FR3074313A1 - ELECTRIC PUMP SYSTEM WITH SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION SYSTEM - Google Patents

Abstract

Centrifugal electric pump system (10) comprising at one end a wet region (51) which is defined by a volute and includes a wheel (52), an electric motor (11) which is adjacent and connected to the wheel and, opposite the motor, at the other end of the pump, a housing (13) which contains an electronic card (14) with a microprocessor (73) powered by a terminal (69). The electric pump system is configurable through the power supply terminal (69) without the use of additional electronic components other than those already present which are used to realize the primary functionality.

Description

ELECTRIC PUMP SYSTEM WITH SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION SYSTEM

The present invention relates to a centrifugal pump system with an electric motor.

Nowadays, circulation pumps for domestic appliances are actuated by an electronic card on which software is loaded which regulates their operation.

During production, the software is configured for features that relate to product definition.

Normally, additional elements are inserted into the product to allow configuration of the product during operation.

These traditional techniques have aspects that can be improved.

Generally, contact points are added to the product and are dedicated to this software configuration function.

Constraints on the production of the product are thus added, constraints which can in certain cases be difficult to manage such as, for example, for products integrated in enclosures having a high level of IP protection.

In addition, it becomes necessary to have an additional contact carriage, which mechanically complicates the structure of the production chain and requires periodic maintenance due to the normal wear and tear of the mechanical parts in question.

Other technical solutions for configuring the software are to use the same connector as the power supply terminal, but require additional electronic components on the product's electronic card in order to decode the signal.

The techniques described above increase the cost and size of the product, making it less attractive on the market.

The object of the present invention is to provide an electric pump system which makes it possible to improve the prior art according to one or more of the abovementioned aspects.

To this end, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric pump system which can be easily and quickly configured on the production line.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electric pump system which can be configured by providing access via the connector of the power supply terminal without using any type of additional component on the electronic card.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an electric pump system on the electronic board from which several functional software configurations are loaded and can be easily chosen and adjusted during testing according to requirements.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art in a manner different from any existing solutions.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electric pump system of high reliability, which is easy to implement and has a low cost.

This object and these objectives, among others, which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by means of an electric centrifugal pump system comprising, at one end, a wet region, which is defined by a scroll and includes a wheel, an electric motor which is adjacent and connected to said impeller and, opposite said motor, at the other end of the pump, a housing which contains an electronic card supplied by a terminal, characterized in that it can be configured via said terminal power supply.

According to preferential characteristics:

- said electronic card comprises a current rectifier, which is electrically connected at one end to the terminal and, at the other end, to a filter capacitor, said capacitor in turn being connected to a microprocessor;

- Said housing has a substantially cylindrical extension and is closed at a free end by a cover;

- the system comprises an air space sleeve which is constituted by a cross section in the form of a tubular body and has an end with a sidewall, opposite said wheel, and a tubular end in which the cross section becomes narrower relative to the cross section of the body and the diameter is less than the diameter of the body;

- Said air space sleeve has a longitudinal axis, coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the pump body, which coincides with the axis of rotation of a rotor and the impeller;

- Said electric motor and said housing extend along the same axis, which coincides with the axis of rotation of the rotor and the wheel;

- A stator of said electric motor is closed externally by an enclosure, said enclosure being in the form of a cup, a base of which is close to the free end of said tubular end of said air space sleeve;

- Said base comprises a hole which is designed to allow access to the wet region and, partially, to said stator, and an opening which is designed for the insertion of terminals of the electric motor which are connected to the electronic card.

The subject of the invention is also the configuration of software for an electric pump system according to the invention, which consists in:

- connect the terminal of a configuration device to the power supply terminal of the electric pump;

- send a low voltage current which is in DC but is not constant as a function of a voltage sequence which corresponds to a software configuration to be defined;

- rectify said DC voltage without alteration using a rectifier;

- filter, without alteration, the voltage signal in the output from said rectifier using a filtering capacitor;

- measure and decode the signal coming from said capacitor by means of a microprocessor;

- choose from a memory a configuration which corresponds to the decoded information and set it for the entire service life of the electric pump.

The software configuration step can be preceded by an initial step in which a low voltage current is applied according to a predefined start-up sequence.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly in the light of the following detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the electric pump system according to the invention, which is illustrated only to end of nonlimiting example in the attached drawings, where:

- Figure 1 shows a sectional view of an electric pump system according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a functional arrangement of the software adjustment step.

As for the drawings, the electric pump system is generally designated by the reference number 10.

