AU2005202098A1

AU2005202098A1 - Hydraulic Pump Assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2005202098A1
Application number: AU2005202098A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ralph Alexander James Findlay
Original assignee: RALPH FINDLAY
Current assignee: RALPH FINDLAY
Priority date: 2005-05-17
Filing date: 2005-05-17
Publication date: 2006-12-07
Also published as: WO2006122359A3; WO2006122359A2

Description

0 0 Ralph Alexander James Findlay

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Hydraulic Pump Assembly The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2

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HYDRAULIC PUMP ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a hydraulic pump assembly for pumping liquid from one location to another.

The invention has been designed chiefly to pump ground water from boreholes and will therefore be described in this context. It is to be appreciated, N however, that the invention may have other uses. The hydraulic pump assembly may, 0 for instance, be used to pump other fluids such as oil or sludge.

Background of the Invention 0The pumping of ground water from boreholes has traditionally entailed feeding a pipe of sorts down a borehole until partially submerged in water and then drawing the water up through the pipe by means of an above-ground pump attached to an upper end of the pipe. Various types of engines, as well as wind-power, have been used to drive such pumps.

Another method of pumping ground water entails feeding a submersible pump down the borehole itself. It appears that most known submersible pumps are driven by electric motors. Although electric submersible pumps have advantages over traditional pumps in that they are generally easier to install and more economical to operate, a disadvantage is that they require a source of electricity. In remote areas when a mains supply is not available, such pumps may need to be powered by batteries. Disadvantages with using batteries include that batteries are usually short lived, requiring frequent replacement and/or maintenance, and are expensive to purchase.

Object of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic pump assembly that overcomes a disadvantage referred to above or provides the public with a useful or commercial choice.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided a hydraulic pump assembly for pumping liquid from a first location to a second location, said assembly 3 o having: a chamber having an inlet and an outlet; a hydraulic motor housed within the chamber, a progressing cavity pump connected to the motor and extending outwardly from the chamber outlet; and o a discharge conduit extendible from a discharge outlet of the progressing N cavity pump to the second location, with the construction and arrangement being such othat when the hydraulic motor is driven, liquid is pumped from the first location via the chamber inlet to the second location.

Detailed Description of the Invention The chamber may be of any suitable shape and volume. Preferably the chamber is provided by a housing having a cylindrical side wall and upper and lower end walls connected to the side wall. The end walls may be detachable from the side wall. Preferably, the inlet is located at the lower end wall and the outlet is located at the upper end wall. The chamber inlet and outlet can be of any suitable size, shape and construction. Preferably, the chamber inlet is a collar extending from the lower end wall and the chamber outlet is a collar extending from the upper end wall. The collars may be threaded.

Any suitable type of progressing cavity pump may be used. The progressing cavity pump preferably has a rotor and a stator, the stator extends from the outlet of the chamber and the rotor is coupled to a drive shaft of the motor for rotation within the stator. The progressing cavity pump can be connected to the chamber outlet in any suitable way. Preferably, a suction inlet of the stator is threaded and is connected to the chamber inlet. The rotor preferably turns on a left-hand rotation.

The assembly preferably includes a flexible coupling interconnecting the drive shaft of the hydraulic motor and the rotor. Any suitable type of flexible coupling may be used.

Any suitable type of hydraulic motor may be used. Preferably, the hydraulic motor is a variable speed, side port motor.

The assembly may include a porting block, hydraulic fittings and hydraulic lines for circulating hydraulic fluid between the hydraulic motor and a hydraulic pump. Preferably, the hydraulic fittings extend through openings in the t¢c 4

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Supper end wall, one end of each fitting is connected to a said hydraulic line, the other end of each fitting is connected to the porting block, and the porting block is connected to the hydraulic motor. Any suitable types of hydraulic fittings may be used. The porting block may be of any suitable size, shape and construction.

Preferably, the porting block has a pair of end ports, a pair of side ports and respective 0passages extending therebetween. The end ports may be connected to the hydraulic N fittings and the side ports may be connected to the side ports of the hydraulic motor.

The hydraulic lines may be of any suitable size, shape and construction.

The discharge conduit may be of any suitable size, shape and construction.

The discharge conduit may comprise two or more attachable pieces. Preferably, the discharge conduit is flexible. The discharge conduit may consist of plastics material, such as polypipe®. The discharge conduit may be connected to the discharge outlet in any suitable way.

The assembly may include a filter extending from the chamber inlet for filtering out particulate matter when drawing liquid from the first location into the chamber inlet. The filter may be of any suitable size, shape and construction.

Preferably, the filter includes a collar and a closed-end cylindrical mesh screen extends from the collar. The collar may be threaded.

The assembly may include a connector conduit extending between the filter and the chamber inlet. The connector may be of any suitable size, shape and construction. The connector may have threaded ends for connection to the threaded collars of the filter and the chamber inlet.

Preferably, the pump assembly is submersible. If the assembly is used, for instance, to pump bore water, the pump assembly is preferably sized to fit within an about 4'/2 to 6 inch borehole.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a partly detailed schematic of a hydraulic pump assembly, according to an embodiment of the invention; and Figure 2 is an exploded view of part of the hydraulic pump assembly shown in Figure 1.

0 Description of the Preferred Embodiment In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like features.

The figures show a submersible hydraulic pump assembly 1 for pumping ground water through a borehole to an above ground reservoir.

