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A hydraulic pump is a
mechanical device
that converts

Hydraulic pumps mechanical power

into hydraulic energy.
It generates flow with
enough power to
overcome pressure
induced by the load.

W
hen a hydraulic pump oper- In a positive-displacement pump,
ates, it performs two func- slippage is negligible compared to the
To system
tions. First, its mechanical pump’s volumetric output flow. If the
action creates a vacuum at the pump output port were plugged, pressure Outlet
inlet which allows atmospheric pres- would increase instantaneously to the
sure to force liquid from the reservoir point that the pump’s pumping ele-
into the inlet line to the pump. Second, ment or its case would fail (probably Inlet Check
its mechanical action delivers this liq- explode, if the drive shaft did not break valve
uid to the pump outlet and forces it into first), or the pump’s prime mover
the hydraulic system. would stall.
A pump produces liquid movement
or flow: it does not generate pres- Positive displacement principle
sure. It produces the flow necessary A positive displacement pump is
for the development of pressure which one that displaces (delivers) the same
is a function of resistance to fluid flow amount of liquid for each rotating cy-
in the system. For example, the pres- cle of the pumping element. Constant
sure of the fluid at the pump outlet is delivery during each cycle is possible
zero for a pump not connected to a sys- because of the close-tolerance fit be- Fig. 1. Reciprocating pump.
tem (load). Further, for a pump deliv- tween the pumping element and the
ering into a system, the pressure will pump case. That is, the amount of liq- static means that the pump converts
rise only to the level necessary to over- uid that slips past the pumping element mechanical energy to hydraulic energy
come the resistance of the load. in a positive displacement pump is with comparatively small quantity and
minimal and negligible compared to velocity of liquid. In a hydrodynamic
Classification of pumps the theoretical maximum possible de- pump, liquid velocity and movement
All pumps may be classified as ei- livery. The delivery per cycle remains are large; output pressure actually de-
ther positive displacement or non-pos- almost constant, regardless of changes pends on the velocity at which the liq-
itive displacement. Most pumps used in pressure against which the pump is uid is made to flow.
in hydraulic systems are positive dis- working. Note that if fluid slippage is
placement. substantial, the pump is not operating Reciprocating pumps
A non-positive displacement properly and should be repaired or re- The positive displacement principle
pump produces a continuous flow. placed. is well illustrated in the reciprocating-
However, because it does not provide a Positive displacement pumps can be type pump, the most elementary posi-
positive internal seal against slippage, of either fixed or variable displace- tive displacement pump, Figure 1. As
its output varies considerably as pres- ment. The output of a fixed displace- the piston extends, the partial vacuum
sure varies. Centrifugal and propeller ment pump remains constant during created in the pump chamber draws
pumps are examples of non-positive each pumping cycle and at a given liquid from the reservoir through the
displacement pumps. pump speed. The output of a variable inlet check valve into the chamber.
If the output port of a non-positive displacement pump can be changed by The partial vacuum helps seat firmly
displacement pump were blocked off, altering the geometry of the displace- the outlet check valve. The volume of
the pressure would rise, and output ment chamber. liquid drawn into the chamber is
would decrease to zero. Although the Other names to describe these known because of the geometry of the
pumping element would continue pumps are hydrostatic for positive dis- pump case, in this example, a cylinder.
moving, flow would stop because of placement and hydrodynamic pumps As the piston retracts, the inlet
slippage inside the pump. for non-positive displacement. Hydro- check valve reseats, closing the

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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

