Patent Application
20130266458
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealed compressor used in a refrigerator-freezer device, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a conventional sealed compressor which includes a suction muffler having an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe inside of a sealed container, and is configured such that an opening area of an inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is set greater than an opening area of an outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe, to allow a refrigerant gas discharged from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe to be easily suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe, to reduce heat received by the refrigerant gas when the refrigerant gas is released to an interior of the suction muffler through the inlet pipe and is flowing to the outlet pipe, thereby improving an efficiency of the compressor (e.g., see US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0038329A1). In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 4682447 discloses a sealed compressor having a similar configuration, which was filed by the present applicant.
Hereinafter, the conventional sealed compressor disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0038329A1 will be described with reference to
Referring to
Next, major constituents of the compression component 5 will be described.
A cylinder 9 includes a substantially cylindrical compression chamber 11, and a bearing unit 13. A valve plate 15 is provided with a discharge valve device 17 at an opposite side of the cylinder 9 and is configured to close the compression chamber 11. A cylinder head 19 covers the valve plate 15 to define a discharge chamber 21. One end of a suction muffler 23 opens inside of the sealed container 1 and the other end thereof communicates with an interior of the compression chamber 11 via a suction valve 25. A crankshaft 27 includes a main shaft portion 29 and an eccentric portion 31. The crankshaft 27 is rotatably attached to the bearing unit 13 of the cylinder 9. The crankshaft 27 is pressed into and secured to the rotor (not shown). A piston 33 is inserted into the compression chamber 11 such that the piston 33 is reciprocatingly slidable therein and is coupled to the eccentric portion 31 via a connecting rod 35.
Next, the suction muffler 23 included in the compression component 5 will be described.
The suction muffler 23 includes a first inlet pipe 43, a second inlet pipe 53, and an outlet pipe 59. One end portion of the first inlet pipe 43 has a suctioned gas inlet portion 37 which opens inside of the sealed container 1, and the other end portion thereof has an outlet opening portion 41 which opens in a first muffler space 39 within the suction muffler 23. One end portion of the second inlet pipe 53 has an inlet opening portion 45 which opens in the first muffler space 39, and the other end portion has an outlet opening portion 49 which opens in a second muffler space 47 and a resonator 51. One end portion of the outlet pipe 59 has an inlet opening portion 55 which opens in a substantially center portion of the second muffler space 47, and the other end portion thereof has an outlet opening portion 57 which communicates with the compression chamber 11 via the suction valve 25.
The outlet opening portion 49 of the second inlet pipe 53 and the inlet opening portion 55 of the outlet pipe 59 are disposed to face each other. An opening area of the inlet opening portion 55 of the outlet pipe 59 is greater than an opening area of the outlet opening portion 49 of the second inlet pipe 53.
Next, an operation of the sealed compressor configured as described above will be described.
The refrigerant gas 7 which has returned from the cooling system (not shown) to the sealed compressor is suctioned into the suction muffler 23 through the suctioned gas inlet portion 37. The refrigerant gas 7 is released into the first muffler space 39 inside of the suction muffler 23 through the first inlet pipe 43. The refrigerant gas 7 is suctioned through the inlet opening portion 45 of the second inlet pipe 53 having the resonator 51, and released into the second muffler space 47. The refrigerant gas 7 is supplied to the cylinder 9 through the outlet pipe 59. The outlet opening portion 49 of the second inlet pipe 53 and the inlet opening portion 55 of the outlet pipe 59 are disposed to face each other. The opening area of the inlet opening portion 55 of the outlet pipe 59 is greater than the opening area of the outlet opening portion 49 of the second inlet pipe 53. Because of this, the refrigerant gas 7 released from the second inlet pipe 53 is easily suctioned into the outlet pipe 59. Therefore, the heat received by the refrigerant gas 7 when the refrigerant gas 7 is released into the second muffler space 47 inside of the suction muffler 23 and is flowing to the outlet pipe 59, is reduced, thereby improving an efficiency of the sealed compressor.
However, the conventional sealed compressor has a problem that there is a room for improvement of the efficiency of the sealed compressor, as will be described later.
The present invention has been developed to solve the above stated problem associated with the prior arts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sealed compressor which has a higher efficiency than the conventional sealed compressor.
With a view to solving the problem associated with the prior arts, the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe and the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe are disposed so as to face each other, and an opening area of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is made smaller than an opening area of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe.
