A commercially available motor vehicle fuel pump manufactured by the assignee of this invention, General Motors Corporation, includes a roller vane positive displacement pump and an electric motor. A sleeve bearing on a side plate of the roller vane pump rotatably supports one end of an armature shaft of the motor on the side plate. A rotor of the roller vane pump is mounted on the armature shaft. When the motor is on, the armature shaft may tip the sleeve bearing relative to the side plate due to fluid pressure induced side thrust on the rotor. A motor vehicle fuel pump according to this invention is an improvement relative to the aforesaid commercially available motor vehicle fuel pump.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds