A fluid operated device in which an externally toothed rotor is rotatably disposed in a chamber and an internally toothed member is orbitally but not rotatably disposed in the chamber about the rotor. The rotor and orbital member are operative upon relative rotation to form fluid containing pockets therebetween and suitable fluid ducts are provided for conveying fluid to and from the fluid containing pockets. The orbital member is provided with means to cooperatively engage the housing to limit, or prevent unidirectional rotational motion of the orbiting member but to allow orbital movement about the axis of rotation of the rotor.
|
10. A hydraulic motor including:
a. a housing defining a motor chamber; b. a rotor supported for rotation upon a shaft within said chamber, said rotor having angularly spaced external lobes thereupon; c. an orbital member encircling said rotor, internal lobes on said orbital member cooperable with the external lobes on said rotor, the number of internal lobes exceeding by one the number of external rotor lobes; d. means for holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said rotor, said means including cooperable portions on said orbital member and on said housing adapted for direct engagement; and e. means for communicating fluid to and from the areas between the lobes on said orbital member and said rotor as said areas are increasing and decreasing in size.
11. A hydraulic motor including:
a. a housing defining a motor chamber; b. a rotor supported for rotation upon a shaft within said chamber, said rotor having angularly spaced external lobes thereupon; c. an orbital member encircling said rotor, internal lobes on said orbital member cooperable with the external lobes on said rotor, the number of internal lobes exceeding by one the number of external rotor lobes; d. means for holding said orbital member from substantial rotation about the axis of said rotor, said means including cooperable portions on said orbital member and on said housing adapted for direct engagement; and e. means for communicating fluid to and from the areas between the lobes on said orbital member and said rotor as said areas are increasing and decreasing in size.
1. A hydraulic motor includes a housing defining a motor chamber, a rotor supported for rotation upon a shaft within said chamber, said rotor having angularly spaced external lobes thereupon, an orbital member encircling said rotor, internal lobes on said orbital member cooperable with the external lobes of said rotor, the number of internal lobes exceeding by one the number of external rotor lobes, and said housing having pairs of inlet and outlet ports, said inlet ports communicating with the areas between said lobes on said orbital member and rotor as these areas are increasing in size and being closed by said orbital member as said areas are decreasing in size and said outlet ports communicating with said areas as said areas decreasing in size and closed by said orbital member as said areas are increasing in size, and means on said orbital member directly engaging said rotor housing for holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said rotor.
5. A hydraulic torque motor including:
a rotor housing defining a rotor chamber, a shaft supported by said housing and rotatable with respect thereto, an orbital member within said housing and having a series of angularly spaced lobes, an externally lobed rotor within said orbital member and mounted upon said shaft for rotation therewith, said orbital member having a greater number of lobes than said rotor and in mesh therewith to travel in an orbital path, said rotor rotating an angular distance for each orbit of said orbital member, means for closing the axial ends of the spaces between the lobes of said rotor and said orbital member, at least one of said closing means including angularly spaced inlet ports and outlet ports which are opened and closed by said orbital member whereby fluid under pressure may enter the spaces between certain of said lobes to cause rotation of said rotor and may leave the spaces between others of the lobes to permit rotation of said rotor, and means on said orbital member directly engaging said rotor housing for holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said shaft.
14. A hydraulic torque motor including:
a. a rotor housing defining a rotor chamber; b. a shaft supported by said housing and rotatable with respect thereto; c. an orbital member within said housing and having a series of angularly spaced lobes; d. an externally lobed rotor within said orbital member and mounted upon said shaft for rotation therewith; said orbital member having a greater number of lobes than said rotor and in mesh therewith to travel in an orbital path, said rotor rotational rotating an angular distance for each orbit of said orbital member; e. means for closing the axial ends of the spaces between the lobes of said rotor and said orbital members, at least one of said means for closing the axial ends of the spaces including angularly spaced inlet ports and outlet ports which are opened and closed by said orbital member whereby fluid under pressure may enter the spaces between certain of said lobes to cause rotation of said rotor and may leave spaces between others of the lobes to permit rotation of said rotor; and f. means holding said orbital member from rotation about the axis of said shaft, said means including external projections on said orbital member and a like number of interal projections on said housing directly engaging said external projections.
27. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chambers including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly arrayed about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being equal to a number evenly divisible by the number of teeth on the internally toothed gear member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member and cooperable with the orbiting internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, and means connecting said ports with at least one of said port means.
32. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, and valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chambers including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly arrayed about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, means connecting said ports with at least one of said port means, said ports lying on a circle greater in diameter than the root diameter of the teeth on said internally toothed member, and a plurality of slots in the side of internally toothed member adjacent said valve plate and communicating with said chambers, said slots extending radially a sufficient distance to serially communicate with said ports.
33. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, and valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chambers including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly arrayed about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member and cooperable with the orbiting internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, means connecting said ports with at least one of said port means, a casing surrounding toothed members, said chamber being generally cylindrical and defined in said casing, an output shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and rotatably fixed to said externally toothed member, said inlet and outlet ports means including an inlet port and an port in said casing, said valve plate ports being equal in number to twice the number of teeth on said internally toothed member, means connecting alternate ones of said valve plate ports to said inlet port, and means connecting the other valve plate ports to said outlet port.
34. A fluid energy translating device, comprising: an outer member having a chamber therein, an internally toothed gear member in said chamber, said chamber and internally toothed member having cooperating surfaces permitting orbital movement of said toothed member within said chamber, an externally toothed gear member rotatably mounted on an axis fixed with respect to said outer member with teeth operatively engaging the teeth on the internally toothed member, said teeth defining expanding and contracting fluid chambers as the internally toothed member orbits and the externally toothed member rotates about its own axis, and valve means for porting fluid to and from the fluid chamber including inlet port means and outlet port means, a valve plate sealingly engaging one side of said toothed members, a plurality of ports in said plate generally annularly about the axis of the externally toothed member, said ports being disposed on a diameter greater than the diameter of the teeth crests of the internally toothed member and cooperable with the orbiting internally toothed member to effect communication with said chambers, means connecting said ports with at least one of said ports means, a casing surrounding toothed member, said chamber being generally cylindrical and defined in said casing, an output shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and rotatably fixed to said externally toothed member, said inlet and outlet port means including an inlet port and an outlet port in said casing, said valve plate ports being equal in number to twice the number of teeth on said internally toothed member, means connecting alternate ones of said valve plate ports to said outlet port, and the number of teeth on said externally toothed member being one less than the number of teeth on the internally toothed member.
2. The structure of
3. The structure of
4. The structure of
6. The structure of
7. The structure of
8. The structure of
9. The structure of
12. The apparatus of
13. The apparatus of
15. The apparatus of
16. The apparatus of
17. The apparatus of
18. The apparatus of
19. The apparatus of
20. The apparatus of
21. The apparatus of
22. The apparatus of
23. The apparatus of
24. The apparatus of
25. The apparatus of
26. The apparatus of
28. A fluid energy translating device as defined in
29. A fluid energy translating device as defined in
30. A fluid energy translating device as defined in
|
|||||||||||||||||
This invention relates to an improvement in hydraulic torque motors and deals particularly with a torque motor which may be produced at a very low cost.
During the last few years many types of hydraulic motors have been produced which are capable of transforming hydraulic pressure into a rotary movement. One form of hydraulic motor includes a rotor housing providing a rotor chamber having rounded lobes projecting inwardly from the peripheral wall of the chamber. An externally lobed rotor is rotatable within the housing. This rotor is provided with one less lobe than is the peripheral housing and is so designed that the external lobes of the rotor continuously seal against the wall of the rotor chamber. As a result of the difference in the number of lobes each lobe of the rotor enters the subsequent space between the lobe and the housing, and the axis of the rotor travels along an orbital path.
In my previous structure illustrated in Pat. No. 3,215,043, I disclosed a structure which was an improvement over the previous structures in that the wobble shaft on which the rotor of the earlier structure was mounted was eliminated, and the rotor was mounted on a shaft which was concentric with the outer housing. In this construction, a floating internal gear was provided which acted as a valve or port plate, and which traveled in an orbital path about the axis of the rotor. The gear member included an internally lobed element which cooperated with the external lobes of the rotor much in the same manner as the orbitally mounted rotor of the previous structure operated in the internally lobed member. The orbitally movable gear member was capable of driving a driven member at varying speeds depending upon a ratio and the number of teeth on the gear member and on the axial cooperable driven gear.
The present invention also includes a rotor which is coaxial with the housing, and an internally lobed cooperable member which travels in an orbital path. However, in the present arrangement, the orbital member is held from rotation, but at the same time in an orbital path in such a manner as to open and close the pressure and return ports at the proper time. In other words, the orbitally movable internally lobed member serves as a valve or port plate to open and close the inlet and outlet openings in a manner to drive the rotor, the direction of orbital movement being opposite the direction of rotation of the rotor.
