Patent ID: 12221960

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of a scroll compressor according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In addition, the terms used below are defined considering the functions in the present invention and may vary depending on the intention of a user or an operator or a usual practice. The following embodiments are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

A part irrelevant to the description will be omitted to clearly describe the present invention, and the same or similar constituent elements will be designated by the same reference numerals throughout the specification. Throughout the specification, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise/include” and variations such as “comprises/includes” or “comprising/including” will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements, not the exclusion of any other elements.

A scroll compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing100, a motor200provided in the housing100, a rotary shaft300configured to be rotated by the motor200, an orbiting scroll400configured to orbit in conjunction with the rotary shaft300, a fixed scroll500configured to define a compression chamber C together with the orbiting scroll400, and a discharge valve600disposed on one surface of the fixed scroll500and configured to open or close a discharge port512of the fixed scroll from which a refrigerant compressed in the compression chamber C is discharged. In this case, the components identical to the components of the scroll compressor of Patent Document 2 illustrated inFIGS.1and2are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions of the identical components will be omitted.

Further, the scroll compressor according to the present embodiment may further include an injection valve assembly2700that defines and opens or closes an injection flow path configured to guide a middle-pressure refrigerant to the compression chamber C from the outside of the housing100(e.g., from a downstream side of a condenser in a vapor compression refrigeration cycle including a scroll compressor, the condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator).

The housing100includes a center housing110penetrated by the rotary shaft300, a front housing120configured to define a motor accommodation space that accommodates the motor200, and a rear housing130configured to define a discharge chamber D that accommodates the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber C. The injection valve assembly2700may be interposed between the fixed scroll500and the rear housing130. The injection valve assembly2700defines, in the rear housing130, an introduction chamber I into which the refrigerant is introduced from the outside of the housing. The injection valve assembly2700guides the refrigerant in the introduction chamber I to the compression chamber C.

Specifically, as illustrated inFIG.3, the injection valve assembly2700includes a cover plate710coupled to the rear housing130and having inlet ports712into which the refrigerant in the introduction chamber I is introduced, a valve plate2730coupled to the cover plate710and having an outlet port736from which the refrigerant introduced through the inlet ports712is discharged, a gasket retainer2790interposed between the cover plate710and the valve plate2730and configured to prevent a leak of the refrigerant, and an injection valve720interposed between the cover plate710and the gasket retainer2790and configured to open or close the inlet ports712. In this case, the components identical to the components of the scroll compressor of Patent Document 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions of the identical components will be omitted. That is, the configurations of the cover plate710and the injection valve720are identical to those of the scroll compressor of Patent Document 2.

As illustrated inFIGS.3and4, the valve plate2730of the present embodiment is identical to the valve plate730of Patent Document 2 in that the protruding portion732, the inclined spaces734, the outlet port736, the first fastening hole739a, and the second positioning groove739bare applied in the same way. However, the valve plate2730of the present embodiment differs from the valve plate730of Patent Document 2 in that surface pressure enhancement portions2738and a stepped portion are formed on a surface of the valve plate2730that faces the gasket retainer2790. That is, in Patent Document 2, the surface of the valve plate730, which faces the gasket retainer790, is formed as a flat surface, except for the inclined spaces734. However, in the present embodiment, three surfaces with different heights are provided on the surface of the valve plate2730, which faces the gasket retainer2790, except for the inclined spaces734. Hereinafter, the surface of the valve plate2730, which faces the gasket retainer2790, is referred to as an upper surface, and a surface opposite to the surface of the valve plate2730, which faces the gasket retainer2790, is referred to as a rear surface.

Specifically, the upper surface of the valve plate2730has a base surface2737in which the inclined spaces734are recessed. In addition, the upper surface of the valve plate2730has the surface pressure enhancement portion2738protruding from the base surface2737toward the injection valve720. That is, a height of the base surface2737is lower than that of the surface pressure enhancement portion2738. As the surface pressure enhancement portion2738protrudes from the base surface2737, the surface pressure enhancement portion2738at least partially support the gasket retainer2790and the injection valve720.

