COMPRESSOR

Abstract: A compressor which comprises a rotor (16) in which vanes (14) are slidably provided, a cylinder (11) containing the rotor (16) and the vanes (14), and side plates (21) se­ cured to both side surfaces of the cylinder (11). In this compressor, a suction passage isolation zone (19) is advan­ tageously formed in a suction passage provided by vane chambers (26a, 26b) to a coolant supply side. Thus, a rotary compressor is provided in which there is no loss of re­ frigerating capacity during low speed running, and which can effectively restrain the refrigerating capacity only during high speed running.

Description: Particularly to a rotary compressor the refrigerative performance of which is arranged to be limited at high rates of rotation. Such a compressor comprises a rotor provided with slidably mounted vanes, a cylinder, side plates fixed to both ends of said cylinder and tightly enclosing a vane chamber defined by said rotor, vane, side plates and cylinder, and a suction groove and a suction port formed in said cylinder or side plate. A known type of sliding vane type rotary compressor is shown in Figure 1 and comprises a cylinder 51 having interior cylindrical space, side plates (not shown in Figure 1) fixed to both ends of the cylinder and forming parts of the walls of a vane chamber 52 within the cylinder, a rotor 53 which is arranged eccentrically within the cylinder 51, and a vane 55 which is engaged slidably within a groove 54 provided on the rotor 53. Further, reference numeral 56 is a suction port formed in a side plate, and 57 is a discharge hole formed in the cylinder 1. The vane 55 is caused, by centrifugal force, to extend as the rotor 53 rotates, so that its tip slides on the interior wall face of the cylinder 1 thereby to prevent leakage of gas from the compressor. Sliding vane type rotary compressors are generally simpler in construction than a reciprocating type compressor, which is complex, with large numbers of parts. Sliding vane type rotary compressors are therefore suitable for use with car cooling systems. However there are a number of problems associated with sliding vane type rotary compressors. Namely, where a rotary compressor is utilised in a car cooling system, the driving force of the engine is transmitted to a pulley of a clutch through a belt, and drives the rotary shaft of the compressor. Accordingly, when the sliding vane type compressor is used, its refrigerative performance increases in accordance with a straight line characteristic in proportion to the engine speed of the vehicle. On the other hand, when a reciprocating type compressor is utilised in a car cooling system the refrigerative performance becomes saturated at high engine speeds, because the follow-up property of the suction valve becomes bad at high rates of rotation, and compressed gas is not sucked fully into the cylinder. Therefore, in the reciprocating type compressor, the refrigerative performance is automatically limited at high engine speeds, whilst in the rotary type there is no such effect, and refrigerative efficiency is decreased due to an increase in compression work, or over-cooling occurs. In order to overcome these problems of the rotary compressor, it has previously been proposed to utilise a control valve to vary the opening area of the flow passage which communicates with the suction port of the rotary compressor. Refrigerative performance limitation at high rates of rotation is achieved by throttling the opening area of the flow passage and utilising the resulting suction loss. However, in this case, it is necessary to add the control valve separately, thus increasing the complexity and cost of the rotary compressor. JP-A-567079 discloses a rotary compressor having a main suction port for supplying fluid to the vane chambers and an auxiliary suction port. The auxiliary suction port communicates with the main suction port outside the cylindrical housing and opens to the vane chambers at a position beyond the main suction port in the direction of rotation. A valve is provided for opening and closing the auxiliary suction port so that the amount of fluid entering the vane chambers can be controlled. Another method which has been proposed to overcome this problem of rotary compressors is limiting the rate of rotation of the rotor as engine speed increases by using fluid clutches, planetary gears etc. However, for example, when a fluid clutch is utilised, there is energy loss due to frictional heat generation due to relative movement of the opposing faces