Rotary expansible chamber devices – Working member has planetary or planetating movement – Helical working member – e.g. – scroll
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-01
2001-01-30
Denion, Thomas (Department: 3748)
Rotary expansible chamber devices
Working member has planetary or planetating movement
Helical working member, e.g., scroll
C418S270000, C137S527800, C137S527000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179588
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a check valve device for a scroll machine, and more particularly to a safety apparatus which utilizes the in-flow pressure difference to control the operation of a valve member for preventing the scroll members of the scroll machine from impact damage caused by a possible transient reverse flow.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional scroll machine or a volute compressor in the art can be structured as shown in FIG.
1
. The conventional scroll machine comprises mainly a shell
10
, a separating member
14
inside the shell
10
, a non-orbiting scroll member
24
installed below the separating member
14
, an orbiting scroll member
30
to mesh with the non-orbiting scroll member
24
, a frame
12
to rest the orbiting scroll member
30
and other necessary components. When the non-orbiting scroll member
24
meshes with the orbiting scroll member
30
, a plurality of closed compression chambers
34
are separately formed for accommodating working media (either gas or fluid) between the non-orbiting scroll member
24
and the orbiting scroll member
30
. In operation, a motor
3
located under the orbiting scroll member
30
is used to drive the orbiting scroll member
30
following an eccentric motion via a connecting rotary shaft
36
, and those compression chambers
34
, at the same time, move with the moving contact lines formed between the non-orbiting scroll member
24
and the engaged orbiting scroll member
30
in such a manner that the occupied volume of individual compression chamber
34
become less and less as it moves toward the center of the scroll member
24
or
30
. Thereby, a compressing effect upon the working media confined in each compression chamber
34
can be formulated.
Inside the shell
10
, the separating member
14
is used to define a high-pressure room
18
thereabove and a low-pressure room
20
therebelow. The only through conjunction between the high pressure room
18
and the low-pressure room
20
is structured by a neck
26
extruding from the center of the non-orbiting scroll member
24
into the high-pressure room
18
. The neck
26
has an axle hole
22
and an offset hole
13
to form a through passage connecting the high-pressure room
18
and the compression chamber
34
of the low-pressure room
20
, respectively. The forced flow, driven by the motor
3
, from the low-pressure room
20
to the high-pressure room
18
is thus passed through the volume-reduced compression chambers
34
, the offset hole
13
, and the axle hole
22
, and finally emitted to the high-pressure room
18
.
In the case that the scroll machine faces a stop operation, the flow of the working media will be naturally reversed its direction due to the pressure difference formed between the high-pressure room
18
and the low-pressure room
20
. The reverse flow will impact the compression chambers
34
through the axle hole
22
and the offset hole
13
so that the rotation of the orbiting scroll member
30
will be reverse. During the reversing, collision between the non-orbiting scroll member
24
and the orbiting scroll member
30
will be inevitable and generate a large-scale impact and noise. Such an impact and noise will eventually reduce the life time of the scroll members
24
and
30
, as well as the life time of other relative components.
As exemplified by the disclosures in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,613, 4,759,696, 5,088,905, 4,904,165, and 5,451,148, various means are provided to reduce the collision between scroll members by blocking the working media flow between the high-pressure room
18
and the low-pressure room
20
. However, all the means utilized by aforesaid disclosures require the modification of the original tooling to manufacture the scroll machine, which will increase the product cost substantially. It is also obvious that all the means of the aforesaid disclosures can not be applied directly to the scroll machine manufactured by the original tooling.
In addition, it is taught in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,759,696 and 4,904,165 that spring energy has been utilized to provide the retrieving force for blocking the flow. However, a long-term non-stop operation of the scroll machine will expedite the fatigue or degrading of the spring and thus cause problems in maintenance eventually.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a check valve device for a scroll machine, which will inhibit the reverse flow of the working media for reducing the possible element damage in a machine stop operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a compact check valve device for a scroll machine, which is simply structured to utilize the pressure difference for automatically controlling the operation of the check valve.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a check valve device for a scroll machine, which will reduces the cost on manufacturing a scroll machine by providing the check valve as an upgrading kit for avoiding the cost in re-tooling the scroll machine.
The check valve device for a scroll machine in accordance with the present invention is used to automatically maintain a unique flow direction of the working media. The check device is mounted on the neck of the non-orbiting scroll member of the scroll machine, in which the neck has an axle hole for defining a first passage for flowing the working media. The check valve includes a housing and a valve member. The housing has a through second passage, and couple with the neck in such a manner that a through passage is formed for connecting the first passage of the neck and the second passage of the housing. The valve member is located inside the second passage of the housing, and is formed as a plate with a pivot means to rotate along. While the scroll machine is in stop operation, the valve member is at a close position that the valve member can substantially block the flow of the working media inside the second passage. While the scroll machine is in compression operation, the valve member is at an oblique open position for allowing the working media flowing through the through passage.
According to the present invention, the coupling of the housing and the neck can be a is a built-in type, a plug-in type, an envelope type, or any type that can form the through passage for the housing and the neck.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the pivot means is a pivot shaft mounted on the top side of the plate, and the pivot shaft has two ends thereof protruding over edge of the plate to pivotally engage with the wall of the second passage. Preferably, the pivot shaft is a symmetric curve member with a winding central portion for distributing weight of the pivot shaft upon the top side of the valve member.
According to the present invention, the maximum inclination angle for the valve member to open is no more than 90 degree , in order not to render an over-turn situation.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the valve member can further include a shoulder structure located on the top side of the plate and located oppositely to the pivot means with respect to the center line of the plate. The shoulder structure further includes top extension. While the scroll machine is in stop operation or in compression operations, the top extension can rest upon the top rim of the housing as a stop element for maintaining the valve member at the close and the oblique open positions inside the second passage, respectively. On the other hand, while the valve member is located at any position between the close and the oblique open positions, the shoulder structure is free to rotate inside the second passage.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the shoulder structure can include a pair of side wings located oppositely on valve member. Each side wing has a substantial width and a top out-bent portion to interfere with the top rim of the housing in the case that the valve member reaches the close or the oblique open position.
In one
Chang Yu-Choung
Hsiao Tse-Liang
Huang Ann
Lai Ching-Feng
Liang Kun-I
Denion Thomas
Industrial Technology Research Institute
Liauh W. Wayne
Trieu Thai-Ba
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