Patent Application
20050226755
The present invention relates to a compressor for compressing a fluid such as a refrigerant or air, and in particular to a scroll compressor for changing capacity of a compression space formed by a fixed scroll member and a circling scroll member by means of circling movement of the scroll member and thereby compressing the fluid.
A scroll compressor is widely used as a compressor for refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment for instance, because it has advantages over other compressors, such as being high-efficiency and high-reliability and being silent in addition. For this reason, plenty of research and development are underway as to the scroll compressor.
In general, the scroll compressor is airtightly covered in its entirety with a cylindrical airtight container having its top and bottom sealed off in which a fixed scroll member and a circling scroll member configuring a compression portion for compressing a fluid are provided. The fixed scroll member is formed in a structure having a spiral scroll lap erected on an end plate, and is fixed on a frame member fixedly provided inside the airtight container. The circling scroll member is formed in the structure having the spiral scroll lap erected on the end plate as with the fixed scroll member, and is provided between the frame member and the fixed scroll member to engage each of the scroll laps thereof with the fixed scroll member and form a compression space, and is also connected to driving means so as to allow circling movement. The driving means drives the circling scroll member in a whirl so as to change capacity of the compression space and compress the fluid.
As for such a scroll compressor, it is important, for the sake of improving compression efficiency of the fluid, to allow high airtightness to be kept as to the compression space formed by the respective scroll laps of the fixed scroll member and circling scroll member. For that reason, there is a generally used structure in which a high-pressure fluid generated in the compression space is used to elastically support the circling scroll member which is thereby pressed to contact the fixed scroll member side. It is then possible to adequately set a pressure of the high-pressure fluid exerted for elastic support so as to keep the airtightness sufficiently high. In the case of having only such an elastic pressurization support structure, however, the circling movement of the circling scroll member becomes unstable. There is a known structure, for that reason, in which a pane extended from the end plate of the circling scroll member is supported by a thrust bearing (Patent Document 1 for instance). There is another known structure in which an opposed plane is formed on the frame member, facing the pane of the circling scroll member with a minute clearance of 20 to 30μ for instance.
[Patent Document 1] JP-B-7-117049
The above-mentioned structure in which the opposed plane is facing the pane of the circling scroll member with a minute clearance, that is, an opposed plane setup structure is superior to the structure in which the pane of the circling scroll member is supported by the thrust bearing in that there is no driving force loss factor such as frictional resistance due to sliding contact between the thrust bearing and the pane. As regards the opposed plane setup structure, it is desirable, for the sake of further stabilizing the circling movement of the circling scroll member, to make the clearance between the opposed plane and the pane of the circling scroll member 10μ or less for instance or as small as possible to the extent that the opposed plane does not support the pane thrust bearing-wise but contacts it. On the other hand, however, it is conventionally necessary to provide a clearance of a certain size or larger in order to avoid a problem that the pane is pressed to the opposed plane of the frame member and galling occurs when the circling scroll member goes back to the frame member due to abnormal rise in compression space pressure or the like.
The present invention has been implemented in consideration of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to realize the opposed plane setup structure for the scroll compressor capable of, even when setting a smaller clearance, effectively avoiding occurrence of the galling when the circling scroll member goes back. Another object is to realize such an opposed plane setup structure without changing a basic design of an existing scroll compressor.
For the sake of the objects, a scroll compressor according to the present invention is the one airtightly covered in its entirety with an airtight container having a frame member, a fixed scroll member, a circling scroll member and driving means provided therein, the above described frame member being fixedly provided in the above described airtight container, the above described fixed scroll member being formed in a structure having an end plate, a pane extended from the above described end plate and a spiral scroll lap erected on the above described end plate and fixedly provided on the above described frame member, the above described circling scroll member being formed in a structure having an end plate, a pane extended from the above described end plate and a scroll lap erected on the above described end plate to form a compression space by engaging with the above described scroll lap of the above described fixed scroll member while being connected to the above described driving means and provided to be located between the above described frame member and the above described fixed scroll member, and the above described driving means driving the above described circling scroll member in a whirl to change capacity of the above described compression space and thereby compress the fluid, wherein a movable auxiliary member is provided by mounting it on the above described frame member between the above described frame member and the above described circling scroll member, and the above described movable auxiliary member has a stopper portion for causing a contact plane to contact the above described pane of the above described fixed scroll member and a ring portion having an opposed plane annularly formed to face the above described pane of the above described circling scroll member, is further supported elastically by elastic support means in a state of being energized in a direction of the above described circling scroll member, has the contact plane of the above described stopper portion caused to contact the above described pane in this elastic support state to keep a limit position with the above described opposed plane facing the above described pane of the above described circling scroll member, and goes back elastically to the above described frame member side when the above described circling scroll member goes back to the above described frame member side and the pane of the above described circling scroll member is pressed to contact the above described opposed plane.
