ROTARY COMPRESSOR

• US 20140301881A1
• Filed: 11/14/2012
• Published: 10/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ogata, Takeshi, Shiotani, Yu, Hikichi, Takumi, Shii, Kentaro, Shoyama, Tadayoshi, Wada, Masanobu, Hasegawa, Hiroshi, Yoshida, Hirofumi, Nakai, Hiroaki, Hiwata, Akira, Ohno, Ryuichi, Karino, Tsuyoshi, Funakosi, Daisuke
• Granted Patent: US 9,512,841 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 418/63
• CPC Class Codes: F01C 21/10 Outer members for co-operation with rotary pistons; Casings casings for rotary engines or machines in general F16M
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 18/356 with vanes reciprocating with respect to the outer member
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 2240/50 Bearings
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 2240/809 Lubricant sump
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 23/001 of similar working principle
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 23/008 Hermetic pumps
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 29/028 Means for improving or restricting lubricant flow
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 29/04 Heating; Cooling of machines or engines in general F01P; Heat insulation heat insulation in general F16L59/00
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 29/126 of the non-return type

Abstract

A rotary compressor (100) includes a closed casing (1), a cylinder (15), a piston (28), a lower bearing member (72), a vane (33), a suction port (20), a discharge port (41), and a partition member (64). The partition member (64) is attached to the lower bearing member (72) so as to form a space enclosed by the partition member (64) and the lower bearing member (72) at a position adjacent to the lower bearing member (72). A portion of an oil stored in the oil reservoir (22) flows into the enclosed space, and thereby an oil retaining portion (53) is formed. The oil retaining portion (53) is located on the same side as the suction port (20) with respect to a reference plane (H₁).

Claims

1. A rotary compressor comprising:

a closed casing comprising an oil reservoir;

a cylinder disposed inside the closed casing;

a piston disposed inside the cylinder;

a bearing member attached to the cylinder so as to form a cylinder chamber between the cylinder and the piston;

a vane that partitions the cylinder chamber into a suction chamber and a discharge chamber;

a suction port though which a refrigerant to be compressed is introduced into the suction chamber;

a discharge port through which the compressed refrigerant is discharged from the discharge chamber, the discharge port being formed in the bearing member; and

a partition member attached to the bearing member so as to form, together with the bearing member, a refrigerant discharge space capable of retaining the refrigerant discharged from the discharge chamber through the discharge port,

wherein

the partition member or another member is attached to the bearing member so as to form a space enclosed by the partition member and the bearing member or a space enclosed by the another member and the bearing member at a position adjacent to the bearing member,

a portion of an oil stored in the oil reservoir flows into the enclosed space, and thereby an oil retaining portion is formed, and

the oil retaining portion is located on the same side as the suction port with respect to a reference plane, the reference plane being a plane including a central axis of the cylinder and a center of the vane when the vane protrudes maximally toward the central axis of the cylinder.

2. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein the another member is an oil cup that covers the bearing member so as to form the oil retaining portion.

3. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, further comprising a shaft to which the piston is fitted, wherein

the bearing member comprises a circular plate portion adjacent to the cylinder, a bearing portion formed integrally with the circular plate portion so as to support the shaft, and a bank portion protruding from the circular plate portion so as to surround a recess adapted to serve as the refrigerant discharge space, and

the recess is closed by the partition member so as to form the refrigerant discharge space.

4. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein

the another member is an oil cup that covers the bearing member so as to form the oil retaining portion,

the partition member covers the bearing member so as to form the refrigerant discharge space, and

the oil cup is disposed inside the partition member.

5. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, further comprising a communication path that communicates the oil reservoir with the oil retaining portion.

6. The rotary compressor according to claim 5, wherein

when two planes each including the central axis, each being tangent to the oil retaining portion, and forming an angle within which the oil retaining portion is located are defined as tangent planes, a plane including the central axis and bisecting the angle so as to divide the oil retaining portion into two parts is defined as a bisecting plane, and one of the two parts formed by the bisecting plane is defined as an anterior portion located relatively close to the suction port in a rotational direction of the piston and the other part is defined as a posterior portion located relatively far from the suction port in the rotational direction of the piston,

the communication path communicates the oil reservoir with the posterior portion, and

the oil in the oil reservoir flows into the anterior portion only through the posterior portion.

7. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein the oil retaining portion comprises an anterior portion located relatively close to the suction port in a rotational direction of the piston, a posterior portion located relatively far from the suction port in the rotational direction of the piston, and a narrow portion located between the anterior portion and the posterior portion.

8. The rotary compressor according to claim 7, further comprising a communication path that communicates the oil reservoir with the oil retaining portion, wherein

the communication path communicates the oil reservoir with the posterior portion, and

the oil in the oil reservoir flows into the anterior portion only through the posterior portion and the narrow portion.

9. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein

the bearing member is provided with a recess and the recess is closed by the partition member so as to form the refrigerant discharge space, and

the bearing member has a larger thickness in the oil retaining portion than in the recess.

10. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein in a projection view obtained by projecting the refrigerant discharge space and the oil retaining portion onto a plane perpendicular to the central axis, a projection region of the refrigerant discharge space has a smaller area than a projection region of the oil retaining portion.

11. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein

when (i) the reference plane is defined as a first reference plane, (ii) a plane including the central axis and perpendicular to the first reference plane is defined as a second reference plane, and (iii) four segments obtained by dividing the rotary compressor by the first reference plane and the second reference plane are defined as a first quadrant segment including the suction port, a second quadrant segment including the discharge port, a third quadrant segment opposite to the first quadrant segment and adjacent to the second quadrant segment, and a fourth quadrant segment opposite to the second quadrant segment and adjacent to the first quadrant segment, respectively,

in a projection view obtained by projecting the first to fourth quadrant segments and the refrigerant discharge space onto a plane perpendicular to the central axis, an entire projection region of the refrigerant discharge space falls within a combined region consisting of a projection region of the first quadrant segment, a projection region of the second quadrant segment, and a projection region of the third quadrant segment.

12. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, wherein

when (a) the reference plane is defined as a first reference plane, (b) a plane including the central axis and a center of the suction port is defined as a third reference plane, (c) one of two segments obtained by dividing the rotary compressor by the first reference plane is defined as a first high-temperature segment including the discharge port, (d) one of two segments obtained by dividing the rotary compressor by the third reference plane is defined as a second high-temperature segment including the discharge port, and (e) three of four segments obtained by dividing the rotary compressor by the first reference plane and the third reference plane are collectively defined as a combined high-temperature segment, the three segments being included in the first high-temperature segment or the second high-temperature segment,

in a projection view obtained by projecting the combined high-temperature segment and the refrigerant discharge space onto a plane perpendicular to the central axis, 70% or more of a projection region of the refrigerant discharge space overlaps a projection region of the combined high-temperature segment.

13. The rotary compressor according to claim 1, further comprising a shaft to which the piston is fitted, wherein

the rotary compressor is a vertical rotary compressor in which a rotational axis of the shaft is parallel to a direction of gravity and the oil reservoir is formed at a bottom of the closed casing.