FUNDAMENTALS Josh Cosford • Contributing Editor
Hydraulic symbology 205 – pumps The base symbol for the hydraulic pump (Figure 1) is actually quite simple. It starts with the standard circle and a directional arrow pointing out one end from within that circle. The solid-filled triangle makes this a hydraulic pump while pneumatic pumps (and most pneumatic symbols) are outlines only. There exist no other options for this particular pump symbol, which can be accurately described as a fixed displacement, unidirectional hydraulic pump.
The third symbol in Figure 1 illustrates the very simplified version of the variable displacement, pressure compensated, unidirectional hydraulic pump. It includes the variable arrow across the entire symbol, explaining that the pump displacement can be modified. To the left is a smaller arrow, and as you may have picked up on from earlier symbol articles, it tells us the pump displacement varies automatically with pressure compensation. As a fan of ISO 1219 symbology, I don’t find this symbol visually pleasing, concise as it is.
It’s rare to see a pump in any orientation but North when reading schematics, and they are often paired below to a line terminating into the reservoir symbol, which I show just once. If multiple components such as filters, ball valves, accessories or even other pumps are used, the tank line can be widened as needed. Other designers prefer to show every tank line terminate into the same small symbol, while others will place a tank symbol right at every component requiring it, just is done in electrics with the ground symbol. Unfortunately, and except for rare circumstances, there are no symbology differences between the type of pumps available. The symbols for a gear pump, a vane pump, a piston pump or any other type of physical configuration does not carry with it any symbolic difference, nor does it matter as you’ll find out by the end of this. The second pump is not much different from the first, with the exception of the second black directional triangle, which informs us this pump can expel fluid from what would otherwise be the suction port. This is the symbol for a bi-rotational pump, which is rare outside of advanced mobile machinery, especially in the fixed displacement version as shown. Although a series of check valves could allow both ports to become either the tank or pressure lines, depending upon the direction of rotation, this is still a rare concept. Figure 2. Pressure compensated pump
Figure 1. Hydraulic pumps 24
FLUID POWER WORLD
8 • 2020
My favorite symbol to express the pressure compensated pump is the smaller of the two symbols in Figure 2. This is a slightly more detailed example of the symbol I depicted in Hydraulic Symbology 101, and I’ve added color to help with the explanation. Don’t worry about the scary looking object to the right, we’ll get to that shortly. For this particular symbol of the pressure compensated pump, the shaft sticks out to the right, which can be attached to the square of a combustion engine prime mover symbol or the circular symbol of an www.fluidpowerworld.com