In this configuration, a cold refrigerant gas released from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe is suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe with a greater amount than a warm refrigerant gas in the inner space of the suction muffler. This can reduce a heat reception loss. As a result, it becomes possible to provide a sealed compressor with a higher efficiency than the conventional sealed compressor.
In other words, the warm refrigerant gas in the inner space of the suction muffler is not easily suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe. Instead, the cold refrigerant gas released from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe is easily suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe. This can reduce a heat reception loss.
Therefore, the present invention can provide a sealed compressor which has a higher efficiency than the conventional sealed compressor.
The above and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with accompanying drawings.
In the sealed compressor disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4682447, one end portion of the outlet pipe of the suction muffler and one end portion of the inlet pipe of the suction muffler are disposed so as to face each other, inside of the sealed container, and the opening area of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is greater than the opening area of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe. Because of this, the refrigerant gas released from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe is easily suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe. Therefore, the heat received by the refrigerant gas when the refrigerant gas is released into the suction muffler and is flowing to the outlet pipe, is reduced, thereby improving an efficiency of the sealed compressor.
To improve the energy of the sealed compressor, the present inventors studied in detail a layout of one end portion of the outlet pipe of the suction muffler and one end portion of the inlet pipe of the suction muffler by conducting an experiment, etc. As a result of the study, the present inventors found out that improvement of the efficiency of the sealed compressor disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4682447 is in a larger part achieved by disposing the one end portion of the outlet pipe of the suction muffler and the one end portion of the inlet pipe of the suction muffler such that they face each other, and that a warm refrigerant gas is suctioned into the outlet pipe, together with a cold refrigerant gas, a heat reception loss increases, and a refrigeration capability is degraded, in the configuration in which the opening area of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is greater than the opening area of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe.
The present invention has been made based on the above described findings, and an object of the present invention is to reduce a heat reception loss by making it difficult to suction the warm refrigerant gas in the inner space of the suction muffler into the outlet pipe, thereby improving the efficiency of the sealed compressor.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a sealed compressor (hermetically sealed compressor) comprises a sealed container; an electric component provided inside of the sealed container; a compression component actuated by the electric component; a suction pipe provided inside of the sealed container to suction a refrigerant gas from outside to inside of the sealed container; and a suction muffler having an inner space; wherein the suction muffler includes: an inlet pipe, one end portion of which opens inside of the sealed container and the other end of which has an outlet opening portion which opens in the inner space of the suction muffler; an outlet pipe, one end portion of which has an inlet opening portion which opens in the inner space of the suction muffler and the other end portion of which communicates with a compression chamber of the compression component; wherein the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe and the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe are disposed so as to face each other, and an opening area of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is smaller than an opening area of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe.
In this configuration, a cold refrigerant gas released from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe is suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe with a greater amount than a warm refrigerant gas in the inner space of the suction muffler. In other words, the warm refrigerant gas in the inner space of the suction muffler is not easily suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe. Instead, the cold refrigerant gas released from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe is easily suctioned into the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe. This can reduce a heat reception loss. Therefore, the sealed compressor with a higher efficient can be provided.
In a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe and the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe face each other in a substantially horizontal direction, and a center of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is positioned between a center of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe and a lower portion of an inner wall surface of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe.
In this configuration, the cold refrigerant gas released from the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe flows downward because of its gravitational force. Since the center of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe is positioned between the center of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe and the lower portion of the inner wall surface of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe, the cold refrigerant gas flowing downward is easily received by the inlet opening portion of the inlet pipe. Because of this, the heat reception loss can be further reduced, and as a result, a sealed compressor with a higher efficiency can be provided.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the embodiments are in no way intended to limit the present invention.
Referring to
Next, major constituents of the compression component 113 will be described. As the compression component 113, a known compressor may be used. Hereinafter, the compression component 113 constituted by a reciprocating compressor will be exemplarily described.
A cylinder 117 includes a substantially cylindrical compression chamber 119, and a bearing unit 121. A valve plate 123 is provided with a discharge valve device 125 at an opposite side of the cylinder 117 and is configured to close the compression chamber 119. A cylinder head 127 covers the valve plate 123 to define a discharge chamber 129. One end portion of a suction muffler 131 opens in the inner space of the sealed container 101 and the other end portion thereof communicates with an interior of the compression chamber 119 via a suction valve 133. A crankshaft 135 includes a main shaft portion 137 and an eccentric portion 139. The crankshaft 135 is rotatably mounted to the bearing unit 121 of the cylinder 117. The crankshaft 135 is pressed into and secured to the rotor 109. A piston 141 is inserted into the compression chamber 119 such that it is reciprocatingly slidable therein and is coupled to the eccentric portion 139 via a connecting rod 143.
