Lubrication – Systems – Rotary compressor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-14
2002-12-17
Fenstermacher, David (Department: 3682)
Lubrication
Systems
Rotary compressor
C417S211000, C417S415000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06494293
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a linear compressor, and more particularly to an opening and closing system for an oil path of a linear compressor capable of facilitating smooth oil supply during operation of the compressor and smooth lubrication by an oil which remains in the compressor when re-operating the compressor by having the supplied oil partly remained therein when the operation of the compressor is suspended.
BACKGROUND ART
Recently, as in home appliances such as a refrigerator and an air-conditioner, etc. high-efficiency and power-saving products have been produced, the study for developing a compressor constituting a refrigerating cycle machine which is installed in a refrigerator or an air-conditioner is also being lively made.
A linear compressor, which is one of the compressors for sucking and compressing low-pressure air and exhausting the compressed air at high pressure, is illustrated in FIG.
1
.
As shown therein, the linear compressor includes a hermetic vessel
1
in which a predetermined amount of oil is filled, a frame
10
formed in a predetermined shape and disposed in the hermetic vessel
1
, a cylinder
20
inserted into the frame
10
, an inner stator assembly
30
coupled with one side portion of the frame
10
for constituting a motor, an outer stator assembly
31
coupled with the inner stator assembly
30
at a predetermined distance, a magnet
32
inserted between the inner and outer stator assemblys
30
,
31
, and a piston
40
inserted into the cylinder
20
and coupled to a magnet frame
33
to which the magnet
32
is fixedly connected, and reciprocating in accordance with the linear movement of the magnet
32
, wherein there is formed a refrigerant oil path F in the piston
40
through which a refrigerant gas is flowed.
Further, a predetermined-shaped cover
50
is engaged to the other side of the frame
10
, and at an inner part of the cover
50
a main spring
51
is provided at both sides of the magnet frame
33
coupled to the piston
40
and thus elastically supports the reciprocation of the piston
40
.
While, an exhaust cover
60
formed in a cap type is coupled to one side of the cylinder
20
and an exhaust valve assembly
61
is insertedly disposed in an inner portion of the exhaust cover
60
, the exhaust valve assembly
61
switching the one side of the cylinder
20
, an suction valve
62
which switches according to the suction of the gas is coupled to an end portion of the piston
40
, and an oil supplier
70
which supplies oil to components to be slid to each other is disposed at a lower part of the frame
10
.
In the operation of the conventional linear compressor, when an electric current is applied to the motor, the magnet
32
linearly reciprocates and the linear movement accordingly travels through the magnet frame
33
to the piston
40
which also accordingly reciprocates in the cylinder
20
.
Here, the refrigerant gas which is flowed into the hermetic vessel
1
in accordance with the linear operation of the piston
40
is flowed into the cylinder
20
through the refrigerant oil path F provided in the piston
40
, compressed therein and then exhausted through the exhaust valve assembly
61
and the exhaust cover
60
, the above process being repeatedly performed.
Further, in order to achieve the smooth sliding performed while the piston
40
is being reciprocating in the cylinder
20
and also to radiate the heat generated during the compression of the refrigerant gas, the oil pumped out by the oil supplier
70
is supplied to components, for example, which are disposed between the cylinder.
20
and the piston
40
.
Here, in the oil supply system in which the oil pumped out by the oil supplier
70
circulates, a first oil groove
12
is formed at predetermined size on a portion of an inner circumferential surface of a through hole
11
of the frame
10
to which the cylinder
20
is inserted, a second oil groove
41
is formed at predetermined size on a portion of an outer circumferential surface of the piston
40
inserted into the cylinder
20
, and an oil pass hole
21
is provided in the cylinder
20
so that the first oil groove
12
communicates with the second oil groove
41
. In addition, a ring-shaped oil circular path
13
is formed by the exhaust cover
60
connected with an outer circumferential portion of the cylinder
20
, the through hole
11
and the cylinder
20
when the cylinder
20
is inserted into the through hole
11
of the frame
10
, the oil circular path
13
communicating with the first oil groove
12
through an oil communicating path
14
formed on a portion of the inner circumferential surface of the through hole
11
.
Further, an oil inflow path
15
is formed at a portion of the frame
10
so that the oil pumped out in the oil supplier
70
is flowed to the first oil groove
12
, and an oil discharge hole
17
is formed at a side portion of the oil circular path
13
so as for the oil which has circulated through the oil circular path
13
to be discharged to a bottom part of the hermetic vessel
1
.
In the thusly described oil supply system of the convention linear compressor, as shown in
FIG. 2
, in the operation of the compressor, when the oil is pumped out in the oil supplier
70
due to vibrations generated in the process of which the compressor compresses the refrigerant gas while reciprocating, the pumped oil is flowed into the first oil groove
12
through the oil inflow path
15
and then flowed to the oil pass hole
21
and the second oil groove
41
, so that the flowed oil serves as a lubricant between the piston
40
and the cylinder
20
and also refrigerates the heat generated from the motor.
Further, the oil passed through the first and second oil grooves
12
,
41
is flowed into the oil circular path
13
through the oil communicating path
14
, heated parts of the exhaust cover
60
and the cylinder
20
are refrigerated by the refrigerant gas which is exhausted when the oil flowed to the path
13
circulates through the oil circular path
13
, and the oil flowed to the oil circular path
13
drops to the bottom part of the hermetic vessel
1
in which a predetermined amount of oil is filled and such oil continuously circulates by the above-described process.
In addition, numerals
34
and
2
denote a coil assembly and a suction pipe, respectively.
However, when the operation of the compressor is suspended, the oil being supplied is returned to the bottom part of the vessel
1
due to its self weight. Therefore, when the compressor is restarted to operate in such condition, no oil remains in a portion, for example, between the cylinder and the piston where friction occurs, and thus the operation is performed in a non-lubricative state, which results in abrasion of the components in the system as well as friction loss and also becomes a problem of generation of overload in the initial state of the re-operation.
Further, when the pressure of a compression chamber which compresses the gas increases as the piston moves to a top dead center by the driving of the motor, the high-pressure refrigerant gas may leak from a gap between the piston and the cylinder and be flowed into the oil path. In this case, when the high-pressure refrigerant gas is flowed to the oil supplier side, there is produced noises caused by, for example, a cavitation.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an opening and closing system for an oil path of a linear compressor that facilitates smooth oil supply during the operation of the compressor and has the oil which has been supplied to the compressor partly remained therein when suspending the operation of the compressor for smooth lubrication when re-operating the compressor. To achieve the above object, there is provided an opening and closing system for an oil path of a linear compressor which includes a hermetic vessel in which oil is filled in a bottom part thereof, a frame disposed in the hermetic vessel and communicating with a first oil groove and a second oil groov
Fenstermacher David
LG Electronics Inc.
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
LandOfFree
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