Importance

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Abstract

A fluid-operated reciprocating pump having a central housing, a pair of chamber housings attached to opposite sides of the central housing, and a pumping diaphragm in each chamber housing that separates an inner pressure chamber from an outer pressure chamber. Each outer pressure chamber is connected to an inlet manifold and a discharge manifold, and one-way check valves control the flow of the material being pumped through the chamber. The pumping diaphragms are connected together by a connecting rod that extends through the central housing. The central housing is formed by a pair of identical, generally tubular, molded sections secured to one another in reverse relationship to define inlet and outlet ports for operating fluid, a reversing valve chamber, a pilot valve chamber, and passages connecting the reversing valve chamber to the pilot valve chamber, the inlet port and the inner pressure chambers. A reversing valve is slidably mounted in the reversing valve chamber to control the supply of operating fluid to alternate from one inner chamber to the other, and a pilot valve is slidably mounted in the pilot valve chamber to control the movement of the reversing valve. The pilot valve is controlled by a member associated with the connecting rod and located within the central housing. According to one aspect of the disclosure, the one-way check valves are neither gravity-sensitive nor otherwise sensitive to the positioning of the pump, and the inlet and discharge manifolds are located adjacent one another so that the pump may be oriented with the check valves above the outer pressure chamber (such as where the material being pumped has air or other gas entrained therein) or with the check valves below the outer pressure chambers (such as where the material being pumped has solids entrained therein).

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First Claim