Patent Grant
9388807
The present invention relates to a vane compressor.
There has been proposed a typical vane compressor described below (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). The vane compressor includes a rotor shaft (an integrated unit of a cylindrical rotor portion that rotates in a cylinder and a shaft that transmits a rotational force to the rotor portion), and a vane received in each of one or more vane grooves in the rotor portion. The vane slides while its tip is in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder. The cylinder includes a discharge port extending in a radial direction and disposed in its inner circumferential surface at a location that is near the finish of the discharge stroke and that has a large phase angle.
There has also been proposed a vane compressor including an auxiliary discharge port to reduce the loss caused by excessive compression of discharge gas remaining in a narrow space after passing through a discharge port (see, for example, Patent Literature 2). The auxiliary discharge port extends in a radial direction and disposed in the inner surface of the cylinder at a location having a phase angle larger than that at the above-described discharge port (hereinafter referred to as first discharge port) (that is, at a location downstream of the first discharge port in the direction of rotation of the vane and downstream in the compression stroke), the location being near the first discharge port.
The vane compressor illustrated in Patent Literature 1 includes the discharge port near the finish of the discharge stroke. However, because the cross-sectional area of the compression chamber in the flow direction (hereinafter referred to as flow area) is small in the vicinity of the finish of the discharge stroke, that vane compressor suffers from an increased pressure loss caused by an increase in the flow velocity of the refrigerant before it flows into the discharge port.
The vane compressor illustrated in Patent Literature 2 includes two discharge ports. However, because the auxiliary discharge port is simply disposed at the location having a phase angle larger than that at the first discharge port, it is impossible to have a large flow area in the first discharge port location. Thus, the flow velocity of the refrigerant before it flows into the first discharge port in the vane compressor illustrated in Patent Literature 2 also cannot be reduced, and that vane compressor suffers from an increased pressure loss.
The present invention is made to solve the above-described problems. It is an object of the invention to provide an efficient vane compressor capable of reducing the pressure loss in a discharge stroke.
A vane compressor according to the present invention includes a cylinder, a cylinder head, a frame, a cylindrical rotor portion, a rotating shaft portion, a vane, and a first discharge port. The cylinder includes a cylindrical inner circumferential surface that defines a hole having opposite openings. The cylinder head covers one of the openings. The frame covers another one of the openings. The rotor portion is configured to rotate about a rotation axis displaced from a central axis of the inner circumferential surface inside the cylinder. The rotating shaft portion is configured to transmit a rotational force to the rotor portion. The vane is disposed inside the rotor portion, held rotatably about a center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface of the cylinder, and partitions a compression space formed between the cylinder and the rotor portion into at least a suction space and a discharge space. The first discharge port communicates with the compression space and allows gas compressed in the compression space to be discharged therethrough. A second discharge port communicating with the compression space is provided at a location upstream from the first discharge port in a compression stroke. The second discharge port includes an opening portion to the compression space, the opening portion having a width equal to or smaller than a width of the vane.
In the vane compressor according to the present invention, the second discharge port is disposed at the location having a phase angle smaller than that at the first discharge port, the flow area at the location of the second discharge port can be large, and thus the flow velocity of gas before it flows into the second discharge port can be low. Accordingly, the pressure loss can be reduced. In the vane compressor according to the present invention, because the width of the second discharge port in the circumferential direction is equal to or smaller than the width of the tip of the vane, even when the vane passes by the second discharge port, leakage of gas from the high-pressure side compression space to the low-pressure side compression space can be maintained small. According to the present invention, the pressure loss in the discharge stroke can be reduced without an increase in the leakage loss from the high-pressure side compression space to the low-pressure side compression space. Accordingly, the efficient vane compressor can be provided.
Examples of a vane compressor according to the present invention are described below in the following embodiments.
The vane compressor 200 includes a sealing container 103, a compressing element 101, and an electrical element 102 for driving the compressing element 101. The compressing element 101 and the electrical element 102 are housed in the sealing container 103. The compressing element 101 is arranged in the lower portion of the sealing container 103. The electrical element 102 is arranged in the upper portion of the sealing container 103 (more specifically, above the compressing element 101). An oil sump 104 for storing the refrigerating machine oil 25 is disposed on the bottom portion inside the sealing container 103. A suction pipe 26 is attached to the side surface of the sealing container 103. A discharge pipe 24 is attached to the upper surface of the sealing container 103.
The electrical element 102 for driving the compressing element 101 can include, for example, a brushless DC motor. The electrical element 102 includes a stator 21 fixed on the inner periphery of the sealing container 103 and a rotor 22 arranged inside the stator 21. A permanent magnet is used in the rotor 22. When a power is supplied to the coil in the stator 21 through a glass terminal 23 fixed to the sealing container 103 by, for example, welding, a magnetic field occurs in the stator 21, a driving force is provided to the permanent magnet in the rotor 22 by the magnetic field, and the rotor 22 rotates.
The compressing element 101 sucks a low-pressure gas refrigerant through the suction pipe 26 into a compression chamber, compresses the refrigerant, and discharges the compressed refrigerant into the sealing container 103. The refrigerant discharged into the sealing container 103 passes through the electrical element 102 and is discharged to the outside (a high-pressure side in a refrigeration cycle) through the discharge pipe 24 fixed (welded) to the upper portion of the sealing container 103. The compressing element 101 includes the components described below. As the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1, a vane compressor including two vanes (first vane section 5, second vane section 6) is illustrated.
(1) Cylinder 1: Its whole shape is substantially cylindrical, and its opposite ends in the central axial direction are open. That is, the cylinder 1 includes a cylindrical inner surface that defines a hole having opposite openings. A part of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b (the above-described inner surface defining the hole), which is substantially cylindrical, has a notch 1c extending therethrough in the central axial direction and recessed outward (convex toward the outer periphery). A suction port 1a extending between the outer circumferential surface and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b is open to the notch 1c. A first discharge port 1d is disposed at a location opposite to the suction port 1a with respect to a closest point 32, which is described below. The first discharge port 1d is in the vicinity of the closest point 32 (illustrated in
A second discharge port 1e extending through the cylinder 1 in a radial direction is disposed in the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b at a location farther from the closest point 32 than the first discharge port 1d. That is, the second discharge port 1e is disposed at a location having a phase angle smaller than that at the first discharge port 1d (in other words, at a location upstream of the first discharge port 1d in the direction of rotation of the vanes and upstream in the compression stroke). The exit section of the second discharge port 1e is largely recessed to shorten the length of the second discharge port 1e in the radial direction. That notch portion is surrounded by the frame 2, a cylinder head 3, which are described below, and the sealing container 103 and is defined as a discharge space 41 (illustrated in
(2) Frame 2: It is the one in which a cylindrical member is disposed on the upper portion of a substantially disk-shaped member, and its longitudinal section has a substantially T shape. The substantially disk-shaped member blocks (covers) one opening (upper one in
The recess 2a may be any one that has an outer circumferential surface (vane aligner bearing section 2b) concentric with the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b and is not limited to a cylindrical blind hole shape. For example, the recess 2a may be a ring-shaped groove that has an outer circumferential surface (vane aligner bearing section 2b) concentric with the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b.
(3) Cylinder head 3: It is the one in which a cylindrical member is disposed on the lower portion of a substantially disk-shaped member, and its longitudinal section has a substantially T shape. The substantially disk-shaped member blocks (covers) another opening (lower one in
The recess 3a may be any one that has an outer circumferential surface (vane aligner bearing section 2b) concentric with the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b and is not limited to a cylindrical blind hole shape. For example, the recess 3a may be a ring-shaped groove that has an outer circumferential surface (vane aligner bearing section 2b) concentric with the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b.
(4) Rotor shaft 4: It includes the rotor portion 4a, the rotating shaft portion 4b, and the rotating shaft portion 4c. The rotor portion 4a is substantially cylindrical and can rotate about the central axis eccentric (offset) to the central axis of the cylinder 1 (more specifically, cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b) inside the cylinder 1. The rotating shaft portion 4b is concentric with the rotor portion 4a and is disposed on the upper portion of the rotor portion 4a. The rotating shaft portion 4c is concentric with the rotor portion 4a and is disposed on the lower portion of the rotor portion 4a. The rotor portion 4a, the rotating shaft portion 4b, and the rotating shaft portion 4c are a single-piece construction. As described above, the rotating shaft portions 4b and 4c are movably supported by the main bearing sections 2c and 3c, respectively. The rotor portion 4a has a plurality of axially extending through holes (bush holding sections 4d, 4e and vane relief sections 4f, 4g) each having a substantially cylindrical shape (having a substantially circular cross section). Of those through holes, the bush holding section 4d and the vane relief section 4f communicate with each other in their side portions, whereas the bush holding section 4e and the vane relief section 4g communicate with each other in their side portions. The side portion of each of the bush holding sections 4d and 4e is open to the outer circumferential portion of the rotor portion 4a. The axial-direction ends of each of the vane relief sections 4f and 4g communicate with the recess 2a in the frame 2 and the recess 3a in the cylinder head 3, respectively. The bush holding sections 4d and 4e are substantially symmetric with respect to the rotating shaft of the rotor portion 4a, and the vane relief sections 4f and 4g are substantially symmetric with respect to the rotating shaft of the rotor portion 4a (see
An oil pump 31 (illustrated in only
(5) First vane section 5: It includes the vane 5a, the vane aligner 5c, and the vane aligner 5d, which are integral with one another. The vane 5a is a flat member having a substantially rectangular shape in side view. A vane tip 5b near the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b in the cylinder 1 (tip on a side that projects from the rotor portion 4a) has an arc shape that is outwardly convex in plan view. The radius of the arc shape of the vane tip 5b is substantially equal to the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b in the cylinder 1. The vane aligner 5c supporting the vane 5a and having a partial ring shape (shape of a part of a ring, arc shape) is disposed on the upper surface (surface that faces the frame 2) of the vane 5a in the vicinity of the end of the vane 5a opposite the vane tip 5b (hereinafter referred to as inner-side end). Similarly, the vane aligner 5d supporting the vane 5a and having a partial ring shape is disposed on the lower surface (surface that faces the cylinder head 3) of the vane 5a in the vicinity of the inner-side end of the vane 5a. The vane 5a, the vane aligner 5c, and the vane aligner 5d are disposed such that the longitudinal direction of the vane 5a and the direction of a line normal of the arc of the vane tip 5b pass through the center of the arc-shaped portion forming the vane aligners 5c and 5d.
(6) Second vane section 6: It includes the vane 6a, the vane aligner 6c, and the vane aligner 6d, which are integral with one another. The vane 6a is a flat member having a substantially rectangular shape in side view. A vane tip 6b near the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b in the cylinder 1 (tip on a side that projects from the rotor portion 4a) has an arc shape that is outwardly convex in plan view. The radius of the arc shape of the vane tip 6b is substantially equal to the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b in the cylinder 1. The vane aligner 6c supporting the vane 5a and having a partial ring shape is disposed on the upper surface (surface that faces the frame 2) of the vane 6a in the vicinity of the inner-side end of the vane 6a. Similarly, the vane aligner 6d supporting the vane 5a and having a partial ring shape is disposed on the lower surface (surface that faces the cylinder head 3) of the vane 6a in the vicinity of the inner-side end of the vane 6a. The vane 6a, the vane aligner 6c, and the vane aligner 6d are disposed such that the longitudinal direction of the vane 6a and the direction of a line normal of the arc of the vane tip 6b pass through the center of the arc-shaped portion forming the vane aligners 6c and 6d.
(7) Bushes 7, 8: Each is configured as a pair of substantially semicylindrical members. The bushes 7 sandwiching the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 are rotatably placed in the bush holding section 4d in the rotor portion 4a. The bushes 8 sandwiching the vane 6a are rotatably placed in the bush holding section 4e in the rotor portion 4a. That is, the first vane section 5 can move (slide) in a substantially centrifugal direction with respect to the rotor portion 4a (in a centrifugal direction with respect to the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b in the cylinder 1) by sliding movement of the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 between the bushes 7. The first vane section 5 can swing (rotate) by rotation of the bushes 7 inside the bush holding section 4d in the rotor portion 4a. Similarly, the second vane section 6 can move (slide) in a substantially centrifugal direction with respect to the rotor portion 4a by sliding movement of the vane 6a in the second vane section 6 between the bushes 8. The second vane section 6 can swing (rotate) by rotation of the bushes 8 inside the bush holding section 4e in the rotor portion 4a. Bush centers 7a and 8a illustrated in
The vane aligners 5c, 5d, 6c, and 6d, the vane aligner bearing sections 2b and 3b in the recesses 2a and 3a, the bush holding sections 4d and 4e, and the bushes 7 and 8 correspond to vane angle adjusting means in the present invention.
(Explanation of Operations)
Operations of the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1 are described below.
As illustrated in
When the radius of each of the vane aligner bearing sections 2b and 3b is ra (see
rv=rc−ra−δ (1)
δ is the gap between the vane tip 5b and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. Setting rv as in Expression (1) enables the first vane section 5 to rotate without coming into contact with the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. To minimize the leakage of a refrigerant from the vane tip 5b, rv is set so as to minimize δ. The relationship in Expression (1) can also apply to the second vane section 6. The second vane section 6 can rotate while the gap between the vane tip 6b in the second vane section 6 and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b is maintained at a short distance.
By maintaining each of the gap between the first vane section 5 and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b and the gap between the second vane section 6 and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b at a short distance, as described above, three spaces (suction chamber 9, intermediate chamber 10, compression chamber 11) are formed (illustrated in
First, a rotation operation of the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1 is described.
When the rotating shaft portion 4b in the rotor shaft 4 receives rotation power from the electrical element 102 being the driving section, the rotor portion 4a rotates inside the cylinder 1. With the rotation of the rotor portion 4a, the bush holding sections 4d and 4e, which are arranged in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the rotor portion 4a, rotate about the rotor shaft 4 as the rotation axis (central axis) and move along the circumference of a circle. The pairs of bushes 7 and 8, which are held in the bush holding sections 4d and 4e, respectively, and the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 and the vane 6a in the second vane section 6, which are held between the pair of bushes 7 and between the pair of bushes 8, respectively, such that the vanes 5a and 6a can freely slide, rotate with the rotor portion 4a.
The first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 receive centrifugal force caused by the rotation, and the vane aligners 5c and 6c and the vane aligners 5d and 6d slide while being pressed against the vane aligner bearing sections 2b and 3b, respectively. While sliding, the vane aligners 5c and 6c and the vane aligners 5d and 6d rotate about the central axes of the vane aligner bearing sections 2b and 3b, respectively. As described above, the vane aligner bearing sections 2b and 3b are concentric with the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. Thus the first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 rotate about the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. Then the bushes 7 and 8 rotate about the bush centers 7a and 8a inside the bush holding sections 4d and 4e, respectively, such that the longitudinal direction of each of the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 and the vane 6a in the second vane section 6 is directed to the center of the cylinder.
In the above-described operation, with the rotation, the sides of the bushes 7 and the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 slide with each other, and the sides of the bushes 8 and the vane 6a in the second vane section 6 slide with each other. The bush holding section 4d in the rotor shaft 4 and the bushes 7 slide with each other, and the bush holding section 4e and the bushes 8 slide with each other.
The solid arrow in the illustration for “angle of 0 degrees” in
At “angle of 0 degrees” in
At “angle of 45 degrees” in
When the pressure in the compression chamber 11 exceeds the high pressure in the refrigeration cycle, the first discharge valve 42 and the second discharge valve 44 are opened, the gas in the compression chamber 11 is discharged into the sealing container 103 from the first discharge port 1d through the first discharge port 2d and is also discharged into the sealing container 103 from the second discharge port 1e through the discharge space 41 and the communication path 2e. The gas discharged in the sealing container 103 passes by the electrical element 102 and is discharged to the outside (high-pressure side in the refrigeration cycle) from the discharge pipe 24, which is fixed (welded) to the upper portion of the sealing container 103 (indicated by the solid lines in
At “angle of 90 degrees” in
At “angle of 135 degrees” in
After that, when the second vane section 6 has passed by the first discharge port 1d, a high-pressure refrigerant slightly remains in the compression chamber 11 (leads to losses). At “angle 180 degrees” (not illustrated), when the compression chamber 11 becomes nonexistent, that high-pressure refrigerant changes into a low-pressure refrigerant in the suction chamber 9. At “angle 180 degrees,” the suction chamber 9 shifts to the intermediate chamber 10, the intermediate chamber 10 shifts to the compression chamber 11, and after that, the compressing operation is repeated.
In such a way, the rotation of the rotor portion 4a (rotor shaft 4) causes the volume of the suction chamber 9 to gradually increase, and the sucking of the gas continues. Then the suction chamber 9 shifts to the intermediate chamber 10. Up to one point, the volume gradually increases, and the sucking of the gas continues. At that point, the volume of the intermediate chamber 10 is the largest, the intermediate chamber 10 does not communicate with the suction port 1a, and the sucking of the gas ends. After that point, the volume of the intermediate chamber 10 gradually decreases, and the gas is compressed. After that, the intermediate chamber 10 shifts to the compression chamber 11, and the compressing of the gas continues. The gas compressed to a predetermined pressure passes through the first discharge ports 1d and 2d, pushes the first discharge valve 42, and is discharged into the sealing container 103. The gas compressed to the predetermined pressure also passes through the second discharge port 1e, pushes the second discharge valve 44, passes through discharge space 41 and the communication path 2e, and is discharged into the sealing container 103. After that, when the vane 6a in the second vane section 6 has passed by the second discharge port 1e, the second discharge valve 44 is closed, and the compressed gas in the compression chamber 11 is discharged into the sealing container 103 only from the first discharge port 1d and the first discharge port 2d.
With rotation of the rotor shaft 4, the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 and the vane 6a in the second vane section 6 rotate about the central axis of the cylinder 1 (see
Rotation of the rotor shaft 4 in the above-described refrigerant compressing operation causes the refrigerating machine oil 25 to be sucked up from the oil sump 104 by the oil pump 31, as indicated by the broken-line arrows in
The refrigerating machine oil 25 sent to the recesses 2a and 3a lubricates the vane aligner bearing sections 2b and 3b, and part of the refrigerating machine oil 25 is supplied to the vane relief sections 4f and 4g, which communicate with the recesses 2a and 3a. Because the pressure in the sealing container 103 is discharge pressure, which is high pressure, the pressure in each of the recesses 2a and 3a and the vane relief sections 4f and 4g is also the discharge pressure. Part of the refrigerating machine oil 25 sent to the recesses 2a and 3a is supplied to the main bearing section 2c in the frame 2 and the main bearing section 3c in the cylinder head 3.
The refrigerating machine oil 25 sent to the vane relief sections 4f and 4g flows as described below.
As previously described, the pressure in the vane relief section 4f is the discharge pressure and is higher than the pressure in each of the suction chamber 9 and the intermediate chamber 10. Thus the refrigerating machine oil 25 is sent into the suction chamber 9 and the intermediate chamber 10 by differential pressure and centrifugal force while lubricating the sliding section between the side of the vane 5a and the bushes 7. The refrigerating machine oil 25 is sent into the suction chamber 9 and the intermediate chamber 10 by differential pressure and centrifugal force while lubricating the sliding section between the bushes 7 and the bush holding section 4d in the rotor shaft 4. Part of the refrigerating machine oil 25 sent to the intermediate chamber 10 flows into the suction chamber 9 while sealing the gap between the vane tip 5b and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b in the cylinder 1.
In the above-described oil supplying operation, as illustrated in
The above-described operations are performed in Embodiment 1. To facilitate the understanding of the advantageous effects of the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1, an operation of discharging gas from the compression chamber 11 is described below in comparison with a typical vane compressor that includes only the first discharge port 1d as a discharge port (for example, a vane compressor described in Patent Literature 1).
First, the operation of discharging gas from the compression chamber 11 in a typical vane compressor that includes only the first discharge port 1d as a discharge port (hereinafter, a publicly known vane compressor having the configuration different from Embodiment 1 is referred to simply as a typical vane compressor) is described below with reference to
In contrast, in the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1, the second discharge port 1e is disposed at a location having a phase angle smaller than that at the first discharge port 1d. Thus the flow width (flow area) in the compression chamber 11 at the location of the second discharge port 1e is large. Thus the flow velocity of the gas in the compression chamber 11 before the gas flows into the second discharge port 1e is low, and the pressure loss can be reduced. When the second vane section 6 has passed by the second discharge port 1e, as illustrated in the illustration for “angle of 135 degrees” in
The above-described arrangement in which the second discharge port 1e is disposed at a location having a phase angle smaller than that at the first discharge port 1d enables the discharge loss to be smaller than that in a typical vane compressor.
Below is the description of gas behavior while the second vane section 6 is passing by the second discharge port 1e in the operation of discharging gas from the compression chamber 11.
As illustrated in
In contrast, as illustrated in
The reason why there is a difference in the amount of gas leaking from the compression chamber 11 to the intermediate chamber 10 through the gap between the vane tip 6b and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b is described below. That is, in the case of a typical vane compressor described in Patent Literature 1 or Patent Literature 2, it is necessary that the radius of the arc shape forming the vane tip 6b (and 5b) be smaller than the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. This is because in a typical vane compressor described in Patent Literature 1 or Patent Literature 2, the center of the rotor portion 4a and the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b are displaced from each other, the vane rotates about the center of the rotor portion 44a as the rotation axis. That is, to enable the arc-shaped portion of the vane tip 6b (and 5b) and the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b to continuously slide, it is necessary to have a smaller radius of the arc shape of the vane tip 6b (and 5b) than the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. In contrast, in the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1, because the first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 are configured to rotate about the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b as the rotation axis (in other words, because the compressing operation can be performed while the line normal to the arc shape of each of the vane tips 5b and 6b and the line normal to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b continuously coincide with each other), the radius of the arc shape of the vane tip 6b (and 5b) and the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b can be set at an equal value or approximately equal values.
Consequently, in the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 1, the pressure loss can be reduced without an increase in leakage of gas while the first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 are passing by the second discharge port 1e. Thus the highly efficient vane compressor 200 with significantly small losses is obtainable.
In Embodiment 1, the width of the second discharge port 1e (more specifically, the opening portion open to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b) in the circumferential direction is smaller than the width of each of the vane tip 5b in the first vane section 5 and the vane tip 6b in the second vane section 6. The width of the second discharge port 1e (more specifically, the opening portion open to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b) in the circumferential direction can be increased to a value equal to the width of the vane tip 5b in the first vane section 5 and the vane tip 6b in the second vane section 6.
In Embodiment 1, the relationship between the cross-sectional area of the first discharge port 1d and the cross-sectional area of the second discharge port 1e is not particularly mentioned. One example relationship therebetween is described below. That is, because the flow area in the compression chamber 11 at the location of the second discharge port 1e is larger than that at the location of the first discharge port 1d, in order to effectively reduce the pressure loss, it is preferable that the quantity of flow discharged from the second discharge port 1e be maximized. To this end, it is preferable that the cross-sectional area of the second discharge port 1e be larger than the cross-sectional area of the first discharge port 1d.
In Embodiment 1, the second discharge port 1e is configured as two refrigerant channels. That is merely one example. The second discharge port 1e is not limited to the above-described configuration.
For example, as illustrated in
The destination of gas flowing from the compression chamber 11 into the second discharge port is not limited to the above-described configuration. For example, the second discharge port 1e may not extend through the outer circumferential side of the cylinder 1, at least one of the frame 2 and the cylinder head 3 may have a through hole communicating with the second discharge port 1e, and gas flowing from the compression chamber 11 into the second discharge port may flow into the sealing container 103 from that through hole. In that case, the second discharge valve 44 and the second discharge valve guard 45 may be disposed on the exit section of that through hole. With such a configuration, substantially the same advantageous effects as in the above description are obtainable from substantially the same operations as in the above description.
The first discharge port is also not limited to the above-described configuration.
In
For example, in the above-described first vane section 5 and second vane section 6, the longitudinal direction of the vane 5a and that of the vane 6a are substantially the same as the direction of a line normal to the arc of the vane tip 5b and that of the vane tip 6b, respectively. Other configurations may be used. One example of the other configurations of the first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 is illustrated in
In
With the configuration illustrated in
In Embodiment 1, the vane compressor 200 including one discharge port (second discharge port 1e) at a location having a phase angle smaller than that at the first discharge port 1d is described. A plurality of second discharge ports may be disposed at locations having phase angles smaller than that at the first discharge port 1d. In Embodiment 2, items that are not particularly described are substantially the same as in Embodiment 1, and the same functions and configurations are described using the same reference numerals.
As illustrated in
At “angle of 45 degrees” in
At “angle of 90 degrees” in
At “angle of 135 degrees” in
Consequently, in the vane compressor 200 configured as in Embodiment 2, because the flow area in the compression chamber 11 at the location of the second discharge port 1g is larger than that at the location of the second discharge port 1e, the flow velocity of the gas in the compression chamber 11 before it flows into the second discharge port 1g is lower than that in Embodiment 1. Thus the pressure loss can be further reduced. When the second vane section 6 has passed by the second discharge port 1g, as illustrated in the illustration for “angle of 90 degrees” in
In Embodiment 2, the cross-sectional area of each of the first discharge port 1d, the second discharge port 1e, and the second discharge port 1g is not particularly mentioned. One example of that cross-sectional area is described below. That is, the flow area in the compression chamber 11 at the location of the second discharge port 1g is larger than that at the location of the second discharge port 1e, and the flow area in the compression chamber 11 at the location of the second discharge port 1e is larger than that at the location of the first discharge port 1d. To effectively reduce the pressure loss, it is preferable that the cross-sectional area of the first discharge port 1d be the smallest, that of the second discharge port 1e be the second smallest, and that of the second discharge port 1g be the largest. That is, to effectively reduce the pressure loss, it is preferable that the cross-sectional areas of the discharge ports increase with a decrease in the phase angle.
In Embodiment 2, the vane compressor 200 including the two second discharge ports (the second discharge port 1e, the second discharge port 1g) with different phase angles is described. The vane compressor may also include three or more second discharge ports with different phase angles. In that case, to effectively reduce the pressure loss, it is preferable that the cross-sectional areas of the discharge ports increase with a decrease in the phase angle.
In Embodiments 1 and 2, the opening portion in the second discharge port to the compression chamber 11 is open to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b. The opening portion in the second discharge port to the compression chamber 11 may be open to a location described below. In Embodiment 3, items that are not particularly described are substantially the same as in Embodiment 1 or 2, and the same functions and configurations are described using the same reference numerals.
The vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 3 is described below with reference to
As illustrated in
The operation of discharging gas from the compression chamber 11 in the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 3 is substantially the same as in Embodiment 1. Gas behavior while the first vane section 5 or the second vane section 6 is passing by the second discharge port 2f is described below.
As illustrated in
Consequently, in the vane compressor 200 configured as in Embodiment 3, the pressure loss can be reduced without an increase in leakage of gas while the first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 are passing by the second discharge port 2f, as in the case of Embodiments 1 and 2. Thus the highly efficient vane compressor 200 with significantly small losses is obtainable.
In the vane compressor 200 according to Embodiment 3, because the second discharge port 2f is disposed in the frame 2 (that is, the opening portion in the second discharge port 2f to the compression chamber 11 is open to the frame 2), the following advantageous effect is also obtainable. That is, in Embodiment 1 or 2, where the opening portion in each of one or more second discharge ports (second discharge port 1e and second discharge port 1g) to the compression chamber 11 is open to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b, it is necessary to set the radius of the arc shape of each of the vane tips 5b and 6b and the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b at substantially equal values. To enable the first vane section 5 and the second vane section 6 to rotate about the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b (in other words, to enables the compressing operation to be performed while the line normal to the arc shape of each of the vane tips 5b and 6b and the line normal to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b are continuously substantially the same), vane angle adjusting means is needed. In contrast, in Embodiment 3, as is clear from
In Embodiment 3, the second discharge port 2f is disposed in the frame 2. The second discharge port 2f may be disposed in the cylinder head 3 or may be disposed in each of the frame 2 and the cylinder head 3.
In Embodiment 3, the width of the second discharge port 2f (more specifically, the opening portion to the compression chamber 11) in the circumferential direction is smaller than the width of each of the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 and the vane 6a in the second vane section 6. The width of the second discharge port 2f (more specifically, the opening portion to the compression chamber 11) in the circumferential direction can be increased to a value equivalent to the width of each of the vane 5a in the first vane section 5 and the vane 6a in the second vane section 6.
In Embodiment 3, two second discharge ports may be disposed, and three or more second discharge ports may also be disposed, as in the case of Embodiment 2.
In Embodiments 1 to 3, the case where the number of vanes is two is illustrated. In the cases where the number of vanes is one and where the number of vanes or three or more, substantially the same configuration is used and substantially the same advantageous effects are obtainable. When the number of vanes is one, the vane aligner may have a ring shape, instead of a partial ring shape.
In Embodiments 1 to 3, the oil pump 31 using centrifugal force of the rotor shaft 4 is described. The oil pump may have any form. For example, a positive displacement pump described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-62820 may be used as the oil pump 31.
The vane angle adjusting means described in Embodiments 1 to 3 is one example and is not limited to the above-described configuration. The present invention can be carried out using publicly known vane angle adjusting means. For example, as in the vane compressor described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-352390, the configuration may be used in which the rotor portion is hollow, a fixed shaft is arranged in the space of the rotor portion, the fixed shaft supports vanes such that they can rotate about the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface, and the vanes are held in the vicinity of the outer circumferential portion of the rotor portion through a bush such that the vanes can swing with respect to the rotor portion. With such vane angle adjusting means, because the vanes rotate about the center of the cylinder inner circumferential surface, the radius of the arc shape of each of the vane tips and the radius of the cylinder inner circumferential surface can be set at substantially equal values. Thus substantially the same advantageous effects as in Embodiments 1 and 2 are obtainable from substantially the same operations as in Embodiments 1 and 2.
In Embodiments 2 and 3, all the plurality of second discharge ports are disposed in the same member. The locations where the second discharge ports are disposed are not limited to the above-described example. For example, one or more of the second discharge ports may be configured such that the opening portion(s) to the compression chamber 11 is open to the cylinder inner circumferential surface 1b (for example, in the configuration in Embodiment 2), and the remaining one or more of the second discharge ports may be configured such that the opening portion(s) to the compression chamber 11 is open to at least one of the frame 2 and the cylinder head 3.
In Embodiments 1 to 3, the vane 5a and the vane aligners 5c and 5d are integral with one another, and the vane 6a and the vane aligners 6c and 6d are integral with one another. They may be separate pieces if the longitudinal direction of each of the vanes 5a and 6a and the line normal to the outer circumferential surface of each of the vane aligners 5c, 5d, 6c, and 6f can be maintained at a constant angle. For example, as illustrated in
1 cylinder, 1a suction port, 1b cylinder inner circumferential surface, 1c notch, 1d first discharge port, 1e second discharge port, 1f oil return hole, 1g second discharge port, 2 frame, 2a recess, 2b vane aligner bearing section, 2c main bearing section, 2d first discharge port, 2e communication path, 2f second discharge port, 3 cylinder head, 3a recess, 3b vane aligner bearing section, 3c main bearing section, 4 rotor shaft, 4a rotor portion, 4b rotating shaft portion, 4c rotating shaft portion, 4d bush holding section, 4e bush holding section, 4f vane relief section, 4g vane relief section, 4h oil supply path, 4i oil supply path, 4j oil supply path, 4k waste oil hole, 5 first vane section, 5a vane, 5b vane tip, 5c vane aligner, 5d vane aligner, 6 second vane section, 6a vane, 6b vane tip, 6c vane aligner, 6d vane aligner, 7 bushes, 7a bush center, 8 bushes, 8a bush center, 9 suction chamber, 10 intermediate chamber, 11 compression chamber, 21 stator, 22 rotor, 23 glass terminal, 24 discharge pipe, 25 refrigerating machine oil, 26 suction pipe, 31 oil pump, 32 closest point, 41 discharge space, 42 first discharge valve, 43 first discharge valve guard, 44 second discharge valve, 45 second discharge valve guard, 46 third discharge valve, 47 third discharge valve guard, 51 contact place, 101 compressing element, 102 electrical element, 103 sealing container, 104 oil sump, 105 vane, 105a projection, 106 vane aligner, 106a recess, 200 vane compressor.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-003257 | Jan 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2012/082143 | 12/12/2012 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013/105386 | 7/18/2013 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1291618 | Olson | Jan 1919 | A |
| 1339723 | Smith | May 1920 | A |
| 1444269 | Piatt | Feb 1923 | A |
| 2044873 | Beust | Jun 1936 | A |
| 4408968 | Inagaki et al. | Oct 1983 | A |
| 4955985 | Sakamaki et al. | Sep 1990 | A |
| 4958995 | Sakamaki et al. | Sep 1990 | A |
| 4997351 | Sakamaki et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 4997353 | Sakamaki et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 4998867 | Sakamaki et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 4998868 | Sakamaki et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 5002473 | Sakamaki et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 5011390 | Sakamaki et al. | Apr 1991 | A |
| 5022842 | Sakamari et al. | Jun 1991 | A |
| 5030074 | Sakamaki et al. | Jul 1991 | A |
| 5032070 | Sakamaki et al. | Jul 1991 | A |
| 5033946 | Sakamaki et al. | Jul 1991 | A |
| 5044910 | Sakamaki et al. | Sep 1991 | A |
| 5087183 | Edwards | Feb 1992 | A |
| 5536153 | Edwards | Jul 1996 | A |
| 6193906 | Kaneko et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6223554 | Adachi | May 2001 | B1 |
| 8602760 | Maeyama et al. | Dec 2013 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 181039 | Nov 1935 | CH |
| 874 944 | Apr 1953 | DE |
| 26718 | Jan 1910 | GB |
| 244181 | Dec 1925 | GB |
| 49-132607 | Dec 1974 | JP |
| 51-128704 | Nov 1976 | JP |
| 52-60911 | May 1977 | JP |
| 56-29001 | Mar 1981 | JP |
| 56 90490 | Jul 1981 | JP |
| 56 150886 | Nov 1981 | JP |
| 58 70087 | Apr 1983 | JP |
| 58 67996 | May 1983 | JP |
| 60-1389 | Jan 1985 | JP |
| 61 132793 | Jun 1986 | JP |
| 63 73593 | May 1988 | JP |
| 63-73593 | May 1988 | JP |
| 63-131883 | Jun 1988 | JP |
| 5-133367 | May 1993 | JP |
| 6 501758 | Feb 1994 | JP |
| 6-501758 | Feb 1994 | JP |
| 8-247063 | Sep 1996 | JP |
| 8-247064 | Sep 1996 | JP |
| 2000 352390 | Dec 2000 | JP |
| 2007 309281 | Nov 2007 | JP |
| 2008 14227 | Jan 2008 | JP |
| 2009264175 | Nov 2009 | JP |
| WO 9600852 | Jan 1996 | WO |
| WO 2010150816 | Dec 2010 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report Issued Feb. 12, 2013 in PCT/JP12/082143 Filed Dec. 12, 2012. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion issued Jul. 2, 2013 in PCT/JP2013/059582 (with English translation of categories of cited documents). |
| Office Action issued Oct. 29, 2013 in Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-529553 (with English language translation). |
| Extended European Search Report issued Jun. 17, 2014 in Patent Application No. 11818068.6. |
| Extended European Search Report issued Jun. 17, 2014 in Patent Application No. 11818070.2. |
| Office Action mailed Aug. 14, 2014 in co-pending U.S. Appl. No. 13/700,634. |
| Office Action issued Sep. 30, 2014 in Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-002807 (with English language translation). |
| Office Action issued Sep. 30, 2014 in Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-003556 (with English language translation). |
| U.S. Appl. No. 14/350,998, filed Apr. 10, 2014, Sekiya, et al. |
| U.S. Appl. No. 14/350,937, filed Apr. 10, 2014, Sekiya, et al. |
| U.S. Appl. No. 14/350,959, filed Apr. 10, 2014, Sekiya, et al. |
| Office Action issued on Nov. 11, 2014 in Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-553219 with English translation. |
| Extended European Search Report issued on Aug. 14, 2015 in European Patent Application No. 12865289.8. |
| Combined Chinese Office Action and Search Report issued Sep. 17, 2015 in Patent Application No. 201280055578.6 (with partial English language translation and English translation of categories of cited documents). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140286807 A1 | Sep 2014 | US |
