Patent Grant
7473083
This claims priority to Korean Application No. 10-2006-0023717, filed in Korea on Mar. 14, 2006, the entirety of, which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field
This relates to a compressor, and more particularly, to a scroll compressor.
2. Background
Compressors convert mechanical energy into compressive energy. Compressors may be classified into a variety of types, including reciprocating, scroll, centrifugal and vane types. Scroll compressors may be further classified into low pressure and high pressure types, based on whether a suction or a discharge gas is filled in a casing thereof. In a scroll compressor, two scrolls perform a relative orbiting motion, and a pair of symmetrical compression chambers are formed between the two scrolls. As the compression chambers consecutively move towards a center of the scroll, a volume of the compression chamber is decreased, thus compressing a refrigerant held therein.
In order to maintain adequate performance and efficiency, a lubricant, such as, for example, oil, may be used to lubricate the moving, or friction parts of such a compressor. However, release of this type of lubricant into the compression/refrigeration system formed by such a compressor can degrade performance and efficiency of the compressor.
The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:
The exemplary high pressure type scroll compressor shown in
The gas suction pipe SP may be connected to an inlet 6b of the fixed scroll 6 via the casing 1, and the gas discharge pipe DP may be connected to an inner space of the casing 1 that is positioned at an opposite side of the fixed scroll 6 from the main frame 2. The main frame 2 may include a shaft hole 2a that supports the driving shaft 5. A high back pressure groove 2b may be provided at an upper side of the shaft hole 2a to receive high pressure oil to support the orbiting scroll 7. A middle back pressure groove 2c may be formed at an edge of an upper surface of the main frame 2. The middle back pressure groove 2c may form an interior space together with a rear surface of the orbiting scroll 7 to receive middle pressure oil.
An outer circumferential surface of the main frame 2 may be coupled to an inner circumferential surface of the casing 1 by welding or other appropriate attachment means. A plurality of gas connection grooves 2d for introducing gas discharged through the fixed scroll 6 to the gas discharge pipe DP may be formed at the outer circumferential surface of the main frame 2.
A fixed wrap 6a with an involute shape formed at a lower surface of a plate of the fixed scroll 6, and the inlet 6b to which the gas suction pipe SP may be connected is formed at a side surface of the plate. An outlet 6c through which a refrigerant compressed at the center of the fixed wrap 6a is discharged to an upper space S1 of the casing 1 may be formed at the center of an upper surface of the plate. The outlet 6c may be opened/closed by a backflow preventing valve 9. A gas pass groove 6d may be formed at an edge of the plate so as to be connected to the gas connection groove 2d of the main frame 2.
An orbiting wrap 7a with an involute shape may be formed at an upper surface of a plate of the orbiting scroll 7. A boss portion 7b that receives a driving force of the driving motor 4 by being coupled to the driving shaft 5 may be formed at the center of a lower surface of the plate. The boss portion 7b of the orbiting scroll 7 may be inserted into the high back pressure groove 2b of the main frame 2 so as to perform an orbiting motion.
When power is supplied to the driving motor 4, the driving shaft 5 rotates together with the rotor 4B, and the Oldham's ring 8 causes the orbiting scroll 6 to orbit on an upper surface of the main frame 2 by a predetermined eccentric distance. A pair of compression chambers P that move towards the center of the scroll are consecutively formed between the fixed wrap 6a of the fixed scroll 6 and the orbiting wrap 7a of the orbiting scroll 7. The compression chambers P decrease in volume as they approach the center of the scroll as the orbiting scroll 7 continuously orbits, thereby drawing in, compressing, and discharging refrigerant gas.
More specifically refrigerant is sucked into the inlet 6b of the fixed scroll 6 through the gas suction pipe SP is compressed in the compression chamber P, and is discharged to the upper space S1 in the casing 1 through the outlet 6c of the fixed scroll 6. The refrigerant is guided to a lower space S2 of the casing 1 via the gas pass groove 6d of the fixed scroll 6 and the gas connection groove 2d of the main frame 2. The refrigerant is then discharged to a refrigerating system through the gas discharge pipe DP.
When the driving shaft 5 rotates, oil is drawn into the oil passage 5a from a bottom portion of the casing 1 by a centrifugal force and is supplied to various lubricating surfaces. The oil lubricates the lubricating surfaces, and then is recollected at the bottom portion of the casing 1 together with oil which has been separated from the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber P. However, the refrigerant discharged to the gas discharge pipe DP may still contain a large amount of oil which is subsequently is discharged to the refrigerating system along with the refrigerant. Accordingly, an amount of the oil left inside the compressor for lubrication is decreased, thus causing abrasion at various friction portions of the compressor and degrading its reliability. Furthermore, if an excessive amount of oil is introduced into the refrigerating system, performance of the refrigerating system may also be degraded.
The exemplary high pressure type scroll compressor shown in
A gas suction pipe SP may be directly connected to the fixed scroll 6, and a gas discharge pipe DP may be connected to a lower space S2 of the casing 1 between the main frame 2 and the driving motor 100 so that a compressed refrigerant may be discharged to a refrigerating cycle connected thereto.