A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a device somewhat similar to that disclosed in my above mentioned previous patent, but in which the internally lobed orbital member is held from rotation within the housing. This is accomplished by providing a series of external teeth on the orbitally moving member, and by providing a similar number of internal teeth on the inner surface of the housing. In order to permit the orbital movement of the internally lobed member, the space between the internal teeth on the housing is considerably greater than the width of the external teeth on the orbital member. As a result this member may travel in an orbital path, but still be held from rotation about the axis of the rotor.
A feature of the present invention resides in the simplicity of the motor thus formed. In its simplest form, the device includes a two part housing including an intermediate chamber forming plate and a porting plate, a rotor, an internally lobed orbital member, and a means for holding the parts together. These structures can accordingly be formed for an extremely low cost compared with previous structures designed to accomplish similar results.
A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a device of the type described in which the orbitally movable member controls the opening and closing of a number of inlet and outlet ports which are equal in number to the number of internal lobes on this member. For example, on the specific form of construction illustrated, the rotor is provided with six (6) external lobes, and the orbital member is provided with seven (7) inwardly extending lobes. In this arrangement, the orbital member acts to open and close, in sequence seven inlet ports and seven outlet ports, thereby controlling the rotation of a rotor. For each orbit of the internally lobed member, the rotor advances a distance equal to the angular distance between the lobes of the internally lobed member. A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that, if desired, porting plates may be provided on both sides of the rotor and orbital member, with the ports of one porting plate in opposed relation to the ports of the other. As a result, the pressure entering the motor may be equalized from opposite sides, thus virtually eliminating friction.
These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims. In the drawings forming a part of the specification paragraph:
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the hydraulic torque motor, showing the general arrangement of parts therein.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the motor, taken along section line 2--2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the motor, showing the porting plate, the position of the section being indicated by the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view through the apparatus showing the manifolds connecting the inlet and outlet ports, the position of the section being indicated by the line 4--4 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a motor having a porting plate on each side of the motor chamber.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of an orbital member, showing the manner in which this member may be notched to prevent a trapping of fluid between the lobes.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view through the orbital members shown in FIG. 6, the position of the section being indicated by the line 7--7 of FIG. 6.
The hydraulic torque motor is indicated in general by the letter A and includes a pair of housing members 10 and 11, a hydraulic chamber forming member 12, and a porting plate 13. The hydraulic chamber forming member 12 and the porting plate 13 are sandwiched between the housing members 10 and 11. Diametrically opposed aligned apertures 14 and 15 are provided in the housing members 10 and 11 designed to accommodate the fastening means for securing a motor in a desired position. Diametrically opposed notches 16 and 17 are provided in the chamber forming member 12 and the porting plate 13, respectively, the notches 16 and 17 being designed to accommodate the fastening means extending through the aligned apertures 14, 15.
The housing member 10 is provided with a central socket 19 designed to accommodate the lower reduced end portion 20 of a driven shaft 21, a bearing interposed between a wall of the socket 19 and the shaft end 20. The other housing member 11 is centrally apertured as indicated at 23, and is undercut as indicated at 24 to accommodate a bearing 25 and a seal 26 encircling the shaft 21. An externally lobed rotor 27 is keyed to the shaft 21 for rotation therewith.
In the particular arrangement illustrated, the rotor 27 is provided with six external lobes. For the purpose of convenience, these lobes have been identified as L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, and L6 valve or guide the fluid from the pressure inlet to the return line, and to form a valve plate for controlling the flow of fluid through the various pressure ports 30 and exhaust ports 31. The orbital member 45 is provided with a number of internal lobes 46 which exceeds by 1 the number of external lobes on the rotor 27 orbital member 45, therefore, is shown having internal lobes 46 equal in number to the pairs of ports 30 and 31. The innermost radius of internal lobe 46 about the center of orbital member 45 is less than the radius of ports 30 and 31 about the center of housing members 10 and 11. The orbital member 45 also includes a series of equally angularly spaced teeth 47 on its outer surface which are cooperable to a similar number equally angularly spaced teeth 49 on the inner surface of the fluid chamber forming member 12. It will be noted that the space between the teeth 49 on the member 12 greatly exceeds the width of the teeth 47 on the orbital member 45. The reason for this arrangement will be obvious from an examination of FIG. 2 of the drawing. It will be noted that a tooth 47 of the orbital member 45 which is just to the right of the center line, FIG. 2, is coming into engagement with the surface of a tooth 49 on the member 12. The next successive tooth 47 in a clockwise direction is more firmly engaged with a tooth 49. The next successive tooth, in a clockwise direction, is somewhat spaced from the adjoining tooth 49. The tooth 47 which is at 90° angle from the first tooth mentioned is positioned centrally between a pair of teeth 49. Thus during the orbital movement of the member 45, the relative position of the teeth 47 and 49 vary, and it is necessary that the teeth 47 do not fit snugly between the teeth 49. However, due to the fact that there is always engagement between teeth 47 and 49, and due to the further fact that there are a similar number of teeth on both of these elements, the orbital member does not rotate about the axis of the rotor 27.
