This application claims priority to German patent application No. 103 60 920.2, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a piston compressor that is particularly suitable for charging an internal combustion engine.
Charging internal combustion engines is not only a proven way to increase torque and power, but also to reduce consumption during the partial load operation of an internal combustion engine with a predetermined maximum capacity. It is particularly advantageous to charge diesel engines, since the knocking problems that persist in spark ignition engines do not exist in diesel engines.
There are basically two different charging methods, which can also be used in combination. In exhaust gas turbocharging, the energy contained in the exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine is used to power a turbocharger, which drives a turbine that supplies compressed air to the internal combustion engine. During so-called independent supercharging, the compressor is powered by a separate drive, e.g., the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine to be charged, or another engine, e.g., an electric engine, in order to compress the air supplied to the internal combustion engine. There are various known types of independently driven compressors, e.g., Roots supercharger blowers, spiral chargers or piston compressors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,609 discloses a compact fluid compressor.
The object of the invention is to provide a piston compressor that is distinguished by having a highly efficient and simple design, and can be used for various applications.
The object is achieved by a piston compressor according to claim 1.
The subclaims relate to advantageous embodiments and further developments of the piston compressor according to the invention.
The invention will be described in greater detail below based on the drawings, by example and with additional details.
Referring to
The front walls of the cylinder 2 have openings for at least one respective inlet valve 20 or 22 and outlet valve 24 or 26.
The cylinder 2 is incorporated in a housing 32 by means of mounting devices that form separating walls 28 and 30, The housing 32 has at least one suction port 34 and an exhaust port 36. A space is formed between the housing 32 and the cylinder 2 and is divided by the separating walls 28 and 30 in such a way as to form an inlet channel 38 that joins the suction port 34 with the inlet valves 20 and 22 or optionally opened or closed inlet holes thereof leading into the working chambers 10 and 12. An outlet channel 40 joins the outlet valves 24, 26 or optionally opened or closed outlet holes of the working chambers 10 and 12 with the exhaust port 36.
The piston 4 moves in the horizontal direction of
The crankshafts 42 and 44 can each be mounted in the wall of the cylinder 2, for example.
In order to drive the valves 20, 22, 24 and 26, the crankshafts 42, 44 have cams 54 and 56, which actuate the valves via actuating elements. One or more toothed wheels 58 and/or 60 is connected in a torsion-resistant manner with the respective crankshaft at one respective end of the crankshaft, so that only one of the crankshafts 42, 44 is required to be externally driven. The toothed wheels 58 and 60 are the same size and intermesh, so that the crankshafts 42 and 44 rotate oppositely at the same speed. The toothed wheels 58, 60 are advantageously used as elements of a gear pump, which is situated in a coolant and/or lubricant circulating in the compressor.
In the shown example, both sides of each crankshaft 42 and/or 44 have cams 54 and/or 56 outside the cylinder, which interact with roller tappets 62 and/or 64, which each actuate a valve element 66 and/or 68 that bridges over a cylinder. The left valve element 66 according to
As evident from
When operating the compressor in a two-stroke operating mode, the inlet valves and outlet valves are each phase-shifted by about 180° relative to the crankshaft rotation upon actuation. As a result, an in-phase actuation of the respective valves is provided during the opposite rotation of the adjacent crankshafts 42, 44 at the same speed when the cams 54, 56 are properly designed.
The valve mechanism will be described in greater detail below based on
The valve elements 66 and/or 68 are guided in a linearly moveable manner within guides fixed to the housing (not shown), and reciprocally moved in the cams 54 and/or 56 against the force applied by springs 70 and/or 72, which are supported between the housing 32 and the respective valve element.
The bridge-like valve element 66 (
The valve element 68 that actuates the outlet valves 24 also has a guide passage 84 (
As a result of the structural design illustrated in
The representative piston compressor is assembled as follows:
The actual driving mechanism as shown on
The cylinders 2, which each consist of two centrally divided halves, are then attached over the piston 4. The valve mechanisms are then mounted in assembly surfaces secured to the cylinders, and the entire arrangement is put together in the housing 32, which also consists of two parts. The cylinder halves and the housing halves can be integrally designed.
The suction port 34 of the housing 32 can also have attached to it a suction module (not shown), e.g., containing a throttle valve and/or a device for measuring the intake air quantity, etc.
The representative compressor operates as follows:
The compressor is preferably operated in the two-stroke operating mode. As the piston 4 according to
Functional details of the representative piston compressor will be described below, wherein examples of possible modifications and additional features are indicated as well.
1. Overall Structural Shape.
Even though it only contains a cylinder and a dual-action piston arranged therein, the piston compressor according to the invention operates at a high level of efficiency and low pressure pulsations. Designing the piston with two mutually spaced piston heads, between which the crank mechanism is situated, not only has the advantage of completely separating the crankshaft and its lubrication from the workspaces, but also makes it possible to mount the crankshaft (n) in the cylinder wall without any problem. The piston compressor can have any number of cylinders with pistons operating therein as desired, wherein the individual cylinders are phase-shifted during operation, so that minimal pressure pulsations are achieved. The possible low stroke/bore ratio enables low piston speeds, which has a favorable influence on service life.
The structure allows the cross sections of the inlet and outlet valves to be enlarged relative to the cylinder cross section, so that the compressor operates at a low flow resistance.
The pressure side of the charger can be attached directly to the cylinder head or a suction tube of an engine to be charged. When attached directly to the cylinder head, the length of the housing 32 can have several exhaust ports 36 connected inside the housing 32, which ports lead directly into the inlet channels of the individual cylinders. The suction side in front of the compressor can have attached to it a suction part that contains a throttle valve, incorporates a connection for exhaust gas recirculation, or has a bypass line branching from it, which leads around the compressor directly into a suction tube of the internal combustion engine.
