Automotive fuel pump gear assembly having lifting and lubricating features

摘要

The present invention involves a gear assembly having a lifting feature for a fuel pump for supplying fuel to an automotive engine from a fuel tank. The gear assembly comprises an inner gear and an outer gear in mating relationship with the inner gear. The inner gear has a substantially disc shape with an outside camming surface and having an inner cover face and an inner body face. The inner gear has a center aperture formed therethrough defining an axis of rotation perpendicular to the inner cover and inner body faces. The inner cover face has a plurality of inner concave grooves radially formed thereon and spaced apart from each other to provide lifting of the inner gear when rotating about the axis. The outer gear has a substantially planar shape. The outer gear includes an annular wall having an inside camming surface slideably engaging about the outside camming surface to matingly cooperate with the inner gear for rotation about the axis. The outer gear has an outer cover surface and an outer body surface. The outer cover surface has a plurality of outer concave grooves radially formed thereon and spaced apart from each other to provide lifting of the outer gear when rotating about the axis.