As will be noted in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings, the orbital member 45 is preferably provided with notches 50 on opposite sides of each lobe which act to prevent the trapping of the fluid between the rotor and the orbital member at any point of the rotation.
FIG. 5 of the drawings illustrates a modified form of construction which is very similar to the structure previously described with the exception of the fact that entry or exit can be made from either side of the internally lobed member. The motor B illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a member 51 which is identical to the previously described body member 10, and includes a central socket 52 into which the reduced diameter and 53 of the shaft 54 is supported by a bearing 55. A porting plate 56 overlies the body member 51, and is identical to the porting plate 13 of the motor A. A chamber forming member 57 overlies the porting plate 56 and is identical to a chamber forming member 12 of the previously described motor A. An externally lobed rotor 59 identical to the rotor 27 is mounted upon the shaft 54 within the chamber forming member 57, and an internally lobed orbital member 60 identical to the orbital member 45 and circles the rotor 59 and is cooperable therewith. To this point, the parts described are all identical to the corresponding parts of the motor A. In the motor B, a second porting plate 61 substantially identical to the porting plate 56 but inverted with respect thereto overlies the chamber forming member 56 and includes pairs of ports 62 which are in axially aligned relation to ports 64 and 65 in the porting plate 56. As in the previous construction, the ports 64 and 65 are alternately connected to a manifold groove 66 which is concentric with the shaft 54, and the remaining ports 65 are connected to an inner circular manifold 67. In the same manner, the ports 62 which are in opposed relation to ports 66 are connected to an outer circular manifold 69 while the ports 63 which are in opposed relation to the ports 65 are connected to an inner circular manifold 70. With this arrangement, fluid under pressure may enter the spaces between the rotor 59 and the internally lobed orbital member 60, and fluid may be simultaneously forced from the spaces between the rotor and the orbital member on both sides thereof.
In other words, the motor B differs from the motor A in that the pressure is balanced on both of the rotor, greatly reducing the friction between the various parts. As will be noted, the manifolds 69 and 70 are in the upper body portion 71 through which the shaft 54 extends. A bearing 72 is interposed between upper body member 71 and the shaft 54 to support the shaft.
The motor B operates essentially the same as the motor A. The orbital member opens and closes one set of ports to admit fluid under pressure between the orbital member and the rotor. This tends to rotate in one direction, and to orbit the orbital member in the opposite direction. The orbital member is held from rotation by the external teeth on the orbital member and internal teeth on the orbital member and internal teeth on the chamber forming member. For each orbit of the orbital member, the rotor advances one lobe.
The motor has many uses. For example, the structure may be used as a valving system for power steering units of automotive vehicles. The unit is useful wherever hydraulic power is to be transmitted into rotary movement.
In accordance with the patent office statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my improvement in hydraulic torque motor and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.
| Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
| 4827800, | Nov 15 1982 | SAUER-DANFOSS HOLDING APS | Multi-groove and spline connection between gear shaft of a rotary piston machine with internal axis and method of making such a multigroove spline connection |
| 8100108, | May 22 2009 | Ford Global Technologies | Hydraulically operated charge air system for internal combustion engine |
| Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
| 10778, | |||
| 2989951, | |||
| 3139853, | |||
| 3215043, | |||
| 3316814, | |||
| 3431863, | |||
| 372440, | |||
| 443289, | |||
| 459332, |
| Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
| Dec 17 1970 | Gresen Manufacturing Company | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
| Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
| Date | Maintenance Schedule |
| Aug 17 1979 | 4 years fee payment window open |
| Feb 17 1980 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
| Aug 17 1980 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
| Aug 17 1982 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
| Aug 17 1983 | 8 years fee payment window open |
| Feb 17 1984 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
| Aug 17 1984 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
| Aug 17 1986 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
| Aug 17 1987 | 12 years fee payment window open |
| Feb 17 1988 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
| Aug 17 1988 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
| Aug 17 1990 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |