical fluids or chemical fluids and maintain the purity thereof. Therefore, due to the improvement of production capacity of