According to the present invention, the scroll compressor is the one wherein the above described stopper portion is provided in a state of discretely projecting from the above described ring portion at multiple locations in an axial direction and in a state of projecting radially outside from a peripheral plane of the above described ring portion so that its internal plane slants radially outside against an inner peripheral plane of the above described ring portion.
According to the present invention, the scroll compressor is the one wherein the above described movable auxiliary member is provided to form a minute clearance with the above described opposed plane and the pane of the above described circling scroll member at the above described limit position.
According to the present invention, the scroll compressor is the one wherein the above described movable auxiliary member is provided to have the above described opposed plane contacted by the pane of the above described circling scroll member at the above described limit position.
According to the present invention, the scroll compressor is the one wherein, in the case where a conformance layer is provided to one or both of the above described fixed scroll member and the above described circling scroll member, the above described movable auxiliary member causes the above described opposed plane thereof to be in contact with the pane of the above described circling scroll member at the above described limit position until the above described conformance layer galls due to circling movement of the above described circling scroll member.
According to the present invention, the scroll compressor is the one wherein the elastic support means of the above described movable auxiliary member is formed by using a high-pressure fluid generated in the above described compression space.
According to the present invention, the movable auxiliary member is provided so as to configure an opposed plane setup structure therewith. According to the present invention, even if the circling scroll member goes back due to abnormal rise in compression space pressure or the like and the pane thereof is pressed to contact the opposed plane of the movable auxiliary member in the opposed plane setup structure, it is possible, for this reason, to avoid the state in which the movable auxiliary member goes back due to that pressure and the pane is strongly pressed to contact the opposed plane so as to effectively prevent occurrence of galling between the pane and the opposed plane and enhance reliability.
According to the present invention, the stopper portion is provided in the state of discretely projecting from the ring portion and in the state of projecting from the peripheral plane of the ring portion to the radial outside so that the internal plane thereof slants radially outside against the inner peripheral plane of the ring portion. Therefore, the respective internal planes of multiple stopper portions are placed along a circle of a diameter larger than that of the inner peripheral plane of the ring portion. For this reason, it is not necessary to enlarge a radial size of the frame member when securing a circling movement space of the circling scroll member in the state of having the movable auxiliary member mounted on the frame member. Consequently, it is possible to mount the movable auxiliary member on the frame member without changing a basic design of the frame member of an existing scroll compressor.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Hereunder, preferred embodiments for implementing the present invention will be described.
The compression portion is formed by combining a fixed scroll member 110 and a circling scroll member 120. The fixed scroll member 110 is formed in a structure having a spiral scroll lap 110a erected from a disciform end plate 110b, where the lap 110a has a lap tooth bottom 110c and a lap tooth top 110d. The fixed scroll member 110 has a discharge opening 110e provided at its center, and the end plate 110b has a pane 110f extended around it. The fixed scroll member 110 is fixed on a frame member 150 provided fixedly on an internal plane of the airtight container 100. It is usually fixed by fitting a fixing bolt 132 put through the fixed scroll member 110 into a screw hole 133 formed in the frame member 150 as in an example of
The circling scroll member 120 is formed in the structure having a spiral scroll lap 120a erected from a disciform end plate 120b as with the fixed scroll member 110, where that lap 120a has a lap tooth bottom 120c and a lap tooth top 120d. The end plate 120b has a pane 120f extended around it. The circling scroll member 120 has a connection portion 103 erected from the end plate 120b in an opposite direction to the lap 120a, and is connected via the connection portion 103 to an eccentric pin portion 101a of a crankshaft 101 of a driving portion described later. The circling scroll member 120 is combined with the fixed scroll member 110 so that the spiral scroll lap 120a thereof is engaged with the spiral scroll lap 110a of the fixed scroll member 110 in the state of putting their respective lap tooth top 120d and lap tooth top 110d in sliding contact with their respective lap tooth bottom 120c and lap tooth bottom 110c and the pane 120f thereof is put in sliding contact with the pane 110f of the fixed scroll member 110. Multiple compression spaces 130 are formed in this state of combination. Capacity of the compression spaces 130 changes due to circling movement of the circling scroll member 120 so as to compress a fluid.
