MEMBRANE PUMP
A membrane pump powered by an activating element includes a chamber body. The interior of the chamber body is provided with a first chamber and a second chamber that are in fluid communication with each other. One side or both sides of the chamber body are provided with an inlet pipeline and an outlet pipeline that are in fluid communication with the first chamber and second chamber, respectively. Valves are provided on the inner wall face of same side of the first chamber and the second chamber, thereby preventing the working fluid from generating a backflow phenomenon. Furthermore, the top surface of the chamber body is provided with a membrane. An activating element abuts on the membrane for driving the membrane to swing up and down, thereby pressing the working fluid within the first chamber to circulatively flow in one direction. Via this arrangement, in addition to miniaturize the pump structure to a further extent, the working performance of the pump and the flowing amount of the working fluid are also increased.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a membrane pump, and in particular to a membrane pump which can be applied to a fluid delivery or circulation system.
2. Description of Prior Art
As shown in
However, such kind of piezoelectric pump has some drawbacks. First of all, both the inlet pipeline 101 and the outlet pipeline 102 are provided on the bottom surface of the chamber body 10 so as to miniaturize the structure itself to a larger extent than the conventional structure, however, it is difficult to design the position of the pipeline to a further reduced extent. Therefore, it is difficult for such a structure to apply to a further thinned space, such as the current notebook or miniaturized biological and medical instruments. Furthermore, the activating element 104 swings in a manner that the middle portion thereof generates an up-and-down swinging action. When the activating element 104 is pressed, it simultaneously drives the membrane 103 to press downwardly the working fluid within the chamber body 10, so that the working fluid can flow toward both sides. Although the check valves 20, 20a are provided respectively on the mouths of the inlet pipeline 101 and the outlet pipeline 102 so as to prevent the working fluid from entering the inlet pipeline 101 and generating a so-called backflow phenomenon, in practice, only the middle portion of the activating element 104 acts as the swinging region, causing the swinging range of the activating element 104 too small. Therefore, during each swinging action, the amount of the fluid entering or draining from the chamber body 10 is small, which is the primary drawback of the pump structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, in view of the above drawbacks, the present invention is to provide a membrane pump, in which one side of an activating element is used to swing like a sector, so that a larger range of up-and-down swinging action can be obtained to press the working fluid within the pump, thereby forcing the working fluid to flow in one direction. Via this arrangement, in addition to compact the pump to a further thinned extent, the mode of the one-side and large-range swinging action can cooperate with the flowing direction of the fluid, thereby improving the working efficiency of the pump and the circulation system thereof.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a membrane pump that is constituted of a chamber body. The interior of the chamber body is provided with a first chamber and a second chamber that are in fluid communication with each other. One side or both sides of the chamber body are provided with an inlet pipeline and an outlet pipeline that are in fluid communication with the first chamber and second chamber, respectively. Valves are provided on the inner wall face of same side of the first chamber and the second chamber, thereby preventing the working fluid from generating a backflow phenomenon. Furthermore, the top surface of the chamber body is provided with a membrane. An activating element abuts on the membrane for driving the membrane to swing up and down, thereby pressing the working fluid within the first chamber to circulatively flow in one direction. Via this arrangement, in addition to miniaturize the pump structure to a further extent, the working performance of the pump and the flowing amount of the working fluid are also increased.
