JP2002005021A - Oil separator built-in compressor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oil separator built-in compressor capable of preventing a whole size of the compressor from unduly enlarging in spite of designing large oil storage chamber. SOLUTION: The compressor 1 is provided with a compressing chamber 5 compressing a mixture of refrigerating gas and oil, an oil separator 20 separating oil from the mixture and an oil storage chamber 60 storing the separated oil. The oil separator 20 having a sectional space 25 formed between an inner cylinder 21 and an external cylinder 23, is provided with an oil separating chamber 40 centrifuging the mixture by spirally raising in the sectional chamber 25, an inlet 31 for flowing in the chamber 40 the mixture compressed in the compressed chamber 5 located under the sectional space 25 and an outlet 24 for flowing out the chamber 60 the oil separated in the chamber 40 located over the mixture inlet 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a compressor incorporating an oil separator for separating refrigerant gas and lubricating oil compressed by the compressor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a compressor for compressing a refrigerant gas, a technique of mixing lubricating oil into the refrigerant gas to lubricate various mechanisms of the compressor is used. When the gas is sent into the refrigerant circuit, lubricating oil adheres to heat exchange parts such as the evaporator and the condenser, and the heat exchange performance of the evaporator and the like deteriorates. A compressor for solving this problem is described in, for example, JP-A-11-82353.

[0003] The compressor described in the publication has an oil separator as shown in FIG. The oil separator 100 is for centrifuging lubricating oil from a mixture of refrigerant gas and lubricating oil compressed in a compression chamber, and is disposed concentrically with the bottomed outer cylinder 101 and the outer cylinder 101. Having an inner cylinder 102,
A hollow portion 103 is formed between the outer cylinder 101 and the inner cylinder 102. On the left side of the oil separator 100 in the figure, a discharge chamber 105 for temporarily retaining a mixture of refrigerant gas and lubricating oil discharged from a compression chamber (not shown) is formed. An oil storage chamber 110 for storing the separated lubricating oil is formed.

Then, the discharge chamber 10 is introduced through an inlet 104.
5, the mixture of the refrigerant gas and the lubricating oil introduced into the hollow portion 103 of the oil separator 100 flows around the inner cylinder 102 with an arrow X.
As shown in FIG. On this occasion,
The atomized lubricating oil having a high specific gravity is separated from the refrigerant gas by centrifugal force due to the swirling, and flows downward along the inner wall surface of the outer cylinder 101. When the lubricating oil reaches the lower part of the hollow portion 103, it is dropped into the oil storage chamber 110 from the oil outlet 106.

Further, a required amount of the lubricating oil stored in the oil storage chamber 110 is sent to the suction side of the compressor, and is used for lubrication of each mechanism of the compressor. On the other hand, the refrigerant gas from which the lubricating oil has been removed passes through the inside of the inner cylinder 102 of the oil separator 100 toward the upper side in the figure, and is sent to a refrigerant circuit (not shown). As described above, according to the compressor including the oil separator 100, the refrigerant gas from which the lubricating oil has been removed can be supplied to the refrigerant circuit, and the heat exchange performance of the evaporator or the like is prevented from being reduced. Can be.

[0006]

However, the compressor described in the above publication has the following problems. That is, when operating conditions such as the number of revolutions and pressure of the compressor change, a situation occurs in which the distribution of the lubricating oil in, for example, an air conditioner system incorporating the compressor changes, and the lubricating oil in the oil storage chamber runs out. obtain. In such a case, the high-pressure refrigerant gas is sent to the suction side of the compressor together with the lubricating oil, and the compressor may not operate smoothly.

