Pumps – Including disengageable rotary or frangible drive connection
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-05
2001-04-10
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Pumps
Including disengageable rotary or frangible drive connection
C417S269000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213733
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention is concerned with a compressor for an air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle to the mechanism for driving the feed mechanism of the compressor, and to the connections within the drive system of the compressor.
Compressors of the type described here, which are also referred to as air-conditioning compressors, are familiar. They are powered by a belt in the compressor guided over a belt pulley, referred to in the following as a drive wheel. The belt in turn is powered by the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. A relatively large electromagnetic clutch is integrated into the drive wheel of these compressors so that frequently the compressor cannot be built into small engine compartments. The clutch consists of a friction plate secured by a sprung component on the drive shaft of the compressor, such that in the event of the air-conditioning compressor jamming, the drive belt continues moving and the operation of components relevant to the safety of the motor vehicle that are also driven by this belt can be safeguarded.
Familiar air-conditioning compressors are designed as axial piston machines comprising at least one movable piston in a cylinder block. The piston conveys the medium to be compressed from an intake region into a compression region. The reciprocating action of the piston is effected by a swash plate rotating about an axis of rotation. This acts in conjunction with a take-up plate linked to at least one piston, the plate being positioned in the compressor housing such that it cannot rotate and is held by a support on a nonrotatable thrust bearing. The purpose of the thrust bearing is to take up the torque that is transmitted from the rotating swash plate to the take-up plate. It transpires that compressors of the traditional type are of complex construction in the region of the supporting member of the take-up plate, involving a large number of parts. Also the supporting member often gives rise to a weakening of the take-up plate. Furthermore, it is evident that traditional compressors require a relatively large space. This is brought about amongst other things by the fact that a driver—by means of which the swash plate is coupled to the drive shaft—grips the drive shaft or the torque is transmitted from the drive shaft to the swash plate by means of pins or by compression.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly it is the purpose of this invention to create a compressor that is of simple design, is small, and guarantees the safety of the overall functioning of the vehicle.
As a solution to this problem a compressor is proposed having a distinguishing feature of the that the drive wheel has a belt body, which acts in conjunction with the belt, and which is coupled to the drive shaft of the compressor by an elastic coupling element equipped with a torque limiting device. The drive wheel is of very small construction, as an electromagnetic clutch has been dispensed with. This means that the compressor is permanently linked to the drive and runs constantly. The varying requirement for refrigerant in the air-conditioning system is taken into account by the compression medium feed being regulatable, so that the compressor can be adjusted from a maximum to a minimum requirement of refrigerant. In order to safeguard the constant running of other belts attached to the drive of the compressor, a torque limiting device is envisaged, which uncouples the compressor if it jams.
The preferred compressor model is one which is distinguished by being equipped with a coupling plate which is attached to the drive shaft and which is joined to the belt body by means of the coupling element and has at least one bearing face that works in conjunction with the belt body. The bearing faces guarantee the support of the belt body both axially and radially and therefore precise positioning. In this way the wear on the drive belt and on the drive wheel is kept to a minimum.
Furthermore, the preferred compressor model is one which is distinguished by the drive wheel being supported against the compressor housing by a bearing in the form of a needle bearing. This enables a very compact construction for the drive wheel to be achieved.
In order to resolve the problem, a compressor is proposed in number of parts is reduced to a minimum by the fact that the take-up plate support contains a projection which protrudes from the take-up plate and forms a single part, and that this projection acts in conjunction with a single supporting member. The supporting member has a sliding surface which acts in conjunction with a face of the thrust bearing via which the take-up plate is supported, for example, against the compressor housing. The projection and supporting member fit against each other via a second sliding surface, so that on the one hand the supporting member is held securely to the projection making additional safety measures unnecessary, and on the other hand a certain amount of relative motion of the two parts on the sliding surface is possible, without incurring overloading. Alternatively, or in addition to the measures described above, in order to simplify the construction of the compressor, the driver, which connects the swash plate to the drive shaft, and the drive shaft are either joined to each other—preferably by welding, brazing and/or glueing—or are formed from a single piece of metal.
This version makes gripping of the drive shaft by the driver unnecessary, resulting in a smaller space requirement. As a result of this form of construction, one also finds that the swash plate can swivel further, allowing the compressor to be made shorter.
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Hinrichs Jan
Kuhn Peter
Lauth Hans-Jurgen
Obrist Frank
Fastovsky Leonid
Luk Fahrzeug--Hydraulik GmbH & Co. KG
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Walberg Teresa
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