JP2010144820A - Sealing structure and compressor using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealing structure capable of more easily and efficiently sealing a sealing object substance medium such as a coolant or lubricating oil, and a compressor using the sealing structure. <P>SOLUTION: The sealing structure is provided in a sealing necessary portion with respect to a sealing object substance, and a sealing member having a metal substrate and an elastic film covered on a surface of the metal substrate is held between bearing face parts of two casing. The sealing structure and the compressor using the sealing structure are characterized by that at least one face of the sealing member is considered as an outermost layer, and a soft elastic material layer is provided, having hardness lower than hardness of the elastic film. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a seal structure and a compressor using the same, and more particularly to a seal structure suitable for use in a refrigerant use system and a compressor for compressing the refrigerant.

  A seal structure that uses a refrigerant, lubricating oil, or the like as a material to be sealed is provided, for example, in each part of the refrigeration circuit, particularly in the compressor. As a compressor used for a vehicle air conditioner, for example, a multi-cylinder piston compressor is known. This multi-cylinder piston type compressor has a cylinder block provided with a plurality of cylinders, and each cylinder is arranged around a central axis. A piston is fitted into each cylinder so as to be able to reciprocate. The refrigerant introduced from a suction chamber formed in the cylinder head is compressed in the cylinder and discharged to the discharge chamber. The suction and discharge operations are controlled by, for example, a suction valve and a discharge valve provided on a valve plate interposed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head. A plate-like gasket is interposed between the valve plate and the cylinder block to prevent refrigerant leakage between adjacent cylinders and between each cylinder and the central shaft.

However, it is difficult to make a large contact area with the gasket between the cylinders and between the cylinders and the central shaft, and compared with other parts (for example, the outer peripheral part of the cylinder in the compressor radial direction). In many cases, it is difficult to ensure sufficient sealing performance. In addition, the above-described valve plate, gasket, and cylinder block are usually fastened and fixed with a through bolt together with the cylinder head, but the bolt fastening portion is often provided at a position on the outer diameter side of each cylinder due to structural limitations. Even when a large axial force is applied to the bolt fastening portion, it is difficult to apply a sufficient seal surface pressure to the portion between the cylinders located on the inner diameter side and the portion between the cylinder and the central shaft. If slight refrigerant leakage occurs between the cylinders or between the cylinder and the central shaft, the compression performance may be deteriorated. Therefore, it is desired to realize a seal structure that can easily and efficiently seal even a portion where it is relatively difficult to ensure such high sealing performance.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-125682

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to satisfy the above-described demands by providing a seal structure capable of easily and efficiently sealing a target material medium such as a refrigerant or lubricating oil, and a compression using the seal structure. Is to provide a machine.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a sealing structure according to the present invention includes two sealing members that are provided at a site where sealing is required for a substance to be sealed, and have a metal substrate and an elastic film deposited on the surface of the metal substrate. A sealing structure sandwiched between seating surface portions of a housing, wherein a soft elastic material layer having a hardness lower than that of the elastic film is provided as an outermost layer on at least one surface of the sealing member. Consists of things. In addition, the substance to be sealed in the present invention is a medium (particularly, a refrigerant), a lubricating oil (for example, polyalkylene glycol (PAG) or polyol ester (POE)), a mineral oil (for example, gasoline, engine oil, etc.), etc. Means.

  In such a seal structure, the soft elastic material layer forming the outermost layer of the seal member at the time of clamping of the seal member uses the excellent elastic deformation performance of the outer surface of the seat surface portion of the housing. Therefore, a very good adhesion between the surface of the soft elastic material layer and the surface of the housing seat surface is obtained, and the space between them is well sealed. In addition, even in a region where it is difficult to apply a high surface pressure during clamping, the soft elastic material layer is in good contact with the seat surface portion of the housing, preventing the occurrence of minute gaps and sealing. A hermetic seal against the target substance is ensured.