As a method of solving such a problem that the oil in the oil storage chamber runs out, it is conceivable to increase the size of the oil storage chamber, but the oil storage chamber 110 is located below the oil outlet 106, that is, the oil separator 100 Since the oil storage chamber 110 needs to be formed below, if the oil storage chamber 110 is enlarged, the entire compressor becomes large, and the compressor cannot be made compact.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a compressor with a built-in oil separator that can prevent the size of the entire compressor from becoming excessive while increasing the size of the oil storage chamber. And

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a compression chamber for compressing a mixture of refrigerant gas and oil, an oil separator for separating oil from the mixture sent from the compression chamber. An oil storage chamber for storing oil separated by an oil separator, wherein the oil separator has a separation space formed between an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder surrounding the inner cylinder. An oil separation chamber for spirally raising the mixture in the separation space to centrifuge oil from the mixture, and a mixture flow inlet located at the bottom of the separation space and for allowing the mixture compressed in the compression chamber to flow into the oil separation chamber. And an oil outlet located above the mixed distribution inlet and for allowing oil separated in the oil separation chamber to flow out to the oil storage chamber.

According to the compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention, the mixture flow inlet for allowing the mixture of the refrigerant gas and the oil to flow into the separation space of the oil separation chamber is formed at the lower part of the separation space. Will spiral up the separation space. Then, the oil centrifugally separated from the mixture in the separation space is fed into the oil storage chamber from an oil outlet formed above the mixture flow inlet. Here, according to the present invention, since the oil outlet is formed above the mixed distribution inlet, an oil storage chamber can be formed around the oil separation chamber. For this reason, compared to the case where the oil storage chamber is formed only below the oil separation chamber as in the related art, even if the oil storage chamber is enlarged, the overall size of the compressor can be suppressed from becoming excessive. .

In the compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention, the oil outlet may be an open end on the side where the swirling of the mixture in the outer cylinder is completed. When such a configuration is adopted, the oil that has flowed out from the open end of the outer cylinder can be introduced into the oil storage chamber, and there is no need to form a lid that closes the end of the outer cylinder, which facilitates manufacturing.

The center axis of the inner cylinder may be vertical.
When such a configuration is employed, the mixture spirally rises vertically upward.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are used for the same elements, and redundant description will be omitted.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a compressor 1 with a built-in oil separator (hereinafter abbreviated as “compressor”) of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a compressor shown in FIG. 1
2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the compressor 1 includes a fixed scroll 2a.
And a movable scroll 3 having a movable scroll 3a in a housing 4. A compression chamber 5 is formed by meshing the fixed scroll 2 and the movable scroll 3 with each other. The compressor 1 sends the refrigerant gas mixed with the lubricating oil to the compression chamber 5 through a path (not shown).
And compressed. The fixed scroll 2 has a disk-shaped support plate 2b integrally formed with the fixed scroll 2a, and is fixed to the housing 4 by screwing a bolt into the support plate 2b.

A front case 6 is bolted to the left side of the housing 4 in the figure, and a drive shaft 10 is rotatably supported on the front case 6 via bearings 7 and 8. Further, a clutch 12 is connected to the drive shaft 10.

An eccentric pin 15 eccentric from the center of rotation of the drive shaft 10 is provided on the right side of the drive shaft 10 in the drawing, and a drive bush 16 is fitted to the eccentric pin 15. The movable scroll 3 is rotatably supported by the drive bush 16 via a bearing 17. A balance weight 18 is provided below the eccentric pin 15 in the figure to balance the movable scroll 3 with the eccentric pin 15.

An oil separator 20 is provided on the right side of the fixed scroll 2 in FIG. The structure will be described with reference to FIGS.
Has an oil separation chamber 40 composed of an inner cylinder 21 whose center axis extends in the vertical direction and an outer cylinder 23 surrounding the inner cylinder 21, and a refrigerant gas is provided between the inner cylinder 21 and the outer cylinder 23. A separation space 25 is formed, which is a region for centrifuging the lubricating oil from the mixture of the lubricating oil and the lubricating oil. Also, the upper end 21a of the inner cylinder 21
Is opposed to a lid 27 that closes an upper end of the outer cylinder 23, and a lower end of the inner cylinder 21 is a gas discharge port 21b, which communicates with a refrigerant circuit (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, between the support plate 2b of the fixed scroll 2 and the outer cylinder 23, the above-mentioned mixture compressed in the compression chamber 5 is discharged from the compression chamber 5 to the discharge port 2b.
A discharge chamber 30 for discharging through the nozzle 8 is formed. Further, the discharge chamber 30 and the oil separation chamber 40 are connected to each other by an inflow pipe 31 provided in the oil separator 20 and serving as a mixed flow inlet. In addition, inflow pipe 3
1 is provided at the lower part of the separation space 25, that is, near the bottom as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and as shown in FIG.
It is installed with an inclination close to the tangent of the outer cylinder 23.