the vanes in contact with the housing,

Cam ring Inlet while the vanes are forced in and out of
Rotor
surface the slots by the eccentricity of the
Eccentricity
housing. In one vane pump, light
Vane Cam ring springs hold the vanes against the
housing; in another pump design, pres-
Outlet
Outlet surized pins urge the vanes outward.
During rotation, as the space or
chamber enclosed by vanes, rotor,
Rotor
Inlet and housing increases, a vacuum is
Vane created, and atmospheric pressure
Housing Drive shaft forces oil into this space, which is the
inlet side of the pump. As the space
Fig. 5. Basic (unbalanced) vane pump. Fig. 6. Balanced vane pump. or volume enclosed reduces, the liq-
uid is forced out through the dis-
Larger pumps are used as low- ways in sliding contact. The internal charge ports.
pressure, large-volume prefill pumps gear has one more tooth than the gero-
on large presses. Other applications tor gear. Both gears rotate in the same Balanced and unbalanced vane pumps
include hydraulic systems on sub- direction. Oil is drawn into the cham- The pump illustrated in Figure 5 is
marines and other uses where noise ber where the teeth are separating, and unbalanced, because all of the pump-
must be controlled. is ejected when the teeth start to mesh ing action occurs in the chambers on
again. The seal is provided by the slid- one side of the rotor and shaft. This
Internal-gear pumps ing contact. design imposes a side load on the ro-
Internal gear pumps, Figure 4, have Generally, the internal gear pump tor and drive shaft. This type vane
an internal gear and an external gear. with toothcrest pressure sealing has pump has a circular inner casing. Un-
Because these pumps have one or two higher volumetric efficiency at low balanced vane pumps can have fixed
less teeth in the inner gear than the speeds than the crescent type. Volu- or variable displacements. Some vane
outer, relative speeds of the inner and metric and overall efficiencies of these pumps provide a balanced construc-
outer gears in these designs are low. pumps are in the same general range as tion in which an elliptical casing
For example, if the number of teeth in those of external gear pumps. How- forms two separate pumping areas on
the inner and outer gears were 10 and ever, their sensitivity to dirt is some- opposite sides of the rotor, so that the
11 respectively, the inner gear would what higher. side loads cancel out, Figure 6. Bal-
turn 11 revolutions, while the outer anced vane pumps come only in fixed
would turn 10. This low relative speed Vane pumps displacement designs.
means a low wear rate. These pumps In these pumps, a number of vanes In a variable-volume unbalanced de-
are small, compact units. slide in slots in a rotor which rotates in sign, Figure 7, the displacement can be
a housing or ring. The housing may be changed through an external control
Crescent-seal pumps eccentric with the center of the rotor, such as a handwheel or a pressure
The crescent seal internal gear pump or its shape may be oval, Figure 5. In compensator. The control moves the
consists of an inner and outer gear sep- some designs, centrifugal force holds cam ring to change the eccentricity be-
arated by a crescent-shaped seal. The
two gears rotate in the same direction,
with the inner gear rotating faster than Eccentricity
the outer. The hydraulic oil is drawn
Slide block
into the pump at the point where the
gear teeth begin to separate and is car- Outlet
ried to the outlet in the space between Compensator
the crescent and the teeth of both tears.
The contact point of the gear teeth
forms a seal, as does the small tip Maxium volume
clearance at the crescent. Although in stop screw
the past this pump was generally used
for low outputs, with pressures below Compensator Inlet
1000 psi, a 2-stage, 4000-psi model spring
has recently become available.

Gerotor pumps
The gerotor internal gear pump con-
sists of a pair of gears which are al- Fig. 7. Variable displacement, pressure compensated vane pump.

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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

Outlet
Case External
Internal gear
Gerotor gear
element Outlet Internal
gear
,,,
Driver Driven
Outlet ,, ,,,
,,,
,,, Inlet Inlet
,,
Crescent
Inlet
Fig. 2. Spur gear pump.

Fig. 4. Internal gear pumps — gerotor and crescent.

