The present disclosure relates to a compressor.
A rotational shaft system including an impeller such as an electric compressor rotates at a high rotation speed, and thus is rotatably supported by a pair of rolling bearings or the like. Further, in order to suppress a vibration of the rotational shaft system generated during the rotation, an elastic member such as an O-ring having a vibration damping effect is interposed between an inner peripheral surface of a housing and an outer peripheral surface of the rolling bearing. Patent Document 1 discloses an electric compressor where a rotational shaft is supported by a rolling bearing. In the electric compressor, in order to prevent provision of the above-described elastic member from causing a radial axial misalignment in the rotational shaft between the pair of rolling bearings, whereby an eccentric load is applied to the rolling bearings, transmission of the vibration of the rotational shaft to the housing is prevented by eliminating the above-described elastic member, and interposing an elastic sheet between a bearing sleeve for supporting the rolling bearings and an axial end surface of the housing.
In order to eliminate backlash of a rolling bearing for supporting a rotational shaft of a compressor at an axial position, axial pressurization is applied to the rolling bearing to bring an outer ring into contact with a housing wall surface to be fixed. In this case, the contact between the housing wall surface and the outer ring is a metal-to-metal contact in a dry (non-lubrication) state, deteriorating slidability of a contact surface between the housing wall surface and the outer ring. The present inventors have found that if the sliding between the housing wall surface and the outer ring is not performed smoothly, the vibration damping effect by the elastic member interposed between an inner peripheral surface of a housing and an outer peripheral surface of the rolling bearing does not work well on a rotational shaft system, and a vibration damping effect on the rotational shaft system is reduced. Further, since the outer ring of the rolling bearing and the housing are made of different materials, the problem arises in that wear is likely to occur on one side of the contact surface between the housing and the outer ring and the wear causes the axial position of the rolling bearing to deviate from an initial position. In the electric compressor disclosed in Patent Document 1, the contact surface between the housing wall surface and the outer ring remains in contact, and the slidability of the contact surface is not improved, making it impossible to escape the above problem.
The present disclosure was made in view of the above problem, and an object of the present disclosure is to enable smooth sliding of the contact surface between the housing and the outer ring to suppress damping of the vibration damping effect on the rotational shaft system, and to suppress wear of the contact surface.
In order to achieve the above object, a compressor according to the present disclosure includes: a rotational shaft provided with a compressor impeller on one end side; a rolling bearing device for rotatably supporting the rotational shaft; and a housing for housing the rolling bearing device. The rolling bearing device includes: an inner ring mounted on the rotational shaft; an outer ring supported by the housing with application of a load from the housing in an axial direction of the rotational shaft; a rolling element disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring; an elastic member disposed on an outer circumferential side of the outer ring so as to come into contact with the housing; and a sliding portion disposed on one end side of the outer ring in the axial direction so as to come into contact with the housing.
With the compressor according to the present disclosure, since the above-described sliding portion is provided, smooth sliding between the housing wall surface and the outer ring of the rolling bearing is possible, making it possible to suppress the reduction in vibration damping effect on the rotational shaft system by the elastic member. Further, it is possible to suppress the wear of the sliding surface of the housing and the outer ring, making it possible to suppress the problem that the axial position of the rolling bearing deviates from the initial position.
Some embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is intended, however, that unless particularly specified, dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions and the like of components described or shown in the drawings as the embodiments shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
For instance, an expression of relative or absolute arrangement such as “in a direction”, “along a direction”, “parallel”, “orthogonal”, “centered”, “concentric” and “coaxial” shall not be construed as indicating only the arrangement in a strict literal sense, but also includes a state where the arrangement is relatively displaced by a tolerance, or by an angle or a distance whereby it is possible to achieve the same function.
For instance, an expression of an equal state such as “same”, “equal”, and “uniform” shall not be construed as indicating only the state in which the feature is strictly equal, but also includes a state in which there is a tolerance or a difference that can still achieve the same function.
Further, for instance, an expression of a shape such as a rectangular shape or a tubular shape shall not be construed as only the geometrically strict shape, but also includes a shape with unevenness or chamfered corners within the range in which the same effect can be achieved.