of the clutch is large, and when planetary gears are utilised it is necessary to provide a bulky planetary gear mechanism having a large number of parts. Such arrangements as fluid clutches and planetary gears have become impractical in recent years due to the trend towards energy saving and the requirement for simplification and compactness. The present inventors have investigated in detail the transitional phenomena of pressure in the vane chamber when a rotary compressor is used, in order to overcome the problems in the refrigerative cycle for a car cooler, and as a result, it has been found that refrigerative performance limitation even at high rates of rotation can be effected even in the case of a rotary compressor, similarly to the customary reciprocating type, by selecting and suitably combining parameters such as area of suction port, discharging quantity, numbers of vane etc. One suitable selection and combination has been proposed already in European Patent Application 0049030, falling under Article 54.3 EPC (JP80/134,048) which discloses a sliding vane type rotary compressor having a rotor, at least one vane slidably mounted on the rotor, a cylinder accommodating the rotor and the vane, and end plates fixed to both ends of the cylinder so as to close vane chambers defined by the vane, the rotor and the cylinder at both sides of the vane chamber. The improvement comprises that the compressor is constructed to meet the following condition: 0.025 < ϑs a Vo < 0.080 where a is a value given by the following equation of ϑ represents the angle (radian) formed around the centre of rotation of the rotor between the end of the vane closer to the cylinder and the cylinder top where the distance between the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder and the outer peripheral surface of the rotor is smallest; ϑ₅ represents the rotation angle ϑ (radian) at the instant of completion of the suction stroke; Vo represents the volume (cc) of the vane chamber when the rotation angle ϑ is ϑ₅; and a (ϑ) represents the effective area (cm²) of the suction passage between an evaporator and the vane chamber. The refrigerating power is effectively suppressed in the high-speed operation without being accompanied by substantial reduction of refrigerating power in the low-speed operation. The above is achieved by forming one or more grooves on the suction side, extending to an angle along the periphery of the cylinder, whose cross sectional area is appropriately calculated in relation to the cross sectional area of the suction port. The present invention provides a rotary compressor comprising a cylindrical housing, a rotor mounted within said housing and being provided with several slidably mounted vanes, side plates fixed to each end of said cylindrical housing and enclosing a vane chamber defined by said rotor, vanes, side plates and cylindrical housing, said side plates and cylindrical housing forming a wall of said vane chamber, a suction port formed in the wall of the vane chamber and a suction groove formed in the wall of the vane chamber, the suction port being arranged to supply fluid to the vane chamber and the suction groove, said suction groove and suction port being spaced apart by a pressure recovery portion of said wall, characterised in that said suction port is upstream of said suction groove in the direction of fluid flow and beyond the suction groove in the direction of rotation of the rotor whereby on rotation of the rotor, the flow of fluid to the suction groove is intercepted by said vanes when they are traversing said pressure recovery portion. Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view of customary sliding vane type compressor; Figure 2 is a sectional view of a 4 vane type compressor as an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 (a) - (f) are explanatory drawings showing inflow state of refrigerant into each vane chamber during a suction stroke; Figure 4 is a graph of ϑ - Va characteristic showing relation of vane chamber volume (Va) to vane travel angle (ϑ); Figure 5 is a graph showing relation of suction effective area (a) to vane travel angle (ϑ); Figure 6 is a graph of ϑ - Pa characteristic showing relation of vane chamber pressure (Pa) to vane travel angle (ϑ); Figure 7 is a graph showing relation of pressure dropping rate (ηp) to the rate of rotation (ω) of the rotor; Figure 8 is a graph showing relation of vane chamber pressure (Pa) to vane travel angle (ϑ); Figure 9 is a graph showing N-ηp characteristic with parameter Δϑ; Figure 10 is a drawing showing a practical measuring method of suction effective area; Figure 11 is a front sectional view of compressor showing another embodiment of the present invention. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to Figure 2 to Figure 10 as follows. In Figure 2, 11 is a cylinder; 12, a low pressure side vane chamber; 13, a high pressure side vane chamber; 14, a vane; 15, a slide groove of the vane; 16, a rotor; 17, a suction port; 18, a suction groove; 19, a pressure recovery portion intercepting a section of the suction stream passage; 20, a discharging hole; and 21, a side plate. Now, travelling angle (ϑ) of the vane tip, pressure recovery beginning angle (ϑ s1 ), and suction finishing angle (ϑ s2 ) are defined as follows: In Figure 3 (a) to (f), 26a and 26b are vane chambers, 27 is a reference point on the cylinder 11, 28a and 28b are vanes, and 29 denotes an end of the suction groove. The vane chamber 26a is an upstream side vane chamber and the vane chamber 26b is a downstream side vane chamber relative to the vane chamber 26a. The rotational centre of the rotor 16 is made centre of angle, and the position where the tip of the vane passes through the reference point 27 on the cylinder is made ϑ=0, i.e., original angle. The angle between the reference point 27 and the tip of the vane at any time is ϑ. Figure 3(a) shows the condition where the vane 28a has passed through the reference point 27, and is travelling along the suction groove 18. Figure 3(b) shows the state where vane 28a is passing along pressure recovery portion 19. At this time, the supply of cooling medium into vane chamber 26a is interrupted temporarily. Figure 3(c) shows the state just after the vane 28a has passed through the suction port 17, and at this time, the suction of refrigerant into the vane chamber 26a is recovered again. Figure 3(d) shows the state where the tip of the vane 28b which follows the vane 28a, lies adjacent the end 29 of the suction groove. At this time, refrigerant flows into the vane chamber 26a at the upstream side from the suction port 17, and further is supplied into the vane chamber 26b at the downstream side of the chamber 26a passing through the suction groove 18 as shown by the arrow in the drawing. Figure 3(e) shows the condition where the vane 28b is travelling along the pressure recovery portion 19. At this time, since supply of refrigerant into the vane chamber 26b at the downstream side of chamber 26a is interrupted, refrigerant is supplied only into the vane chamber 26a at the upstream side from the suction port 17. Here, the travelling angle ϑ=ϑ s1 of the vane 28a, when the vane 28b commences traversal of the pressure recovery portion 19, is defined as "pressure recovery beginning angle". Figure 3(f) shows a state just after the vane 28b has passed through the suction port 17, and at this time, the travelling angle of the vane 26a is ϑ=ϑ s2 , and the volume of the vane chamber 26a becomes maximum, and the suction stroke finishes. A practical example of a compressor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention can be constructed using the following parameter values (Table 1). A compressor in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention has the following features: (i) At low rates of rotation reduction in refrigerative performance due to suction loss was small. Thus in this compressor a similar characteristic to that of the reciprocating compressor is realised, i.e suction loss is small at low rotation rates. (ii) At high rates of rotation, the limitation in refrigerative performance was greater than that customary for the reciprocating type of compressor. (iii) When this compressor is used in a car cooling system limitation of refrigerative ability occurs when the rate of rotation reaches 1800-2000 rpm and above. Such a compressor used as a car cooler compressor gives an ideal refrigerative cycle, which is energy saving and efficient. The characteristics discussed in (i) to (iii) is ideal for a car cooler service refrigerative cycle. These results can be attained without adding any new components to the customary rotary compressor. Therefore, a compressor with ability to control refrigerative performance can be realized without sacrificing any of the features of the rotary type compressor e.g. small size, light weight and simple construction. Further in the case of polytropic change during suction phase of the compressor, the total weight of refrigerant in the vane chamber is smaller and the compressing work is smaller as the suction