Outlet
gears. Straight spur gears are easiest to Lobe pumps
cut and are the most widely used. Heli- The lobe pump is a rotary, external
cal and herringbone gears run more gear pump, Figure 3. It differs from the
quietly, but cost more. conventional external gear pump in the
A gear pump produces flow by car- way the “gears” are driven. In a gear
rying fluid in between the teeth of two pump, one gear drive the other; in a
meshing gears. One gear is driven by lobe pump, both lobes are driven
the drive shaft and turns the idler gear. through suitable drives gears outside
Inlet The chambers formed between adja- of the pump casing chamber.
cent gear teeth are enclosed by the
Fig. 3. Lobe pump. pump housing and side plates (also Screw pumps
called wear or pressure plates). A screw pump is an axial-flow gear
valve, and the force of the piston un- A partial vacuum is created at the pump, similar in operation to a rotary
seats the outlet check valve, forcing pump inlet as the gear teeth unmesh. screw compressor. Three types of
liquid out of the pump and into the Fluid flows in to fill the space and is screw pumps are the single-screw,
system. The same amount of liquid is carried around the outside of the gears. two-screw, and three-screw. In the
forced out of the pump during each As the teeth mesh again at the outlet single-screw pump, a spiraled rotor
reciprocating cycle. end, the fluid is forced out. rotates eccentrically in an internal sta-
All positive displacement pumps Volumetric efficiencies of gear tor. The two-screw pump consists of
deliver the same volume of liquid pumps run as high as 93% under opti- two parallel intermeshing rotors rotat-
each cycle (regardless of whether mum conditions. Running clearances ing in a housing machined to close
they are reciprocating or rotating). It between gear faces, gear tooth crests tolerances. The three-screw pump
is a physical characteristic of the and the housing create an almost con- consists of a central-drive rotor with
pump and does not depend on driving stant loss in any pumped volume at a two meshing idler rotors; the rotors
speed. However, the faster a pump is fixed pressure. This means that volu- turn inside of a housing machined to
driven, the more total volume of liq- metric efficiency at low speeds and close tolerances.
uid it will deliver. flows is poor, so that gear pumps Flow through a screw pump is ax-
should be run close to their maximum ial and in the direction of the power
Rotary pumps rated speeds. rotor. The inlet hydraulic fluid that
In a rotary-type pump, rotary motion Although the loss through the running surrounds the rotors is trapped as the
carries the liquid from the pump inlet clearances, or “slip,” increases with rotors rotate. This fluid is pushed uni-
to the pump outlet. Rotary pumps are pressure, this loss is nearly constant as formly with the rotation of the rotors
usually classified according to the type speed and output change. For one pump along the axis and is forced out the
of element that transmits the liquid, so the loss increases by about 1.5 gpm from other end.
that we speak of a gear-, lobe-, vane-, zero to 2000 psi regardless of speed. Note that the fluid delivered by
or piston-type rotary pump. Change in slip with pressure change has screw pumps does not rotate, but
little effect on performance when oper- moves linearly. The rotors work like
External-gear pumps ated at higher speeds and outputs. Exter- endless pistons which continuously
Gear pumps can be divided into ex- nal gear pumps are comparatively im- move forward. There are no pulsa-
ternal and internal gear types. A typi- mune to contaminants in the oil, which tions even at higher speed. The ab-
cal external gear pump is shown in will increase wear rates and lower effi- sence of pulsations and the fact that
Figure 2. These pumps come with a ciency, but sudden seizure and failure there is no metal-to-metal contact re-
straight spur, helical, or herringbone are not likely to occur. sults in very quiet operation.

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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

Cylinder block
Valve plate slot Piston centerline
Centerline
Case Outlet
Pintle

Outlet port

Drive shaft
Inlet
Inlet port
Swashplate Piston
Cylinder Reaction
Cylinder block block ring

Fig. 8. Axial-piston pump varies displacement by changing angle of swashplate. Fig. 9. Radial-piston pump.

