The present application claims priority to Korean Applications No. 10-2007-0004553 and No. 10-2007-0004554 filed in Korea Jan. 15, 2007, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
A compressor and an oil separator therefore are disclosed herein.
Compressors are known. However, they suffer from various disadvantages.
Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:
Generally, a compressor is a device for converting mechanical energy into compression energy to compressor a fluid. Compressors are divided into several types including a reciprocating compressor, a rotary compressor, a vane compressor, and a scroll compressor according to the method of compressing the fluid.
A scroll compressor may include a driving motor that generates a driving force in a hermetic casing, and a compression device that compresses a refrigerant by receiving the driving force generated by the driving motor. The compression device may include an orbiting scroll coupled to a driving shaft of the driving motor that performs an orbit motion with respect to a fixed scroll, thus forming a plurality of compression chambers. As the compression chambers move towards a center, a refrigerant is consecutively compressed and then discharged.
When the driving motor rotates, oil contained in an inner space of the casing may be sucked along the driving shaft to lubricate the compression device and cool the driving motor. However, in the related art scroll compressor, oil mixed with a refrigerant discharged from the compression device is discharged into a refrigerating cycle system. Since the compressor is not provided with an oil separating function, if an oil separating device for oil collection is not additionally installed in the compressor, a reliability of the compressor is reduced due to oil deficiency. When an oil separating device is provided along the refrigerating cycle system, a pipe for connecting the oil separating device and the compressor is required. As a result, fabrication cost is increased, and the refrigerating cycle system has a lowered function due to a lower pressure of refrigerant discharged from the compressor having passed through the oil separating device.
Hereinafter, a scroll compressor according to embodiments will be explained in detail with reference to the attached drawings. An oil separating device according embodiments is disclosed in detail implemented in a scroll compressor. However, the oil separating device according embodiments may be implemented in other types of compressors. Further, the oil separating device according to embodiments may be implemented in a high side scroll compressor or a low side scroll compressor.
A refrigerant suction pipe SP may be coupled to an upper side of the body 11 so as to be directly coupled to an inlet 31c of a fixed scroll 31. A refrigerant discharge pipe DP may be connected to an upper center of the upper cap 12 so as to be connected to an upper space S1 of the casing 10. A main frame 14 and a sub frame 15 each having axial holes 14a and 15b that support the driving shaft 23 of the driving motor 20 may be fixed at inner upper and lower sides of the body 11.
The axial hole 14a may be penetratingly formed at a center of the main frame 14, and an oil pocket 14b that collects oil sucked along the driving shaft 23 of the driving motor may be disposed at an upper end of the axial hole 14a. An oil collecting hole 14c that supplies oil stored in the oil pocket 14b to the casing 10 may be penetratingly formed on an outer circumferential surface of the oil pocket 14b.
A first connection passage 14d through which a refrigerant and oil may be guided to a lower space S2 of the casing 10 by a guiding member 41 of the oil separating device 40 may be formed at one side at an outer circumferential surface of the main frame 14. A second connection passage 14e through which the refrigerant moved to the lower space S2 and oil not separated from the refrigerant may be moved to an upper space S1 may be formed at another side at the outer circumferential surface of the main frame 14 that is not received by the guiding member 41. An oil collecting passage (not shown) through which oil separated from a refrigerant in the upper space S1 may be moved to the lower space S2 may be formed at one side at the outer circumferential surface of the main frame 14.
The outer circumferential surface of the main frame 14 that is not covered by the guiding member 41 need not be sealed by the casing 10. Also, an oil collecting hole need not be additionally formed in the main frame 14.
The oil separating device 40 may include separating member 42 in the form a pipe or tube that separates the refrigerant and oil coupled to one side of the outer circumferential surface of the main frame 14 not covered by the guiding member 41. The guiding member 41 may be disposed to cover an upper surface of a plate portion 31a of a fixed scroll 31 so as to hermetically cover a discharge port 31d of the fixed scroll 31 fixed to the casing 10 to form the compression device 30 together with an orbiting scroll 32.
As shown in
An oil collecting through hole 41c that collects oil separated from a refrigerant at the upper space S1 of the casing 10 to the inner space of the guiding member 41 may be formed in an upper surface of the guiding member 41. The oil collecting through hole 41c may be formed to have a size small enough to be blocked by oil, thereby preventing refrigerant leakage.
