Field of invention

The present invention in a first aspect relates to a pump station including a pump sump and at least one outlet pipe with a support device, the at least one outlet pipe being mounted to the wall of the pump sump by means of the support device and being arranged to be connected to an outlet opening of a pump, the support device including a web portion establishing a distance between the outlet pipe and the wall of the pump sump and a support portion, the web portion connecting the support portion and the outlet pipe.

The pump station may be arranged to house one single pump or a plurality of pumps. In case of a plurality of pumps each pump will have an outlet pipe mounted to the wall with a support device arranged according to the invention.

In a second aspect, the invention relates to a pump sump arranged to be used in a pump station of the above mentioned kind.

In a third aspect, the invention relates to a method for mounting an outlet pipe in a pump sump, which outlet pipe is intended to be connected to the outlet opening of a pump, the outlet pipe having a support device including a web portion and a support portion, the web portion connecting the support portion and the outlet pipe.

Background of the invention

In a pump station of this kind, a pump is arranged in the pump sump and is connected to the outlet pipe. The pump in this kind of pump station usually works under conditions where the pumped medium, normally water contains mud, sludge and other impurities. It is often a problem that this mud etc. is gathered in the pump sump. In particular the mud etc. is gathered around various elements forming the outlet pipe and the connection elements connecting the outlet pipe to the wall of the pump sump. This gathered mud causes disturbances in the pumping process.

The object of the present invention is to overcome this problem and thus achieve a pump station where mud does not tend to gather or at least to reduce this tendency.

Summary of the invention

This object has according to the first aspect of the invention been achieved by designing a pump station of the kind in question with the specific features that the wall of the pump sump has a recess of sufficient size to receive the support portion and of a depth at least as deep as the thickness of the support portion, and the support portion is mounted in the recess.

The support portion of the support device is normally one of the major details that cause the problem with mud that is gathered. By providing a recess according to the invention, the support portion will no longer be located in the flow path of the water but "hidden" in the recess. The upper side of the support portion thereby will form an even surface with the parts of the sump wall that surround the recess. The tendency for mud to be trapped in this area is thereby strangely reduced in comparence with conventional technique. This increases the over-all performance of the pump. According to a preferred embodiment of the invented pump station, the recess has a contour substantially corresponding to the contour of the support portion.

Thereby the support portion will completely fill the recess which further reduces the risk that mud is gathered in this area, e.g. in clearances between the support portion and the recess.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the support portion is attached to the wall of the pump sump by means of bolts and the support portion has at least one cavity for receiving at least one bolt head.

Thereby the bolt heads will not project outside the support portion and thus will not be an obstacle in the flow path. It is therefore avoided that the bolt heads contribute to mud gathering. It is to be understood that the bolts can be so directed that the nuts for the bolts are located in these cavities instead of the bolt heads.

According to a still further embodiment, the support portion includes cover means arranged to cover the bolt heads.

By covering the bolt heads the risk that these elements contribute to mud gathering is still reduced. The side of the support portion that is exposed to the water flow can through this arrangement be substantially flat.

According to a still further embodiment, the support portion is plate shaped, and the edges of the support portions are inclined outwardly from the side of the support portion that is arranged to abut the bottom of the recess, and the recess has side wall of complementary inclined shape. This shape of the edges of the support plate and of the walls of the recess makes the mounting of the support portion to the wall easier, since these inclined surfaces will guide and center the support portion in the recess.

In the second aspect of the invention the object is met by a pump sump that is arranged to be used in the invented pump station. Such a pump sump has advantages of the same kind as described above for the invented pump station and the preferred embodiments thereof.

In the third aspect of the invention the object is met in that a method for mounting an outlet pipe in a pump sump includes the specific measures of making a recess in the wall of the pump sump, which recess is given a size sufficient to receive the support portion and a depth as least as deep as the thickness of the support portion, and of mounting the support portion to that part of the wall of the pump sump that constitutes the recess.

Preferred embodiments of the invented method correspond to preferred embodiments of the invented pump station. The invented method and the preferred embodiments thereof have the corresponding advantages as has been described above for the invented pump station and the preferred embodiments thereof.

The invention will be explained more in detail in the following description of advantageous examples thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a part of a pump station according to prior art Fig 2 is a side view, partly in section, of a part of a pumpstation according to the invention

Fig 3 is a section along line in - HI in fig 2

Fig 4 - 6 are side views, partly in section, of a part of a pump station according to further examples of the invention

Fig 7 is an enlarged section through a detail of fig 6

Fig 8 is a section along line vrπ - VIII in fig 6

Fig 9 is a side view, partly in section through a still further example of the invention Fig 10 is an enlarged section through a detail of fig 9

Fig 11 is a section along line XI - XI in fig 9

Fig 12 is a side view, partly in section of a still further example of the invention

Fig 13 is a section through a detail of fig 12 Fig 14 is a section along line XIV - XIV in fig 12

Fig 15 is a perspective view of a detail of fig 12

Fig 16 is a perspective view of an alternative of the detail of fig 15.

