IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,692,869
Granted Patent B2
US 12,692,869 · App. 19/255,119 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Twin pump unit casing having motor mounted touchscreens

Inventors: Gabor Lechner (Scarborough, CA); Marcelo Javier Acosta Gonzalez (Scarborough, CA); Rohit Mohindra (Scarborough, CA); Santhosh Vijayan (Scarborough, CA)
Assignee: S.A. Armstrong Limited
F04D13/14F04D15/0016F04D15/0066F04D15/029F04D29/406
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,692,869
App. No.
19/255,119
Filed
Jun 30, 2025
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3746
USPC
415/1
Abstract

A dual pump unit having a pair of pumps that provide parallel hydraulic paths, and are configured to operate concurrently in opposite rotational directions. The dual pump unit has a sealed casing which includes a suction flange, two volutes in hydraulically parallel configuration, and a discharge flange. The pair of pumps are located within a respective volute of the casing and, in an example, are radially inline and horizontally inline. The casing may include a flattened bottom. Each pump may include a touchscreen for configuration of the respective pump. The pumps are controllable to circulate a circulating medium to collectively provide output to source a load.

Claims (30)

1 . A pump unit, comprising:

a casing including a first pedestal casing, a second pedestal casing, a first motor casing, a second motor casing, a suction flange and a discharge flange;

a first pump within the casing and hydraulically fed from the suction flange;

a first shaft within the first pedestal casing;

a first pair of removable covers positioned at opposing sides of the first pedestal casing for accessing the first shaft;

a first motor within the first motor casing;

a second pump within the casing and hydraulically fed from the suction flange and provides a parallel hydraulic path to the first pump, wherein the discharge flange is hydraulically fed from the first pump and the second pump;

a second shaft within the second pedestal casing;

a second pair of removable covers positioned at opposing sides of the second pedestal casing for accessing the second shaft;

a second motor within the second motor casing;

a first touchscreen attached to the first motor casing for input and/or output in association with the first pump;

a first controller for controlling operation of the first touchscreen and the first pump;

a second touchscreen attached to the second motor casing for input and/or output in association with the second pump;

a second controller for controlling operation of the second touchscreen and the second pump, and

a flap valve which hydraulically connects the first pump and the second pump to the discharge flange,

wherein the pump unit is a vertical inline split-coupled unit,

wherein in a vertical orientation the casing is substantially vertically symmetrical and includes a flattened bottom,

wherein the flattened bottom comprises exactly two flat regions of contact comprising a first exterior flange and a second exterior flange, wherein the suction flange and the discharge flange are floating and above the first exterior flange and the second exterior flange when the pump unit is vertically oriented,

wherein the first exterior flange and the second exterior flange each have a respective flat cross shape that collectively define the flattened bottom.

2 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first controller and the second controller are configured to respectively control the first pump and the second pump in any symmetrical or asymmetrical range of parallel flow operation of the first pump and the second pump.

3 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first controller and the second controller are configured to respectively control the first pump and the second pump in a range of 0% to 100% of motor speed.

4 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first touchscreen and/or the second touchscreen is configured for respective commissioning and/or setup of the first pump and/or the second pump.

5 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein hydraulic characteristics of the casing and each pump provide hydraulically identical net flow and head pressure upon identical speed rotation of the first pump and the second pump.

6 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein hydraulic characteristics of the casing and each pump provide hydraulically identical and opposite rotational paths upon identical speed rotation of the first pump and the second pump.

7 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a co-ordination module configured to co-ordinate operation of the first motor and the second motor.

8 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first exterior flange and the second exterior flange are horizontally aligned when the pump unit is vertically oriented, so that the first exterior flange and the second exterior flange collectively provide the flattened bottom.

9 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the co-ordinate operation includes disabling only one of the first motor or the second motor for inspection while simultaneously operating the other of the first motor or the second motor.

10 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the co-ordinate operation includes disabling only one of the first motor or the second motor for maintenance while simultaneously operating the other of the first motor or the second motor.

11 . The pump unit as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the maintenance includes seal maintenance on the first motor without removing the first pump and by opening a removable cover of the first pair of removable covers.

