Compressor

Details Compressor Compressor

2000-12-11

2002-06-11

Freay, Charles G. (Department: 3746)

Pumps

Motor driven

Including means utilizing pump fluid for augmenting cooling,...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06402485

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scroll compressor, and more particularly, to a refrigerant inlet of the scroll compressor.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, the scroll compressor is used for compressing a gas by means of one pair of opposite scrolls, and employed mostly in a room air conditioner or a car for compressing a refrigerant gas owing to a high efficiency, low noise, small size and light weight.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a related art scroll compressor is provided with a compressor part
10
for compressing a refrigerant gas drawn into a shell
1
from an evaporator(not shown) in a cooling cycle through an inlet tube
1
a
, and a motor part
20
for transmission of a driving force to the compressor part
10
to compress the refrigerant. The shell
1
encloses the compressor part
10
and the motor part
20
for preventing leakage of the refrigerant during the compression. There is a main frame
30
supports the compressor part
10
for stable power transmission from the motor part
20
to the compressor part
10
. The compressor part
10
has a stationary scroll
11
fixed to an upper portion of inside of the shell
1
, and a rotating scroll
12
engaged with the stationary scroll
11
for being rotated by a driving force received from the motor part
20
. The rotating scroll
12
is rotatably mounted on the main frame
30
, and the stationary scroll
11
is fixed to the main frame
30
on the rotating scroll
12
. The stationary scroll
11
and the rotating scroll
12
have laps
11
a
and
12
a
of involute curve projected in a vertical direction, and for forming a compression chamber
13
in the compressor part
10
. And, there is an inlet
40
for communication between an inner space of the shell
1
and the compression chamber
13
in the scrolls
11
and
12
for compression of the refrigerant. The motor part
20
has rotor
21
/stator
22
for generating a driving power from an external power source, i.e., a motor and a rotating shaft
50
. The rotating shaft
50
is fitted to an inside of the rotor
21
and the rotating scroll
12
on a top end thereof, for transmission of the driving force generated at the rotor
21
/stator
22
to the rotating scroll
12
through the shaft
50
. In the meantime, there is a discharge chamber
14
at a central portion of atop of the compressor part
10
in communication with the compression chamber
13
, and the discharge chamber
14
is in turn in communication with an outlet tube
1
b
for discharging compressed refrigerant to a condenser(not shown). And, the inlet tube
1
a
is positioned at one side of the shell
1
for receiving the refrigerant from the evaporator(not shown), and there is a baffle
60
on a discharge side of the inlet tube
1
a
for deflecting flow of the refrigerant. In the operation of the compressor, the refrigerant enters into the shell
1
through the inlet tube
1
a
and split in upper and lower directions at the baffle
60
. The refrigerant in the lower direction cools down the motor part
20
as the refrigerant flows through an inner portion of the shell
1
, and flows upward to enter into the compression chamber
13
through the inlet
40
, finally. On the other hand, the split refrigerant in the upper direction flows upward to an upper portion of the shell
1
, and turns back to enter into the compression chamber
13
through the inlet
40
opened substantially at a right angle to a direction of the upward refrigerant flow. Though there is a temperature rise caused by a heat from the motor part
20
and a pressure loss caused by the split flow, the system and operation of the related art compressor is essential for an effective prevention of overheating of the motor part
20
by using the refrigerant without provision of any additional cooling device. In fact, however, there is additional pressure loss and temperature rise in the operation of the compressor other than what is just explained, which will be explained, in detail.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, a related art refrigerant flow structure up to the compression chamber has a flow passage formed continuously inclusive of the baffle
60
and an edge of the main frame
30
adjoining to the baffle
60
, and an inlet hole
40
formed adjacent to the main frame
30
. An axis of the inlet hole
40
is perpendicular to the flow passage, and the inlet hole
40
is positioned on an inner side of an edge of the main frame
30
. Therefore, the refrigerant in the upper direction is involved in a flow separation during the refrigerant passes through the flow passage, to pass by the inlet hole
40
and flow to the upper portion of the shell
1
.
This refrigerant flow can be explained clearly with reference to FIG.
3
. The refrigerant entered into the shell
1
through the inlet tube
1
a
passes by the inlet hole
40
owing to a geometry of the flow structure explained before in a process the refrigerant flows in a vertical direction guided by the baffle
60
and the main frame
30
. Accordingly, the refrigerant flow to the inlet hole
40
is not smooth, but enters into the compression chamber
13
formed by respective scrolls
11
and
12
through the inlet hole
40
after the refrigerant flows to the upper portion of the shell
1
. Consequently, there is collision of the refrigerant flow passing by the inlet
40
and rising upward and the refrigerant flow heated in the process flowing around the motor, to cause a turbulent flow, that causes an additional pressure loss. And, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the main frame
30
in an extended flow path, to cause an additional temperature rise. At the end, since the additional pressure loss and the additional temperature rise interfere a smooth entrance of the refrigerant into the inlet hole
40
, resulting in overheating of the refrigerant, an overall compression efficiency of the compressor is deteriorated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a compressor that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a compressor which can minimize a pressure loss and a temperature rise of a refrigerant while various components of the compressor are cooled down smoothly.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the Scroll compressor including a shell having an inlet tube for drawing a refrigerant, and an outlet tube for discharging the compressed refrigerant, a compressor part arranged in an upper portion of the shell having an inlet hole for drawing refrigerant flowed through the inlet tube for compressing the refrigerant flowed through the inlet hole, a motor part arranged in a lower portion of the shell for transmission of a driving force for operating the compressor part, and a main frame having an edge arranged adjoined to a baffle, which baffle is provided for splitting the refrigerant flowed into the shell through the inlet tube into a flow for the compressor part and a flow for the motor part, and which edge has a curved guide surface extended to the inlet hole of the compressor part for forming a refrigerant flow passage together with the baffle, thereby improving performance of the compressor by preventing additional pressure loss and temperature rise.
The guide surface preferably has a radius of curvature set to be equal to a distance from the edge of the main frame to the inlet hole.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and

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