In this case, the surface pressure enhancement portion2738may support a start portion of the injection valve720where an operation of opening or closing the injection valve720is performed. That is, the surface pressure enhancement portion2738may support a portion that serves as a reference point at the time of performing the operation of opening or closing the injection valve720. Therefore, the surface pressure may be increased at the position at which the injection valve720needs to be supported, thereby assuredly supporting the injection valve.

Specifically, in case that the injection valve720includes head portions722configured to open or close the inlet ports, and leg portions724extending from the head portions722and configured to perform the opening or closing operation, the surface pressure enhancement portion2738may be provided at a position corresponding to ends of the leg portions724opposite to the head portions722.

In the present embodiment, as in Patent Document 2, the inlet port712is provided as a plurality of inlet ports712. The plurality of inlet ports712includes a first inlet port712aand a second inlet port712bthat independently communicate with the introduction chamber I. In addition, in the present embodiment, the head portion722and the leg portion724of the injection valve720are also respectively provided as a plurality of head portions722and a plurality of leg portions724. The injection valve720further includes a connection portion726that connects the plurality of leg portions724. In this case, to stably support the injection valve720, the surface pressure enhancement portion2738may be further provided at a position facing at least a part of the connection portion726.

Specifically, the injection valve720includes a first head portion722aconfigured to open or close the first inlet port712a, a first leg portion724aextending from the first head portion722aand configured to perform the opening or closing operation, a second head portion722bconfigured to open or close the second inlet port712b, a second leg portion724bextending from the second head portion722band configured to perform the opening or closing operation, and the connection portion726configured to connect the first leg portion724aand the second leg portion724b.

In this case, as illustrated inFIG.3, the positions at which the injection valve720needs to be supported are an end (portion a) of the first leg portion724ato which the connection portion726is connected, and an end (portion b) of the second leg portion724bto which the connection portion726is connected. This is because the first head portion722aopens or closes the first inlet port712awhile being bent about portion a as a reference point, and the second head portion722bopens or closes the second inlet port712bwhile being bent about portion b as a reference point. Therefore, the surface pressure enhancement portions2738may include a first surface pressure enhancement portion2738aprovided at a position corresponding to portion a, and a second surface pressure enhancement portion2738bpositioned at a position corresponding to portion b, thereby supporting portion a and portion b of the injection valve720.

In this case, the first surface pressure enhancement portion2738aextends in a width direction of the first leg portion724a, and the second surface pressure enhancement portion2738bextends in a width direction of the second leg portion724b. In particular, the first surface pressure enhancement portion2738aand the second surface pressure enhancement portion2738bmay be disposed in parallel and spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance.

In addition, the surface pressure enhancement portions2738include a connection surface pressure enhancement portion2738cprovided at a position corresponding to at least a part of the connection portion726. The connection surface pressure enhancement portion2738cmay be disposed in a longitudinal direction of the connection portion726and provided between the first and second surface pressure enhancement portion2738aand2738bspaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance. That is, the surface pressure enhancement portions2738may be provided at the positions corresponding to portion a and portion b and provided at the position that traverses the injection valve. In the present embodiment, the surface pressure enhancement portions2738are configured as integrally continuous surfaces so that the surface pressure enhancement portions2738are formed at the same height. That is, the first surface pressure enhancement portion2738a, the second surface pressure enhancement portion2738b, and the connection surface pressure enhancement portion2738care integrally connected. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The surface pressure enhancement portions2738may be configured as a plurality of surfaces spaced apart from one another. That is, the first surface pressure enhancement portion2738a, the second surface pressure enhancement portion2738b, and the connection surface pressure enhancement portion2738cmay be spaced apart from one another.

In addition, in some instances, the surface pressure enhancement portions2738may include an avoidance portion2738dformed to be recessed to prevent interference with the second positioning groove739b.

In the embodiment, the first and second surface pressure enhancement portions2738aand2738bmay each have lower surface roughness than the inclined spaces734. Because the inclined space734need not be precisely processed, the inclined space734may be formed to have a material surface. However, because the first and second surface pressure enhancement portions2738aand2738bare required to uniformly and constantly increase the surface pressure and importantly minimize the tolerance, the first and second surface pressure enhancement portions2738aand2738bneed to be formed by precise processing.