pressure is lower and the specific weight is smaller. Accordingly, in this compressor in which a dropping of the total weight of refrigerant occurs automatically before the compression phase as rate of rotation increases, dropping of driving torque occurs naturally at high rates of rotation. To prevent over-cooling it has previously been proposed to connect a control valve between the high pressure side and low pressure side of the compressor. Refrigerant is returned from the high pressure side to the low pressure side when control is required by opening the valve. Such a method has previously been utilised in room air conditioners for example. However, in this method, there was the problem that a compression loss occurs which is equivalent to the quantity of refrigerant which returns to the low pressure side and expands again. This results in a decrease in efficiency. In the compressor of the present invention, refrigerative performance control can be performed without the need for utilising extra mechanics such as valves which cause compression loss. An energy-saving refrigerative cycle of high efficiency can be realized. Further, because in the present invention the transitional phenomenon of the vane chamber pressure is utilized effectively by proper combination of each parameter of the compressor, and there is no operating part such as a control valve, the compressor of the present invention is highly reliable. Further, since refrigerative performance changes continuously there is no unnatural cooling characteristic due to discontinuous change-over, as is the case when a valve is utilised. Such advantages are also shown by the compressor of Japanese Patent Application No. 1980-134,048, but the present invention has its object to gain refrigerative performance control more effectively in the sliding vane type compressor having multiple numbers of vanes, e.g., three-vane type or four-vane type. In the following description, the character analysis which was performed to grasp the transitional phenomenon of the pressure of the cooling medium will be described in detail. With reference to a single vane chamber (e.g., vane chamber 26a), the transitional character of the vane chamber pressure when the pressure of supply source (Ps) is assumed to be constant can be described by the following energy equation: C p A GT A ― Pa dVa dt + dQ dt = d dt ( Cv A γaVaTa) where, G: flow quantity (by weight) of refrigerant, Va: volume of vane chamber, A: heat equivalent of work, Cp: specific heat at constant pressure, T A : refrigerant temperature at supply side, Cv: specific heat at constant volume, Pa: vane chamber pressure, Q: calorie, γa: specific weight of refrigerant in vane chamber, Ta: temperature of refrigerant in vane chamber. Further, in equations (2)-(4) which follow: a: suction effective area, g: gravitational acceleration, γ A : specific weight of refrigerant at supply side, Ps: pressure of refrigerant at supply side, k: specific heat ratio, R: gas constant. In equation (1), the first term on the left side shows heat energy of refrigerant to be brought into the vane chamber during unit time passed through the suction port, the second term shows work to be done by the pressure of refrigerant against the exterior during unit time, and the third term shows heat energy flowing into the vane chamber from exterior through the outer wall during unit time, and the right side shows increase in interior energy within system during unit time. Assuming that the refrigerant complies with law of ideal gas and that the suction stroke of the compressor is an adiabatic change since it is rapid, equation (1) becomes the following equation from the relationship γa=Pa/RTa, dQ dt =O. G= dVa dt ( A CpTA + 1 kRT A ) Pa+ Va kRT A . dPa dt And, using relation of 1 R = A Cp + 1 kR , G= 1 RT A . dVa dt . Pa+ Va kRT A . dPa dt On the other hand, since the theory of a nozzle can apply to flow quantity (by weight) of refrigerant which passes through the suction port, Accordingly, by solving equations (3) and (4) as simultaneous equations, the transitional character of the vane chamber pressure (Pa) can be obtained. But, said volume of vane chamber Va(ϑ) is obtained by following equation. Putting m=Rr/Rc, V(ϑ)= bRc 2 2 {(1―m²)ϑ+ (1―m)2 .2 sin2ϑ―(1―m)sin⁻¹ϑ 1 ―(1―m)²sin²ϑ―sin⁻¹[(1―m)sinϑ]}+ΔV(ϑ) when 0<ϑ< π 2 ,Va(ϑ)=V(ϑ) when π 2 <ϑ<ϑs,Va(ϑ)=V(ϑ)―V(ϑ― π 2 ) In equation (5), ΔV(ϑ) is a correction term because the vane is arranged eccentrically from the centre of the rotor, but this value is usually of the order of 1-2%. The