tween the ring and rotor, thereby Their size is small relative to output. which a cylinder block is turned by the
changing the size of the pumping Dirt tolerances is relatively good. drive shaft. Pistons fitted to bores in
chamber and thus varying the displace- the cylinder block are connected
ment per revolution. Piston pumps through piston shoes and a retracting
When pressure is high enough to The piston pump is a rotary unit ring, so that the shoes bear against an
overcome the compensator spring which uses the principle of the recipro- angled swashplate.
force, the cam ring shifts to decrease cating pump to produce fluid flow. In- As the block turns, Figure 8, the pis-
the eccentricity. Adjustment of the stead of using a single piston, these ton shoes follow the swashplate, caus-
compensator spring determines the pumps have many piston-cylinder com- ing the pistons to reciprocate. The
pressure at which the ring shifts. binations. Part of the pump mechanism ports are arranged in the valve plate so
Because centrifugal force is re- rotates about a drive shaft to generate that the pistons pass the inlet as they
quired to hold the vanes against the the reciprocating motions, which draw are pulled out and the outlet as they are
housing and maintain a tight seal at fluid into each cylinder and then expels forced back in. In these pumps, dis-
those points, these pumps are not it, producing flow. There are two basic placement is determined by the size
suited for low-speed service. Opera- types, axial and radial piston; both area and number of pistons as well as their
tion at speeds below 600 rpm is not available as fixed and variable displace- stroke length, which varies with the
recommended. If springs or other ment pumps. The second variety often is swashplate angle.
means are used to hold vanes out capable of variable reversible (over- In variable displacement models of
against the ring, efficient operation at center) displacement. the inline pump, the swashplate swings
speeds of 100 to 200 rpm is possible. Most axial and radial piston pumps in a movable yoke. Pivoting the yoke
Vane pumps maintain their high ef- lend themselves to variable as well as on a pintle changes the swashplate an-
ficiency for a long time, because com- fixed displacement designs. Variable gle to increase or decrease the piston
pensation for wear of the vane ends displacement pumps tend to be some- stroke. The yoke can be positioned
and the housing is automatic. As these what larger and heavier, because they with a variety of controls, i.e., manual,
surfaces wear, the vanes move further have added internal controls, such as servo, compensator, handwheel, etc.
out in their slots to maintain contact handwheel, electric motor, hydraulic
with the housing. cylinder, servo, and mechanical stem. Bent axis pumps
Vane pumps, like other types, come This pump consists of a drive shaft
in double units. A double pump con- Axial piston pumps which rotates the pistons, a cylinder
sists of two pumping units in the same The pistons in an axial piston pump block, and a stationary valving surface
housing. They may be of the same or reciprocate parallel to the centerline of facing the cylinder block bores which
different sizes. Although they are the drive shaft of the piston block. That ports the inlet and outlet flow. The
mounted and driven like single pumps, is, rotary shaft motion is converted into drive shaft axis is angular in relation to
hydraulically, they are independent. axial reciprocating motion. Most axial the cylinder block axis. Rotation of the
Another variation is the series unit: piston pumps are multi-piston and use drive shaft causes rotation of the pis-
two pumps of equal capacity are con- check valves or port plates to direct tons and the cylinder block.
nected in series, so that the output of liquid flow from inlet to discharge. Because the plane of rotation of the
one feeds the other. This arrangement pistons is at an angle to the valving sur-
gives twice the pressure normally Inline piston pumps face plane, the distance between any one
available from this pump. Vane pumps The simplest type of axial piston of the pistons and the valving surface
have relatively high efficiencies. pump is the swashplate design in continually changes during rotation.

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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

Relief valve setting

ble plate. When eccentrics are used,
Maximum pressure
Maximum pressure == X return stroke is by springs. Because
relief
reliefvalve setting
valve setting valving cannot be supplied by cover-

Maximum flow
X Pump pressure
Load = load pressure
ing and uncovering ports as rotation

Maximum flow

Pressure
pressure occurs, inlet and outlet check valves
Pump flow may be used in these pumps.
Pressure

Load flow
= load flow Because of their construction, these
pumps offer two features other pumps
Flow do not have: one has a more positive
Flow Useful power Pump operating point sealing between inlet and outlet, per-
Useful power Pump operating point X Maximum power mitting higher pressures without ex-
Wasted power X Maximum power cessive leakage of slip. The other is
Fig. 11. Pressure flow curve of variable- that in many pumps, lubrication of
Fig. 10. Pressure-flow curve of hydraulic displacement hydraulic pump with ideal moving parts other than the piston and
system with fixed-displacement pump. flow and pressure compensation. cylindrical bore may be independent of
the liquid being pumped. Therefore,
Each individual piston moves away porting in the pintle permits them to liquids with poor lubricating proper-
from the valving surface during one-half take in fluid as they move outward ties can be pumped. Volumetric and
of the shaft revolution and toward the and discharge it as they move in. overall efficiencies are close to those
valving surface during the other half. The size and number of pistons and of axial and radial piston pumps.
The valving surface is so ported that the length of their stroke determine
its inlet passage is open to the cylinder pump displacement. Displacement can Measuring pump performance
bores in that part of the revolution be varied by moving the reaction ring Volume of fluid pumped per revolu-
where the pistons move away. Its out- to increase or decrease piston travel, tion is calculated from the geometry of
let passage is open to the cylinder varying eccentricity. Several controls the oil-carrying chambers. A pump
bores in the part of the revolution are available for this purpose. never quite delivers the calculated, or
where the pistons move toward the theoretical, amount of fluid. How close
valving surface. Therefore, during Plunger pumps it comes is called volumetric effi-
pump rotation the pistons draw liquid These reciprocating pumps are ciency. Volumetric efficiency is found
into their respective cylinder bores somewhat similar to rotary piston by comparing the calculated delivery
through the inlet chamber and force it types, in that pumping is the result of with actual delivery. Volumetric effi-
out through the outlet chamber. Bent pistons reciprocating in cylinder ciency varies with speed, pressure, and
axis pumps come in fixed and variable bores. However, the cylinders are the construction of the pump.
displacement configurations, but can- fixed in these pumps; they do not ro- A pump’s mechanical efficiency is





