U.S. patent application number 10/033853 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-18 for gas compressor.
Invention is credited to Ijiri, Makoto, Sekiguchi, Hiroaki.
Application Number | 20020094294 10/033853 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26606426 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020094294 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sekiguchi, Hiroaki ; et
al. |
July 18, 2002 |
Gas compressor
Abstract
To provide a gas compressor capable of reducing the pressure
loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas and
achieving an improvement in compressor performance. In a
construction in which oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas
discharged from cylinder discharge holes passes through discharge
chambers and discharge gas passages to be led to oil separation
filters side attached to an oil separator, the discharge gas
passages are linear, whereby the oil containing high-pressure
refrigerant gas flows smoothly through the discharge gas passages,
and the pressure loss of the oil containing high-pressure
refrigerant gas is reduced. Further, the height of inlet openings
of the discharge gas passages are set to be the same as the height
of outlet openings, whereby the discharge gas passages extend
horizontally and are of the shortest length, thereby further
reducing the pressure loss of the high-pressure refrigerant
gas.
Inventors: |
Sekiguchi, Hiroaki;
(Chiba-shi, JP) ; Ijiri, Makoto; (Chiba-shi,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ADAMS & WILKS
31st FLOOR
50 BROADWAY
New York
NY
10004
US
|
Family ID: |
26606426 |
Appl. No.: |
10/033853 |
Filed: |
December 20, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
418/259 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04C 18/3446 20130101;
F04C 29/12 20130101; F04C 2250/10 20130101; F04C 29/026
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
418/259 |
International
Class: |
F04C 018/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 22, 2000 |
JP |
2000-391184 |
Sep 4, 2001 |
JP |
2001-267792 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A gas compressor comprising: a cylinder arranged between a pair
of side blocks; a rotor horizontally arranged in the cylinder so as
to be rotatable; vanes provided so as to be capable of jutting out
toward the inner wall of the cylinder from the outer peripheral
surface of the rotor and retracting therein; compression chambers
defined by the cylinder, side blocks, rotor, and vanes; cylinder
discharge holes for discharging refrigerant gas from the
compression chambers; a discharge chamber for temporarily storing
the refrigerant gas discharged from the cylinder discharge holes; a
linear discharge gas passage for guiding the refrigerant gas from
the discharge chamber to the downstream side of the discharge
chamber; an oil separator arranged on the downstream side of the
discharge gas passage and having an oil separation filter for
separating the refrigerant gas and the oil from each other; and a
discharge chamber for temporarily storing the refrigerant gas and
the oil separated by the oil separation filter.
2. A gas compressor according to claim 1, wherein the height of an
outlet opening on the oil separator side of the discharge gas
passage is set to be the same as the height of an inlet opening of
the discharge gas passage, whereby the discharge gas passage
extends horizontally.
3. A gas compressor according to claim 2, wherein the oil
separation filter of the oil separator is positioned above the
outlet opening of the discharge gas passage.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a gas compressor mounted in
a vehicle as a part of an automotive air conditioner system or
mounted in an exterior unit as a part of an air conditioning system
and, in particular, to a gas compressor in which the pressure loss
of an oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas is reduced to
thereby achieve an improvement in compressor performance.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional example of a gas
compressor of this type has a cylinder 1 having a substantially
elliptical inner peripheral configuration, side blocks 2 and 3
being respectively mounted to the end surfaces of the cylinder 1. A
rotor 4 is arranged inside the cylinder 1 between the front and
rear side blocks 2 and 3. The rotor 4 is horizontally positioned so
as to be rotatable through a rotor shaft 5 integrally provided at
its axial center and bearings 6 and 7 of the side blocks 2 and 3
supporting the same.
[0005] As shown in FIG. 4, five slit-like vane grooves 8 are formed
radially in the rotor 4, and vanes 9 are respectively attached to
these vane grooves 8, the vanes 9 being capable of jutting out from
the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 4 toward the inner wall
of the cylinder 1 and retracting into the rotor 4.
