JP2017008908A - Gas compressor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compress a refrigerant from which a liquid phase component has been sufficiently separated by using a compression mechanism.SOLUTION: A refrigerant sucked from a suction port 13n is guided to a gas-liquid separator 13o to separate a liquid-phase component (liquid-phase refrigerant and misty refrigeration machine oil O) from the refrigerant through centrifugal separation. The liquid-phase component (liquid-phase refrigerant and misty refrigeration machine oil O) separated by the gas-liquid separator 13o is retained in a liquid reservoir portion 15a of an accumulator 15 disposed below the gas-liquid separator 13o, and a switching element 9b for electric power of an inverter circuit 9 that is made to abut on an abutment portion 12h of a surface 12e located on the back side of a surface 12i of a partition wall 12d coming into contact with the liquid reservoir portion 15a is cooled by the liquid-phase component (liquid-phase refrigerant and misty refrigeration machine oil O) in the liquid reservoir portion 15a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas compressor for a refrigeration cycle that compresses a refrigerant.

  A gas compressor used in a refrigeration cycle sucks a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant and discharges the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant by compression (for example, Patent Document 1). The refrigerant sucked into the gas compressor includes refrigeration oil in a mist form or liquid phase refrigerant. When a refrigerant containing a large amount of these is supplied to the compression mechanism, a liquid compression state occurs in the compression mechanism, and the operation load of the compression mechanism increases.

JP 2014-109250 A

  Therefore, when the gas compressor compresses the suction refrigerant, it is preferable that the liquid phase component is sufficiently separated from the refrigerant, but the gas-liquid separation provided between the evaporator and the gas compressor of the refrigeration cycle. It is not desirable in view of the structure of the refrigeration system that the size of the vessel is increased to satisfy the required gas-liquid separation performance.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The objective of this invention is providing the gas compressor which can compress the refrigerant | coolant which fully isolate | separated the liquid phase component with a compression mechanism.

In order to achieve the above object, the gas compressor of the present invention comprises:
A compression mechanism for compressing the refrigerant;
A housing containing the compression mechanism;
A centrifugal gas-liquid separator that is provided in the housing and generates a swirling flow in the refrigerant sucked into the inside from the outside of the housing to separate a liquid phase component from the refrigerant;
The compression mechanism compresses the refrigerant from which the liquid phase component has been separated by the gas-liquid separator.

  According to the present invention, the refrigerant having sufficiently separated the liquid phase component can be compressed by the compression mechanism.

1 is a front sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an electric compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the II sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an electric compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line II in FIG. An electric compressor 1 (corresponding to a gas compressor in the claims) of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 compresses a refrigerant by driving a compression mechanism 3 with an electric motor 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electric compressor 1 of the present embodiment includes a compression mechanism 3 and an electric motor 5, a housing 7 in which these are accommodated, and an inverter circuit 9 that is a drive circuit for the electric motor 5 (invoice). And an accumulator 15 accommodated in the inverter case 11.

  The electric motor 5 includes a rotor 5b attached to the rotating shaft 5a and a stator 5c disposed outside the rotor 5b. The stator 5c has teeth (not shown) corresponding to a plurality of poles, and a coil 5d is wound around each tooth. The electric motor 5 rotates the rotor 5b by generating a rotating magnetic field in the stator 5c by applying a voltage in a predetermined pattern to each coil 5d.

  The compression mechanism 3 includes a pair of side blocks 3a and 3b, a cylinder block 3c sandwiched between them, and a columnar rotor 3e accommodated in an elliptical cylinder chamber 3d formed inside the cylinder block 3c. doing. The rotor 3e is formed integrally with the rotating shaft 5a of the electric motor 5, and a plurality of vanes (not shown) are supported on the circumferential surface of the rotor 3e so as to be able to appear and retract.

  When the rotor 3e is rotated in the cylinder chamber 3d by the electric motor 5, each vane of the rotor 3e appears and disappears following the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder chamber 3d, and the two vanes adjacent to the rotor 3e and the cylinder chamber 3d The volume of the configured space changes. Then, while the space volume increases, low-pressure refrigerant is sucked through a suction port (not shown) formed in the side block 3a, and the sucked refrigerant is compressed as the space volume decreases. The compressed high-pressure refrigerant is discharged from a discharge port (not shown) formed in the side block 3b.

  The housing 7 has a cylindrical shape with one end closed. The housing 7 accommodates the compression mechanism 3, and the accommodated compression mechanism 3 exposes the inside of the housing 7 to the closed discharge chamber 7 a on the closed side where the side block 3 b is exposed and the side block 3 a. It is partitioned off from the suction chamber 7b on the opening side. An electric motor 5 is accommodated in the suction chamber 7 b, and the suction chamber 7 b is sealed by an inverter case 11 attached to the opening 7 c of the housing 7.

  The compressed refrigerant discharged from the compression mechanism 3 contains mist-like refrigerating machine oil O. The refrigerating machine oil O is separated from the compressed refrigerant in the oil separator 7d of the discharge chamber 7a, and is stored in the oil reservoir 7e at the bottom of the discharge chamber 7a. The refrigerating machine oil O in the oil reservoir 7e lubricates the bearings (not shown) of the rotary shaft 5a provided in the side blocks 3a and 3b of the compression mechanism 3 using the pressure of the refrigerant in the discharge chamber 7a. Supplied as oil.

  The inverter case 11 is configured by connecting two cases 12 and 13 of a first case 12 and a second case 13.

  The first case 12 of the inverter case 11 includes a circuit accommodating portion 12a that accommodates the inverter circuit 9, and a suction port 12b that sucks low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compression mechanism 3 from the outside of the electric compressor 1 into the suction chamber 7b. And a front accumulator portion 12c provided with a partition wall 12d.

  The circuit accommodating portion 12a has a bottomed cylindrical shape with the partition wall 12d as a bottom portion. A circuit board 9a of the inverter circuit 9 is fixed to a surface 12e (corresponding to the other surface in the claims) of the partition wall 12d exposed to the circuit housing portion 12a. The circuit housing portion 12a is sealed by a cap 12g attached to the opening 12f.

  The circuit board 9a is mounted with a power switching element 9b (corresponding to a heat generating component in the claims) such as an IGBT and a MOSFET constituting the inverter circuit 9, and the casing is formed on the surface 12e of the partition wall 12d. It is in surface contact with a contact portion 12h (corresponding to a contact location in claims) located in the lower portion.

  The second case 13 of the inverter case 11 closes the opening 7c of the housing 7 to seal the suction chamber 7b, and closes the opening 12l of the front accumulator 12c to cooperate the accumulator 15 with the front accumulator 12c. The rear accumulator part 13b which comprises is partitioned and comprised by the heat insulation wall 13c. A heat insulating space 13d is provided inside the heat insulating wall 13c, and the heat insulating space 13d is filled with a fluid (not shown) having a heat insulating effect such as air or a heat insulating material.

  A suction port 13n is formed integrally with the rear accumulator portion 13b of the second case 13, and a gas-liquid separator 13o having the suction port 13n as a component is formed integrally with the rear accumulator portion 13b. Yes.

  In addition to the suction port 13n described above, the gas-liquid separator 13o includes a hollow cylindrical member 13p (corresponding to a cylindrical portion in the claims) that protrudes horizontally from the heat insulating wall 13d toward the partition wall 12d, and a cylinder outside thereof. The outer peripheral wall 13q is shaped.

  The front end (left end in FIG. 1) of the cylindrical member 13p is a surface exposed to the front accumulator portion 12c of the partition wall 12d on the side opposite to the surface 12e provided with the contact portion 12h of the partition wall 12d of the first case 12. It faces 12i (corresponding to one surface in the claims) at an interval. Further, the base end (right end in FIG. 1) of the cylindrical member 13p is connected to an opening 13i (corresponding to a through hole in the claims) formed in the upper portion of the heat insulating wall 13c of the second case 13, and the suction chamber 7b. Communicated with.

  As shown in FIG. 2, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 1, the suction port 13n is tangential to a cylindrical separation chamber formed between the cylindrical member 13p of the gas-liquid separator 13o and the outer peripheral wall 13q. Connected from. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerant sucked into the separation chamber from the suction port 13n becomes a swirl flow spirally swirling in the separation chamber from the proximal end side to the distal end side of the cylindrical member 13p. At this time, the inflow direction of the suction refrigerant from the suction port 13n into the separation chamber may be from above the cylindrical member 13p or from the horizontal direction as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 1, only the upper half of the second case 13 connects the center of the rear accumulator portion 13b and the suction port 13n in order to facilitate understanding of the communication structure between the suction port 13n and the gas-liquid separator 13o. The cross section in a cut surface is shown.

  The refrigerant sucked from the suction port 13n is a mixture of a gas-phase refrigerant and a liquid-phase refrigerant, and further, a bearing portion (not shown) of the rotary shaft 5a provided in the side blocks 3a and 3b of the compression mechanism 3. Mist-like refrigerating machine oil O supplied to (1) is mixed.

  For this reason, until the swirling flow of the refrigerant sucked from the suction port 13n reaches the tip side of the cylindrical member 13p, the liquid-phase refrigerant in the suction refrigerant and the liquid-phase component of the refrigerating machine oil O are centrifuged, It adheres to the outer peripheral wall 13q disposed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical member 13p. The attached liquid phase component passes through the gap between the surface 12i of the partition wall 12c and the tip of the outer peripheral wall 13q, and falls due to its own weight.

  The accumulator 15 configured by closing the opening 12l of the front accumulator portion 12c with the rear accumulator portion 13b has a liquid reservoir portion 15a. The liquid reservoir portion 15a is provided on the bottom side of the inverter case 11 across the front accumulator portion 12c and the rear accumulator portion 13b, and is disposed below the outer peripheral wall 13q of the gas-liquid separator 13o.

  In the liquid reservoir 15a, the liquid phase components (liquid phase refrigerant and mist-like refrigerating machine oil O) separated by the gas-liquid separator 13o pass through the gap between the surface 12i of the partition wall 12d and the tip of the outer peripheral wall 13q. Fall through and accumulate. Therefore, the inflow path of the suction refrigerant from the suction port 13n to the separation chamber is disposed above the liquid surface of the liquid phase component (liquid phase refrigerant or refrigerator oil O) accumulated in the liquid reservoir 15a of the accumulator 15. There is a need.

  After the swirling flow of the sucked refrigerant reaches the tip of the cylindrical member 13p and the outer peripheral wall 13q in the separation chamber, the remaining gas-phase refrigerant from which the liquid phase component has been separated flows from the tip of the cylindrical member 13p shown in FIG. It flows into the interior and flows into the upper portion of the suction chamber 7b of the housing 7 through the opening 13i of the heat insulating wall 13c of the second case 13 from the base end of the cylindrical member 13p.

  In addition, a small diameter return hole 13k is formed in the lower part of the heat insulating wall 13c of the second case 13 in order to suck the refrigerating machine oil O collected in the liquid reservoir 15a in a mist shape due to a pressure difference from the inside of the suction chamber 7b. ing. The refrigerating machine oil O that has passed through the return hole 13k and entered the suction chamber 7b in the form of a mist is compressed by the compression mechanism 3 together with the gas-phase refrigerant and discharged into the discharge chamber 7a. And it isolate | separates from a compressed refrigerant in the oil separator 7d, and accumulates in the oil sump part 7e of the bottom part of the discharge chamber 7a.

  According to the electric compressor 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the refrigerant sucked from the suction port 13n is guided to the gas-liquid separator 13o, and the liquid phase components (liquid phase refrigerant and mist form) are separated from the refrigerant by centrifugation. Of the refrigerating machine oil O). For this reason, the liquid phase component in a refrigerant | coolant can be efficiently isolate | separated by a compact structure by centrifugation, and it can prevent that a liquid compression state generate | occur | produces in the compression mechanism 3. FIG.