,,

not be reversed. tate around the drive shaft. Pistons also less than perfect, because some of
may be reciprocated by a crankshaft, the input energy is wasted in friction.
Radial-piston pumps by eccentrics on a shaft, or by a wob- Overall efficiency of a hydraulic pump
In these pumps, the pistons are ar-
ranged radially in a cylinder block;
they move perpendicularly to the shaft


,

centerline. Two basic types are avail-
able: one uses cylindrically shaped pis- Pressure compensator
tons, the other ball pistons. They may
also be classified according to the port-
ing arrangement: check valve or pintle
valve. They are available in fixed and


variable displacement, and variable re-
versible (over-center) displacement.
In pintle-ported radial piston Yoke control
pump, Figure 9, the cylinder block
rotates on a stationary pintle and in- Load/pump pressure
side a circular reacting ring or rotor. Metered pressure Yoke
As the block rotates, centrifugal
Exhaust
force, charging pressure, or some
Load pressure
form of mechanical action causes the
pistons to follow the inner surface of Pressure
the ring, which is offset from the cen- at pump outlet
terline of the cylinder block. As the
pistons reciprocate in their bores, Fig. 12. Schematic of typical proportional pump pressure compensator control.

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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

trol applications are the lever-con- duces circuit horsepower require-

Maximum pressure
trolled hydrostatic transmissions used ments dramatically, Figure 13. Out-
X
to propel windrowers, skid-steer load- put flow of this type of pump varies

Maximum flow
Load
ers, and road rollers. according to a predetermined dis-
pressure While matching the exact flow and charge pressure as sensed by an ori-
Pressure

pressure needs of a single load, these fice in the pump’s compensator. Be-
Pump flow controls have no inherent pressure or cause the compensator itself operates
= load flow power-limiting capabilities. And so, from pressurized fluid, the discharge
other provisions must be made to limit pressure must be set higher — say,
Flow maximum system pressure, and the 200 psi higher — than the maximum
Useful power Pump operating point. prime mover still must have corner load-pressure setting. So if the load-
Wasted power X Maximum power horsepower capability. Moreover, when pressure setting of a pressure-com-
a pump supplies a circuit with multiple pensated pump is 1100 psi, the pump
Fig. 13. Pressure-flow curve of variable- loads, the flow and pressure-matching will increase or decrease its displace-
displacement hydraulic pump equipped characteristics are compromised. ment (and output flow) based on a
with pressure compensation. A design approach to the system in 1300-psi discharge pressure.
which one pump powers multiple A two-stage pressure-compensator
is the product of its volumetric effi- loads is to use a pump equipped with a control, Figure 14, uses pilot flow at load
ciency and the mechanical efficiency. proportional pressure compensator, pressure across an orifice in the main
Pumps are generally rated by their Figure 12. A yoke spring biases the stage compensator spool to create a pres-
maximum operating pressure capabil- pump swashplate toward full displace- sure drop of 300 psi. This pressure drop
ity and their output, in gpm, at a given ment. When load pressure exceeds the generates a force on the spool which is
drive speed, in rpm. compensator setting, pressure force opposed by the main spool spring. Pilot
acts on the compensator spool to over- fluid flows to tank through a small relief
Matching pump power with the load come the force exerted by the spring. valve. A spring chamber pressure of 4700
Pressure compensation and load The spool then shifts toward the com- psi provides a compensator control set-
sensing are terms often used to de- pensator-spring chamber, ports pump ting of 5000 psi. An increase in pressure
scribe pump features that improve the output fluid to the stroking piston, and over the compensator setting shifts the
efficiency of pump operation. Some- decreases pump displacement. The main stage spool to the right, porting
times these terms are used inter- compensator spool returns to neutral pump output fluid to the stroking piston,
changeably, a misconception that is when pump pressure matches the com- which overcomes bias piston force and
cleared up once you understand the pensator spring setting. If a load blocks reduces pump displacement to match
differences in how the two enhance- the actuators, pump flow drops to zero. load requirements.
ments operate. Using a variable-displacement, The earlier stated misconception stems
To investigate these differences, pressure-compensated pump rather from an observation that output pressure

