EP3430262B1

EP3430262B1 - Hermetic terminal socket and terminal plug for use in a hermetic compressor

Info

Publication number: EP3430262B1
Application number: EP16708408.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tugba Cetinturk
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2016-03-14
Filing date: 2016-03-14
Publication date: 2019-09-04
Anticipated expiration: 2036-03-14
Also published as: EP3430262A1; PL3430262T3; WO2017157408A1

Description

The present invention relates to a hermetic compressor for use in a refrigeration appliance such as a domestic refrigerator. The present invention more particularly relates to the hermetic terminal socket and the terminal plug of the hermetic compressor.
Hermetic compressors with variable capacity are commonly known in the art. Fig. 1 shows a hermetic compressor (2') which is known from the prior art. The hermetic compressor (2') generally comprises: a casing (3') for hermetically accommodating a compressor-kit (4'), wherein the casing (3') has an aperture (6') for receiving a hermetic terminal socket (1'); and a terminal plug (5') for supplying power to the compressor-kit (4'), wherein the terminal plug (5') is connectable to the hermetic terminal socket (1). The terminal plug (5') has cables (15') which lead to the winding (13') of the stator (14'). The hermetic terminal socket (1') generally comprises: male terminals (7') whose outer ends (8') are adapted for connection to the mains and the inner ends (not shown) are adapted for connection to the said terminal plug (5'). The terminal plug (5') has female terminals (not shown). When assembling the hermetic compressor (2') on the production line, the assembly operator manually plugs the terminal plug (5') into the hermetic terminal socket (1') along the horizontal direction.
WO2015127998 (A1 ) discloses a prior art hermetic compressor. US2011062809 (A1 ) relates to an electric compressor for car air conditioning that allows insulation and airtightness to be ensured at a terminal part thereof. US4966559 (A ) discloses a terminal block assembly for connection to the interior side of an electrical hermetic terminal of a hermetic compressor.
A problem with the prior art hermetic compressor (2') is that the assembly operator suffers from difficulties in plugging the terminal plug (5') into the hermetic terminal socket (1') as there is only little space between the casing (3') and the compressor-kit (4').
An objective of the present invention is to provide a hermetic compressor which comprises a hermetic terminal socket and a terminal plug and which solves the aforementioned problems of the prior art in a cost-effective way by enabling an improved production and assembly.
This objective has been achieved by the hermetic compressor as defined in claim 1. Further achievements have been attained by the subject-matters respectively defined in the dependent claims.
The hermetic compressor according to the invention comprises a hermetic terminal socket, wherein the inner ends of the male terminals are L-shaped and extend perpendicularly relative to the outer ends and are adapted to connect with or to disconnect from the said terminal plug when the terminal plug is accordingly moved along the direction which is perpendicular relative to the outer ends.
In the terminal plug of the present invention, the female terminals are adapted to connect respectively with the inner ends of the male terminals of the hermetic terminal socket of the present invention.
A major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the assembly operator can easily connect the terminal plug to the hermetic terminal socket downwards along the vertical direction. Thereby, the production efficiency can be improved both in terms of material and labor. Another major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the space between the casing and the compressor-kit can be reduced, and thus the size of the casing can also be reduced. Thereby, the production costs can be further saved. Another major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the noise generated by the flow of the refrigerant can be reduced to lower levels by decreasing the size of the casing.
According to the present invention, the inner ends of the male terminals have different cross sections. The female terminals of the terminal plug have correspondingly matching cross sections. These cross sections may have round shapes or polygonal shapes. This is particularly advantageous as the assembly operator can be prevented from incorrectly connecting the terminal plug with the hermetic terminal socket.
In an embodiment, the inner ends of the hermetic terminal socket and the female terminals of the terminal plug are arranged in matching rows. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as the terminal plug and the hermetic terminal socket occupy less space, and thus the size of the hermetic compression can be further reduced, and the production costs can be saved both in material and labor.
Additional features and additional advantageous effects of the hermetic terminal socket and the terminal plug and the hermetic compressor of the present invention will become more apparent with the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 - is a schematic partial perspective view of a hermetic compressor which has a hermetic terminal socket and a terminal plug according to the prior art;
Figure 2 - is a schematic partial perspective view of a hermetic compressor which has a hermetic terminal socket and a terminal plug according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 - is a schematic side view of the hermetic terminal socket according to an embodiment of the present invention, taken along the arrow A in Fig 4;
Figure 4 - is a schematic inner view of the hermetic terminal socket according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 5 - is a schematic exploded side view of a terminal plug according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 6 - is a schematic side view of a terminal plug according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 7 - is a schematic side view of a terminal plug according to another embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 8 - is a schematic front view of the terminal plug of Fig. 5;
Figure 9 - is a schematic front view of the terminal plug of Fig. 6;
Figure 10 - is a schematic front view of the terminal plug of Fig. 7.

