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DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a submerged pump with electrical cables outside the cylindrical lateral wall, in which protection means conformed to receive the cables themselves are arranged to be restrained to the body of the pump by means of quick fixing devices, which may be associated with bayonet sliding triggers to activate closing and opening connections easily executable by means of pushes, or click lifting by simple radial pressure, or simple restraining shift between the parts.

It is known that pumping members, such as in particular submerged pumps, are generally used for domestic, civil and industrial purposes for emptying sump pits, underground rooms, tanks or other types of similar vessels. The known submerged pumps generally include a delivery body, within which an impeller communicating with the external environment and a generally cylindrical driving body, adapted to receive a driving member, is arranged.

An example of a submerged pump of known type is disclosed in patent US 5,207,562. The described submerged pump is provided with a particular handle adapted to incorporate a passage channel for the electrical supply cables of the driving member therein, as well as a port for introducing lubrication and cooling oil into the driving body.

US 2,701,529 discloses in turn a submerged pump comprising a casing provided with a cylindrical lateral wall, a bottom wall and an upper lid for closing the open top of the pump. Such a lid has a single opening for passing both the supply cable of the actuating motor of the pump impeller and a pair of electrical cables connected to the motor itself and intended to be externally connected to liquid level control means. For connecting and fixing these control means, the lid laterally has a pair of lateral supports, in which respective electrical cables are adapted to be inserted and appropriately connected.

In particular, the need to ensure reliability of the electric connection under all conditions of use is known in submerged pumps of known type.

In order to meet this requirement, the use of appropriate electrical cable protection means, which form a channel outside the body of the pump for receiving and passing the cables, has become more widespread. These protection means usually consist of a profiled element coupled to the body of the pump by means of appropriate connection means, e.g. of the screw type. However, these protection devices do not fully meet the requirements of the concerned field.

These systems, while allowing to effectively protect the electrical cables, are indeed not very practical to be applied. Assembling the cable protection means of known type is practically slow and difficult, generally requiring the coupling by means of screw means. In particular, it has been observed that the assembly rapidity is an essential feature for submerged pumps of the handheld type, which require easy transportation and installation, to allow an effective use under emergency conditions.

It is the task of the present invention to solve the mentioned problems by providing a submerged pump provided with an electrical cable protection device which is simple and quick to be assembled.

In the scope of this task, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a an electrical cable protection device which is safe and reliable under all conditions of use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical cable protection device which is simple and effective to be used.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical cable protection device of simple construction, versatile use and relatively low cost as well.

The basic task of the invention thus consists in indicating electrical cable protection means restrained externally to the body of the pump which totally eliminate the drawbacks and disadvantages related to the current solutions suggested by the art and indicated above.

Furthermore, the achievement of said objects, and others more, is ensured in accordance with the above, in that the present invention relates to a submerged pump having electrical cable protection means restrained outside the body of the pump by means of quick fixing devices, which activate closing and opening connections easily executable by means of pushes or click lifting by simple radial pressure, and in that said devices are associable with bayonet sliding triggers for quick and stable blocking and releasing between said protection means and the lateral wall of the pump.

According to an embodiment, the quick fixing devices are receptacles conformed with resilient tails which engage in notches obtained along the protection means and said receptacles are preferably soldered to the cylindrical lateral wall of the submerged pump body. According to a further embodiment, the quick fixing devices are substantially conformed as an arc of a circle for a surface contact to the lateral cylindrical wall and are provided with inwardly shaped resilient tails, suitable to elastically deform upon simple joining pressure to receive and hold the protection means at at least one notch obtained along the longitudinal development of the protection means themselves.

According to a further embodiment, the bayonet sliding triggers comprise a lantern- sleeve applied inferiorly to the body of the pump and which has a shaped seat predisposed to receive by plugging the terminal inferior portion of the protection means and said shaped seat has a cavity obtained radially in the lantern-sleeve, partially externally contained by two appendices.

According to a further embodiment, the protection means consist of a longitudinal raceway element having a U profile-like section, provided with edges which extend towards the outside for a surface support contact with the cylindrical external wall of the body of the pump and said protection - A -

means also have, at an inferior terminal protection, a longitudinally flaring profile, suitable to ease the coupling of protection means to the shaped seat for a quick bayonet fixing.

According to a further embodiment, the quick fixing means are small disks or blocks similar to a snap fastener positioned along the edges of the protection means and on the cylindrical wall of the pump to click join or divide, by simple pressure, the cylindrical body of the pump and the protection of the electrical cables juxtaposed in the scope of their functionality. The invention will be described in detail below on the basis of the embodiment diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which outline the features of the invention; it is noted that all the accompanying drawings, as well as the description of the drawings themselves, correspond to a preferred embodiment to better understand the implementation thereof; however, possible variations of reciprocal positions of the members, as well as the consequent simplifications, which could derive therefrom, and all the constructional variants included in the general idea are comprised within the requested scope of protection, which is presented in the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 is a frontal view of a submerged pump according to the present invention; figure 2 is a side view of the same submerged pump; figure 3 is an axonometric view of such a submerged pump; figure 4 is a plan view of the submerged pump; figure 5 is an axonometric view of the upper closing assembly of the submerged pump of the present invention; figure 6 is an axonometric view of the bayonet fixing means of the electrical cable protection means of the pump; figure 7 is an axonometric view of said electrical cable protection means of the pump; figure 8 is an axonometric view of the quick fixing means of said electrical cable protection means; figure 9 is an axonometric view of a resilient protection band of the pump which serves as a filter for the suction openings. In the figures, corresponding parts or parts with like functions are provided with the same reference characters for simplicity purposes.