,,
,






consider a simple circuit using a fixed- than a fixed-displacement pump re- from a pressure-compensated pump can
displacement pump running at con-
stant speed. This circuit is efficient
only when the load demands maximum Two - stage pressure compensator
power because the pump puts out full
pressure and flow regardless of load Orifice


,,,
, 





Load pressure
demand. A relief valve prevents exces-
sive pressure buildup by routing high- Relief
pressure fluid to tank when the system valve
reaches the relief setting. As Figure 10
shows, power is wasted whenever the
load requires less than full flow or full




pressure. The unused fluid energy pro-
duced by the pump becomes heat that Stroking
piston
must be dissipated. Overall system ef-
ficiency may be 25% or lower. Yoke position
Variable displacement pumps, + 80 %
Pressure
equipped with displacement controls, Bias at pump outlet
position Pump/load pressure
Figure 11, can save most of this wasted Pilot/control pressure
hydraulic horsepower when moving a Metered pressure
single load. Control variations include Exhaust
hand wheel, lever, cylinder, stem
servo, and electrohydraulic servo con-
trols. Examples of displacement con- Fig. 14. Schematic of pump two-stage compensator control.

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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

discharge pressure reaches the com-

4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 pensator setting, Figure 15. Note that
80
in system equipped with an accumula-
Typicalloader
Typical loaderand tor, a two-stage compensator control
&excavator
excavatorsystems
systems provides little advantage. In excavator
60 hydraulic systems, however, superior-
Pressure overshoot - %

Typical proportional ity of the two-stage compensator is ev-

compensator ident: it provides system components
much greater protection against pres-
40
sure transients.
Two - stage
compensator Load sensing: the next step
20 A similar control, which has re-
cently become popular, is the load
sensing control, sometimes called a
power matching control, Figure 16.

,,
10,000 100,000 The single-stage valve is almost iden-
Rate of pressure rise - psi/sec tical to the single-stage compensator
control, Figure 12, except that the
Fig. 15. Typical performance of a single- and two-stage pressure compensation. spring chamber is connected down-

,,
stream of a variable orifice rather than
Load sensing compensator Relief valve setting directly to tank. The load-sensing
X compensator spool achieves equilib-
Maximum flow rium when the pressure drop across
Pump pressure the variable orifice matches the 300-

,
Pressure

psi spring setting.

About
~~200
200psi Any of three basic load-sensing sig-
Load pressure
Load flow nals control a load-sensing pump: un-
Yoke control loaded, working, and relieving. In the
Flow unloaded mode, the lack of load pres-
Yoke
Useful power Pump operating point sure causes the pump to produce zero
Wasted power X Maximum popwer discharge flow at bias or unload pres-
Load pressure sure. When working, load pressure
Variable orifice Fig. 17. Pressure-flow curve of pump with causes the pump to generate discharge
Pressure load-sensing control. flow in relation to a set pressure drop,
at pump outlet or bias pressure. When the system
Load pressure Metered pressure control shown in Figure 12. The dy- reaches maximum pressure, the pump
Exhaust Pump pressure namic performance of the two-stage maintains this pressure by adjusting its
control is superior, however. This be- discharge flow.
Fig. 16. Schematic of proportional pump comes obvious when one analyzes a Like the pressure-compensated
compensator that provides load-sensing ca- transient which involves a sudden de- pump, a load-sensing pump has a pres-
pability. crease in load flow demand, starting sure-compensation control, but the
from full stroke at low pressure. control is modified to receive two pres-
fall below the compensator setting while The single-stage control spool ports sure signals, not just one. As with pres-
an actuator is moving. This does not hap- pressure fluid to the stroke piston only sure compensation, the load-sensing
pen because the pump is sensing the load, when pump discharge pressure reach control receives a signal representing
it happens because the pump is under- the compensator setting. The main- discharge pressure, but it also receives
sized for the application. Pressure drops stage spool of the two-stage control a second signal representing load pres-
because the pump cannot generate starts moving as soon as pump dis- sure. This signal originates from a sec-
enough flow to keep up with the load. charge pressure minus spring chamber ond orifice downstream from the first.
When properly sized, a pressure-com- pressure exceeds the 300-psi spring This second orifice may be a flow-con-
pensated pump should always force setting. Because pilot fluid flows trol valve immediately beyond the
enough fluid through the compensator through the orifice and because of the pump outlet, the spool opening of a di-
orifice to operate the compensator. flow needed to compress the fluid in rectional control valve, or it may be a
the spring chamber, the spring cham- restriction in a fluid conductor.
Superior dynamically ber pressure lags pump discharge pres- Comparison of these two pressure
With respect to its matching func- sure. This causes the spool to become signals in the modified compensator
tion, a two-stage compensator is iden- unbalanced and shift to the right. section allows the pump to sense both
tical to the proportional compensator Pump destroking starts before pump load and flow. This reduces power

