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Material pump

Material pump description/claims

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. patent application 60/537,774 filed Jan. 20, 2004, assigned to the same assignee as this application The disclosure of U.S. patent application 60/537,774 is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to material pumps. It is disclosed in the context of a pump for pumping, for example, coating material (hereinafter sometimes paint), but is believed to be useful in other applications as well.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various types of material pumps are known. There are, for example, the pumps illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,009,971; 4,397,610; 5,094,596; 5,220,259; 5,228,842; 5,336,063; 5,632,816; 5,725,150; 5,725,358; 5,746,831; 5,787,928; 5,944,045; and, 6,533,488, and references cited therein. There are also systems such as, for example, the Ransburg E-Z Flow system, and Binks A41-78-R3 EXEL™ Pump Series Binks®, ITW Industrial Finishing, 2002. There are also the disclosures of U.S. Ser. No. 10/232,454, filed Aug. 30, 2002, titled Multiple Component Metering And Dispensing System, and U.S. Ser. No. 10/254,121, filed Sep. 25, 2002, titled Two-Component Spray Gun With Solvent Flush/Blend, both assigned to the same assignee as this application. There is also the disclosure of Electric-Powered Triumph™ 9000 Reciprocator For Use With Graco Pumps (1994). The disclosures of these references are hereby incorporated herein by reference. This listing is not intended to be a representation that a complete search of all relevant art has been made, or that no more pertinent art than that listed exists, or that the listed art is material to patentability. Nor should any such representation be inferred.

According to a first aspect of the invention, an assembly of multiple fluid pumps is provided. Each pump includes a movable component. A crank is coupled to the movable component. At least two of the movable components define between them a non-zero included angle.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, the crank comprises at least two throws, the apparatus further including at least two connecting rods, the crank being coupled to the movable components by the at least two throws and the at least two connecting rods.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, the at least two throws comprise at least three throws, one of the at least three throws defining substantially equal included angles with the other two of the at least three throws.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, the at least three throws comprise n throws, n an integer greater than 2, each throw making included angles with two others of the n throws, each said included angle being about 360°/n.

According to another aspect of the invention, an assembly of multiple fluid pumps is provided. Each pump includes a movable component. A cam, is coupled to the movable component. At least two of the movable components define between them a non-zero included angle. The assembly further includes at least two followers. The cam is coupled to the movable component by the at least two followers.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, the cam is configured to drive at least two of the pumps such that one of the at least two pumps reaches the beginning of an exhaust stroke at substantially the same time that the other of the at least two pumps reaches the beginning of a priming stroke.

Illustratively according to this aspect of the invention, the apparatus comprises m cams, m an integer greater than or equal to 2, each cam including p lobes, p an integer greater than or equal to 2, a line drawn between peaks of two adjacent lobes of one of the m cams making non-zero angles with lines drawn between peaks of any two adjacent lobes of another of the m cams.

Illustratively according to the invention, the pumps are coating material pumps.

The invention may best be understood by referring to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a fragmentary, partly sectional side elevational view of a composite pump constructed according to the invention;

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