Moreover, the upper surface of the valve plate2730may not only have the surface pressure enhancement portions2738but also have the stepped portion formed around the upper surface of the valve plate2730. In this case, the stepped portion may be defined by a stepped shape forming surface2739disposed radially outside the surface pressure enhancement portions2738and further protruding than the surfaces of the surface pressure enhancement portions2738.

Therefore, the heights of the surface of the valve plate2730facing the gasket retainer2790decrease in the order of the stepped shape forming surface2739, the surface pressure enhancement portions2738, and the base surface2737.

In this case, the stepped shape forming surface2739faces bead portions2792of the gasket retainer2790to be described below. Therefore, when the injection valve assembly2700is fastened to the rear housing130by fastening bolts770, the stepped shape forming surface2739may press and deform the bead portion2792to form surface pressure and seal a portion between the valve plate2730and the cover plate710.

Further, an inner portion of the gasket retainer2790and the injection valve720may be seated in a cavity formed inside the stepped shape forming surface2739. Because the inner portion of the gasket retainer2790and the injection valve720are seated in the cavity as described above, a height of the bead portion2792may be reduced in comparison with Patent Document 2 in which the height h by which the bead portion792protrudes needs to be equal to or larger than the thickness t of the injection valve720. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the gasket retainer2790and advantageously facilitate the forming of the gasket retainer and maintain a bolt fastening force. This configuration will be described below more specifically together with the description of the gasket retainer2790.

As in Patent Document 2, with reference toFIGS.5and6, the gasket retainer2790of the present embodiment includes retainer portions794inclinedly processed in a direction in which the injection valve720is opened, and a plurality of third fastening holes796disposed and penetratively formed radially outside the retainer portion794so that the fastening bolts770are inserted into the plurality of third fastening holes796. However, there is a difference from the related art in that the bead portion2792includes a first half-bead2792aand a second half-bead2792band main flow holes2790cand a pair of auxiliary flow holes2790dand2790eare different in shapes.

Specifically, the bead portion2792includes a first half-bead2792aprotruding from one surface and extending radially inward from each of the plurality of third fastening holes796while surrounding the retainer portion794, and a second half-bead2792bprotruding from one surface and extending radially outward from each of the plurality of third fastening holes796while surrounding the first half-bead2792a.

In this case, unlike Patent Document 2, the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bprotrude from a gasket retainer lower surface790bfacing the valve plate2730. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

In this case, in a portion where the plurality of third fastening holes796is spaced apart from one another, i.e., in a space between the adjacent third fastening holes796, the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bare in contact with each other to define a full-bead having a convex shape. As illustrated inFIGS.5and6, when the full-bead having a convex shape extends and then approaches the third fastening hole796, the full-bead is divided into the first and second half-beads2792aand2792b. The first and second half-beads2792aand2792brespectively extend inward and outward from the third fastening hole796and then merged, such that the full-bead extends.

For example, the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792beach have a quadrant cross-sectional shape. In the portion where the plurality of third fastening holes796is spaced apart from one another, the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bmay be in contact with each other to define a semicircular cross-sectional shape.

Because the bead portions are also formed around the plurality of third fastening holes796as described above, the bolt fastening force may be enhanced even at the peripheries of the third fastening holes796when the injection valve assembly2700is fastened to the rear housing130by the fastening bolts770, which may minimize the deformation of the valve plate2730.

In particular, the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bare separately provided to support the fastening bolt770at the periphery of the third fastening hole796where the surface pressure is high, and the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bare in contact with each other to define the full-bead at the portion where the third fastening holes796are spaced apart from each other and the surface pressure is low. Therefore, the deformation of the valve plate2730may be prevented by the uniform surface pressure.

In addition, the gasket retainer2790has a hole extending to surround an outer side of one end of the retainer portion794to prevent one end of the retainer portion794, where the inclination is started, from being connected directly to the first half-bead2792a. In the present embodiment, a first auxiliary flow hole2790d, will be described below, serves as the hole extending to surround the outer side of one end of the retainer portion794. Therefore, the deformation, which is caused when the bead portion2792is pressed, is not transferred to an inner portion of the bead portion2792that supports the injection valve720.

