U.S. patent application number 10/722659 was filed with the patent office on 2005-05-26 for universal compressor assembly.
Invention is credited to Chu, Henry C..
Application Number | 20050112006 10/722659 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34592035 |
Filed Date | 2005-05-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050112006 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chu, Henry C. |
May 26, 2005 |
Universal compressor assembly
Abstract
A universal compressor device includes a cylinder disposed in a
shell, a shaft rotatably and slidably received in the cylinder,
three or more pistons slidably received in the cylinder to
alternatively actuate the shaft to move axially relative to the
cylinder, and two valve plates disposed on ends of the cylinder to
control fluid flowing passage. One cover and one cap are
selectively secured to the ends of the shell, to enclose and retain
the elements within the shell, and for attaching to one vehicle.
One or more other covers and caps may further be selectively
secured to the shell, for attaching the universal compressor device
to the other vehicles.
Inventors: |
Chu, Henry C.; (Orange,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHARLES E. BAXLEY, ESQ.
90 JOHN STREET
THIRD FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY
10038
US
|
Family ID: |
34592035 |
Appl. No.: |
10/722659 |
Filed: |
November 24, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
417/521 ;
417/269; 417/418 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04B 27/0852 20130101;
F04B 39/125 20130101; F04B 27/1081 20130101; F04B 39/121 20130101;
F04B 39/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
417/521 ;
417/269; 417/418 |
International
Class: |
F04B 001/12; F04B
027/08 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A universal compressor assembly comprising: a shell including
two ends, a cylinder disposed in said shell, a shaft rotatably and
slidably received in said cylinder and including a cam member
disposed thereon, at least three pistons slidably received in said
cylinder and engageable with said cam member, to alternatively
actuate said shaft to move axially relative to said cylinder, two
valve plates disposed on ends of said cylinder to control fluid
flowing passage, a first cover and a first cap selectively secured
to said ends of said shell, to enclose and retain said cylinder and
said shaft and said pistons and said valve plates within said
shell, and for attaching to one vehicle, and at least one second
cover and at least one second cap for selectively securing to said
ends of said shell, to enclose and retain said cylinder and said
shaft and said pistons and said valve plates within said shell, and
for attaching to the other vehicles when said first cover and said
first cap are disengaged from said ends of said shell.
2. The universal compressor assembly as claimed in claim 1 further
comprising at least one third cover and at least one third cap
selectively secured to said ends of said shell, to enclose and
retain said cylinder and said shaft and said pistons and said valve
plates within said shell, and to attach to the other vehicles when
said first cover and said first cap are disengaged from said ends
of said shell.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a universal compressor
assembly, and more particularly to a universal compressor assembly
for assembling onto various vehicles or the like.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Typical compressors comprise three or more pistons slidably
received in one or more cylinders, in order to form a reciprocating
piston type compressor of axial design.
[0005] The typical compressors are normally disposed in the engine
compartment of vehicles, and coupled to the refrigerant systems for
pumping coolant or other agents through the refrigerant piping
systems.
[0006] Normally, various kinds of typical compressors are designed
for attaching or coupling to the engines of different vehicles. For
example, the compressors designed for such as GM or FORD vehicles
may only be used in GM or FORD vehicles only, and may not be
attached to the other vehicles.
[0007] Similarly, the compressors designed for VOLKSWAGEN or NISSAN
or TOYOTA vehicles, for example, may only be used in VOLKSWAGEN or
NISSAN or TOYOTA vehicles only, and may not be attached to the
other vehicles; i.e., the compressors are all designed for being
secured or attached onto one particularly designed refrigerant
system of one particular or selected vehicle only, and no parts or
elements of the compressors may be used commonly.
[0008] For vehicle repairing shops or companies, they have to order
and store various kinds of compressors in stock for different
vehicles. In addition, the vehicle repairing shops or companies
have to prepare or rent a large space or building to store many
compressors for different vehicles.
[0009] For some of the vehicle repairing companies who have no
spare spaces or buildings to store the compressors, the vehicle
repairing companies thus have to order the required compressors
from particular companies when required. Some times, it may take a
long time to wait for a compressor.
[0010] The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate
the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional universal
compressor assemblies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
a universal compressor assembly including one or more caps or
covers for selectively attaching to a universal compressor body,
and for allowing the universal compressor assembly to be easily and
selectively attached to different vehicles.
[0012] The other objective of the present invention is to provide a
universal compressor assembly including fewer parts or elements
required to be stored, for reducing the required storing spaces or
buildings for the compressors for different vehicles.