Further, an oil storage chamber 60 is formed around the oil separation chamber 40. The oil storage chamber 60 receives the lubricating oil flowing out from the oil outlet 24 formed in the outer cylinder 23 of the oil separation chamber 40. The oil storage chamber 60 is formed so as to be surrounded by the housing 4, the outer cylinder 23, the support plate 2b, and the rear plate 35, and is configured so that the oil separation chamber 40 is located in the oil storage chamber 60. The oil outlet 24 is located above the inflow pipe 31.

The above is the configuration of the compressor 1 of the present embodiment. Next, the operation of the compressor 1 will be described.

When the rotation of the clutch 12 is transmitted to the drive shaft 10, the eccentric pin 15 and the movable scroll 3 start revolving around the drive shaft 10 with the rotation of the drive shaft 10. At this time, refrigerant gas mixed with lubricating oil is supplied to the compression chamber 5 from a suction port (not shown), and when the movable scroll 3 revolves, the mixture of the refrigerant gas and lubricating oil is compressed. Then, the mixture whose pressure has been gradually increased in the compression chamber 5 passes through the discharge port 28 and passes through the discharge chamber 30.
Flows into.

Further, the mixture flowing into the discharge chamber 30 is:
The oil is introduced into the oil separation chamber 40 via the inflow pipe 31. At this time, since the inflow pipe 31 is installed with an inclination close to the tangent to the outer cylinder 23, the separation space 25 of the oil separation chamber 40 is separated.
The mixture introduced into the space rises spirally in the separation space 25 as shown by an arrow A in FIG. In addition, since the inner cylinder 21 is erected vertically, the mixture rises in the vertical direction. Then, due to the centrifugal force caused by the turning, the mist-like lubricating oil having a high specific gravity is separated from the refrigerant gas and adheres to the inner wall surface of the outer cylinder 23. Thereafter, the lubricating oil attached to the inner wall surface of the outer cylinder 23 is raised by the wind force accompanying the swirling of the refrigerant gas,
When reaching the oil outlet 24, the oil outlet 24
0 drops.

The required amount of the lubricating oil stored in the oil storage chamber 60 is sent to the suction side of the compressor 1 and used for lubrication of each mechanism of the compressor 1. On the other hand, the refrigerant gas from which the lubricating oil has been removed, when reaching the lid 27, separates from the inner wall surface of the outer cylinder 23,
It descends inside the inner cylinder 21, and is supplied to the refrigerant circuit from the gas discharge port 21b. That is, by providing the oil separator 20, the refrigerant gas from which the lubricating oil has been removed can be supplied to the refrigerant circuit outside the system, and the heat exchange performance of the evaporator or the like can be prevented from being reduced.

Further, although the oil storage chamber 60 needs to be provided below the oil outlet 24, according to the compressor 1 of the present embodiment, the oil outlet 24 is formed above the inflow pipe (mixed flow inlet) 31. Therefore, the oil storage chamber 60 can be formed around the oil separation chamber 40. For this reason, as compared with the conventional compressor in which the oil storage chamber is formed only below the oil separation chamber, even if the oil storage chamber 60 is enlarged, the overall size of the compressor 1 is prevented from becoming excessively large. be able to. Specifically, since the oil storage chamber 60 can be formed around the oil separation chamber 40, a region where the oil storage chamber 60 is formed is secured in a wide range under the condition that the cross-sectional area of the housing 4 shown in FIG. be able to. If the oil storage chamber 60 is made large, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the oil in the oil storage chamber 60 runs out even if the distribution of the lubricating oil in, for example, an air conditioner system in which the compressor 1 is built changes.