The main frame 2 and the subframe 3 may include shaft holes 2a and 3a, respectively, that support the driving shaft 5. A high back pressure groove 2b may be provided at an upper side of the shaft hole 2a to receive high pressure oil to support the orbiting scroll 7. A middle back pressure groove 2c may be formed at an edge of an upper surface of the main frame 2. The middle back pressure groove 2c may form an interior space together with a rear surface of the orbiting scroll 7 to receive middle pressure oil.
An outer circumferential surface of the main frame 2 may be coupled to an inner circumferential surface of the casing 1 by welding or other appropriate attachment means. A plurality of gas connection grooves 2d provide for communication between the upper space S1 and the lower space S2 of the casing 1, and may be formed along the outer circumferential surface of the main frame 2.
The stator 110 may be fixed to an inner circumferential surface of the casing 1, and the rotor 120 may be rotatably coupled to an inside of the stator 110 while maintaining a predetermined gap. A refrigerant channel F may be formed between an outer circumferential surface of the stator 110 and the inner circumferential surface of the casing 1. The channel F may guide refrigerant gas from a lower side of the driving motor 100 to an upper side of the driving motor 100 so as to be discharged through the gas discharge pipe DP.
The rotor 120 may include a laminator 121 formed by a plurality of stator cores that are laminated to one another, and upper and lower end rings 122 coupled to upper and lower ends of the laminator 121. An eccentric mass 123 that compensates for an eccentric movement of the driving shaft 5 may be fixed to the upper and lower rings 122, or to only the upper ring 122.
A plurality of second oil separating holes 121a formed in the laminator 121 may be connected to a plurality of first oil separating holes 123c formed in the eccentric mass 123 to separate oil from refrigerant gas in a mixture thereof. In certain embodiments, the second oil separating holes 121a may have a diameter larger than that of the first oil separating holes 123c so as to smoothly separate oil from the refrigerant gas. In alternative embodiments, the second oil separating holes 121a may be formed in the same direction as the rotation direction of the rotor 120, or may be formed such that a sectional surface increases downwardly.
As shown in
Operation of the scroll compressor as described above will now be explained.
When power is supplied to the driving motor 100, the driving shaft 5 is rotated together with the rotor 120, and the orbiting scroll 7 is orbited a predetermined eccentric distance. As the orbiting scroll 7 moves within the fixed scroll 6, a plurality of paired compression chambers P having decreased volumes towards the center of the scroll are formed. Accordingly, refrigerant gas is drawn in, compressed, and discharged, and this process is continuously repeated.
The refrigerant gas is drawn into the compression chamber P through the suction pipe SP connected to an inlet 6b of the fixed scroll 6, is compressed, and then is discharged to the upper space S1 of the casing 1 through an outlet 6c of the fixed scroll 6. The refrigerant gas discharged to the upper space S1 of the casing 1 is guided towards the lower space S2 of the casing 1 via the gas pass groove 6d and the gas connection groove 2d, and then is introduced into the second oil separating holes 121a of the laminator 121 via the first oil separating holes 123c provided at the eccentric mass 123 of the rotor 120. Then, the refrigerant gas, which may contain some oil, passes through the second oil separating holes 123a, where oil is separated from the refrigerant by a centrifugal force.
More specifically, as shown in
In this first embodiment, the circular-arc shaped first eccentric portion 123a of the eccentric mass 123 introduces refrigerant gas and oil to the first oil separating holes 123c. However, in the second embodiment shown in
More specifically, the eccentric mass 223 shown in
By providing the cylindrical guide portion 223c at a periphery of the eccentric mass 223, a large amount of refrigerant gas and oil that move to the lower space S2 of the casing 1 can be introduced into the first oil separating holes 223d. Accordingly, an amount of the oil separated from the refrigerant gas can be increased.
The eccentric mass is coupled to the rotor in the first and second embodiments. However, the eccentric mass may instead be coupled to the driving shaft, as will be explained with respect to the third embodiment shown in
As shown in
The refrigerant gas and the oil discharged from the compression chamber P may be separated from each other by a centrifugal force, thereby preventing oil inside the casing from being discharged outside the casing. Accordingly, abrasion of the various frictional components of the compressor may be prevented, and a performance and reliability of the compressor is maintained. Furthermore, oil may be prevented from being contained in a pipe channel leading to a refrigerating system to which the compressor is connected, thereby enhancing performance of the refrigerating system.
The oil separation system for a scroll compressor as embodied and broadly described herein has numerous applications in which compression of fluids 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
An object is to provide a scroll compressor capable of easily separating oil from a refrigerant discharged from a compressor.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance embodiments broadly described herein, there is provided a scroll compressor, including a casing containing oil, a driving motor disposed in the casing, and generating a rotation force, a driving shaft that transmits the rotation force from the driving motor, a compression unit eccentrically coupled to the driving shaft, and forming a compression chamber by two scrolls, and an eccentric mass coupled to a rotor of the driving motor or the driving shaft, and having an oil separator that separates refrigerant gas from oil in the casing.
Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an exemplary,” “example embodiment,” “certain embodiment,” “alternative embodiment,” and the like means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment as broadly described herein. 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 embodiments, 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, numerous 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.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2006-0023717 | Mar 2006 | KR | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4592703 | Inaba et al. | Jun 1986 | A |
| 20040179967 | Morozumi et al. | Sep 2004 | A1 |
| 20060078452 | Park et al. | Apr 2006 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 62118088 | May 1987 | JP |
| 04308381 | Oct 1992 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20070217936 A1 | Sep 2007 | US |