Next, the suction muffler 131 included in the compression component 113 will be described.
The suction muffler 131 has a muffler space (inner space) 157 and is a muffling device for damping a noise generated in the compression chamber 119 and the suction valve 133. To improve a performance of the sealed compressor, the suction muffler 131 is preferably made of a material having a low heat conductivity, for example, a synthetic resin. As the synthetic resin, for example, PBT (polybutyleneterephtalate) or PPS (polyphenylenesulfide) may be used, in view of use environments which are a refrigerant gas atmosphere and a high-temperature.
The suction muffler 131 includes, for example, a muffler body 145, a muffler cover 147, a L-shaped bent portion 151 of an inlet pipe 149, and a L-shaped bent portion 155 of an outlet pipe 153. Typically, after assembling the constituents, the muffler body 145 and the muffler cover 147 are joined together by ultrasonic welding, etc., thereby forming the suction muffler 131. The muffler cover 147 has a simple plate shape and defines an upper side wall surface of the muffler space 157.
Protruding portions (not shown) formed integrally with the muffler cover 147 support the L-shaped bent portion 151 of the inlet pipe 149 and the L-shaped bent portion 155 of the outlet pipe 153, respectively. This configuration can eliminate a need for a work for joining the muffler body 145 to the L-shaped bent portions 151 and 155 by welding. The shape of the inlet pipe 149 and the shape of the outlet pipe 153 are not limited to the above, so long as one end portion of the inlet pipe 149 and one end portion of the outlet pipe 153 are disposed so as to face each other.
The protruding portions may be formed integrally with the L-shaped bent portions 151 and 155, respectively. This configuration can also eliminate a need for a work for joining the muffler body 145 to the L-shaped bent portions 151 and 155 by welding.
An introduction section 163 is formed integrally with the muffler body 145. One end portion of the introduction section 163 opens inside of the sealed container 101 and the other end portion thereof opens in the inlet pipe 149. A wall surface defining the introduction section 163 and a wall surface 165 defining the muffler body 145 conform to each other only in a back surface 167, while the remaining wall surfaces of the introduction section 163 are different from the remaining wall surfaces of the muffler body 145. An opening portion 169 of the introduction section 163 at the sealed container 101 side has a substantially rectangular opening shape, and has an inner space of a substantially polyhedral shape. The opening portion 169 is oriented so as to face the suction pipe 103.
The inlet pipe 149 includes, for example, a vertical portion 171 and the L-shaped bent portion 151. The inlet pipe 149 has a substantially-L shape because of the L-shaped bent portion 151. A connecting portion 173 of the vertical portion 171 and a connecting portion 175 of the L-shaped bent portion 151 respectively, have shapes which are a combination of a plurality of circular-arcs and straight lines.
One end portion of the inlet pipe 149 opens inside of the sealed container 101, and the other end portion thereof opens inside of the muffler space 157 of the suction muffler 131 in an outlet opening portion 179 having a circular shape or a many-sided shape which is provided in a substantially horizontal direction (center (F) 177 direction) of the L-shaped bent portion 151. A t one side which is substantially on an axis of the L-shaped bent portion 151 of the inlet pipe 149, a side-branch resonator 181 is extended from the L-shaped bent portion 151 such that the resonator 181 opens downward. Alternatively, the side-branch resonator 181 may be omitted.
The outlet pipe 153 includes, for example, a vertical portion 183 and the L-shaped bent portion 155. The outlet pipe 153 has a substantially-L shape because of the L-shaped bent portion 155. A connecting portion 185 of the vertical portion 183 and a connecting portion 187 of the L-shaped bent portion 155 respectively have shapes which are a combination of a plurality of circular-arcs and straight lines.
