JP2013167220A - Part for regenerator of stirling engine and regenerator using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a part for a regenerator of a Stirling engine and the regenerator using the same, for reducing frictional resistance when contacting, and capable of maintaining a proper gap quantity corresponding to a working fluid amount, in the Stirling engine with the cylindrical regenerator disposed around a displacer.SOLUTION: A part 10 for a regenerator of a Stirling engine includes a hollow disk-like metallic thin plate 11 and a comb-teeth part 12 formed along the inner edge of the metallic thin plate 11. Respective comb-teeth 14 of the comb-teeth part 12 are curved so as not to turn to the center of the metallic thin plate 11. The metallic thin plate 11 has a stepped part 16 for forming a thickness on its outer edge side thicker than a thickness on the inner edge side. The regenerator 40 of the Stirling engine is constituted by laminating the parts 10 for the regenerator.

Description

  The present invention relates to a regenerator component used for improving the thermal efficiency of a Stirling engine and a regenerator using the same.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the free piston Stirling engine 50 normally includes a cylinder 54 provided with a regenerator (or stack) 53 so that a temperature gradient is generated between the heating unit 51 and the cooling unit 52, and the inside of the cylinder 54. The displacer 57 that is slidably installed in the cylinder 54 and divides the inside of the cylinder 54 into an expansion space 55 and a compression space 56, a power piston 58 that is operated by pressure fluctuation generated by the displacer 57, and the displacer 57 and the power piston 58 These are provided with elastic parts 60 such as springs and leaf springs for supporting each of them in a case 59.

  The free piston Stirling engine 50 uses pressure fluctuations accompanying the movement of a working fluid such as air in a heat exchanger (the heating unit 51 and the cooling unit 52), and therefore, between the displacer 57 and the power piston 58. However, the phase of the displacer 57 and the power piston 58 is adjusted by an air spring without the crank mechanism, and the reciprocating motion of the displacer 57 and the power piston 58 is realized.

  The regenerator 53 is configured in a cylindrical shape with laminated metal nets, spring meshes, and the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and stores the amount of heat of the working fluid when the working fluid flows from the heating unit 51 to the cooling unit 52. By reusing the amount of heat stored when the working fluid flows from the cooling unit 52 to the heating unit 51, the heat reciprocating in the heat exchanger is effectively used to achieve high thermal efficiency.

JP 2011-17311 A

  Since the free piston Stirling engine 50 is operated at a resonance point as its characteristic, it cannot be operated if the frictional resistance is large.

  Therefore, it is necessary to hold each part of the displacer 57 and the power piston 58 so as not to come into contact with each other as much as possible. In addition to the free piston Stirling engine 50, the same problem occurs in the β type and γ type Stirling engines in which the cylindrical regenerator 53 is disposed around the displacer 57.

  Further, since the working fluid moves in the heat exchanger via the regenerator 53, the regenerator 53 needs to have an appropriate gap amount according to the amount of flowing working fluid.

  However, when the regenerator 53 is formed of a metal mesh, distortion of the metal mesh or unraveling of the strands at the end occurs during forming, and not only the handling property at the time of lamination deteriorates, but also the end of the end. Since a portion where the element wire comes into contact with the displacer 57 vertically is generated, a large frictional resistance is generated at the contact portion. In addition, since the material of the spring mesh is soft and easily deformed, the frictional resistance when contacted is small, but it is difficult to obtain an appropriate gap amount while maintaining the shape.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is a Stirling engine in which a cylindrical regenerator is disposed around a displacer, and the Stirling that has a small frictional resistance at the time of contact and can maintain an appropriate gap amount according to the amount of working fluid. An object of the present invention is to provide a regenerator part for an engine and a regenerator using the same.

  The present invention devised to achieve this object is a regenerator part for a Stirling engine comprising a hollow disk-like thin metal plate and a comb tooth portion formed along the inner edge of the thin metal plate.

  It is preferable that each comb tooth of the comb tooth portion is curved so as not to face the center of the thin metal plate.

  The metal thin plate may include a step portion formed such that the outer edge side is thicker than the inner edge side.

  In addition, the present invention is a regenerator of a Stirling engine characterized in that the regenerator parts of the Stirling engine are laminated.

  According to the present invention, in a Stirling engine in which a cylindrical regenerator is disposed around a displacer, the friction resistance at the time of contact is small, and a Stirling engine capable of maintaining an appropriate gap amount according to the amount of working fluid. A regenerator component and a regenerator using the same can be provided.

It is a typical top view which shows the components for regenerators of the Stirling engine which concern on this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a regenerator of a Stirling engine according to the present invention. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the structure of a general free piston Stirling engine.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the regenerator component 10 of the Stirling engine according to the present embodiment includes a hollow disk-shaped metal thin plate 11 and a comb tooth portion 12 formed along the inner edge of the metal thin plate 11. It is a thing.

  The comb teeth portion 12 is formed so that the outer edge of the thin metal plate 11 is a base portion 13 and a plurality of comb teeth 14 extend from the base portion 13 to the inner edge side of the thin metal plate 11. With the comb-tooth portion 12 having such a shape, the contact area between the working fluid and the regenerator component 10 is increased, and the thermal efficiency can be improved.

  Each comb tooth 14 is curved within the same plane as the metal thin plate 11 so as not to face the center of the metal thin plate 11. Since each comb tooth 14 has a curved shape, when the displacer 57 described in FIG. 5 comes into contact with the comb tooth portion 12, the tip of each comb tooth 14 is deformed, and the friction resistance between the displacer 57 and the displacer 57. Can be reduced. Moreover, the front end side of each comb tooth 14 is thinner than the base side so as to be deformed flexibly, and this can further reduce the frictional resistance.

  The total amount of the gaps 15 formed between the comb teeth 14, that is, the gap amount is determined by the specifications of the Stirling engine. The working fluid moves through the gap 15 in the heat exchanger.

  The metal thin plate 11 has a thickness of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm, and as shown in FIG. 3, a step formed by forming the outer edge side thicker than the inner edge side. It is preferable to provide the part 16.

  The step 16 is for preventing the gap 15 from being closed when the regenerator parts 10 are stacked. In other words, by providing the stepped portion 16, the stacked comb teeth 14 of one regenerator component 10 do not overlap the gap 15 of the other regenerator component 10 and block the gap 15.

  When the regenerator parts 10 described so far are stacked by a necessary thickness, a cylindrical regenerator 40 as shown in FIG. 4 is obtained.

  According to the regenerator 40, in a Stirling engine in which a cylindrical regenerator is disposed around the displacer, the frictional resistance at the time of contact is small, and an appropriate gap amount according to the amount of working fluid can be maintained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Regenerator part 11 Metal thin plate 12 Comb part 13 Base part 14 Comb tooth 15 Crevice 16 Step part

Claims (4)

  A regenerator component for a Stirling engine, comprising: a hollow disk-shaped metal thin plate; and a comb tooth portion formed along an inner edge of the metal thin plate.   The regenerator part of a Stirling engine according to claim 1, wherein each comb tooth of the comb tooth portion is curved so as not to face the center of the thin metal plate.   The regenerator part for a Stirling engine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thin metal plate includes a step portion formed such that a thickness on an outer edge side thereof is larger than a thickness on an inner edge side.   A regenerator for a Stirling engine, wherein the Stirling engine regenerator parts according to any one of claims 1 to 3 are laminated.