Patent ID: 6152713
Filing Date: 2000-11-28
Classification: F04C

Abstract:
A scroll type compressor comprising:a housing assembly including a front housing, an intermediate outer shell portion, and a rear housing;a stationary scroll element having a stationary end plate fixedly held by said housing assembly and a stationary spiral member integral with said stationary end plate;a movable scroll element movably supported in said housing assembly by a bearing device held by said front housing and having a movable end plate, and a movable spiral member integral with said movable end plate, said movable scroll element being arranged to be engaged with said stationary scroll element to form, between both elements, compression chambers for compressing a refrigerant gas, said compression chambers being spirally shifted to reduce the volumes thereof, in response to an orbiting motion of said movable scroll element with respect to said stationary scroll element, the compressed refrigerant being delivered from said compression chambers to an external refrigerating system via a discharge chamber formed in said rear housing;a drive shaft arranged to be rotatable about an axis of rotation thereof within said front housing of said housing assembly and to actuate the orbiting motion of said movable scroll element with respect to said stationary scroll element,wherein said stationary end plate and said spiral member of said stationary scroll element are formed integrally with said intermediate outer shell portion of said housing assembly, said stationary scroll element defining a spiral groove formed in said intermediate outer shell portion to spirally extend from an outer end thereof toward an inner end thereof, said shell portion having a suction port formed therein to communicate with said outer end of said spiral groove to thereby permit the refrigerant gas to be introduced into each of said compression chambers before each of said compression chambers is spirally shifted, andwherein said rear housing is provided with an oil-separating chamber for separating an oil component contained in the compressed refrigerant gas therefrom when the compressed gas enters from said discharge chamber into said oil-separating chamber via an entrance passage, and an oil-storing chamber fluidly communicating with said oil-separating chamber, and receiving the separated oil component to store, said oil-storing chamber communicating with an interior of said front housing via a fluid passage formed in said housing assembly; and,a filtering element for removing impurities contained in the oil component before the oil component is supplied into said interior of said front housing from said oil-storing chamber,wherein said oil-separating chamber and said oil-storing chamber are fluidly connected by an oil outlet passage formed in said rear housing, said filtering element being arranged in said oil outlet passage, and said oil outlet passage arranged between said oil-separating chamber and said oil-storing chamber is formed to have a central axis thereof along which the oil component flows from said oil-separating chamber into said oil-storing chamber, said central axis of said oil outlet extending in parallel with an upper level of the oil component stored within said oil-storing chamber,wherein said oil-separating chamber is defined by a substantially columnar inner wall to have a substantially cylindrical cavity therein, said entrance passage between said discharge chamber and said oil-separating chamber having a central axis thereof extending tangentially with said columnar inner wall of said oil-separating chamber, and said central axis of said oil outlet passage extending tangentially with said columnar inner wall of said oil-separating chamber.