The structure enables a high surface-to-volume ratio relative to the stroke volume, which allows the use of large gas charging valves.
The free paths between the walls of the housing and the cylinders are short overall, so that the compressed gas is also effectively cooled while cooling the walls.
2. The Crank Mechanism:
The crank mechanism can contain one or more crankshafts, wherein the rotational motion of the crankshaft (n) can be converted into a stroke motion of the piston using a wide variety of known mechanisms. The representative mechanism, which comprises slide rings, is easy to install, involves little friction during operation, and results in a soft, sinusoidal motion of the pistons.
The representative embodiment with two oppositely rotating crankshafts can act as a Lancester offset, wherein oscillating, sinusoidal forces of gravity of the piston and slide rings in the crank mechanism of each piston are completely offset. Further, each individual cylinder is offset, so that dynamic forces of gravity are not introduced into the housing from any cylinder. In addition, there are externally acting forces of gravity outside of the housing, so that the compressor according to the present teachings operates at very low oscillation levels.
The representative embodiment of the crank pin or crank disk with mutual axial displacement provides a compact structural design on the one hand, and a low mechanical stress, and hence high torsional strength of the crank mechanism.
Another advantage is that the piston(s) move free of lateral forces, which reduces frictional loses and increases service life. The piston heads made without a shroud help to reduce the weight thereof. Furthermore, no tilting forces are encountered.
The toothed wheels 58 and 60 at the ends of the crankshafts (
3. Cooling/Lubrication:
The toothed wheels 58 and 60 (
The preferably integrated lubricant/coolant circulation system of the charger can be connected to or separate from the internal combustion engine.
One important aspect of the compressor according to the present teachings lies generally in the fact that the compressed air flowing through the exhaust port 36 has no lubricant on the one hand, and is as cool as possible on the other hand. In both instances, it is advantageous that both crankshafts, which are simultaneously camshafts, are passed through the piston heads and mounted in the cylinder 2 with easily sealable bearings, thereby forming an outwardly tight lubricant space within the piston, to which liquid lubricant that also serves as a coolant can be supplied through the crankshafts. The lubricant/coolant can effectively cool the piston heads from the inside. Of course, the channels leading through the cylinder wall, the space between the cylinder and housing, and the housing form a fluid recirculation system, so that the coolant/lubricant circulates.
Shank guides for the roller tappets 64 can be wet lubricated through the crankshafts in such a way that the lubricant does not get introduced into the fresh air. Very hard tappet shank ends or contact surface combinations are advantageous.
Material couplings that ensure low friction and wear are advantageous for attaching the valves to valve levers or, as in the example shown, to the bridge-like valve elements.
Material couplings provided with solid lubricants in a known manner or saturated with lubricants are advantageous for the guides of the roller tappets and valves. It is also possible to provide the seat rings with solid lubricant or saturate them with lubricant.
The low operating temperatures make it possible to utilize solid lubricants or saturated guide bushes, so that the circulation of liquid lubricant or coolant can be limited to the lubricant spaces within the piston.
Ceramic materials can also be used to minimize the requirement for liquid lubricants.
4. Charge Exchange Process
As explained above, the charger according to the present teachings advantageously operates in the two-cycle mode. The inlet and outlet valves can be actuated in a variety of ways. In the exemplary embodiment, they can not only be actuated via the valve elements provided with suitably dimensioned springs, but also operate as check valves, wherein the inlet valves open in response to an underpressure in the respective working chamber, and the outlet valves open in response to an overpressure. In alternative embodiments, only the inlet valves or only the outlet valves can be designed as check valves, and the other valves can be actuated by the crankshaft(s).
Even during desmodromic (compulsory control) operation of the valves, in particular the outlet valves, a self-control function can be realized if the pressure drop on the valves exceeds a predetermined value.
The inlet and/or outlet valves can also be actuated in such a way using known valve actuating mechanisms, e.g., by changing the effective length and/or angle of a contact lever, that their opening or closing function is variable, and/or they can be held in the open or closed position.
5. Open or Closed-Loop Compressor Control
The speed of the compressor crankshafts can be rigidly coupled with the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. A gear with an incrementally or continuously adjustable transmission ratio can be arranged between the internal combustion engine to be charged and the compressor. A coupling can be used to completely decouple the compressor from the internal combustion engine.
The output capacity of the compressor can also be changed by variably actuating the valves, wherein a low-flow path from the suction port 34 to the exhaust port 36 (
As an alternative, fresh air can be supplied to the internal combustion engine via a bypass line with the compressor not operating.
Individual cylinders can be shut off as needed.
The output capacity of the charger can be changed as required using controllable openings in the separating walls 28 and 30. A throttle valve can be incorporated upstream form the inlet opening 34.
Several compressors can be parallel- or series-connected in an internal combustion engine.
In order to place even less stress on the piston heads, each crankshaft can be provided with two or more crank disks allocated to each piston.
The valves can also be actuated fully independently of the crankshaft rotation by separate drives, e.g., electromagnetic, hydraulic or other suitable drives. Only one crankshaft can extend through each piston in place of the two crankshafts, etc.
In sum, the compressor offers numerous ways of regulating the maximum amount of air compression over slight compression, no compression up to the reciprocation, when the compressor is used for braking purposes.
The compressor and/or charger according to the present teachings is suitable for charging (supplying fresh air to) all types of internal combustion engines, two-stroke engines, four-stroke engines, or engines operating with different stroke sequences, spark ignition engines, diesel engines, gas engines, etc.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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103 60 920.2 | Dec 2003 | DE | national |