Vane Pump

In a vane-type pump, a slotted rotor splined to a drive shaft rotates between closely fitted side plates that are inside of an elliptical- or circular-shaped ring. Polished, hardened vanes slide in and out of the rotor slots and follow the ring contour by centrifugal force. Pumping chambers are formed between succeeding vanes, carrying oil from the inlet to the outlet. A partial vacuum is created at the inlet as the space between vanes increases. The oil is squeezed out at the outlet as the pumping chamber’s size decreases. Because the normal wear points in a vane pump are the vane tips and a ring’s surface, the vanes and ring are specially hardened and ground. A vane pump is the only design that has automatic wear compensation built in. As wear occurs, the vanes simply slide farther out of the rotor slots and continue to follow a ring’s contour. Thus efficiency remains high throughout the life of the pump.