  In the present invention, the soft elastic material layer may be provided as the outermost layer on at least one side of the sealing member, and specifically, various forms can be taken. For example, it is possible to adopt a seal structure in which the soft elastic material layer is directly attached on one side of the metal substrate. In this case, the elastic film can be applied to the other surface side of the metal substrate.

  Alternatively, it is possible to adopt a seal structure in which the soft elastic material layer is deposited on the elastic film deposited on the metal substrate. In this case, an elastic film is applied to both surfaces of the metal substrate, and the soft elastic material layer is applied to one elastic film, and the soft elastic material layer is applied to both elastic films. Both structures of the seal structure being worn can be taken.

  Furthermore, a sealing structure in which the soft elastic material layer itself has a multilayer structure composed of different layers can be employed. That is, the soft elastic material layer referred to in the present invention has a structure composed of a plurality of soft elastic material layers having hardness lower than the hardness of the elastic film referred to in the present invention. If such a multi-layer structure is adopted, for example, a layer having a better sealing property is disposed on the soft elastic material layer on the surface layer side, and a layer located on the inner side is provided on the soft elastic material layer on the inner layer side. It is possible to adopt a more preferable form as the entire seal structure, for example, by arranging a layer that places importance on the bondability with the sealant.

  The material of the soft elastic material layer according to the present invention is not particularly limited, but is preferably made of any material of rubber, elastomer, and resin. Since rubber is excellent in elasticity and elastic restoring performance, it is suitable for a portion where high sealing performance is required, a seal portion that is used repeatedly, and the like. Further, if a rubber having excellent heat resistance is selected, excellent sealing performance can be maintained even at high temperatures. Elastomers are relatively easy to mold, and in addition to imparting elasticity and elastic restoring performance, plastic deformation is also possible, for example, by applying pressure at high temperatures. It is suitable for a portion that may be maintained in a state. In the case of a resin, the type is not particularly limited as long as a predetermined hardness can be realized, and various resins can be selected according to the purpose. For example, polyurethane resin, especially polyurethane foam resin, is lightweight and excellent in flexibility, and therefore is suitable for a sealing member that is lightweight and excellent in adhesion. Such a resin may be made of a single type of resin material, or may be a composite material or a polymer alloy.

  The soft elastic material layer can also be formed of a porous material. By using a porous material, it is possible to realize a sealing member that is lighter in weight and excellent in workability at a low cost. The structure of such a porous material is not particularly limited, and the internal cell form forming the porous structure may be either an open cell structure or a closed cell structure. In general, porous materials having an open-cell structure are easy to impart excellent flexibility, exhibit good adhesion even when the seating surface of the housing has a complicated shape, and excellent sealing properties Can be secured. Moreover, the porous material which has a closed cell structure is easy to provide the outstanding heat insulation, for example, and is suitable as a sealing member used at comparatively high temperature.

  When the soft elastic material layer is formed of a porous material as described above, a substance may be included in the pores of the porous material. In this case, in order to give a specific performance (for example, heat resistance, etc.) to the soft elastic material layer, it is possible to intentionally enclose a substance suitable for giving the characteristics, or to form a porous structure. When a solvent, a foaming agent, etc. are used, it can also be set as the inclusion form which the solvent, the foaming agent, etc. remained in the range which does not affect the target performance of a soft elastic material layer. In particular, in the latter case, when it is expensive to completely remove the solvent and the foaming agent, the cost can be reduced by appropriate removal. When the substance is intentionally included in the pores, the above-mentioned closed cell structure is preferable.

  Moreover, when the soft elastic material layer is formed of a porous material as described above, a structure in which the porosity of the soft elastic material layer is changed in the thickness direction can also be adopted. In this case, it is preferable that the porosity of the sealing surface side portion in the soft elastic material layer is higher than the porosity of the metal substrate side portion. If comprised in this way, the sealing surface side part will be more flexible and suitable for sealing, and the metal substrate side part will be more connectable to the inner layer and maintain the shape of the entire soft elastic material layer. It can be a thing that emphasizes sex.