The reference signs appearing on the drawings relate to the following technical features.

1. Hermetic terminal socket
2. Hermetic compressor
3. Casing
4. Compressor-kit
5. Terminal plug
6. Aperture
7. Male terminal
8. Outer end
9. Inner end
10. Female terminal
11. Cup-shaped metal member
12. Seal
13. Winding
14. Stator
15. Cable
16. Retainer
17. Plug body

The hermetic terminal socket (1) and the terminal plug (5) are suitable for use in the hermetic compressor (2) (Fig.2).
The hermetic compressor (2) comprises: a casing (3) for hermetically accommodating a compressor-kit (4) and the terminal plug (5) for supplying power to the compressor-kit (4), wherein the casing (3) has an aperture (6) for receiving the hermetic terminal socket (1) (Fig.2).
The hermetic terminal socket (1) comprises: male terminals (7) whose outer ends (8) are adapted for connection to the mains and the inner ends (9) are adapted for connection to the said terminal plug (5) (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4).
The terminal plug (5) comprises female terminals (10) for supplying power to the compressor-kit (4) (Fig. 5).
In the hermetic terminal socket (1) of the present invention, the inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) are L-shaped and extend perpendicularly relative to the outer ends (8) and are adapted to connect with or disconnect from the said terminal plug (5) when the said terminal plug (5) is accordingly moved along the direction which is perpendicular relative to the outer ends (8) (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3).
In the terminal plug (5) of the present invention, the female terminals (10) are adapted to connect with the inner ends (9) of the male terminal (7) of the said hermetic terminal socket (1) (Fig. 2).
The hermetic compressor (2) of the present invention comprises the hermetic terminal socket (1) and the terminal plug (5) (Fig.2).
The refrigeration appliance (not shown) of the present invention comprises the hermetic compressor (2).
In an embodiment, the hermetic terminal socket (1) is hermetically attached to the aperture (6) on the casing (3) such that the outer ends (8) of the male terminals (7) extend horizontally outwards, and the inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) extend vertically upwards (Fig. 2).
In another embodiment, the inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) have the same cross section. In this embodiment, the female terminals (10) of the terminal plug (5) have also the same matching cross section (Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig 10).
In another embodiment, the inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) have different cross sections. In this embodiment, the female terminals (10) of the terminal plug (5) have also different matching cross sections (Fig. 8 and Fig. 9).
In another embodiment, the hermetic terminal socket (1) comprises a cup-shaped metal member (11) that holds the male terminals (7) through the seals (12) (Fig. 2 to Fig. 4).
In another embodiment, the female terminals (10) are connected to the winding (13) of the stator (14) via cables (15) (Fig. 2).
In another embodiment, the cables (15) are held together through a retainer (16) (Fig.2).
In another embodiment, the terminal plug (5) comprises an insulating plug body (17) which accommodates the female terminals (10) (Fig. 5 to Fig.7).
In another embodiment, the inner ends (9) of the hermetic terminal socket (1) and the female terminals (10) of the terminal plug (5) are arranged in matching rows (Fig. 4 and Fig. 10).
A major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the assembly operator can easily connect the terminal plug (5) to the hermetic terminal socket (1) downwards along the vertical direction. Thereby, the production efficiency can be improved both in terms of material and labor. Another major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the space between the casing (3) and the compressor-kit (4) can be reduced, and thus the size of the casing (3) can also be reduced. Thereby, the production costs can be further saved. Another major advantageous effect of the present invention is that the noise generated by the flow of the refrigerant can be reduced to lower levels by decreasing the size of the casing (3). Other advantageous effects of the present invention can be taken from the above described embodiments.

Claims

A hermetic compressor (2) comprising:
- a casing (3) for hermetically accommodating a compressor-kit (4),

- a terminal plug (5) comprising female terminals (10) for supplying power to the compressor-kit (4),

- a hermetic terminal socket (1) received in an aperture (6) of the casing (3),

- the hermetic terminal socket (1) comprising male terminals (7) whose outer ends (8) are adapted for connection to the mains,

- the hermetic terminal socket (1) comprising male terminals (7) whose inner ends (9) are adapted for connection to the female terminals (10) of said terminal plug (5),

- said inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) are extending perpendicularly relative to the outer ends (8), and are adapted to connect with or disconnect from the said terminal plug (5) when the said terminal plug (5) is moved along the direction which is perpendicular relative to the outer ends (8),
characterized in that
- the hermetic terminal socket (1) having male terminals (7) such that the inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) have different cross sections.
The hermetic compressor (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the hermetic terminal socket (1) is hermetically attached to the aperture (6) on the casing (3) such that the outer ends (8) of the male terminals (7) extend horizontally outwards, and the inner ends (9) of the male terminals (7) extend vertically upwards.
A refrigeration appliance characterized in that the hermetic compressor (2) as defined in claim 1 or 2.