Pumps – With muffler acting on pump fluid
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-05
2001-10-02
Thorpe, Timothy S. (Department: 3746)
Pumps
With muffler acting on pump fluid
C417S269000, C181S403000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296457
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a discharge pulsation damping apparatus for a compressor used in a car air conditioner, a compressed air supply apparatus, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
A compressor of this type has a construction in which a compressive fluid sucked from outside is introduced into an operation chamber and the pressure of this compressive fluid is elevated by reducing the volume of the operation chamber. In such a compressor, the compressive fluid so compressed is discharged from the operation chamber into a discharge chamber within a predetermined time interval. In consequence, a so-called “discharge pulsation” occurs due to the pressure change inside the discharge chamber in accordance with the discharge timing. In a reciprocation type compressor in which a plurality of cylinder bores are bored around a rotary shaft and pistons accommodated in the cylinder bores are caused to reciprocate by a rocking motion of a swash plate that is fitted to the rotary shaft to execute the compression operation, a discharge pulsation, that has various orders (ratio of revolutions to frequency) of frequency components corresponding to the number of the cylinder bores (the number of cylinders) occurs. When such a discharge pulsation takes place, resonance occurs in external piping arrangements connected to the compressor, thereby inviting the problems of vibration and noise.
To reduce the vibration and the noise, conventional compressors are equipped with a discharge pulsation damping apparatus that damps the discharge pulsation occurring due to the compression operation of the compressor. An expansion type discharge muffler is known as a discharge pulsation damping apparatus of this kind. The discharge muffler defines an expansion space having a predetermined capacity inside the housing of a compressor, and supplies a compressive fluid from the discharge chamber to the external piping arrangements through the expansion space.
However, the construction according to the prior art generally needs an expansion space having a sufficient capacity so as to effectively damp the discharge pulsation, and this invites an increase in the size of the compressor. In a compressor that is used as a car air conditioner, the mounting space for the compressor, inside the engine compartment, is limited. Therefore, the conventional expansion type muffler cannot secure a sufficient capacity and cannot sufficiently damp those noise components which have a predetermined frequency range in the discharge pulsation.
This problem could be solved, for example, by connecting a resonance type discharge muffler comprising a resonance space like a dead end having a predetermined capacity on an intermediate portion of a discharge passage that extends from the discharge chamber of the compressor to the external piping arrangement, through a communication passage. In the resonance type discharge muffler, a part of the compressive fluid flowing through the discharge passage is guided into the resonance space through the communication passage. A pressure change that offsets the frequency component in a predetermined frequency range in the discharge pulsation is thus generated.
In order to stably generate the pressure change that offsets the intended frequency component, however, the resonance type muffler must always keep the capacity of its resonance space at a predetermined value. However, the compressive fluid contains a lubricant, water, etc, in order to secure lubricating and cooling functions at sliding portions inside the compressor. Quite naturally, therefore, the lubricant, etc, flows with the compressive fluid into the resonance space. When such a lubricant condenses and stays inside the resonance space, the capacity of the resonance space changes. This change makes the generation of the pressure change unstable and eventually, the intended frequency components cannot be damped sufficiently.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve these problems of the prior art technologies, the present invention aims at providing a discharge pulsation damping apparatus of a compressor that can stably offset the intended frequency components of a discharge pulsation within a limited space.
In a compressor including, inside a housing thereof, a compression mechanism so constituted as to suck a compressive fluid from outside and compress it by the operation of the compression mechanism and to discharge the compressive fluid so compressed into a discharge chamber defined in the housing, a flow passage for guiding the compressive fluid in the discharge chamber to the outside of the compressor, and a discharge muffler region defined at an intermediate portion of the flow passage inside the housing, a discharge pulsation damping apparatus according to the present invention for accomplishing the object described above includes a partition inside the discharge muffler region which divides the discharge muffler region into a first muffler chamber constituting a part of the flow passage and a second muffler chamber communicated with the first muffler chamber by a communication passage and independent of the flow passage, and feedback means for feeding back the liquid carried by the compressive fluid, supplied into the second muffler chamber and condensed in the second muffler chamber, to the first muffler chamber.
The liquid condensed inside the second muffler chamber is fed back to the first muffler chamber by the feedback means and does not stay inside the second muffler chamber. Therefore, the capacity of the second muffler chamber can be kept always constant, and a pressure change that offsets the components of the intended frequency range in the discharge pulsation can be generated stably.
The present invention may be more fully understood from the description of a preferred embodiment set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings.
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Kawamura Hisato
Kimura Naofumi
Shintoku Noriyuki
Tanikawa Kazuhiro
Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki
Solak Timothy P.
Thorpe Timothy S.
Woodcock Washburn Kurtz Mackiewicz & Norris LLP
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