case of ΔV(ϑ)=0 is shown in Figure 4(a). Figure 4(b) shows the practical volume of the vane chamber seen from the suction port 17 in the compressor constituted as Figure 2 showing one embodiment of the present invention. Namely, as shown in Figure 3(d), since refrigerant flows into both the upstream side vane chamber 26a and downstream side vane chamber 26b, the volume of refrigerant in the downstream side vane chamber 26b with lagged phase difference Δϑ=90° is added to the volume Va. The reason why the curve (b) is changed rapidly to the curve (a) at angle ϑ=ϑ s1 =210°, lies in the fact that supply of refrigerant into the vane chamber 26b is intercepted due to the travelling of the vane 28b along the pressure recovery portion 19. Figure 5 shows suction effective area between one vane chamber and supply source of refrigerant at the suction stroke. The reason why effective area becomes zero, i.e. a=a₁=0 in the section of 120°<ϑ<135°, also lies in the fact that supply of refrigerant from the upstream side vane chamber is intercepted at this section by vane 28b. (Refer to state of Figure 3(a)). Further, the reason why suction effective area (a) is decided only by a₁ lies in the fact that the suction groove 18 and suction port 17 have been formed so as to become a₁<<a₂ always in this embodiment. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the transitional characteristic of the vane chamber pressure for various rates of rotation under conditions of t=0, P=Ps using formula (3) and (4); volume curve (Va) in Figure 4(b), suction effective area (a) in Figure 5, and conditions in Table 1 and 2. And, since R12 is used usually as a refrigerant for a car cooler refrigerative cycle, the analysis was performed using values of k=1.13, R=668 Kg.cm/°K.Kg, γ A =16.8x10⁻⁶ Kg/cm³, T A = 283°K. Further, the vane chamber pressure begins rising from the time just before finishing of the suction stroke (i.e, ϑ=210°), and the reason for this lies in the fact that a rapid decrease in the vane chamber volume is brought about by interception of the supply of refrigerant into the downstream side vane chamber 26b, as shown in Figure 4. In this embodiment each parameter of the compressor was decided so that the vane chamber pressure (Pa) could reach supply pressure (Ps) at the time just before finishing of the suction stroke in case of N (Rate of Rotation)=1000 rpm. Figure 7 is a diagram in which the pressure dropping rate relative to rate of rotation was obtained using parameters of the effective area (a₁) of the suction stream passage. But, pressure dropping rate (η p ) when the vane chamber pressure at finishing time of the suction stroke is made Pa=Pas is defined as follows. η p =(1― Pas Ps )x100 The result as shown in Figure 7 is in no way inferior to the characteristic of the two vane compressor shown as an example in the invention of Patent Application No. 1980-134,048. Thus it is seen that the present method is extremely useful when refrigerative performance control is performed in a compressor with many vanes. For the sake of comparison, Figure 8 shows a transitional character of vane chamber pressure at N=1000 rpm when a pressure recovery portion is not provided. In this Figure, it is seen that, even if the suction effective area is increased to e.g. a₁=0.6 cm², pressure loss (Δp) still exists at the time just before finishing of the suction stroke and that a dropping in volume efficiency occurs. Figure 9 is a diagram in which the pressure dropping rate relatime to rate of rotation was obtained for a number of different intercepting angles (Δϑ) of the suction groove. As Δϑ is smaller, the pressure dropping rate (ηp) becomes larger and a dropping in volume efficiency occurs. But, the change in ηp at high rates of rotation due to the change in Δϑ is not so large as is the case for low rates of rotation, and by choosing correctly the intercepting section of the suction groove, a compressor with refrigerative performance control which shows no loss at low rates of rotation and which effectively limits refrigerative performance only at high rates of rotation can be constructed. In the practical example, an unbroken interception section has been provided at the pressure recovery portion 19, but objects of the present invention can be attained by forming sufficiently shallow grooves along said pressure recovery portion 19. Now, "suction effective area" in the present invention can be estimated as follows: A rough value of this suction effective area (a) can be attained by multiplying the value of minimum