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, ,,


HYDRAULIC PUMPS

, ,,



pressure compensator and a hydrostat
Load sensing compensator to vary volumetric output to a system
in reference to load pressure and flow
requirements. A hydrostat is a spring-


loaded device that meters flow ac-
cording to the spring force across its
Pressure limiting equal but opposing effective areas. It
compensator may be restrictive, as in a series cir-
Yoke control cuit, or it may bypass primary load
pressure to a secondary or tank pres-
Pump pressure sure. In simple terms, a hydrostat sep-
Yoke
Load pressure arates the total flow into two flows:
Metered pressure one represents the required flow and
Exhaust Load pressure the other represents the required pres-
Pressure
at pump outlet Variable orifice sure of the primary circuit. A load-
sensing piston pump uses its hydro-
Fig. 18. Schematic of pump control that provides load sensing and pressure limiting. stat to regulate output flow relative to
load pressure and bypasses the excess
losses even further, Figure 17. Output point, the limiter portion of the com- pump flow to a secondary route,
flow of the pump varies in relation to pensator overrides the load-sensing which may be ported to tank or to a
the differential pressure of the two ori- control to destroke the pump. Again, secondary circuit.
fices. Just as the pressure-compensated the prime mover must have corner A load-sensing gear pump, on the
pump increased its discharge pressure horsepower capability. other hand, uses a hydrostat in combina-
by the amount required to run the pres- tion with an unloader to vary its volu-
sure compensator, the load- and flow- Load-sensing gear pumps metric output in response to load and
sensing pump’s discharge pressure Piston and vane pumps rely on their flow requirements. Because load-sens-
typically is between 200 and 250 psi variable-displacement capability to ing piston and gear pumps both use a
higher than actual load pressure. accomplish load sensing. How, then, single load-sensing signal to control
Furthermore, a load-sensing pump can a gear pump accomplish load pump discharge pressure and flow, they
can follow the load and flow require- sensing if its displacement is fixed? are interchangeable in load-sensing cir-
ments of a single circuit function or mul- Like standard gear pumps, load-sens- cuits. Both types have much in common
tiple simultaneous functions, relating ing gear pumps have low initial cost
horsepower to maximum load pressure. when compared to other designs with
This consumes the lowest possible equivalent flow and pressure capabili- Load-sensing
horsepower and generates the least heat. ties. However, load-sensing gear signal
pumps offer the versatility of vari-
Operator control
If the variable orifice is a manually
able-displacement axial-piston and
vane pumps but without the high com-
,,,,
Priority
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,,,,,,

operated flow control valve, the sys- plexity and high cost of variable-dis-
,,

tem can operate in a load-matched placement mechanisms.

mode at the direction of an operator. A load-sensing gear pump is a versa- Hydrostat with
As he opens the flow control valve, tile pump of patented design that can: adjustible
flow increases proportionally (con- ● provide the high efficiency of load spring
stant pressure drop across an increas- sensing without the high cost associ- Load-sensing
ing-diameter orifice), at a pressure ated with piston or vane pumps signal
slightly above load pressure. ● produce zero to full output flow in
,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,
,,,,,, ,,,,,
,,,,,, ,,,,,
,,,,,, ,,,,,

As suggested in Figure 17, wasted less than 40 milliseconds with little or

,, ,,

,, ,,

power is very low with a load-sensing no pressure spiking and without pump
variable volume pump compensator. inlet supercharging
Since the control senses pressure drop ● drive circuits with low (approaching
and not absolute pressure, a relief atmospheric) unload relief pressures
valve or other means of limiting pres- ● provide priority flow and secondary Hydrostat
sure must be provided. flow with a low unload pressure to re- Adjustable spring
This problem is solved by a load- duce standby and secondary loaded
sensing/pressure-limiting control, power draw, and Fig. 19. Load sensing gear pumps with two
Figure 18. This control functions as ● interchange with load-sensing vane different types of hydrostats installed. The
the load-sensing control previously or piston pumps without having to spring adjustment allows tuning pressure
described, until load pressure reaches change line or component sizes. drop for different manufacturers’ valves or
the pressure limiter setting. At that Load-sensing piston pumps use a line lengths.