Description of advantageous examples of the invention Fig 1 illustrates a conventional pump station of the kind to which the present invention relates. The pump station includes a pump sump 101 having a bottom wall 102 and side walls 103, 104. Parts of the side walls are vertical 104 and parts thereof are inclined 103. In the pump sump an outlet pipe 105 for a pump 106 is mounted. The outlet pipe 105 is in the form of a 90°- bent and has a first flange 107 arranged for connection with the outlet opening 109 of the pump and a second flange arranged for connection to a delivery pipe 110.

The outlet pipe 105 is mounted to the bottom wall 102 of the pump sump 101 by means of a support device 111 having a web portion 112 and a support portion 113. The web portion 112 is attached to the outlet pipe 105 e.g. welded thereto or moulded in one piece therewith, and to the support portion 113. The support portion 113 is attached to the bottom wall 102 of the pump sump e.g. by bolts.

The pump sump is filled with water containing mud 100A and other impurities. The pump 106 is arranged to pump away the water and the mud through the pump inlet 114, the outlet opening 109, the outlet pipe 105 and the delivery pipe 110.

The mud etc 100A in the water has a tendency to gather in the pump sump, in particular where construction details, such as the support portion 113 of the support device, form obstacles to the flow path.

Fig 2 is a corresponding view illustrating the present invention. The general function of the pump station of fig 2, is similar to that of fig 1 and reference is made to the description of that figure in this respect. In fig 2 the support device 11 is connected to an inclined part 3 of the walls of the pump sump 1. However it is to be understood that it is within the scope of the invention that the support device can be attached to other parts of the pump sump walls, e.g. the bottom wall 2 or the vertical wall 4.

At the area where the support device 11 is attached to the wall of the pump sump, a recess 15 is made in the wall 3 of the pump sump 1. The recess 15 has a depth that corresponds to the thickness of the support portion 13 of the support device. The support portion 13, which in this example has the shape of a plate is located in the recess 15 such that the outer surface 16 of the support portion aligns with the inner surface 17 of the wall 3.

When pumping the water, mud A etc is allowed to pass between the outlet pipe 5 and the wall 3 due to the distance created by the web portion 12 of the support device 13. Since the surface 17 of the wall 13 and the surface 16 of the support portion are aligned the support portion 13 will not disturb the flow of mud and thereby not contribute to the gathering of the mud. The only obstacle in this area are the bolt heads 19 of the bolts 18 through which the support portion 13 is attached to the wall 13. These might cause same gathering of mud but to a smaller extent than the case according to prior art as shown in fig 1.

The edges 25 of the support portion are inclined outwardly and the side walls 24 of the recess have complementary shape.

Fig 3 is a section along line πi -IH in fig 2 and illustrates the outlet pipe 5, the web portion 12, the support portion 13 and the recess 15 in the wall 3 of the pump sump.

Fig 4 and 5 illustrates different examples of the design of the web portion 12. In fig 4 the web portion is and in fig 5 the web portion is formed by two parts 12a and 12b and in fig 5 the web portion is provided with holes 20. Fig 6 illustrates another example of the invention. In this example the outer surface 16 of the support portion 13 is provided with a cavity 21 concentric with each bolt hole 22. As can be seen in fig 7 these cavities allow the nut 23 of each bolt 18 to be out of exposure to the flow. This embodiment therefore further reduces the tendency for mud to gather. Of course the cavities 21 alternatively can

house the bolt heads 19 of the bolts 18 in case the mounting direction of the bolts is the opposite.

The arrangement of figs 6 and 7 is further illustrated in fig 8 which is a section through the outlet pipe 5, the web portion, the support portion 13, the recess 15 and the wall 3.

Fig 9 illustrates an example that is similar to that of figs 6 - 8, but the difference is that the support portion 13 has a constant thickness and a profile forming the cavities 21. The profile of the support portion 13 thus is not flat. The bottom of the recess 15 has a corresponding complementary shape. Figs 10 and 11 further illustrates the example of fig 9.

Fig 12, 13 and 14 illustrate a still further example. In this example cover means 26 are provided on the outside of the support portion. The cover means cover the bolt heads or nuts and form an even surface aligned with the inner side of the wall 17. The cover means can be made as two cover plates 26a and 26b as illustrated in fig 15. Alternatively the two plates 26c, 26c can be divided as illustrated in fig 16.