On the other hand, an expressions such as “comprising”, “including”, “having”, “containing”, and “constituting” one constitutional element are not intended to be exclusive of other constitutional elements.
The first rolling bearing 16A is composed of an inner ring 20a fixed to the rotational shaft 12 and rotating together with the rotational shaft 12, an outer ring 22a mounted so as not to rotate to the housing 18 side, and a rolling element 24a disposed between the inner ring 20a and the outer ring 22a to guide a rotation of the inner ring 20a about the axis CA. The second rolling bearing 16B is composed of an inner ring 20b fixed to the rotational shaft 12 and rotating together with the rotational shaft 12, an outer ring 22b mounted so as not to rotate to the housing 18 side, and a rolling element 24b disposed between the inner ring 20b and the outer ring 22b to guide a rotation of the inner ring 20b about the axis CA.
The outer ring 22a is supported by the housing 18 in a state where a load is applied in the axial direction of the rotational shaft 12 by the housing 18. In the embodiments shown in
The spring force of the spring member 46 is transmitted to the rotational shaft 12 via the inner ring 20b and the step surface 13b, and further transmitted to the outer ring 22a of the first rolling bearing 16A via the step surface 13a and the inner ring 20a. Thus, the outer ring 22a is pressed against the housing 18 and supported by the housing 18. The load applying means is merely one embodiment and may be another means, for example, a means of applying a force that directly pushes another end surface of the rotational shaft 12 on the second rolling bearing 16B side toward the first rolling bearing 16A side along the axis CA direction.
Further, in the electric compressor 10, elastic members 26a and 26b are disposed so as to come into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the housing 18 on the outer circumferential side of the outer rings 22a and 22b, and a sliding portion 28 is disposed so as to come into contact with the housing 18 on one end side of the outer ring 22a (compressor impeller 14 side) in the axis CA direction.
While the electric compressor 10 is in operation, the rotational shaft 12 rotates at a high speed. The elastic members 26a and 26b have a function of suppressing a radial vibration of the rotational shaft 12 generated during the rotation, and according to the present embodiment, with the sliding portion 28, sliding is performed smoothly between the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a. Therefore, since the vibration damping effect on the rotational shaft system by the elastic members 26a and 26b is sufficiently exerted, it is possible to suppress the vibration generated in the rotational shaft system by the vibration damping effect. Further, since the sliding portion 28 is interposed between the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a, it is possible to suppress wear of the housing 18 or the outer ring 22a. Thus, it is possible to suppress a problem that positions of the first rolling bearing 16A and the second rolling bearing 16B in the axis CA direction deviate from initial positions, respectively.
Since each of the embodiments shown in
Further, the electric compressors 10 (10A to 10C) each include a compressor cover 40 for housing the compressor impeller 14. The rolling elements 24a and 24b of the first rolling bearing 16A and the second rolling bearing 16B are each constituted by, for example, a ball, a roller (runner), a needle, or the like. The sleeve 42 is disposed around the rotational shaft 12 between the first rolling bearing 16A and the compressor impeller 14, and the sleeve 42 arranges the compressor impeller 14 and the first rolling bearing 16A at predetermined positions in the axis CA direction.
In an embodiment, as shown in
According to the present embodiment, since the elastic members 26a and 26b are disposed between the inner peripheral surface of the housing 18 and the outer circumferential surface 23b of the outer ring 22a or the outer ring 22b, the radial direction of the rotational shaft system and a direction, in which vibration damping forces of the elastic members 26a and 26b are applied, coincide with each other. Thus, the vibration damping effects by the elastic members 26a and 26b can be maximized against the radial vibration of the rotational shaft system. Further, since the sliding portion 28 is constituted by the sliding member disposed between the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a of the first rolling bearing 16A, the outer ring 22a and the housing 18 do not contact directly. Therefore, it is possible to suppress wear of a sliding contact surface of the outer ring 22a and the housing 18 which has conventionally been caused by the direct contact between the outer ring 22a and the housing 18.
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
The sliding member 28 (28A) may be disposed only partially in the circumferential direction of the rotational shaft 12, or an annular plate member covering the entire circumference in the circumferential direction of the rotational shaft 12 may be disposed. Even if the sliding member 28 (28A) is disposed only partially in the circumferential direction of the rotational shaft 12, as long as the slidability can be given between the inner end surface 44a of the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a of the first rolling bearing 16A, it is possible to exert the vibration damping effect on the rotational shaft 12 by the elastic members 26a and 26b.