[0006] The interior of the cylinder 1 is divided into a plurality
of small chambers by the inner wall of the cylinder 1, the inner
surfaces of the side blocks 2 and 3, the outer peripheral surface
of the rotor 4, and the side surfaces of the forward end portions
of the vanes 9. The small chambers thus defined constitute
compression chambers 10, whose volume is repeatedly varied as the
rotor 4 rotates in the direction of the arrow RD.
[0007] In the case where the volume of the compression chamber 10
varies, at the time of increasing the volume of the compression
chambers 10, the oil containing low-pressure refrigerant gas in a
suction chamber 11 is introduced into the compression chambers 10
through suction passages 12 of the cylinder 1 and inlets 13 of the
side blocks 2 and 3. Then, when the volume of the compression
chambers 10 starts to decrease, the refrigerant gas in the
compression chambers 10 starts to be compressed due to the volume
reduction effect. Thereafter, when the volume of the compression
chambers 10 approaches to its minimum, discharge valves 15 of
cylinder discharge holes 14 provided near the elliptically short
diameter portion of the cylinder 1 are opened by the pressure of
the compressed oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas. As a
result, the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas in the
compression chambers 10 are discharged through the cylinder
discharge holes 14.
[0008] The oil-containing high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged
through the cylinder discharge holes 14 flows through discharge
chambers 16 and discharge gas passages 24 in the outer periphery of
the cylinder 1 before it is led to oil separation filters 18-1 of
an oil separator 18 mounted to the rear portion of the side block
3.
[0009] The oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas led to the
oil separation filters 16-1 is separated into an oil component and
a gas component as a result, for example, of striking against
wire-meshes constituting the oil separation filters 18-1. The gas
component flows into a discharge chamber 19, and is then supplied
from the discharge chamber 19 to the condenser side of the air
conditioning system by way of a discharge port of a compressor case
(not shown). On the other hand, after the separation, the oil
component drips down into an oil sump 20 at the bottom of the
discharge chamber 19 to be stored, and is supplied to portions
where oil is required through an oil passage 21 of the side blocks
2 and 3 and the cylinder 1. Examples of the portions where the oil
is required include the clearances of the bearings 6 and 7, flat
grooves 22 formed on the sides of the side blocks 2 and 3 facing
the cylinder, and vane back pressure spaces 23 at the bottom of the
vanes 9 communicating therewith.
[0010] However, as shown in FIG. 5, the above-described
conventional gas compressor adopts a structure in which, to enhance
the oil separation performance, the discharge gas passages 24 of
the oil separator 18 are bent twice at right angles to thereby
cause the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas to strike
against the inner walls of the gas passages 24 twice. This striking
construction provides little or no effect of improving the oil
separation performance. Rather, it involves an increase in the
pressure loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas,
which leads to deterioration in the compressor performance.
[0011] The present invention has been made with a view toward
solving the above problem in the prior art. It is an object of the
present invention to provide a gas compressor which can reduce the
pressure loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas
to thereby achieve an improvement in compressor performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] To achieve the above object, the present invention relates
to a gas compressor comprising a cylinder arranged between a pair
of side blocks, a rotor horizontally arranged in the cylinder so as
to be rotatable, vanes provided so as to be capable of jutting out
toward the inner wall of the cylinder from the outer peripheral
surface of the rotor and retracting therein, compression chambers
defined by the cylinder, the side blocks, the rotor, and the vanes,
cylinder discharge holes for discharging refrigerant gas from the
compression chambers, a discharge chamber for temporarily storing
the refrigerant gas discharged from the cylinder discharge holes, a
linear discharge gas passage for guiding the refrigerant gas from
the discharge chamber to the downstream side of the discharge
chamber, an oil separator arranged on the downstream side of the
discharge gas passage and having an oil separation filter for
separating the refrigerant gas and the oil from each other, and a
discharge chamber for temporarily storing the refrigerant gas and
the oil separated by the oil separation filter.
[0013] Then, according to the present invention, the discharge gas
passage is made linear, whereby the oil containing high-pressure
refrigerant gas flows smoothly through the discharge gas passage,
thereby reducing the pressure loss of the oil containing
high-pressure refrigerant gas.