A/146
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HYDRAULIC PUMPS

and offer substantial power savings over

systems using fixed-displacement Load-sensing Pilot relief
pumps. Both offer reduced power con- signal
sumption in the running mode — when Unloader

,,,,,,,
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,,,
,,,,,,,
,,,
control

,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,
,,,,,,
,,,,,,
flow and pressure are required to oper-

,,,

,,,,,
ate a function. They also conserve

,,,,,,,
,,,,,
,,,
,,,,,,,
,,
power in the standby mode — when the
system is idling or in a non-operational

,,,,,,
,,,
,,,,,,,,,
,,,
,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,
mode. Furthermore, they can reduce the Load-sensing
required size — and, therefore, cost— signal Unloader
of valves, conductors, and filters needed control
for the circuit.

,,,,,,,
,,,,,
,,,,,
,,,,,
The load-sensing gear pump illus- Fig. 21. Combined control is achieved by
trated in Figure 19 minimizes power ,,,,,,, incorporating a pilot relief, which causes
,,,
,,,,,,,
,,,
,,,,,,,
consumption in the running mode by the hydrostat to act as the main stage of a
separating total discharge flow accord- pilot-operated relief valve.
ing to a remote primary function pres-
sure and a primary flow. This is ac- least 2:1. Any line pressure sensed
complished through a single that exceeds 50% of pump discharge
load-sensing signal originating from Fig. 20. Unloader control has been added pressure will close the unloader con-
the priority circuit and routed as close to the load-sensing gear pump. The control trol. The ability of the unloader con-
as possible to the discharge side of the uses a poppet or a plunger to allow maxi- trol to unload the pump to near atmo-
pump’s gears. mum flow at the minimum pressure drop spheric discharge pressure is
Adding an unloader control to the across the unloader with minimal control controlled by the poppet or plunger
pump circuit, Figure 20, allows the movement. spring force. The unloader control is
system to conserve power in the set to the lowest value to maintain the
standby mode of operation as well as ondary circuit and at a pressure well internal pressure loading of the gear
in the running mode. This control must below the hydrostat’s pressure-drop pump. When compared to a standard
be installed in parallel with the inlet setting in the standby mode. fixed-displacement gear pump circuit,
port of the hydrostat and as close as The unloader control must operate this control can reduce standby power
possible to the discharge side of the off the same remote load-sensing sig- consumption by 90%.
gears. It must be piloted by the same nal that controls the hydrostat. Unlike
load-sensing signal as in Figure 19. the hydrostat, the unloader poppet of Dual and combined controls
This signal causes the pump to dump the unloader control is designed with The load-sensing signal can be con-
all flow from the outlet to the sec- opposing areas having a ratio of at ditioned by limiting pressure in the re-
mote sensing line or taking it to 0 psig.


,
Low unload poppet
Doing so causes the hydrostat and the
Load sensing port
Relief Valve
unloader control of the load-sensing
gear pump to respond to the condi-
tioned signal according to the dis-
charge pressure. This is accomplished
,,,,,,,,,,
, ,,,,,

,,,,,
by providing a pilot relief, Figure 21,
,,,,
,,,,,
,,,,,

,,,,,
,,,
,,,,
,,,

,,,,,
,,,,,
which causes the hydrostat to act as
,,,,,,,,,,,,

,,,,,
,,,,,
,

,,,

the main stage of a pilot-operated re-

lief valve. The ability to condition the
load-sensing line is patented and
Bypass port makes the load-sensing gear pump
useful for functions other than just
load sensing.
The combined-control load-sensing
Relief to inlet
gear pump, Figure 22, is intended for
large-displacement pumps and by-
passes secondary flow to tank. It also
Pump discharge Hydrostat is patented, and can be used in the
same applications as the dual-control
Fig. 22. This cutaway shows combined control, which has an adjustable hydrostat con- pump. However, because secondary
tained within the unloader control. Locating the hydrostat within the low-unload control flow must be routed to tank, it cannot
allows all piston areas to operate from a single load-response signal. It is intended for be used when the secondary circuit
applications using large pumps where secondary flow bypasses to tank. drives a load.

2003 Fluid Power Directory A/147