  For the same reason, it is possible to adopt a form in which the hardness of the soft elastic material layer in the present invention changes in the thickness direction.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, a form in which the swelling characteristic of the soft elastic material layer with respect to the sealing target substance is changed in the thickness direction may be employed. That is, when the soft elastic material layer has a swelling property with respect to a sealing target substance such as a refrigerant or a lubricating oil, as described above, a more desirable sealing performance on the surface layer side (seal surface side portion) is achieved, and the metal substrate In order to achieve more desirable bondability and shape retention of the side portion, the swelling characteristic can be changed in the thickness direction. In other words, the swelling characteristic is used for improving the characteristic of the entire sealing member. Therefore, in this case, it is preferable that the swelling characteristic with respect to the sealing target substance at the sealing surface side portion in the soft elastic material layer is higher than the swelling characteristic with respect to the sealing target substance at the metal substrate side portion. As a method for realizing such a configuration, for example, a form in which the swelling characteristic with respect to the sealing target substance is changed in the thickness direction in a single soft elastic material layer, or a plurality of soft elasticity having different swelling characteristics with respect to the sealing target substance. A form in which material layers are laminated (that is, the above-described multilayer structure) can be adopted.

  Such a seal structure according to the present invention is preferably configured at least partially in a refrigeration circuit using a refrigerant. In this case, in addition to the excellent sealing performance with respect to the circulated refrigerant, since the lubricating oil is usually mixed in the circulating refrigerant, an excellent sealing performance can be obtained with respect to the lubricating oil. In particular, it is suitable to be provided in at least a part of the refrigeration circuit provided in the vehicle air conditioner.

  Furthermore, the present invention also provides a compressor in which the above-described seal structure according to the present invention is configured between the seating surface portions of two housings. In order to improve the compression efficiency of the compressor, for example, as described above, it is desired to provide a high sealing property between the cylinder part of the valve plate installation part and the part between the cylinder and the central shaft. By adopting the above-described seal structure according to the present invention at the site, a compressor with desirable performance can be realized.

  As described above, according to the seal structure according to the present invention, the soft elastic material layer can be in good contact with the seating surface portion of the housing by elastic deformation of the soft elastic material layer arranged as the outermost layer. Even in a region where it is difficult to apply a high surface pressure at the time of pressure, it is possible to stably ensure an excellent sealing property against a substance to be sealed. And the compressor which employ | adopted this seal structure can exhibit desirable performance, such as high compression efficiency.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross section of a seal member in a seal structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the seal member 1 has a metal substrate 2, an elastic film 3 equivalent to that in the conventional structure is formed on one surface of the metal substrate 2, and an elastic film 3 is formed on the other surface of the metal substrate 2. Each of the soft elastic material layers 4 having a lower hardness is adhered by, for example, adhesion (adhesion or fusion). Therefore, the soft elastic material layer 4 forms the outermost layer on one side of the seal member 1.

  Due to the high elastic deformation performance of the soft elastic material layer 4, the soft elastic material layer 4 is well adhered to the seating surface portion (not shown) of the casing as the counterpart member, and is excellent for a sealing target substance (refrigerant or lubricating oil). Good sealing performance is ensured.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross section of a seal member in a seal structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the seal member 11 has a metal substrate 12. An elastic film 13 is attached to one surface of the metal substrate 12, and an elastic film 14 is attached to the other surface of the metal substrate 2. Has been. On one elastic film 14, an elastic film 13 and a soft elastic material layer 15 having hardness lower than that of the elastic film 14 are attached. Therefore, also in this aspect, the soft elastic material layer 15 forms the outermost layer on one side of the seal member 11.

  Also in this embodiment, due to the high elastic deformation performance of the soft elastic material layer 15, the soft elastic material layer 15 is well adhered to the seating surface portion (not shown) of the casing as the counterpart member, and the sealing target substance (refrigerant) Excellent sealing performance against oil and lubricating oil).

