Viscosity pump

Claim 2

A viscosity pump for dosing small quantities of liquid, and operable with a source of control fluid comprising, a rotor and drive shaft, a housing that surrounds the rotor, the rotor and housing having at least one pair of adjacent, facing surfaces, which define between them a pattern of continuous shallow pumping grooves comprising an inlet part, a central part, and an outlet part more shallow than the other parts, liquid inlet means communicating with said inlet part, and liquid outlet means communicating with said outlet part, the rotor rotatable and axially movable relative to said housing, whereby the shallowness of said grooves is variable, control means for exerting a selectively, variable axial force on at least one of said housing and rotor members relative to the other, for controlling the shallowness of said grooves, said control means comprising a flexible diaphragm, one side of which supports a part of the housing that defines one of said surfaces, the other side of the diaphragm defining with the housing a chamber, and means communicating said control fluid into said chamber whereby fluid pressure in said chamber moves said diaphragm and thereby varies the shallowness of said grooves.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pair of adjacent surfaces define a generally conical configuration.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pair of adjacent surfaces define two generally conical configurations positioned coaxially with their base parts adjacent.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said rotor is a disk, and said pair of adjacent surfaces are in a plane generally normal to the rotor axis.

Claim 6

A viscosity pump for dosing small quantities of liquid, and operable with a source of control fluid comprising, a rotor and drive shaft, a housing that surrounds the rotor, the rotor and housing having at least one pair of adjacent, facing surfaces, which define between them a pattern of continuous shallow pumping grooves comprising an inlet part, a central part, and an outlet part more shallow than the other parts, said pair of adjacent surfaces define two generally conical configurations positioned coaxially with their base parts adjacent, liquid inlet means communicating with said inlet part, and liquid outlet means communicating with said outlet part, the rotor rotatable and axially movable relative to said housing, whereby the shallowness of said grooves is variable, control means for exerting a selectively, variable axial force on at least one of said housing and rotor members relative to the other, for controlling the shallowness of said grooves, said control means comprising a flexible diaphragm, one side of which supports a part of the housing that defines one of said surfaces, the other side of the diaphragm defining with the housing a chamber, and means communicating said control fluid into said chamber whereby fluid pressure in said chamber moves said diaphragm and thereby varies the shallowness of said grooves.

Claim 7

A viscosity pump for dosing small quantities of liquid, and operable with a source of control fluid comprising, a rotor and drive shaft, a housing that surrounds the rotor, the rotor and housing having at least one pair of adjacent, facing surfaces, which define between them a pattern of continuous shallow pumping grooves comprising an inlet part, a central part, and an outlet part more shallow than the other parts, said pair of adjacent surfaces define two generally conical configurations positioned coaxially with their base parts adjacent, liquid inlet means communicating with said inlet part, and liquid outlet means communicating with said outlet part, the rotor rotatable and axially movable relative to said housing, whereby the shallowness of said grooves is variable, control means for exerting a selectively, variable axial force on at least one of said housing and rotor members relative to the other, for controlling the shallowness of said grooves, said control means comprising a flexible diaphragm, one side of which supports a part of the housing that defines one of said surfaces, the other side of the diaphragm defining with the housing a chamber, and means communicating said control fluid into said chamber whereby fluid pressure in said chamber moves said diaphragm and thereby varies the shallowness of said grooves.

Claim 8

A viscosity pump for dosing small quantities of liquid, and operable with a source of control fluid comprising, a rotor and drive shaft, a housing that surrounds the rotor, the rotor and housing having at least one pair of adjacent, facing surfaces, which define between them a pattern of continuous shallow pumping grooves comprising an inlet part, a central part, and an outlet part more shallow than the other parts, liquid inlet means communicating with said inlet part, and liquid outlet means communicating with said outlet part, the rotor rotatable and axially movable relative to said housing, whereby the shallowness of said grooves is variable, control means for exerting a selectively, variable axial force on at least one of said housing and rotor members relative to the other, for controlling the shallowness of said grooves.

Claim 9

A viscosity pump for dosing small quantities of liquid, and operable with a source of control fluid comprising, a rotor and drive shaft, a housing that surrounds the rotor, the rotor and housing having at least one pair of adjacent, facing surfaces, which define between them a pattern of continuous shallow pumping grooves comprising an inlet part, a central part, and an outlet part more shallow than the other parts, liquid inlet means communicating with said inlet part, and liquid outlet means communicating with said outlet part, the rotor rotatable and axially movable relative to said housing, whereby the shallowness of said grooves is variable, control means for exerting a selectively, variable axial force on at least one of said housing and rotor members relative to the other, for controlling the shallowness of said grooves.