As shown in
The outlet of the separating member 42 may have a planar cross-sectional surface or an inclined cross-sectional surface. When the outlet of the separating member 42 has an inclined cross-sectional surface, the inclined cross-sectional surface may be disposed to face an inner circumferential surface of the casing 10 so as to smoothly guide refrigerant and oil to the inner circumferential surface of the casing 10.
The separating member 42 may be disposed along a plane and may be curved or bent on the plane so that refrigerant is directed to orbit in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction along the inner circumferential surface of the casing 10. The separating member 42 may be curved or bent on a second dimensional surface or plane or on a third dimensional surface or plane.
A synchronous reluctance motor having a plurality of magnetic flux barriers at a rotor 22 may be used as the driving motor 20, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Operation of a scroll compressor according to embodiments disclosed herein will be described herein below.
When power is supplied to the driving motor 20, the driving shaft 23 rotates together with the rotor 22 to transmit a rotational force to the orbiting scroll 32. Then, the orbiting scroll 32 performs an orbiting motion on an upper surface of the main frame 14 due to the Oldham's ring 33. Accordingly, a pair of compression chambers P that consecutively move are formed between the fixing wrap 31b of the fixed scroll 31 and the orbiting wrap 32b of the orbiting scroll 32. As the orbiting scroll 32 continuously performs the orbiting motion, the compression chambers P move towards the center to a decreased volume, thereby compressing a sucked refrigerant.
An oil pump 24 disposed at a lower end of the driving shaft 23 pumps oil contained in the casing 10. The oil is sucked to an upper end of the driving shaft 23 through the oil passage 23a of the driving shaft 23. Some of the oil is supplied to the axial holes 14a and 15a of the main frame 14 and the sub frame 15, and some is dispersed from the upper end of the driving shaft 23 thus to be supplied to the compression chambers P via the oil pocket 14b of the main frame 14.
As shown in
Since the oil separating device is provided in the compressor, a predetermined amount of oil is always maintained in the compressor without additionally installing an oil separating device along or in the refrigerating cycle system. Accordingly, the refrigerating cycle system has simplified piping and the refrigerant has constant pressure, thereby preventing a function of the refrigerating cycle system from being reduced.
The scroll compressor may be constructed so that collected oil may be cooled outside the casing to lower a temperature of the oil. That is, shown in
An oil separating device according to another embodiment will be explained herein below. Like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements, and repetitive disclosure has been omitted.
In the aforementioned embodiment, refrigerant discharged from the compression chambers is guided to the driving motor by the guiding member. However, in another embodiment, refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber is received in a guiding or receiving member having a cup shape, and then is guided to the upper space of the casing via a separating member in a pipe shape directly connected to the guiding or receiving member. As shown in
As shown in
The separating member may be formed to have a similar shape as those of
Referring to
Although an exemplary scroll compressor is presented herein, for ease of discussion, it is well understood that the oil separation device according to embodiments may be equally applied to other types of compressors, or another application in which this type of device is required and/or advantageous.
More specifically, the compressor and oil separation device therefor according to embodiments disclosed herein has numerous applications in which compression of fluid is required, and in different types of compressors. Such applications may include, for example, air conditioning and refrigeration applications. One such exemplary application is shown in
Another such exemplary application is shown in
Another such exemplary application is shown in
As aforementioned, the scroll compressor according to the embodiments disclosed herein is provided with the oil separating device. Accordingly, a predetermined amount of oil is always maintained in the compressor without additionally installing the oil separating device in the refrigerating cycle system including the compressor. Accordingly, the refrigerating cycle system has simplified piping reducing fabrication costs, and the refrigerant has a constant pressure, preventing a function of the refrigerating cycle system from being lowered.
A compressor having an oil separating device according to embodiments is provided which is capable of always maintaining a predetermined amount of oil in the compressor without additionally providing an oil separating device along the a refrigerating cycle system. In accordance with embodiments broadly described herein, there is provided a scroll compressor that includes a casing having a hermetic inner space to which a discharge pipe is connected, a driving motor disposed at the inner space of the casing, a compression unit disposed at the inner space of the casing and forming a compression chamber as a plurality of scrolls are engaged to one another and an oil separating unit disposed at the inner space of the casing, for separating a refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber from oil by orbiting the refrigerant at the inner space of the casing.
Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.
Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.
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10-2007-0004554 | Jan 2007 | KR | national |
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