US20070280825A1

US20070280825A1 - Turbine assembly

Info

Publication number: US20070280825A1
Application number: US11/447,178
Authority: US
Inventors: Yung-Chih Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-06-06
Filing date: 2006-06-06
Publication date: 2007-12-06

Abstract

A turbine assembly includes a turbine having a seat extending outward from a top face and a bottom face of the turbine, a shaft hole defined in a bottom face of the seat, multiple blades divergently extending outward and multiple tapered passages each defined between two adjacent blades. A shaft is securely mounted on top of the seat and has an upper portion configured to allow the upper portion of the shaft to be snugly extended into the shaft hole of an adjacent turbine so that each turbine assembly is able to combine a different turbine assembly via the extension of the upper portion of the shaft into the shaft hole of the adjacent turbine.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a turbine assembly, and more particularly to a sectioned turbine assembly to allow the operator to choose the quantity of the turbines to be assembled in response to work load.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A turbine assembly normally is applied in pumps to pump water to a designated location. Therefore, the turbine assembly is composed of multiple turbines and a motor connected to each of the turbines so as to drive the turbines to rotate simultaneously. The conventional turbine assembly (60) is shown in FIG. 9, wherein the turbine assembly (60) includes multiple hollow casings (61), multiple turbines (62) respectively received in a corresponding one of the casings (61), an elongated transmission shaft (63) extending through each of the turbines (62) to connect to a motor (not shown) via a connector (64). The conventional turbine assembly does have the ability to transport water to a designated location. However, the entire assembly depends on one single transmission shaft (63) to drive all the turbines (62) to rotate. Therefore, should the work load change, e.g. water volume is not large enough to require all the turbines (62), the operator needs to remove some of the turbines (62) to properly proceed with the transportation process. That is, the operator has to disassemble the entire turbine assembly to change the quantity of the turbines (62), which is quite troublesome and labor inefficient. Furthermore, when the turbine assembly (60) is assembled, the transmission shaft (63) has to be firmly fixed by a fixture. Then the operator is able to sequentially mount the turbines (62) onto the transmission shaft (63) and apply the casings (61) to each of the turbines (62).
As a result of the troublesome assembly process of the conventional turbine, it takes a long time to finish the adjustment of the turbines (62) and a lot of labor to accomplish the desired goal.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved turbine assembly to mitigate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an improved turbine assembly comprising multiple sections to be assembled into a proper length to adapt to the requirements.
In order to accomplish the foregoing objective, the turbine assembly of the present invention includes a turbine having a seat formed on a top face of the turbine and a connection hole defined in a bottom face of the turbine and a shaft firmly connected to the seat, wherein the turbine has multiple blades divergently extending outward and multiple tapered channels each defined between two adjacent blades. Therefore, the operator is able to easily assemble different quantity of turbine assemblies of the present invention via insertion of the shaft into the connection hole of an adjacent turbine assembly to adapt to requirements.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the turbine assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially cross sectional view of the turbine assembly;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the turbine assembly of the present invention, wherein the shaft is integrally formed on the seat of the turbine;

FIG. 4 is a partially cross sectional view of the turbine assembly in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an operational view showing that turbine assemblies shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the present invention are assembled;

FIG. 6 is an operational view showing that turbine assemblies shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the present invention are assembled;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are different cross sectional views of the casing and the turbine in different angles; and

FIG. 9 is a schematically cross sectional view of a conventional turbine assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is noted that the turbine assembly (1) in accordance with the present invention includes a turbine (10) and a shaft (20) integrally formed with the turbine (10) as shown in the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2 or separated from yet securely connected to the turbine (10) as shown in the embodiment in FIGS. 3 and 4.
The turbine (10) has a seat (11) formed on a top face thereof, a shaft hole (112) defined in a bottom face of the seat (11), multiple blades (12) divergently extending outward from the seat (11) and multiple tapered passages (13) defined between two adjacent blades (12). That is, each passage (13).has a dimension becoming larger and larger away from the seat (11).
The shaft (20) is mounted on top of the seat (11) and has an upper portion (21) extending away from the seat ( 11) and being configured to have a shape and a dimension corresponding those of the shaft hole (112) such that the upper portion (21) is able to extend into the shaft hole (112) in an adjacent turbine assembly.
The turbine assembly also includes a bottom cap (14) and a top cap (15). The bottom cap (14) is securely mounted at a bottom of the turbine (10) and has a dimension substantially the same as the dimension of the turbine (10), a water inlet (141) defined through the bottom cap (14) to communicate with the passages (13) and align with the shaft hole (112) of the turbine (10) and a flange (142) formed around the water inlet (141) to concentrate water inflow into the water inlet (141). The water inlet (141) has a dimension substantially larger than a dimension of the shaft hole (112) and of the seat (11). The top cap (15) is securely mounted at a top of the turbine (10) and has a dimension substantially the same as the dimension of the turbine (10) and a cutout (151) defined at a free end of the top peripheral edge of the top cap (15) to correspond to each of the passages (13). After the mounting of the bottom cap (14) and the top cap (15), the passages (13) are confined between the top cap (15) and the bottom cap (14). The seat (11) extends outward from both the top cap (15) and the bottom cap (14).
Preferably, the shaft (20) and the turbine (10) may be made of a plastic material and integrally formed with each other. That is, the shaft (20) may be integrally formed on top of the seat (11).
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is noted that the seat (11) has a positioning hole (111) defined in a top face of the seat (11) to correspond to the shaft (20) and to communicate with the shaft hole (112). The shape of the positioning hole (111) may be or may not be the same as that of the shaft hole (112) depending entirely on design requirements. In this embodiment, the shape of the positioning hole (111) is the same as that of the shaft hole (112).
The shaft (20) further has a lower portion (22) integrally formed with the upper portion (21) and configured to have a dimension slightly smaller than that of the positioning hole (111) of the seat (11) so that the lower portion (22) is able to snugly extend into the positioning hole (111) and the upper portion (21) is able to extend away from the seat (11).
After insertion into the positioning hole (111), the lower portion (22) of the shaft (20) may be secured inside the positioning hole (111) via a securing element such as adhesive glue, rivets, nails or the like.
Thereafter, the operator is able to apply the turbine assembly in any quantity depending on the work requirements. That is, if the situation requires, the operator may easily extend the upper portion (21) into the shaft hole (112) of an adjacent turbine assembly (1) so as to combine two turbine assemblies (1) together.
With reference to FIGS. 5-8, it is noted that each turbine assembly (1) further has a hollow casing (30) to enclose therein the combination of the turbine (16), the shaft (20), the bottom cap (14) and the top cap (15). However, the upper portion (21) of the shaft (20) and the shaft hole (112) and the water inlet (141) are exposed and not encased by the casing (30) to facilitate combination with another turbine assembly (1).
In conclusion, it is noted that after the appropriate quantity of the turbine assemblies are assembled, the uppermost upper portion (21) of the shaft (20) is connected to a positioning block (40) and an axle (50) is inserted into the lowermost shaft hole (112) for connection to a motor at the free end of the axle (50).
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A turbine assembly comprising:

a turbine having a seat extending outward from a top face and a bottom face of the turbine, a shaft hole defined in a bottom face of the seat, multiple blades divergently extending outward and multiple tapered passages each defined between two adjacent blades; and

a shaft securely mounted on a top face of the seat and having an upper portion configured to allow the upper portion of the shaft to be snugly extended into the shaft hole of an adjacent turbine so that each turbine assembly is able to combine a different turbine assembly via the extension of the upper portion of the shaft into the shaft hole of the adjacent turbine.

2. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft is integrally formed on the seat.

3. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seat has a positioning hole defined in the top face of the seat and the shaft has a lower portion extendable into the positioning hole.

4. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the positioning hole has a configuration substantially the same as that of the shaft hole.

5. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft is configured in such a way that after the upper portion of the shaft is inserted into the shaft hole of the adjacent turbine assembly, rotation of the shaft is able to drive the turbine to rotate simultaneously.

6. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shaft is configured in such a way that after the upper portion of the shaft is inserted into the shaft hole of the adjacent turbine assembly, rotation of the shaft is able to drive the turbine to rotate simultaneously.

7. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a bottom cap securely mounted at the bottom face of the turbine and a top cap securely mounted at the top face of the turbine, wherein the bottom cap has a dimension substantially the same as a dimension of the turbine, a water inlet defined through the bottom cap to communicate with the passages and align with the shaft hole of the turbine and a flange formed around the water inlet to concentrate water inflow into the water inlet, the water inlet has a dimension substantially larger than a dimension of the shaft hole and of the seat, the top cap is securely mounted at a top of the turbine and has a dimension substantially the same as the dimension of the turbine and a cutout defined at a free end of the top peripheral edge of the top cap to correspond to each of the passages.

8. The turbine assembly as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a bottom cap securely mounted at a bottom face of the turbine and a top cap securely mounted at a top face of the turbine, wherein the bottom cap has a dimension substantially the same as a dimension of the turbine, a water inlet defined through the bottom cap to communicate with the passages and align with the shaft hole of the turbine and a flange formed around the water inlet to concentrate water inflow into the water inlet, the water inlet has a dimension substantially larger than a dimension of the shaft hole and of the seat, the top cap is securely mounted at a top of the turbine and has a dimension substantially the same as the dimension of the turbine and a cutout defined at a free end of the top peripheral edge of the top cap to correspond to each of the passages.