The driving portion is driving means for driving the circling scroll member 120 in a whirl, and its structure using an electric motor is shown in the example of
It is necessary to prevent rotation of the circling scroll member 120, and an Oldham's ring 134 is provided for that purpose. The Oldham's ring 134 is formed in a structure having two mutually orthogonal sets of key-like projections. A set of the key-like projections are slid in a sliding groove 141a (
A lubricant is supplied as to circling drive of the circling scroll member 120 by the driving portion and rotational movement of the crankshaft 101. That lubrication is performed by pumping up the lubricant stored in an oil reservoir 131 at the bottom of the airtight container 100 with a lubrication pump 106 and supplying it to necessary parts. To be more precise, a lubrication route 101b is provided inside the crankshaft 101. The lubricant pumped up by the lubrication pump 106 passes the lubrication route 101b and reaches a first central space 142 at the top of the eccentric pin portion 101a. Thereafter, it lubricates the connection portion 103 and then flows out into a second central space 143 on a side of the eccentric pin portion 101a. A minute amount of the lubricant having flowed out into the second central space 143 is supplied to a first peripheral space 144 by a seal portion provided on a circling scroll axis support portion end face 120g. However, a major part of it passes through the roller bearing 104 and returns to the oil reservoir 131 by way of a drainage route 146 and a drainage pipe 147 provided on a top face of a bearing cap 148. Here, it is also possible, instead of providing the lubrication pump 106, to pump up the lubricant by a centrifugal pump action utilizing the inside of the crankshaft 101. It is also possible, after supplying the major part of the lubricant having flowed out into the second central space 143 to the first peripheral space 144, to mix it with a fluid to be compressed (a refrigerant for instance) at the compression space 130 and discharge this compressed fluid mixed with the lubricant from the discharge opening 110e of the fixed scroll member 110 so as to separate the lubricant in the airtight container 100 and return it to the oil reservoir 131 thereafter. In the case of this configuration, it is also possible to use a differential pressure lubrication action utilizing a differential pressure between a discharge space 136 and the first peripheral space 144 or second peripheral space 145.
There are a suction stroke, a compression stroke and a discharge stroke, if roughly divided, in compression operation of the fluid by the circling movement of the circling scroll member 120. In the suction stroke, a working fluid is sucked into the compression space 130 by way of a suction opening 140 and a suction space 135 in conjunction with the circling movement of the circling scroll member 120. In the compression stroke, the capacity of the compression space 130 is reduced by the circling movement of the circling scroll member 120 so as to implement a compression action. In the discharge stroke, the working fluid compressed in the compression stroke is discharged into the discharge space 136 from the discharge opening 110e of the fixed scroll member 110, and is further discharged outside by way of a discharge opening 149. The compression space 130 has overcompression prevention means for preventing overcompression arising in operation at a pressure ratio lower than a design pressure ratio. In the example of
In the strokes of such compression operation, and in the compression stroke in particular, it is necessary to secure sufficient airtightness to avoid causing a leak of the working fluid as much as possible between the suction space 135 and the compression space 130, between the compression spaces in different pressure states and between the compression space 130 and the discharge opening 110e. An elastic pressurization support structure for pressing the circling scroll member 120 to the fixed scroll member 110 is used for the sake of securing the airtightness. The elastic pressurization support structure consists of double elastic pressurization. One of the double elastic pressurization is configured to have approximately the same pressure as a discharge pressure of the working fluid both in the first central space 142 formed being surrounded by the end face of the eccentric pin portion 101a and the top face of the connection portion 103 and the second central space 143 formed being surrounded by the side of the eccentric pin portion 101a and the inner peripheral plane of the connection portion 103 and elastically press the center on the opposite side of the compression spaces of the end plate 120b of the circling scroll member 120 with the pressure of the fluid which is approximately the discharge pressure. The other of the double elastic pressurization is configured to have approximately an intermediate pressure lower than that in the first central space 142 and the second central space 143 both in the first peripheral space 144 formed being surrounded by the circling scroll member 120 and the frame member 150 and the second peripheral space 145 also formed being surrounded by the circling scroll member 120 and the frame member 150 and elastically press the pane 120f of the circling scroll member 120 with the pressure of the fluid of the intermediate pressure. According to this embodiment, the working fluid in the middle of compression is led to both the first peripheral space 144 and second peripheral space 145 via a small opening 137 communicating the spaces 144 and 145 to the compression space 130 in the middle of compression so as to generate the intermediate pressure of both the spaces 144 and 145. Such a configuration is just an example, and it is possible to use another configuration.
