	US 7,371,056 B2
	Fluid pump, cooling system and electrical appliance
Kenichi Ito, Zama (Japan); Katsuya Seko, Yokohama (Japan); Kentaro Tomioka, Sayama (Japan); Tomonao Takamatsu, Tokyo (Japan); Fumihide Nagashima, Yokohama (Japan); and Takahiro Kojima, Yokohama (Japan)
Assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo (Japan)
Filed on Mar. 30, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/93,030.
Claims priority of application No. 2004-107158 (JP), filed on Mar. 31, 2004; and application No. 2004-245164 (JP), filed on Aug. 25, 2004.
Prior Publication US 2005/0249609 A1, Nov. 10, 2005
Int. Cl. F04B 17/00 (2006.01); F04B 35/04 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 417—353 [417/352; 417/410.1; 417/420; 417/423.1; 361/695; 361/696; 361/698; 361/699]

26 Claims

1. A fluid pump comprising:

a case including a pump chamber for storing a liquid;

a suction port and a discharge port provided on the case so as to communicate with the pump chamber;

an impeller having pump vanes and rotatably placed in the pump chamber, which suctions a liquid into the pump chamber via the suction port and discharges the liquid out of the pump chamber via the discharge port by rotation;

a motor for driving the impeller, installed in the case and having a stator and a rotor to which the impeller is integrally attached for rotating together;

a reserve tank for storing spare liquid that is provided within the case but outside and independent of the pump chamber;

a fluid path forming member arranged inside the reserve tank, including a discharge path communicating between the discharge port and the pump chamber, the fluid path forming member having a side; and

a communication hole which is formed in the side of the fluid path forming member and positioned such that the communication hole faces an inside of the reserve tank of the fluid path forming member so that the communication hole communicates between the discharge path and the inside of the reserve tank, the communication hole being sized so that air in the pump chamber is allowed to flow therethrough into the reserve tank.