One end portion of the outlet pipe 153 communicates with the compression chamber 119 via the suction valve 133, and the other end portion thereof opens inside of the muffler space 157 at an inlet opening portion 191 having a circular shape or a many-sided shape which is provided in a substantially horizontal direction (center (G) 189 direction) of the L-shaped bent portion 155. The inlet opening portion 191 faces the outlet opening portion 179 of the L-shaped bent portion 151 in a substantially horizontal direction
In the above structure, an opening area S1 of the inlet opening portion 191 is set smaller than an opening area S2 of the outlet opening portion 179. The center (G) 189 of the L-shaped bent portion 155 is positioned between the center (F) 177 of the L-shaped bent portion 151 and a lower portion of an inner wall surface 193 of the outlet opening portion 179.
The vertical portion 171 of the inlet pipe 149 and the vertical portion 183 of the outlet pipe 153 are formed integrally with the side wall surface 165 of the muffler body 145 at the sealed container 101 side.
Hereinafter, an operation and advantages of the sealed compressor configured as described above will be described.
Referring to
In addition, the center (G) 189 of the inlet opening portion 191 of the outlet pipe 153 is positioned between the center (F) 177 of the outlet opening portion 179 of the inlet pipe 149 and the lower portion of the inner wall surface 193 of the outlet opening portion 179 of the inlet pipe 149. In this structure, since the inlet opening portion 191 is located under the outlet opening portion 179 in a substantially vertical direction. The cold refrigerant gas 115 flows easily downward because of its gravitational force when it is released from the outlet opening portion 179. Therefore, the cold refrigerant gas 115 is easily received by the inlet opening portion 191. Since the heat reception loss can be further reduced, a sealed compressor with a higher efficiency can be provided.
To verify the advantages achieved by the sealed compressor according to the present embodiment, the present inventors manufactured a sealed compressor according to the above described embodiment, and conducted a performance test under specified conditions, using this sealed compressor. The test conditions were conditions of AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufactures). A condensation temperature in a refrigeration cycle was 40.6 degrees C., a vaporization temperature was −23.3 degrees C., a suctioned gas temperature was 32.2 degrees C., a temperature before valve expansion was 32.2 degrees C., and a surface temperature of the sealed container was 65 degrees C. The compressor was operated by a power supply of 115V/60 Hz under the environment of an outside air temperature of 32.2 degrees C.
In the present test, test result derived from the sealed compressor of the present embodiment was compared to test result derived from the sealed compressor in comparative example. In the comparative example, a sealed compressor having the same configuration as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4682447 was used.
In the present example, the opening area S1 of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe of the suction muffler was smaller than the opening area S2 of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe of the suction muffler. In the present example, the opening shape of inlet pipe was a circle having a diameter φ of 10 mm, while the opening shape of outlet pipe was a circle having a diameter φ of 9 mm. The cross-sectional area S2 of the opening portion of the inlet pipe was about 79 mm2, while the cross-sectional area S1 of the opening portion of the outlet pipe was about 64 mm2.
In the comparative example, the opening area S1 of the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe of the suction muffler was greater than the opening area S2 of the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe of the suction muffler. The opening shape of the inlet pipe was a rectangular shape of (7 mm×8 mm), while the opening shape of the outlet pipe was a circular shape having a diameter φ of 10 mm. The cross-sectional area S2 of the opening portion of the inlet pipe was about 56 mm2, while the cross-sectional area S1 of the opening portion of the outlet pipe was about 79 mm2.
In each of the present example and the comparative example, the inlet opening portion of the outlet pipe and the outlet opening portion of the inlet pipe are disposed such that they are a particular distance apart from each other.
Although in Embodiment 1, the suction muffler 131 has a structure in which the muffler body 145 and the muffler cover 147 which are separate members are adhesively joined together after assembling, the present invention is not limited to this, and the suction muffler 131 may have a structure in which the muffler body 145 and the muffler cover 147 form a unitary member, For example, the suction muffler 131 may be formed by integral molding.
Although in Embodiment 1, the inlet opening portion 191 of the outlet pipe 153 faces the outlet opening portion 179 of the inlet pipe 149 in the substantially horizontal direction, these opening portions may face each other in a desired direction, For example, these opening portions may face each other in a substantially vertical direction.
The sealed compressor of the present invention is widely applicable to compressors for use in a refrigeration cycle, and can be incorporated into various refrigeration devices. The compressor can be incorporated into various devices such as a refrigerator for household use, an air conditioner, a dehumidification machine, a show case, and an automatic dispenser.
Numeral modifications and alternative embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, the description is to be construed as illustrative only, and is provided for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the invention, The details of the structure and/or function may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-087090 | Apr 2012 | JP | national |
| 2013-049429 | Mar 2013 | JP | national |