The pump assembly 1 includes a hydraulic motor 2, a housing 3, a 00 progressing cavity pump 4 (see Figure a flexible coupling 5, a porting block 6, ON hydraulic fittings 7, 8, a connector conduit 9, a filter to, a pair of hydraulic lines N 41 (see Figure 1) and a discharge conduit 42 (see Figure 1).

The housing 3 has a cylindrical side wall 11, an upper end wall 12 and a lower end wall 13. The housing 3 provides a chamber 14 (see Figure 1) within which is housed the hydraulic motor 2. A threaded collar inlet 16 to the chamber 14 extends from the lower end wall 13 and a threaded collar outlet 17 from the chamber 14 extends from the upper end wall 12. As can be gleaned from Figure 1, four bolts 18 connect the upper end wall 12 to the side wall 11. Openings 19 in the upper end wall 12 for the bolts 18 are shown in Figure 2. Four bolts 20 connect the lower end wall 13 to the side wall 11. Openings 21 in the lower end wall 13 for the bolts 20 are shown in Figure 2. As seen in Figure 2, the upper end wall 12 has two additional openings 22, 23.

The hydraulic motor 2 has two side ports 25, 26 and a straight keyed drive shaft 27. The hydraulic motor 2 is a variable speed motor.

The porting block 6 has a pair of end ports 30, 3 1, a pair of side ports 32, 33 and respective passages extending therebetween. The side ports 32, 33 coincide with the side ports 25, 26 of the hydraulic motor 2. The porting block 6 circulates hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic motor 2 as well as mounts the hydraulic motor 2 relative to the upper end wall 2.

The hydraulic fittings 7, 8 extend through the openings 22, 23 in the upper end wall 12. A first end 44, 45 of each hydraulic fitting 7, 8 is connected to an end of a hydraulic line 40, 41, and a second end 46, 47 is connected to an end port 30, 31 of the porting block 6. The other end of each hydraulic line 40, 41 is connected to a hydraulic pump (not shown). The hydraulic pump circulates hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic motor 2 by way of the hydraulic lines 40, 41, hydraulic fittings 7, 8 and porting block 6.

O The progressing cavity pump 4 has a stator 99, a rotor 50, a suction inlet 52 and a discharge outlet 51 (see Figure The suction inlet 52 of the stator 11I is threaded and is connected to the threaded collar outlet 17. The flexible coupling interconnects the drive shaft 27 and the rotor 50. The rotor 50 turns on a left-hand rotation.

00 The filter 10 has a threaded collar 60 and a closed-end cylindrical mesh screen 61 extending from the threaded collar 60. The connector conduit 9 has Cl threaded ends 62, 63 (see Figure End 62 is connected to the threaded collar 60 and Cl end 63 is connected to the threaded collar inlet 16.

In use, the pump assembly 1 is lowered through an about 4V2 to 6 inch Cl borehole until the filter 10 is fully submerged in underground water. A free end of the discharge conduit 42 is placed in, for example, a water collection reservoir. The hydraulic motor 2 is then driven using the hydraulic pump. The hydraulic motor 2 turns the rotor 50 and water is drawn, in turn, through the mesh screen 61, through the connector conduit 9, through the chamber inlet 16, through the chamber 14, through the chamber outlet 12, through the stator 44, through the discharge outlet 51 and through the discharge conduit 42. The mesh screen 61 ensures that the assembly I will not become clogged with particulate matter present in the underground water.

The present pump assembly has the following advantages: it can be used within narrow boreholes *having a hydraulic motor beneath the progressing cavity pump minimises corrosion of the progressing cavity pump Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims

1. A hydraulic pump assembly for pumping liquid from a first location to a second location, said assembly having: Oa chamber having an inlet and an outlet; 0 Na hydraulic motor housed within the chamber; Ia progressing cavity pump connected to the hydraulic motor and extending outwardly from the chamber outlet; and a discharge conduit extendible from a discharge outlet of the progressing cavity pump to the second location, with the construction and arrangement being such that when the hydraulic motor is driven, liquid is pumped from the first location via the chamber inlet to the second location.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the pump assembly is sized to fit within an about 4V2 to 6 inch borehole.

3. The assembly of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the progressing cavity pump has a rotor and a stator, the stator extends from the chamber outlet and the rotor is coupled to a drive shaft of the hydraulic motor for rotation within the stator.

4. The assembly of claim 3 further including a flexible coupling intermediate the drive shaft and the rotor.

The assembly of any one of the preceding claims further including a filter extending from the chamber inlet for filtering out particulate matter when drawing liquid from the first location to the chamber inlet.

6. The assembly of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the chamber is provided by a housing having a cylindrical side wall and upper and lower end walls connected to the side wall. 8

7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the chamber inlet is located at the lower end wall and the chamber outlet is located at the upper end wall.

8. The assembly of claim 7 further including a porting block, hydraulic fittings 0 and hydraulic lines for circulating hydraulic fluid between the hydraulic motor and a N hydraulic pump. 0

9. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the hydraulic fittings extend through openings in the upper end wall, one end of each said fitting is connected to a said chydraulic line, the other end of each said fitting is connected to the porting block, and the porting block is connected to the hydraulic motor.

The assembly of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hydraulic motor is a variable speed, side port motor.

11. The assembly of any one of the preceding claims further including a connector conduit extending between the filter and the chamber inlet.

12. A hydraulic pump assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 17t h day of May 2005 Ralph Alexander James Findlay By his Patent Attorney CULLEN CO.