The centrifugal electric pump system 10 comprises, at one end, an electric box 13, which contains an electronic card 14 for controlling and supplying the electric motor 11.

A terminal 69 for the electrical supply of the electric pump extends from the electronic card 14.

The electrical box 13 has an essentially cylindrical extension and is closed at its free end by a cover 15.

In other embodiments of the electric pump system, the electronic card 13 can be designed differently.

The centrifugal electric pump system 10 comprises, at the other end, a wet region 51 which comprises suction conduits 63 and discharge conduits 62 and a volute, and a wheel 52, entirely conventional, immersed in this humid region .

The wheel 52 is fixed to a shaft 17 of an electric motor 11 which comprises a stator 12 and a rotor 18.

The electric motor 11 is for example brushless and uses permanent magnets.

The centrifugal electric pump system 10 includes an air space sleeve 53.

The air space sleeve 53 is constituted by a cross section in the form of a tubular body 55 and has one end with flank 54, opposite the wheel 52, and a tubular end 56 in which the cross section becomes narrower relative to to the cross section of the body 55 and the diameter is less than the diameter of the body 55.

The air space sleeve 53 has a longitudinal axis X, coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the pump body, which coincides with the axis of rotation of the rotor 18 and the impeller 52.

In other embodiments of the electric pump system, the longitudinal axis of the air space sleeve 53 may not coincide with the longitudinal axis of the pump body.

The electric motor 11 and the electric box 13 extend along the same axis X, which coincides with the axis of rotation of the rotor 18 and the wheel 52.

The stator 12 of the electric motor 11 is closed externally by an enclosure 61.

The enclosure 61 is in the form of a cup, the base 67 of which is close to the free end of the tubular end 56 of the air space sleeve 53.

The longitudinal axis of the enclosure coincides with the longitudinal axis X of the pump body.

The base 67 includes a hole 66 which is designed to allow access to the wet region 51 and, partially, to the stator 12.

In addition, the base 67 includes an opening 68 which is designed for the insertion of terminals of the electric motor 11 which are connected to the electronic card 14.

The enclosure 61 is in contact with the electrical box 13.

The enclosure 61 comprises, at its opposite end from the end of contact with the electrical box 13, an annular perimeter tongue 31 which comprises a plurality of through holes, not shown in the drawings, which are designed for the insertion of screws , also not shown in the drawings, in order to fix the enclosure 61 to the body of the volute.

The enclosure 61 is for example made of stainless steel.

The enclosure 61 and the electrical box 13 are connected and made integral by means of an intermediate element 16.

The intermediate element 16 is a connection and / or cover element and has a tubular shape.

The electrical box 13 and the enclosure 61 for receiving the stator 12 conversely have complementary contact surfaces.

The intermediate element 16 comprises components which are designed to be complementary, on one side, to the components of the electrical box 13 and, on the other side, to the components of the enclosure 61 to receive the stator 12, thus forming couplings interlocked by interference.

One or more first axial pins 28 extend from the electrical box 13, and are designed to be inserted into the corresponding through holes on the surface of the enclosure 61 of the stator 12 in contact with the electrical box 13.

These pins are designed to connect the housing 13 to the enclosure 61 of the stator 12 and facilitate the assembly of the electric pump 10.

Similarly, the housing 13 includes one or more second pins 30 which extend into the housing 13 and in the direction of the cover 15, and the tips of which are designed to be inserted into corresponding holes on the surface of the cover 15 which is oriented towards the inside of the housing 13.

The pins are designed to connect the housing 13 and the cover 15, and to facilitate the assembly of the electric pump 10.

The housing 13 comprises, inside, a tubular body 65 with a longitudinal axis which coincides with the axis X. The tubular body 65 extends from the cover 15 of the electrical box 13 to the free end of the tubular end 56 of the air space sleeve 53. At the cross section of the tubular body 65, the electronic card 14 and the cover 15 both have a through hole 36 whose longitudinal axis coincides with the axis X .

In some other embodiments of the electric pump system, the longitudinal axis of the hole may not coincide with the X axis, but be parallel to it.

The through hole 36 and the tubular body 65 are designed for the insertion of a plug 35 with one end inserted into the free end of the tubular end 56 of the air space sleeve 53.

The shape and dimensions of the tubular body 65 and the hole 36 of the cover 15 are such that they ensure interference and isolation of the electronic card 14 with respect to the wet region 51, even in the case where the plug 35 is open. .