With reference to
Finally, the chamber body 1 can be correspondingly combined with a casing 6 for covering the membrane 3 and the activating element 4 therein. The casing 6 is provided with a plurality of penetrating troughs 61, 61a and 61b on the positions corresponding to those of the activating element 4, the electrode leads 5 and the second chamber 12, respectively. In this way, the activating element 4 is exposed to the outside and has a space for expansion. The electrode leads 5 also penetrate through the activating element 4. The complete assembly of the present invention is shown in
Please refer to
The inlet pipeline 14 and the outlet pipeline 15 are provided on both sides of the chamber body 1, and in addition, the positions of the inlet pipeline 14 and the outlet pipeline 15 can be varied according to different situations. As shown in
With reference to
After the electricity is supplied to the activating element 4 of the chamber body 1, the swinging end 42 generates a swinging action with one side thereof swinging like a sector. When the swinging end 42 swings downwardly, the membrane 3 is caused to press toward the interior of the first chamber 11, causing to increase the internal pressure of the first chamber 11. Therefore, the working fluid remaining in the first chamber 11 generates a momentum and moves simultaneously toward the inlet pipeline 14 and the outlet pipeline 15. When the working fluid flows toward the inlet pipeline 14, the thus-generated momentum presses the valve 2 that is located at the position corresponding to the inlet pipeline 14. Thus, the valve 2 closes the inlet pipeline 14 to avoid the working fluid from flowing back into the inlet pipeline 14 and from generating a backflow phenomenon. At the same time, the momentum generated by the working fluid flowing toward the outlet pipeline 15 rushes the valve 2a, so that the working fluid flows toward the other components via the second chamber 12. On the other hand, when the activating element 4 swings upwardly, the membrane 3 returns to its original shape and recovers the internal pressure of the first chamber 11, so that the external pressure of the first chamber 11 is larger than the internal pressure thereof. Thus, the working fluid flows into the inlet pipeline 14 to push away the valve 2 and flows into the first chamber 11. Further, the working fluid remaining in the second chamber 12 also generates a momentum due to the pressure, thereby pressing the valve 2a located in the through hole 13. In this way, the through hole 13 is closed to block the working fluid from flowing back into the first chamber 11, so that the membrane pump can generate a circulating action in one direction.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details thereof. Various equivalent variations and modifications may still occur to those skilled in this art in view of the teachings of the present invention. Thus, all such variations and equivalent modifications are also embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A membrane pump, comprising:
- a chamber body having an inlet pipeline and an outlet pipeline, respectively;
- a membrane provided on a top surface of the chamber body; and
- an activating element abutting flatly against an upper surface of the membrane, the activating element having a fixed end and a swinging end, the swinging end generating swinging action with one side thereof swinging like a sector,
- wherein a large range of the swinging action generated by the activating element changes an internal volume of the chamber body, so that the working fluid remaining in the chamber body flows in the inlet pipeline and drains out of the outlet pipeline to generate a flow in one direction.
2. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the chamber body is connected correspondingly with a casing, and the casing is provided thereon with a plurality of penetrating troughs to correspond to the fixed end and the swinging end of the activating element.
3. The membrane pump according to claim 2, wherein the fixed end is further electrically connected with a plurality of electrodes leads.
4. The membrane pump according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of electrodes leads penetrate into the corresponding penetrating troughs.
5. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the fixed end and the outlet pipeline are located on the same side.
6. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the inlet pipeline and the outlet pipeline are provided respectively at a position of one side of the chamber body.
7. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the inlet pipeline and the outlet pipeline are provided on same side of the chamber body.
8. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the inlet pipeline and the outlet pipeline are provided on bottom of the chamber body.
9. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the inlet pipeline and the outlet pipeline are provided respectively on one side and bottom of the chamber body.
10. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the chamber body further comprises:
- a first chamber being in fluid communication with the inlet pipeline; and
- a second chamber being in fluid communication with the first chamber and the outlet pipeline.
11. The membrane pump according to claim 10, wherein a through hole is provided between the first chamber and the second chamber.
12. The membrane pump according to claim 11, wherein a valve is provided in the second chamber at a position corresponding to that of the through hole.
13. The membrane pump according to claim 12, wherein the second chamber is provided with a penetrating trough adjacent to the inner wall face of the through hole, the valve has a pillar and a plate, the pillar is provided in the penetrating trough and the plate exactly corresponds to the position of the through hole.
14. The membrane pump according to claim 10, wherein a valve is provided on the inner wall face of the first chamber at a position corresponding to that of the inlet pipeline.
15. The membrane pump according to claim 14, wherein the first chamber is provided with a penetrating trough adjacent to the inner wall face of the inlet pipeline, the valve has a pillar and a plate, the pillar is provided in the penetrating trough and the plate exactly corresponds to the position of the inlet pipeline.
16. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the activating element is a piezoelectric piece.
17. The membrane pump according to claim 1, wherein the fixed end is electrically connected with a plurality of electrode leads.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 17, 2007
Publication Date: Oct 23, 2008
Inventors: Hsiao-Kang MA (Taipei), Chang-Hung Peng (Chung-Ho City), Bo-Ren Hou (Yonghe City), Hong-Yun Wu (Taipei City), Ming-Chien Kuo (Chung-Ho City)
Application Number: 11/736,142