BALANCER FOR VERTICAL ROTOR AND CENTRIFUGE USING THE SAME

Abstract

Disclosed herein are a balancer which is provided with a curved portion at a balancing space so that movement of balls is accelerated at the moment a rotational speed of a rotor exceeds a resonant speed, thereby stabilizing the rotation of the rotor without vibration regardless of when the rotational speed of the rotor is less or more than the resonant speed, and a centrifuge using the above balancer. The balancer includes a body which is formed with a balancing space thereinside. The balancing space has a circular circumference, and is defined by a bottom portion, a slanted portion extending upward from the bottom portion, a curved portion formed at an end of the slanted portion, and an upper large-diameter portion extending from the curved portion. The balancer further includes a plurality of balls which are contained in the balancing space.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a balancer for a vertical rotor in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a balancer for a vertical rotor depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a is a sectional view illustrating an operating state of a balancer for a vertical rotor depicted in FIG. 1 when a rotor is rotated at a lower speed than a resonant speed;

FIG. 3 b is a sectional view illustrating an operating state of a balancer for a vertical rotor depicted in FIG. 1 when a rotor is rotated at a resonant speed;

FIG. 3 c is a sectional view illustrating an operating state of a balancer for a vertical rotor depicted in FIG. 1 when a rotor is rotated at a higher speed than a resonant speed;

FIGS. 4 to 7 are sectional views illustrating modifications of a balancer for a vertical rotor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a balancer for a vertical rotor in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view illustrating a balancer for a vertical rotor depicted in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view illustrating a modification of a balancer for a vertical rotor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating a relationship between movement of a ball according to a rotational speed and a direction of a force applied to the ball;

FIGS. 12 to 17 are sectional views illustrating various examples of a centrifuge in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a conventional balancer for a vertical rotor;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view illustrating another example of a conventional balancer for a vertical rotor; and

FIG. 20 is a sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional centrifuge.

Claims

1. A balancer for a vertical rotor, which keeps balance of the rotor in rotation of the rotor, comprising: a body which is formed with a balancing space inside the body, the balancing space having a circular circumference, and being defined by a bottom portion, a slanted portion extending upward from the bottom portion, a curved portion formed at an end of the slanted portion, and an upper large-diameter portion extending from the curved portion; anda plurality of balls which are contained in the balancing space.

2. The balancer according to claim 1, wherein the balancing space is partitioned into multi-layers.

3. The balancer according to claim 2, wherein the balls contained in one layer of the balancing space are different in a diameter from the balls stored in another layer of the balancing space such that the diameters of the balls become larger from an uppermost layer to a lowermost layer.

4. The balancer according to claim 3, wherein the balls include metal particles having a diameter in the range of 0.2 mm to 2.0 mm.

5. The balancer according to claim 4, wherein the body includes a main body which has an opened portion and is formed with the balancing space inside the main body, and a cover which is coupled to the main body to shield the opened portion.

6. The balancer according to claim 5, wherein the bottom portion of the balancing space is formed in a semispherical shape.

7. The balancer according to claim 6, wherein the body is provided with a shaft connecting part having a shaft hole, to which the rotor is connected.

8. The balancer according to claim 7, wherein a shaft hole is formed through the bottom portion of the body, into which a rotating shaft is coupled, and a stopper is inserted into an upper portion of the shaft hole such that the stopper is disposed on the same plane with the bottom portion.

9. The balancer according to claim 8, wherein the bottom portion of the balancing space is coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) or teflon which has a high lubrication force.

10. A centrifuge which includes an outer case, a damper mounted to a supporting plate formed at an inner surface of the outer case, a motor mounted to a bracket supported by the damper, and a rotor mounted to a rotating shaft of the motor, the rotor having buckets hingedly coupled to the rotor or a plurality of chambers, being characterized in that: the rotor is provided with a balancer,wherein the balancer includes:a body which is formed with a balancing space inside the body, the balancing space having a circular circumference, and being defined by a bottom portion, a slanted portion extending upward from the bottom portion, a curved portion formed at an end of the slanted portion, and an upper large-diameter portion extending from the curved portion; anda plurality of balls which are contained in the balancing space.

11. The centrifuge according to claim 10, wherein the balancing space is partitioned into multi-layers.

12. The centrifuge according to claim 11, wherein the balls contained in one layer of the balancing space are different in a diameter from the balls stored in another layer of the balancing space such that the diameters of the balls become larger from an uppermost layer to a lowermost layer.

13. The centrifuge according to claim 12, wherein the balls include metal particles having a diameter in the range of 0.2 mm to 2.0 mm.

14. The centrifuge according to claim 13, wherein the body includes a main body which has an opened portion and is formed with the balancing space inside the main body, and a cover which is coupled to the main body to shield the opened portion.

15. The centrifuge according to claim 14, wherein the bottom portion of the balancing space is formed in a semispherical shape.

16. The centrifuge according to claim 15, wherein the body is provided with a shaft connecting part having a shaft hole, to which the rotating shaft is connected.

17. The centrifuge according to claim 16, wherein a shaft hole is formed through the bottom portion of the body, into which the rotating shaft is coupled, and a stopper is inserted into an upper portion of the shaft hole such that the stopper is disposed on the same plane with the bottom portion.

18. The centrifuge according to claim 17, wherein the bottom portion of the balancing space is coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) or teflon which has a high lubrication force.