In particular, the plug 35 has, at one end, a shape 43 which is designed to be inserted into the hole which defines the free end of the tubular end 56 of the air space sleeve 53, thus acting as a separation and, at the other end, a head 40 which is designed to be easily accessible by the user. The plug 35 comprises a cylindrical extension and its length is such that the external surface of the head 40 is situated at a level close to that of the cover 15 of the housing 13 in the closed configuration. The form 43 includes a disc-like end element 47 which continues in the hole, connected to the wet region 51, with a threaded element 42 which is designed to define the tightening of the plug 35 in the hole with complementary threads. The dimensions of the disc-like element 47 are equal to or comparable to those of the head 40.

The head 40 is of disc type and includes a notch which is designed for the insertion of a screwdriver head in order to allow unscrewing and screwing operations.

The seal between the air space sleeve 53 and the plug 35 is provided by a traditional O-ring 37, and the seal between the enclosure 61, the air space sleeve 53 and the electrical box 13 is provided by a traditional seal 38.

Electrical connection elements extend from the electronic card 14 and are designed to connect the stator 12 to the card 14. In this way, the card 14 can power and control the electric motor.

Outside the air space sleeve 53, in the tubular body-shaped cross section 55, is the stator 12 of the electric motor.

Inside the air space sleeve 53, in the tubular body-shaped cross section 55 and at the stator 12, the rotor 18 is inserted and is fixed to the shaft 17 which can rotate in the sleeve air space 53.

The shaft 17 is supported at one end, being received in the end 56 of the air space sleeve 53, by a first bearing 57, and at the opposite end close to the end with flank 54 of the sleeve air space 53, by a second bearing 58 of a larger diameter than the first.

The air space sleeve 53 is in the form of a single piece of molded stainless steel, and the receiving seats for bearings 57 and 58, of different diameters, are obtained by machining to eliminate burrs.

The second bearing 58 is supported by an annular element 59 which acts as an abutment shoulder.

The air space sleeve 53 is closed by an annular fastening element 60, surrounding the second bearing 58, fully inserted in the air space sleeve 53 near the end with flank 54.

The annular element 60 is for example made of brass.

One of the particularities of the invention relates to the method of configuring the electric pump, which includes a memory in the electronic card 14 on which various operating configurations of the software are loaded.

The pump controller is programmed in the last station in the production chain.

The electric pump 10 is assembled and finished, but must be programmed for its correct operation by choosing and adjusting the correct operating configuration of the software from those loaded in the memory, depending on the type of product that one wishes to define.

If, for example, a pump has been assembled and must have an 8 m head, then a microprocessor, present in the electronic card 14, chooses in the memory the software configuration corresponding to the correct use of the electric pump 10 with such characteristics and the rule for the entire service life of the electric pump 10.

The test device is capable of supplying the card both with the alternating current used by the electric pump, for example 230 V, and with a voltage which is in direct current but is not constant. The non-constant DC voltage must be configurable, in the example, in a range from 30 V to 90 V. The electric pump 10 receives a configuration by means of a sequence of predefined voltages.

The applied voltage sequence must be increasing, and the possible voltage levels that can be applied are all the levels between 30 V and 90 V which are multiples of 10 V with a maximum voltage excursion equal to 30 V.

The period of application of the variable voltage is 50 ms ± lms.

The configuration operation is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2, which indicates certain elements of the card 14 and is presented as follows.

The electronic card 14 comprises a current rectifier 71, which is connected, at one end, to the terminal 69 and, at the other end, to a filtering capacitor 72. The capacitor 72 is in turn connected to a microprocessor 73 .

The terminal of the configuration device, not shown in the figures, is connected to the power supply terminal 69 of the electric pump 10, shown in FIG. 1, which extends from the electronic card 14.

Then, a low voltage current which is in DC but is not constant is sent in the direction of arrow 74 to the current rectifier 71.

“Low voltage” means a voltage of less than 100 V.

The rectifier 71 is designed to convert the alternating voltage into DC voltage.

During software configuration, rectifier 71 rectifies the DC voltage without affecting it.

Once rectified, the current flows to the filtering capacitor 72, in the direction of arrow 75.

The capacitor 72 is designed to filter the output voltage signal by keeping it constant for the power supply, but by transmitting it without alteration for the configuration operation. The current thus reaches the microprocessor 73 in the direction of arrow 76.

The microprocessor 73 is designed to measure and decode the voltage signal, defining, following the sequence received, the correct configuration of the software for normal use of the electric pump.

For power supply, microprocessor 73 measures an almost constant DC voltage and simply interprets it as a power supply.

For configuration, on the other hand, the microprocessor 73 measures an irregular DC voltage, which increases gradually, and interprets it as a configuration signal.

For configuration, a start-up sequence lasting 200 ms is initially applied, according to the table below:

Time [ms] 0 50 100 150 Voltage [V] 30 40 40 50

A sequence is then applied which depends on the configuration to be defined.

The configuration sequence consists for example of eight time intervals.

The possible sequences only gradually increase the voltage, and in this way there is no need to wait for any discharge from the DC line.

In the case of the example, there are one hundred and sixty-four possible sequences.

Each sequence is described by a hexadecimal number, in which each two bits represents a voltage value between 60 V and 90 V. The binary number 00 corresponds to 60 V and the binary number 11 corresponds to 90 V. The two most significant bits , that is to say the leftmost bits of the binary number which describes the sequence, represent the first applied voltage. The two least significant bits, that is to say the rightmost bits of the binary number which describes the sequence, represent the last applied voltage.

For example, the hexadecimal number 01BF, equivalent to the binary number 0000000110111111, corresponds to the sequence, in volts, 60-60-60-70-80-90-90-90.

Once the configuration sequence has been completed, the electric pump 10 is supplied with alternating voltage for use, for example 230 V, and the test starts.

It should be noted that the present invention relates to an electric pump system, on the electronic card of which a plurality of operating software configurations is stored and can be easily chosen and defined during the test according to the requirements.

In practice, it has been noted that the invention makes it possible to fully achieve the aim and objectives by providing a centrifugal electric pump system comprising, at one end, a wet region, which is defined by a scroll and includes a wheel, an electric motor which is adjacent and connected to the impeller and, opposite the motor, at the other end of the pump, a housing which contains an electronic card supplied by a terminal, characterized in that it can be configured via said power supply terminal.

This invention, as conceived, remains subject to numerous modifications and variations which are all covered by the scope of the claims appended hereto. In addition, all parts can be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, insofar as they are compatible with the specific use, and the possible dimensions and shapes, may be any according to the requirements and the prior art.

Claims (10)

1. Centrifugal electric pump system (10), comprising, at one end, a wet region (51), which is defined by a scroll and includes a wheel (52), an electric motor (11) which is adjacent and connected to said impeller and, opposite said motor, at the other end of the pump, a housing (13) which contains an electronic card (14) supplied by a terminal (69), characterized in that it can be configured via said power supply terminal (69). 2. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said electronic card comprises a current rectifier (71), which is electrically connected at one end to the terminal (69) and, at the level on the other end, to a filter capacitor (72), said capacitor (72) being in turn connected to a microprocessor (73). 3. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that said housing (13) has a substantially cylindrical extension and is closed at a free end by a cover (15). 4. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an air space sleeve (53) which is constituted by a cross section in the form of a tubular body (55) and has an end with sidewall (54), opposite said wheel (52), and a tubular end (56) in which the cross section becomes narrower relative to the cross section of the body (55) and the diameter is less than the diameter of the body (55). 5. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 4, characterized in that said air space sleeve (53) has a longitudinal axis (X), coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the pump body, which coincides with the axis of rotation of a rotor (18) and the wheel (52). 6. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that said electric motor (11) and said housing (13) extend along the same axis (X), which coincides with the axis of rotation of the rotor (18) and of the wheel (52). 7. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that a stator (12) of said electric motor (11) is closed externally by an enclosure (61), said enclosure (61) being cup-shaped a base (67) of which is close to the free end of said tubular end (56) of said air space sleeve (53). 8. Electric pump system (10) according to claim 7, characterized in that said base (67) comprises a hole (66) which is designed to allow access to the wet region (51) and, partially, to said stator (12), and an opening (68) which is designed for the insertion of terminals of the electric motor (11) which are connected to the electronic card (14). 9. Software configuration of an electric pump system (10) according to claim 1, which consists of: - connect the terminal of a configuration device to the power supply terminal (69) of the electric pump (10); - send a low voltage current which is in DC but is not constant as a function of a voltage sequence which corresponds to a software configuration to be defined; - rectify said DC voltage without alteration using a rectifier (71); - filtering, without alteration, the voltage signal in the output from said rectifier (71) using a filtering capacitor (72); - measure and decode the signal which comes from said capacitor (72) by means of a microprocessor (73); - choose from a memory a configuration which corresponds to the decoded information and set it for the entire service life of the electric pump (10). 10. Software configuration of an electric pump system (10) according to claim 9, characterized in that the software configuration step is preceded by an initial step in which a low voltage current is applied according to a predefined startup sequence.