[0014] Further, present invention relates to a gas compressor,
wherein the height of an outlet opening on the oil separator side
of the discharge gas passage is set to be the same as the height of
an inlet opening of the discharge gas passage, whereby the
discharge gas passage extends horizontally.
[0015] Then, according to the present invention, the oil separator
side opening of the discharge gas passage communicating with the
discharge chamber is set to be of the same height as the inlet
opening thereof, whereby the discharge gas passage extends
horizontally and is of the shortest length, whereby it is possible
to further reduce the pressure loss of the oil containing
high-pressure refrigerant gas.
[0016] Further, the present invention relates to a gas compressor,
wherein the oil separation filter of the oil separator is
positioned above the outlet opening of the discharge gas
passage.
[0017] Then, according to the present invention, the oil separation
filter of the oil separator is positioned above the outlet opening
of the discharge gas passage, so that a large space can be secured
for the oil sump below the oil separation filter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are an explanatory drawing showing a
main portion of a gas compressor according to the present
invention, FIG. 1A is a front view of a built-in oil separator in
the gas compressor, FIG. 1B is a rear view thereof, and FIG. 1C is
a sectional view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 1B.
[0019] FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are an explanatory drawing showing a
main portion of a gas compressor in accordance with another
embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2A is a front view of a
built-in oil separator in the gas compressor, FIG. 2B is a rear
view thereof, and FIG. 2C is a sectional view taken along the line
B-B of FIG. 2B.
[0020] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a gas compressor according to
the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG.
3.
[0022] FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C are an explanatory drawing
showing an oil separator mounted in the conventional gas
compressor, FIG. 5A is a front view of the oil separator, FIG. 5B
is a rear view thereof, and FIG. 5C is a sectional view taken along
the line B-B of FIG. 5B.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0023] A gas compressor in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention will now be described in detail with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
[0024] The basic construction of the gas compressor of this
embodiment is the same as that of the conventional gas compressor
shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in which the cylinder 1 is arranged between
a pair of side blocks 2 and 3 and in which the rotor 4 is
horizontally arranged inside the cylinder 1 so as to be rotatable,
the vanes 9 being provided so as to be capable of jutting out
toward the inner wall of the cylinder 1 from the outer peripheral
surface of the rotor 4 and retracting therein. Inside the cylinder
1, the compression chambers 10 defined by the vanes 9, etc. are
provided, and the volume of the compression chambers 10 repeatedly
increases and decreases as the rotor 4 rotates, whereby the oil
containing low-pressure refrigerant gas in the suction chamber is
taken in and compressed. Further, the compressed oil containing
high-pressure refrigerant gas is discharged through the cylinder
discharge holes 14 as in the prior art. Thus, the component which
are the same as those of the conventional gas compressor will be
indicated by the same reference numerals, and a detailed
description of such components will be omitted.
[0025] In the gas compressor of this embodiment also, the oil
containing high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged through the
cylinder discharge holes 14 as described above flows through the
discharge chamber 16 and the discharge gas passages 24 and is led
to the oil separation filters 18-1 attached to the oil separator
18. As shown in FIG. 1, in the gas compressor of this embodiment,
such discharge gas passages 24 are formed into a linear shape so as
to realize linearization thereof.
[0026] That is, one end 24a of each discharge gas passage 24 opens
on the discharge chamber 16 side, and the other end 24b thereof
opens on the oil separation filter 18-1 side of the oil separation
filter 18. The section between one end (inlet opening) 24a of each
discharge gas passage 24 and the other end (outlet opening) 24b
thereof extends in a completely straight line, without being bent
anywhere. Further particular explaining, the discharge gas passage
24 is formed linear whichever direction from seen, for example,
front or rear view shown in FIG. 1B, plane view like shown in FIG.
1C, and side view like shown in FIG. 3.
[0027] Each discharge gas passage 24 is formed extending from the
discharge chambers 16 to the oil separator 18 through the rear side
block 3 in a punching manner. In this embodiment, the angle at
which the discharge gas passage 24 reaches the oil separator 18 is
not also changed.