As another embodiment, besides the sliding member 28 (28A), it is possible to use a member provided with slidability on a surface in sliding contact with the housing 18, by performing surface treatment on a plate member (such as a metal plate member) made of a material other than resin.
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
Although various embodiments of the sliding portion 28 have been described above in detail, the sliding portion 28 is not limited to these embodiments. In short, it is only necessary that the sliding portion 28 has better slidability with respect to the inner end surface 44a of the housing 18 as compared with the case where the end surface 23a of the outer ring 22a opposite to the inner end surface 44a of the housing 18 directly contacts the inner end surface 44a. For example, in addition to the above-described embodiments, slidability may be given to the sliding surface between the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a by configuring such that a space to be filled with grease is formed on the sliding surface between the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a and interposing the grease on the sliding surface.
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, the sliding portion 28 (28B) is composed of the opposite surface 56a of the sleeve member 52. According to the present embodiment, since the opposite surface 56a of the sleeve member 52 in sliding contact with the inner end surface of the housing 18 is constituted by the sliding portion 28 (28B), by arranging just the sleeve member 52, it is possible to give slidability on the sliding surface between the housing 18 and the outer ring 22a. Thus, it is possible to simplify and reduce the cost of the arrangement of the sliding portion 28.
In an embodiment, the opposite surface of the housing 18 in sliding contact with the opposite surface 56a is constituted by the opposite surface 44a formed on the partition wall 44. Then, the end surface 56a of the disc 56 of the sleeve member 52 in sliding contact with the end surface 44a constitutes the sliding portion 28 (28B). The sliding portion 28 (28B) can adopt the various embodiments described above.
The embodiments shown in
The contents described in the above embodiments would be understood as follows, for instance.
With such configuration, since the above-described sliding portion is disposed between the housing and the outer ring so as to come into contact with the housing, smooth sliding between the housing and the outer ring is possible, making it possible to sufficiently exert the vibration damping effect on the rotational shaft system by the elastic member. Further, since the housing and the outer ring slide smoothly by the above-described sliding portion, it is possible to suppress wear of the housing or the outer ring. Thus, it is possible to suppress that the axial position of the rolling bearing device deviates from the initial position.
With such configuration, since the above-described elastic member is disposed between the outer circumferential surface of the outer ring and the inner peripheral surface of the housing, the radial direction of the rotational shaft system and the direction in which the vibration damping force of the elastic member is applied coincide with each other. Thus, the vibration damping effect by the elastic member can be maximized against the radial vibration of the rotational shaft system. Further, since the above-described sliding portion is constituted by the sliding member disposed between the outer ring and the housing, the outer ring and the housing do not contact directly. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the wear of the sliding contact surface of the outer ring and the housing which has conventionally been caused.
With such configuration, since the sliding member is disposed between the sleeve member and the housing described above, by appropriately selecting the shape or size of the sleeve member, the sliding member is easily installed between the housing and the outer ring, as well as it is possible to expand the degree of freedom in shape or size of the sliding member.
With such configuration, since the sliding member is constituted by the resin plate member, it is possible to reduce the cost of the sliding member, as well as to easily dispose the sliding member.
With such configuration, since the existing elastic member such as the O-ring can be used, it is possible to reduce the cost of the sliding member, as well as to easily dispose the sliding member. Further, since the annular sliding member is disposed in the entire circumferential region of the rotational shaft, it is possible to improve the slidability between the housing and the outer ring.
With such configuration, since the sliding member is constituted by the dry bearing, it is possible to stably exhibit the high level of sliding performance between the housing and the outer ring without supplying oil.
With such configuration, since the one end surface of the sleeve member in sliding contact with the inner end surface of the housing is constituted by the sliding portion, by arranging just the sleeve member, it is possible to improve slidability between the housing and the outer ring. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide an additional sliding portion, it is possible to simplify and reduce the cost of the configuration.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/006671 | 2/20/2020 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2021/166136 | 8/26/2021 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230048172 A1 | Feb 2023 | US |