Specifically, as in Patent Document 2, the retainer portion794is inclinedly processed by cutting a body of the gasket retainer2790. To maintain an inclination angle of the retainer portion794, the gasket retainer2790further includes a pair of wing portions795that connects two opposite sides of the retainer portion794and the body of the gasket retainer2790that faces the two opposite sides of the retainer portion794. In this case, the pair of wing portions795may be connected to two opposite sides of the other end of the retainer portion794opposite to one end of the retainer portion794where the inclination is started.

As described above, the bead portion2792may not be connected directly to one end of the retainer portion794that supports the start portion (reference point) where the operation of opening or closing the injection valve720is performed, such that the deformation is not transferred. Further, the pair of wing portions795is connected to the other end of the retainer portion794by minimum connection, such that the injection valve720may be assuredly supported.

The main flow hole2790cis formed at one side of the pair of wing portions795and has an approximately U shape while surrounding the other end of the retainer portion794. The pair of auxiliary flow holes2790dand2790eis formed at the other side of the pair of wing portions795and extends in the longitudinal direction of the retainer portion794. In this case, the first auxiliary flow hole2790dof the pair of auxiliary flow holes, which is positioned at an outer side, extends to be longer than the second auxiliary flow hole2790epositioned at an inner side and surrounds the outer side of one end of the retainer portion794. That is, as illustrated inFIG.6, the second auxiliary flow hole2790emay extend straight in the longitudinal direction of the retainer portion794. The first auxiliary flow hole2790dmay extend straight in the longitudinal direction of the retainer portion794, be bent, and then further extend. The first auxiliary flow hole2790dmay extend until it is positioned on the same line as the second auxiliary flow hole2790e. Alternatively, the first auxiliary flow hole2790dmay extend until the first auxiliary flow hole2790dexceeds the second auxiliary flow hole2790e.

Specifically, the retainer portion794may be provided as a plurality of retainer portions794. The plurality of retainer portions794includes a first retainer portion794aand a second retainer portion794bspaced apart from the first retainer portion. In this case, the first auxiliary flow hole2790dof the first retainer portion794amay extend straight in the longitudinal direction of the first retainer portion794a, be bent toward the main flow hole2790cof the second retainer portion794b, and then extend. The first auxiliary flow hole2790dof the second retainer portion794bmay extend straight in the longitudinal direction of the second retainer portion794b, be bent toward the main flow hole2790cof the first retainer portion794a, and then extend.

In some instances, like the main flow hole2790cpositioned at a lower side based onFIG.6, the main flow hole2790cmay at least partially extend in a circumferential direction of the gasket retainer2790.

In the present embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the gasket retainer2790is different in structure from the gasket retainer790of Patent Document 2. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The gasket retainer790of Patent Document 2 may, of course, be applied.

Lastly, a state in which the injection valve assembly2700of the present embodiment is coupled to the rear housing130will be described with reference toFIGS.7to9.FIG.8is a cross-sectional view of a portion spaced apart from the fastening bolt770, andFIG.9is a cross-sectional view of a portion to which the fastening bolt770is fastened.

With reference toFIG.8, at the portion spaced apart from the fastening bolt770, the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bof the gasket retainer2790meet together to define the full-bead. In addition, the first auxiliary flow hole2790dprevents the retainer portion794from being connected directly to the bead portion2792, such that the deformation of the bead portion2792is not transferred to the retainer portion794. As a result, it can be seen that the retainer portion794is kept in a flat state. In addition, the inner portion of the gasket retainer2790and the injection valve720are seated in the cavity formed inside the stepped shape forming surface2739of the valve plate2730.

With reference toFIG.9, at the portion to which the fastening bolt770is fastened, it can be seen that the first half-bead2792aand the second half-bead2792bof the gasket retainer2790are separately and respectively formed inside and outside the fastening bolt770. Therefore, it can be seen that the valve plate2730may be supported, and the deformation may be minimized. As described above, the deformation of the valve plate2730and the gasket retainer2790may be minimized, the injection valve720may be assuredly supported, and the stable operation may be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiments and descriptions, various modifications can be made by any person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the subject matter of the present invention.