  The soft elastic material layers 4 and 15 may be arranged as outermost layers on both surfaces of the seal members 1 and 11. Further, as described above, the soft elastic material layers 4 and 15 themselves may have a multilayer structure. Moreover, the soft elastic material layers 4 and 15 can be formed from, for example, a porous material, and the porous material may be configured to have either an open cell structure or a closed cell structure. The porosity of the soft elastic material layers 4 and 15 may be changed in the thickness direction, the hardness may be changed in the thickness direction, and the swelling characteristic may be changed in the thickness direction. Furthermore, as described above, various materials can be used as the specific material of the soft elastic material layers 4 and 15.

  The seal members 1 and 11 having such soft elastic material layers 4 and 15 are particularly suitable for use as an internal seal of a compressor. For example, FIG. 3 shows a seat surface portion of a cylinder block 21 of a compressor to which the above-described seal structure is applied. The cylinder block 21 includes a cylinder 22, a shaft as a central axis or a shaft installation portion 23, and a bolt insertion hole 24 for inserting a fastening through bolt. A valve plate (not shown) is disposed on the seat surface portion of the cylinder block 21 as a casing, and a gasket is interposed between the valve plate and the seat surface portion of the cylinder block 21 to seal this portion. As this gasket, the sealing members 1 and 11 provided with the soft elastic material layers 4 and 15 as described above are used.

  With such a sealing structure in which the sealing members 1 and 11 are arranged, the adjacent cylinders 22 and between the cylinders 22 and the central shaft 23 are satisfactorily sealed with high sealing performance, and high sealing performance of the refrigerant is achieved. Compression efficiency is achieved. Moreover, since high sealing performance is achieved also with respect to lubricating oil, the target favorable lubricating performance is ensured.

  The seal structure according to the present invention can be applied to any part that requires high sealing performance of refrigerant or lubricating oil, and is particularly suitable for use as an internal seal of a compressor.

It is a schematic sectional drawing of the sealing member in the seal structure which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the sealing member in the sealing structure which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view of the cylinder block of the compressor with which the seal structure which concerns on this invention is suitable.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,11 Seal member 2,12 Metal substrate 3,13,14 Elastic film 4,15 Soft elastic material layer 21 Cylinder block 22 Cylinder 23 The shaft or shaft installation part 24 as a central axis Bolt insertion hole

Claims (16)

  A sealing structure in which a sealing member is provided at a site where sealing is required with respect to a sealing target material, and a sealing member having a metal substrate and an elastic film attached to the surface of the metal substrate is sandwiched between seat surfaces of two housings, A sealing structure characterized in that a soft elastic material layer having a hardness lower than that of the elastic film is provided as an outermost layer on at least one surface of the sealing member.   The seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the soft elastic material layer is directly attached on one side of the metal substrate.   The seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the soft elastic material layer is deposited on the elastic film deposited on the metal substrate.   The seal structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the soft elastic material layer itself has a multilayer structure composed of different layers.   The seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the soft elastic material layer is made of any one of rubber, elastomer, and resin.   The seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the soft elastic material layer is made of a porous material.   The seal structure according to claim 6, wherein the porous material has either an open cell structure or a closed cell structure.   The seal structure according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a substance is included in the pores of the porous material.   The seal structure according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein a porosity of the soft elastic material layer is changed in a thickness direction.   The seal structure according to claim 9, wherein the porosity of the seal surface side portion in the soft elastic material layer is higher than the porosity of the metal substrate side portion.   The seal structure according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a hardness of the soft elastic material layer changes in a thickness direction.   The seal structure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a swelling characteristic of the soft elastic material layer with respect to the sealing target substance is changed in a thickness direction.   The seal structure according to claim 12, wherein a swelling characteristic with respect to the sealing target substance of a seal surface side portion in the soft elastic material layer is higher than a swelling characteristic with respect to the sealing target substance of a metal substrate side portion.   The seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the seal structure is configured in at least a part of a refrigeration circuit using the refrigerant.   The seal structure according to claim 14, wherein the refrigeration circuit is provided in a vehicle air conditioner.   The compressor characterized by the seal structure in any one of Claims 1-15 being comprised between the seat surface parts of two housings.

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