12 . Use of the pump unit as claimed in claim 11 , comprising performing the opening of the removable cover and performing the seal maintenance.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 30, 2025
From: LECHNER, GABOR; ACOSTA GONZALEZ, MARCELO JAVIER; MOHINDRA, ROHIT; VIJAYAN, SANTHOSH
To: S.A. ARMSTRONG LIMITED
Reel/Frame 071787/0001 →
Continuity (5)
Continuation 18611536 · Mar 20, 2024
Continuation 18206537 · Jun 6, 2023
Continuation 16461274 · May 29, 2017
Provisional Application 62451219 · Jan 27, 2017
Related Publication 20250327456A1 · Oct 23, 2025
References Cited (68)
US D32454S · Peters · 1900 [cited by applicant]
US 2810345A · Englesson · 1957 [cited by applicant]
US 3183838A · Englesson · 1965 [cited by examiner]
US 4177018A · Granet · 1979 [cited by applicant]
US 5139397A · Strelow · 1992 [cited by applicant]
US 5178520A · Strelow · 1993 [cited by applicant]
US 5259731A · Dhindsa · 1993 [cited by examiner]
US 5566709A · Fujii et al. · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US D440230S · Craford et al. · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 7980833B1 · Golden, III · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US D647537S · Mehnert et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8376698B2 · Vedsted · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 9051936B2 · Kallesoe et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9823627B2 · Acosta Gonzalez · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 11732719B2 · Lechner et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 12372091B2 · Lechner · 2025 [cited by examiner]
US 20050196269A1 · Racer et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20110289675A1 · Dunki-Jacobs et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20110301766A1 · Higgins et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120078424A1 · Raghavachari · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20140026598A1 · Trawicki et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140250580A1 · Magyar · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20150286196A1 · Acosta Gonzalez · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150293505A1 · Acosta Gonzalez · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150345804A1 · Ellingwood et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160105022A1 · Oehring et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170122326A1 · Dahlqvist et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170211580A1 · Prasad DJ et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
CN 2043284U · 1989 [cited by applicant]
CN 2434454Y · 2001 [cited by applicant]
CN 102384533A · 2012 [cited by applicant]
CN 104871107A · 2015 [cited by applicant]
CN 104932377A · 2015 [cited by applicant]
EP 0464355B1 · 1993 [cited by applicant]
EP 0464360B1 · 1994 [cited by applicant]
EP 0735273A1 · 1996 [cited by examiner]
EP 0864755B1 · 2003 [cited by applicant]
EP 1614903A1 · 2006 [cited by applicant]
EP 2143953B1 · 2011 [cited by applicant]
EP 2142802B1 · 2014 [cited by applicant]
EP 2354555B1 · 2015 [cited by applicant]
FR 2075830A5 · 1971 [cited by applicant]
FR 2105733A5 · 1972 [cited by applicant]
GB 1563172A · 1980 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2013067206A1 · 2013 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2014089694A1 · 2014 [cited by applicant]
Intelligent Variable Speed Pumps Brochure (Armstrong), Aug. 2015 (Year: 2015). [cited by examiner]
English Machine Translation of EP-735273-A1 (Year: 1996). [cited by examiner]
Lowara FC-FCT Series Brochure, 2012 (Year: 2012). [cited by examiner]
Armstrong 4300 Seal Change (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6-NWMKbcVE); viewed as recently as Feb. 19, 2026 (Year: 2011). [cited by examiner]
International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Oct. 2, 2017, for PCT/CA2017/050648. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 3×3×6 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 3×3×8 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 4×4×6 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 4×4×8 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 6×6×6 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 6×6×8 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4302; Vertical In-Line Dualarm Split-Coupled; 8×8×8 Submittal; Dec. 4, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Armstrong; Series 4392; Vertical In-Line Pump Brochure; 2010. [cited by applicant]
PumpsUK description webpage of Armstrong 4392 pump (https://www.pumpsukltd.com/armstrong-4392-express-pib-fixed-speed-in-line-pumps.html, availability dated Sep. 21, 2016. [cited by applicant]
Wilo-CronoTwin-DL-E pump brochure from 2013 accessible at https://iprowater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/WILO-CRONO-LINE-BLOC-TWIN-E.pdf. [cited by applicant]
Lowara FCTS4 pump brochure from 2012 accessible at https://fortek.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/fcfct-td-en.pdf. [cited by applicant]
Wilo SE, Pioneering for You: Wilo-CronoLine-IL, Wilo-CronoTwin-DL, Wilo-CronoBloc-BL, Jul. 2018, 128 pages. [cited by applicant]
Description of Non-Patent Literature, Wilo SE, Pioneering for You: Wilo-CronoLine-IL, Wilo-CronoTwin-DL, Wilo-CronoBloc-BL, Jul. 2018, 1 page. [cited by applicant]
Office Action dated Sep. 27, 2022, for European Application No. 17894573.9-1004, 7 pages. [cited by applicant]
FC-FCT Series, In-line electric pumps single and twin equipped with IE2/IE3 motors complying with regulation (EC) No. 640/2009, Rev.B Ed.Jun. 2012 (Year: 2012). [cited by applicant]
Intelligent Variable Speed Pumps Brochure, Aug. 2015 (Year: 2015). [cited by applicant]
English Machine Translation of EP1614903 (Year: 2006). [cited by applicant]