The above described the basic structure of the scroll compressor. Hereunder, an opposed plane setup structure characterizing the present invention will be described. According to the present invention, the opposed plane setup structure is configured by mounting the movable auxiliary member 151 on the frame member 150.
The stoppers portion 153 is provided in the state in which it projects discretely from the ring portion 152 at multiple locations (three locations in the example of the drawings) in the axial direction, and its internal plane 153a slants radially outside against an inner peripheral plane 152a of the ring portion 152 and projects radially outside from a peripheral plane 152b of the ring portion 152 so that its apical surface becomes a contact face 153b.
The movable auxiliary member 151 thus formed is mounted on the frame member 150. For this reason, the frame member 150 has a mounting acceptance portion 160 provided thereon as shown in
The stopper portion acceptance portion 162 is configured by forming on the internal plane of the frame member 150 a concave portion in a form corresponding to an outer shape of the stopper portion 153 projecting radially outside from the peripheral plane 152b of the ring portion 152.
If mounted on the frame member 150 by the mounting acceptance portion 160 described above, the movable auxiliary member 151 is elastically supported by the elastic support means of the high-pressure fluid to be energized in the direction of the circling scroll member 120 in the state movable to the axial direction. This energization by elastic support causes the contact face 153b of the stopper portion 153 to contact the pane 110f of the fixed scroll member 110 so as to keep a limit position (an upper limit position in the state of
The movable auxiliary member 151 keeps the above state in the state in which the compression operation is ordinarily performed by the compression portion. However, the circling scroll member 120, which is elastically pressed to the direction of the fixed scroll member 110 by utilizing the pressure of the fluid, goes back to the movable auxiliary member 151 side in the case where a force exceeding elastic pressure is exerted due to abnormal rise in the pressure of the compression space 130. If it thus goes back and the pane 120f is pressed to contact the opposed plane 154, the movable auxiliary member 151 accordingly goes back to the frame member 150 side until the elastic support acceptance plane 155 or another plane contacts the bottom of any one of the first to third annular grooves 161a, 161b and 161c. Thus it is possible, as the movable auxiliary member 151 goes back, to effectively prevent the pane 120f from being strongly pressed to contact the opposed plane 154 and causing a gall.
According to the present invention, the movable auxiliary member 151 as described above is provided so as to configure the opposed plane setup structure with the movable auxiliary member 151. Consequently, the following effects can be obtained. First, even if the circling scroll member 120 goes back due to abnormal rise in the pressure of the compression space 130 and the pane 120f thereof is pressed to contact the opposed plane 154 in the opposed plane setup structure, it is possible, as the movable auxiliary member 151 goes back due to that pressure, to avoid the state in which the pane 120f is strongly pressed to contact the opposed plane 154 so as to effectively prevent occurrence of galling between the pane 120f and the opposed plane 154 and enhance reliability.