[0028] That is, as shown in FIG. 5, each discharge gas passage 24
in the conventional gas compressor is bent substantially at right
angles immediately after entering the oil separator 18 through the
rear side block 3, whereas, as shown in FIG. 1, each discharge gas
passage 24 of the gas compressor of this embodiment is not bent
immediately after entering the oil separator 18 through the rear
side block 3, and is formed linear.
[0029] Referring to FIG. 4, in the case of the gas compressor of
this embodiment, two cylinder discharge holes 14, two discharge
chambers 16, two discharge gas passages 24, and two oil separation
filters 18-1 of the oil separator 18 are provided. This is due to
the substantially elliptical inner peripheral configuration of the
cylinder 1 and due to the structure in which five vanes 9 are
provided. When the rotor 4 makes one rotation, intake operation and
compressing operation are executed at two positions in the cylinder
1, and the portions of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant
gas respectively compressed at the two positions are separately
guided to the oil separator 18.
[0030] As stated above, the two discharge gas passages 24 and 24
are both linear. However, they are not parallel to each other but
are in a v-shaped arrangement in which they are directed toward the
two oil separation filters 18-1 and 18-1 arranged side by side at
the center of the oil separator 18.
[0031] In the gas compressor of this embodiment also, the oil
containing high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged through the
cylinder discharge holes 14 is led to the oil separation filters
18-1 of the oil separator 18 through the discharge chambers 16 and
the discharge gas passages 24. When, as in this embodiment, the
discharge gas passages 24 are attempted to be linear, the oil
containing high-pressure refrigerant gas can be smoothly
transferred from the cylinder discharge holes 14 to the oil
separation filters 18-1, whereby the pressure loss of the oil
containing high-pressure refrigerant gas is reduced, and the
compressor performance is improved.
[0032] It is to be noted that the pressure loss of the oil
containing high-pressure refrigerant gas also depends on the
sectional area of the discharge gas passages 24; the larger the
sectional area of the discharge gas passages 24, the less the
pressure loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas.
Thus, it is desirable that the sectional area of the discharge gas
passages 24 be set to be as large as possible.
[0033] FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a gas compressor in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
2A is a rear elevational view of an oil separator as seen from the
rear side, FIG. 2B is an elevational view of the oil separator as
seen from the side abutting the rear side block, and FIG. 2C is a
sectional view taken along the line B-B of FIG. 2B.
[0034] In this embodiment, in order to further reduce the pressure
loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas, the
height of one end 24a of each discharge gas passage 24, that is,
the height of the discharge chamber 16 side inlet opening
constituting the inlet of the discharge gas passage 24, is set to
be the same as the height of the other end 24b of the discharge gas
passage 24, that is, the height of the oil separator 18 side outlet
opening, whereby each discharge gas passage 24 connecting the inlet
and outlet openings 24a and 24b extends horizontally and is of the
shortest length.
[0035] Thus, in this embodiment, in which the discharge gas
passages 24 are of the shortest length, it is possible to restrain
at a low level the pressure loss of the oil containing
high-pressure refrigerant gas, which is discharged from the
cylinder discharge holes 14 and led from the discharge chambers 16
to the oil separation filters 18-1 of the oil separator 18 through
the discharge gas passages 24.
[0036] Further, since the discharge gas passages 24 extend
horizontally, it is possible to minimize the resistance when
passing the high-pressure refrigerant gas therethrough, which also
leads to a reduction in pressure loss, thereby achieving a further
improvement in compressor function.
[0037] As described above, in the gas compressor of the present
invention, the discharge gas passages are linear, so that the oil
containing high-pressure refrigerant gas flows smoothly from the
cylinder discharge holes to the oil separation filters of the oil
separator through the discharge gas passages, whereby the pressure
loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas of this
type is reduced, thereby achieving an improvement in compressor
performance.
[0038] Further, in the gas compressor of the present invention, the
discharge gas passages are formed linearly, and the height of the
inlet opening communicating with the discharge chamber is set to be
the same as the height of the outlet opening on the oil separator
side, whereby the discharge gas passages extend horizontally and
are of the shortest length,, thereby further reducing the pressure
loss of the oil containing high-pressure refrigerant gas passing
through the discharge gas passages to thereby achieve a further
improvement in compressor performance.
* * * * *