Patent 8205597 was granted and assigned to Snecma on June, 2012 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A centrifugal pump driven by mechanical coupling with an engine has a low pressure inlet receiving fuel from a fuel circuit of an aircraft, a high pressure outlet connected to a regulator circuit for regulating the flow rate of fuel supplied to the engine, and an assistance pump unit that is electrically controlled, having an inlet connected to the aircraft fuel circuit and an outlet connected to the flow rate regulator circuit so as to deliver, via its outlet, fuel that is at a predetermined minimum pressure, the pressure of the fuel supplied to the regulator circuit being the higher of the pressures delivered by the centrifugal pump and the assistance pump unit.