Similarly, in the figure, because of clarity purposes for the whole, the operation of the operative members of the pump, consisting of a pumping assembly and a motor assembly of the electric type with the motor axis and the mechanism and circuit element sets, is not illustrated, and thus not described since they are already known, and also because they are not required for understanding the present invention.

With particular reference to these figures, numeral 1 indicates as a whole the pump 10 of submerged type according to the invention. Pump 1 comprises an essentially cylindrical central body, which receives the impellers, of known type, intended to transfer a liquid in which pump 1 is at least partially submerged. The central body is laterally closed by a cylindrical wall 20, and is closed at its top by a closing assembly 21, usually provided with handles or other known gripping means. The closing assembly 21 includes one or more outlet holes of the delivery pipes of the processed liquid. The central body is inferiorly closed by a base, which has appropriate openings for introducing the fluid to be processed and for the mechanical connection to a driving member of known type (not shown).

The lower base of the central body is inferiorly and coaxially connected to an essentially cylindrical lantern-sleeve 6. The lantern- sleeve 6 is, in turn, inferiorly connected to the driving member for operating the pump.

The lantern-sleeve 6 has a plurality of openings obtained in the lateral surface, adapted to allow the introduction of the liquid to be processed. The lantern-sleeve 6 further has a cavity 7 radially obtained in the lateral surface, partially externally enclosed by a pair of teeth 10a, 10b. The cavity 7 is inferiorly open to allow the electrical supply cables of the driving member underneath to pass outwards.

The lantern-sleeve 6 is partially lined with a resilient protection band 12, appropriately provided with a plurality of through holes, adapted to allow the passage of the liquid to be processed, thus preventing the introduction of possible foreign bodies. The band 12 is wound about the lantern-sleeve 6 and is press fitted at the cavity 7, thus remaining blocked in place by virtue of the teeth 10a, 10b which are inserted into respective notches 14a, 14b obtained on the lower edge of the band 12.

The pump 1 comprises protection means 2 of the electrical supply cables of the driving member, externally restrained to the body of pump 1, so as to form a raceway for receiving the cables themselves. The protection means 2 preferably consist of a profiled element having an essentially U- shaped section, longitudinally provided with a pair of edges 11a, l ib which protrude outwards, adapted to be put in contact with the lateral wall 20 of pump 1.

The profiled element 2 is inferiorly restrained to the pump 1 by means of first bayonet fixing means 5, essentially consisting of the cavity 7 of the lantern-sleeve 6 and respective teeth 10a, 10b.

In particular, the lower terminal portion 8 of the profiled element 2 is adapted to be inserted with a bayonet fitting into the cavity 7, and blocked in position by the contrast action exerted by the walls of cavity 7 and by the teeth 10a, 10b. For this purpose, in order to facilitate the fitting of the profile 2, the terminal portion 8 advantageously has a longitudinally flared profile.

The profiled element 2 is further superiorly restrained to the lateral wall 20 of the pump 1 by means of quick fitting means 4, restrained to the body of pump 1 and adapted to be elastically deformed to receive and hold the upper portion of the profiled element 2. In particular, the second quick fitting means 4 preferably consist of U-shaped receptacles with resilient tails 13a and 13b which engage in notches 9 obtained along the protection means 2 and said essentially U- shaped section receptacles 4 are either riveted or preferably spot soldered 14 or joined with adhesives to the cylindrical lateral wall 20 of the body of pump 1. Said resilient tails 13a and 13b are inwardly shaped, adapted to elastically deform to receive and hold the profiled element 2 at the notch 9 obtained along the upper longitudinal edge of the profiled element 2.

The use of the submerged pump according to the invention, and in particular of the electric cable protection system, may easily be inferred from the above description.

In order to rapidly assemble the cable protection system, once the pump has been installed, it is sufficient to bayonet fit the terminal part 8 of the profiled element 2 into cavity 7, and then block the upper part of the element 2 against the lateral wall of the pump 1, by exerting a pressure in the radial direction at the grooved seat 9.

The submerged pump according to the invention thus achieves the object of providing a quick fitting, electric cable protection device. In particular, such a result is obtained by virtue of the presence of the quick fitting means 4, adapted to elastically deform to receive and hold the electrical cable protection means 2.

A prerogative of the invention consists in that the described cable protection device allows to advantageously reduce the pump assembling and setting-up times, a feature which is particularly useful and appreciated in the case of movable submerged pumps, which require easy and rapid transportation and installation to allow an effective use thereof under emergency conditions.

Another advantage of the cable protection device according to the invention resides in the low construction cost.

In the practical embodiment of the invention, the materials employed, as well as the shape and size thereof, may be varied according to needs.

Where the technical features mentioned in each claim are followed by reference signs, these reference signs are included for the sole purpose of improving the understanding of the claims and, therefore, they have no restrictive value on the aim of each element identified by way of example by these reference signs. The invention here suggested by an original solution, is not obviously restricted to the only embodiment for the protection of electrical cables outside the submerged pump, which was described above by way of example; on the contrary, it includes all variants thereof deriving from the same principle and which may differ in the various constructional forms, and it is apparent that all the technically equivalent solutions are within the scope of the present invention.