[0013] In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is
provided a universal compressor assembly comprising a shell
including two ends, a cylinder disposed in the shell, a shaft
rotatably and slidably received in the cylinder and including a cam
member disposed thereon, at least three pistons slidably received
in the cylinder and engageable with the cam member, to
alternatively actuate the shaft to move axially relative to the
cylinder, two valve plates disposed on ends of the cylinder to
control fluid flowing passage, a first cover and a first cap
selectively secured to the ends of the shell, to enclose and retain
the cylinder and the shaft and the pistons and the valve plates
within the shell, and for attaching to one vehicle. One or more
second covers and one or more second cap may further be provided to
be selectively secured to the ends of the shell, to enclose and
retain the cylinder and the shaft and the pistons and the valve
plates within the shell, and for attaching to the other vehicles
when the first cover and the first cap are disengaged from the ends
of the shell.
[0014] The shell and the cylinder and the shaft and the pistons and
the valve plates may thus be commonly used for all of the
compressors. Only the covers and caps are required to be changed or
replaced with the other ones, for attaching onto different
vehicles.
[0015] Further objectives and advantages of the present invention
will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed
description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a partial exploded view of a universal compressor
assembly in accordance with the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is another partial exploded view of the universal
compressor assembly;
[0018] FIGS. 3, 4, 5 are perspective views illustrating three
different arrangements of the universal compressor assembly;
and
[0019] FIGS. 6, 7, 8 are partial exploded views of the universal
compressor assemblies as shown in FIGS. 3-5 respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0020] Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a
universal compressor assembly in accordance with the present
invention comprises a shell 10, a cylinder 11 disposed and/or
secured in the shell 10, a shaft 12 rotatably and slidably received
in the cylinder 11 and including a cam member 13 disposed thereon,
and three or more pistons 14 slidably received in the cylinder 11
and engageable with the cam member 13, to alternatively actuate or
force the shaft 12 to move axially along or relative to the
cylinder 11.
[0021] The universal compressor assembly further comprises two
valve plates 15, 16 received in the shell 10 and disposed on the
ends of the cylinder 11, for controlling the flowing passage or
directions of the fluid or coolant agent to be pumped by the
universal compressor assembly. The above-described structure for
the universal compressor assembly is typical and will not be
described in further details.
[0022] The universal compressor assembly further comprises a first
cover 20 and a first cap 30 selectively secured to the ends of the
shell 10 (FIGS. 3, 6), to enclose and retain the cylinder 11 and
the shaft 12 and the pistons 14 and the valve plates 15, 16 within
the shell 10. The first cover 20 and the first cap 30 are designed
or shaped for attaching or securing to one refrigerant system of
one of the vehicles, for example.
[0023] The universal compressor assembly further comprises one or
more second covers 21, 22 and one or more second caps 31, 32
selectively secured to the ends of the shell 10 (FIGS. 4, 7; and 5,
8), for attaching or securing to the refrigerant systems of the
other vehicles. A clutch device 40 is normally provided and
attached to the shaft 12 for clutching purposes.
[0024] As shown in FIGS. 3-5 and 6-8, the shell 10 and the cylinder
11 and the shaft 12 and the pistons 14 and the valve plates 15, 16
may thus be commonly used and selectively assembled between the
first cover 20 and the first cap 30, or the second covers 21, 22
and the second caps 31, 32, for allowing the universal compressor
assembly to be attached or secured to the refrigerant systems of
various or different vehicles.
[0025] The users, particularly the vehicle repairing companies or
shops, may only be required to prepare and store one set of the
shell 10 and the cylinder 11 and the shaft 12 and the pistons 14
and the valve plates 15, 16, and one or more pairs of the covers
20-22 and the caps 30-32, for attaching or securing to the
refrigerant systems of different vehicles.
[0026] It is to be noted that all of the universal compressors may
use the same or the identical shell 10 and cylinder 11 and shaft 12
and pistons 14 and valve plates 15, 16, such that the shell 10 and
the cylinder 11 and the shaft 12 and the pistons 14 and the valve
plates 15, 16 may be manufactured with mass production, and may be
manufactured with the most efficient but the cheapest ones.
[0027] The universal compressors benefit the vehicle repairing
companies much, because they are not required to order and store
various kinds of compressors in stock for different vehicles, and
they may prepare or order fewer compressor parts or elements for
different vehicles, and they need not to rent a large space or
building to store the compressors parts or elements.
[0028] Accordingly, the universal compressor assembly in accordance
with the present invention includes one or more caps or covers for
selectively attaching to a universal compressor body, and for
allowing the universal compressor assembly to be easily and
selectively attached to different vehicles, and includes fewer
parts or elements required to be stored, for reducing the required
storing spaces or buildings for the compressors for different
vehicles.
[0029] Although this invention has been described with a certain
degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present
disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous
changes in the detailed construction and the combination and
arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
* * * * *