Furthermore, it is possible to realize the opposed plane setup structure without increasing the diameter or size of the frame member. To be more specific, according to the present invention, the stopper portion 153 for defining a relation between the opposed plane 154 and the pane 120f is formed so that it should project discretely from the ring portion 152 in the axial direction and its internal plane 153a should slant radially outside against the inner peripheral plane 152a of the ring portion 152 and project radially outside from the peripheral plane 152b of the ring portion 152. Consequently, the respective internal planes 153a of the multiple stopper portions 153 are placed along a circle of a diameter larger than that of the inner peripheral plane 152a of the ring portion 152. To be more specific, it is possible to render the diameter of a virtual circle for connecting the respective internal planes 153a of the multiple stopper portions 153 larger than the diameter of the inner peripheral plane 152a of the ring portion 152. For this reason, it is not necessary to enlarge a radial size of the frame member 150 when securing a circling movement space of the circling scroll member 120 in the state of having the movable auxiliary member 151 mounted on the frame member 150.
To be more precise, it can be described as follows. As described above, the frame member 150 has the fixed scroll member 110 fixed with the fixing bolt 132 thereon, and so it is necessary to form the screw hole 133 on the frame member 150. Therefore, the side of the frame member 150 should have at least a predetermined thickness as to the portion forming the screw hole 133. This thickness is kept to the minimum necessary as a basis of the design for the reason of reducing the diameter size of the scroll compressor as much as possible. For the same reason, the diameter size of the internal plane of the frame member 150 is also kept to the minimum necessary to secure the circling movement space of the circling scroll member 120. Therefore, if the “movable auxiliary member” is to be mounted on the frame member 150 without changing the design of the existing scroll compressor, there arises a problem that the thickness necessary for the portion forming the screw hole 133 cannot be secured and so it is necessary to increase the diameter size of the frame member 150. However, it is possible, as with the present invention, to secure the circling movement space of the circling scroll member 120 by having the configuration in which the stopper portions 153 slant radially outside against the inner peripheral plane 152a of the ring portion 152, and it is also possible to provide the stopper portions 153 discretely so as to form the stopper portion acceptance portions 162 by avoiding the portions forming the screw holes 133 as shown in
According to this embodiment, the stopper portion 153 is integrally provided with the ring portion 152. It is also possible, however, to firmly fix the stopper portion formed as a separate member to the ring portion. According to this embodiment, the stopper portion acceptance portions 162 is formed as the concave portion on the internal plane of the frame member 150 so as to set the stopper portion 153 therein. Consequently, the stopper portion 153 also plays a role of preventing the rotation of the movable auxiliary member 151. It is also possible, however, to provide other means for preventing the rotation of the movable auxiliary member 151. According to this embodiment, inclination of the stopper portion 153 is controllable by guiding the inner peripheral plane 152a of the ring portion 152 of the movable auxiliary member 151 with the third annular groove 161c as shown in
Hereunder, other preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. The embodiments are basically the same as the first embodiment except the movable auxiliary member and the portions related thereto. Therefore, the following description of the embodiments will mainly describe components different from the first embodiment, and the components common with the first embodiment will be given common symbols so as to be assisted by the above descriptions.
A mounting acceptance portion 240 is provided on the frame member 150 correspondingly to such a configuration of the movable auxiliary member 231. The mounting acceptance portion 240 consists of a ring portion acceptance portion 241 for accepting the ring portion 232 and a stopper portion acceptance portion 242 for accepting the stopper portion 233. The ring portion acceptance portion 241 is configured to be able to implement a seal function omitted in the movable auxiliary member 231. To be more specific, the ring portion acceptance portion 241 is configured by forming an annular groove on the plane on the compression space side of the frame member 150 and further forming an annular groove 243 for a back-pressure space in the bottom of the annular groove. The annular groove 243 has a seal 244 mounted thereon. The mounting of the seal 244 causes a back-pressure space 245 for elastic support means of a high-pressure fluid to be formed in the bottom of the annular groove 243, and a high-pressure fluid passage 246 communicates with the back-pressure space 245. The stopper portion acceptance portion 242 is the same as the stopper portion acceptance portion 162 of the first embodiment. This embodiment described above has an advantage that the structure of the movable auxiliary member 231 can be further simplified.
It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-116586 | Apr 2004 | JP | national |