sectional area among fluid course from the outlet of the evaporator to the vane chamber of the compressor by a flow-contracting factor (C=0.7-0.9). But, strictly speaking, suction effective area (a) is best obtained by experiment as follows in accordance with a method used in JISB8320. Figure 10 shows one example of the experimental method, and in the Figure, 100 is a compressed, 101 is a pipe to connect evaporator and suction port of the compressor, as the compressor would be connected on a vehicle, 102 is a pipe for supply of high pressure air, 103 is a housing to connect the pipes 101 and 102, 104 is a thermocouple, 105 is a flow meter, 106 is a pressure gauge, 107 is a pressure regulating valve, and 108 is a high pressure air source. The portion enclosed by the broken line (N) in Figure 10 corresponds to the compressor in accordance with the present invention. But, as fluid resistance exists in the interior of the evaporator it is necessary to add an equivalent restriction in the pipe 101 corresponding to the amount of resistance interior to the evaporator. Indicating pressure of high pressure air source: P₁Kg/cm² abs., atmospheric pressure: P₂=1.03 Kg/cm² abs., specific heat ratio: k₁=1.4, specific weight: γ₁, gravitational acceleration: g=980 cm/sec², and when flow quantity in weight to be gained under said condition is indicated by G₁, suction effective area (a) is obtained from following formula: But, the pressure of high pressure air source (P₁) is set so as to be within the range of 0.528<P₁<P₂<0.9. Figure 11 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and in the Figure, 200 is a rotor, 201, a vane, 202, a cylinder, 203, a suction groove formed in side plate, 204, a suction port formed also on side plate, and 205 is a pressure recovery portion. In the embodiment of Figure 2, both suction groove and suction port are formed in the cylinder, though those may be formed in side plate as in Figure 11. In the above-mentioned example, a practical example was described in which the present invention is applied to the sliding vane compressor of four vane type, but the present invention can be used regardless of discharging quantity of the compressor, whether three or more vanes are used, and type of vane. Discharging quantity can be increased by positioning the vane eccentrically from the centre of rotor. Of course a construction could be utilised which does not employ an eccentrically mounted rotor. Also, the compressor may have unevenly arranged vanes instead of being arranged with equal angles between them. Further, although the embodiment herein described utilised a cylinder of circular cross section, an elliptical cross section cylinder may also be used. As described above, when the compressor is constructed as described above, loss in refrigerative performance is low at low rates of rotation, and is limited effectively only at high rates of rotation, whereby refrigerative performance control with a simple construction requiring no mechanical additions to the customary rotary compressor can be realized. Thus, since elevation in volumetric efficiency at low rates of rotation can be produced, it can be applied also to compressors where refrigerative performance control is unnecessary, e.g. constant type compressors.

Claims: 1. A rotary compressor comprising a cylindrical housing (11), a rotor (16) mounted within said housing and being provided with several slidably mounted vanes (14), side plates (21) fixed to each end of said cylindrical housing and enclosing a vane chamber (26a) defined by said rotor, vanes, side plates and cylindrical housing, said side plates and cylindrical housing forming a wall of said vane chamber, a suction port (17) formed in the wall of the vane chamber and a suction groove (18) formed in the wall of the vane chamber, the suction port (17) being arranged to supply fluid to the vane chamber and the suction groove (18), said suction groove and suction port (17) being spaced apart by a pressure recovery portion (19) of said wall, characterised in that said suction port (17) is upstream of said suction groove (18) in the direction of fluid flow and beyond the suction groove (18) in the direction of rotation of the rotor whereby on rotation of the rotor, the flow of fluid to the suction groove (18) is intercepted by said vanes when they are traversing said pressure recovery portion (19).

Inventors: MARUYAMA, TERUO, YAMAUCHI, SHINYA
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1982
Main classification: F04C18
IPC codes: F04C18, F04C29, F04C28