[Second Embodiment] Next, referring to FIG.
A second embodiment of the compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the upper end of the outer cylinder 23, that is, the open end on the side where the mixture has finished turning is an oil outlet 24. With such a configuration, the lubricating oil centrifuged in the oil separation chamber 40 flows out from the oil outlet 24 at the upper end of the outer cylinder 23 toward the oil storage chamber 60 as shown by the arrow B in FIG. On the other hand, the refrigerant gas from which the lubricating oil has been removed spreads near the upper end of the outer cylinder 23 and descends in the inner cylinder 21.

As described above, according to the compressor of the present embodiment, the lubricating oil can flow out from the open end of the outer cylinder 23 which is the oil outlet 24 and can be introduced into the oil storage chamber 60. It is not necessary to form the lid portion 27 for closing the upper end, and it is not necessary to form an opening for oil discharge in the outer cylinder 23, which facilitates the manufacture of the compressor.

As described above, the invention made by the present inventors has been specifically described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in order to raise the refrigerant gas in the separation space, the center axis of the inner cylinder does not necessarily have to be vertical, but may have an inclination with respect to the horizontal line. The compressor is not limited to the scroll type, and may be a rotary piston type, a rotary vane type, a roots type, a screw type, or the like.

[0028]

As described above, according to the compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention, the mixture flow inlet for allowing the mixture of the refrigerant gas and the oil to flow into the separation space of the oil separation chamber is located below the separation space. Therefore, the mixture spirally rises in the separation space. Then, the oil centrifugally separated from the mixture in the separation space is fed into the oil storage chamber from an oil outlet formed above the mixture flow inlet. Here, according to the present invention, since the oil outlet is formed above the mixed distribution inlet, an oil storage chamber can be formed around the oil separation chamber. For this reason, compared to the case where the oil storage chamber is formed only below the oil separation chamber as in the related art, even if the oil storage chamber is enlarged, the overall size of the compressor can be suppressed from becoming excessive. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of a compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an oil separator in a second embodiment of the compressor with a built-in oil separator according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an oil separator of a conventional compressor.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Compressor with a built-in oil separator, 2 ... Fixed scroll, 2a ... Fixed spiral, 2b ... Support plate, 3 ... Movable scroll, 3a ... Movable spiral, 4 ... Housing, 5 ... Compression chamber, 6 ... Front case, 10 ... Drive shaft, 12 ... Clutch, 15 ... Eccentric pin, 20 ... Oil separator, 21b
... gas outlet, 21 ... inner cylinder, 23 ... outer cylinder, 24 ... oil outlet, 25 ... separation space, 27 ... cover, 28 ... discharge port,
30: discharge chamber, 31: inflow pipe (mixed distribution inlet), 4
0: oil separation chamber, 60: oil storage chamber.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A compression chamber for compressing a mixture of refrigerant gas and oil, an oil separator for separating the oil from the mixture sent from the compression chamber, and storing the oil separated by the oil separator. An oil storage chamber, wherein the oil separator has a separation space formed between an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder surrounding the inner cylinder, and the mixture is spirally formed in the separation space. And an oil separation chamber for centrifuging the oil from the mixture by centrifuging the mixture, and a mixture flow inlet located at a lower part of the separation space and for allowing the mixture compressed in the compression chamber to flow into the oil separation chamber. And an oil outlet for discharging the oil separated in the oil separation chamber to the oil storage chamber while being located above the mixed distribution inlet. Oil separator built-in compressor. 2. The compressor with a built-in oil separator according to claim 1, wherein the oil outlet is an open end of the outer cylinder on a side where the swirling of the mixture ends. 3. The compressor with a built-in oil separator according to claim 1, wherein a center axis of the inner cylinder is vertical.