  Further, the liquid phase components (liquid phase refrigerant and mist-like refrigerating machine oil O) separated by the gas-liquid separator 13o are accumulated in the liquid reservoir 15a of the accumulator 15 disposed below the gas-liquid separator 13o, and the liquid is accumulated. The power switching element 9b of the inverter circuit 9 brought into contact with the contact portion 12h of the surface 12e located on the back side of the surface 12i of the partition wall 12d in contact with the portion 15a is connected to the liquid phase component (liquid phase component) of the liquid reservoir portion 15a. It was set as the structure cooled with a refrigerant | coolant and mist-like refrigerator oil O).

  Therefore, the power switching element 9b that generates high heat is efficiently cooled using the liquid phase components (liquid phase refrigerant and mist-like refrigerating machine oil O) accumulated in the liquid reservoir 15a of the accumulator 15, and the inverter circuit 9 Can be prevented. Further, the liquid reservoir 15a of the accumulator 15 is supplemented with the liquid phase components (liquid refrigerant and mist refrigerating machine oil O) separated by the gas-liquid separator 13o as needed, and the liquid reservoir is filled by the power switching element 9b. Since the liquid phase component 15a (liquid phase refrigerant and mist-like refrigerating machine oil O) is not depleted, the power switching element 9b can be cooled continuously and stably.

  Further, since the accumulator 15 is built in the electric compressor 1, the configuration on the refrigeration cycle side can be simplified as compared with the case where the accumulator is provided outside the electric compressor 1, and the electric compressor and accumulator It is possible to eliminate the need to provide a support structure between the two.

  Moreover, in the electric compressor 1 of the present embodiment, the heat insulating wall 13c of the second case 13 of the inverter case 11 is provided between the suction chamber 7b of the housing 7 in which the electric motor 5 is accommodated and the liquid reservoir 15a of the accumulator 15. Be placed. For this reason, the heat generated in the electric motor 5 is blocked by the heat insulating wall 13c so that it is difficult to be transmitted to the liquid reservoir 15a, and the liquid phase components (liquid refrigerant and refrigerating machine oil O) accumulated in the liquid reservoir 15a are vaporized. It is possible to prevent the cooling efficiency of the power switching element 9b from being reduced due to the decrease due to.

  In the case where the configuration for cooling the power switching element 9b can be omitted, the present invention is not limited to the electric compressor that drives the compression mechanism by the electric motor. For example, the compression mechanism is mounted on a vehicle and driven by the power of the engine. The present invention is widely applicable to gas compressors other than electric motors that are driven.

  The present invention can be used in a gas compressor for a refrigeration cycle that compresses a refrigerant.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric compressor 3 Compression mechanism 3a, 3b Side block 3c Cylinder block 3d Cylinder chamber 3e Rotor 5 Electric motor 5a Rotating shaft 5b Rotor 5c Stator 5d Coil 7 Housing 7a Discharge chamber 7b Suction chamber 7c Housing opening 7d Oil reservoir 7e Oil reservoir 7e 9 Inverter circuit (drive circuit)
9a Circuit board 9b Power switching element (heat-generating component)
11 Inverter case 12 First case 12a Circuit housing part (circuit housing)
12c Front accumulator part 12d Partition wall 12e Partition wall surface (the other surface)
12f Circuit housing part opening 12g Cap 12h Contact part (contact part)
12i Partition wall (one side)
12l front accumulator opening 13 second case 13a lid 13b rear accumulator 13c heat insulation wall (wall)
13d heat insulation space (heat insulation part)
13i Heat insulation wall opening (through hole)
13k Return hole 13n Suction port 13o Gas-liquid separator 13p Cylindrical member (cylinder part)
13q outer peripheral wall 15 accumulator 15a liquid reservoir O refrigerating machine oil

Claims (3)

A compression mechanism (3) for compressing the refrigerant;
A housing (7) containing the compression mechanism (3);
A centrifugal gas-liquid separator (13o) provided in the housing (7) for generating a swirling flow in the refrigerant sucked from the outside to the inside of the housing (7) to separate a liquid phase component from the refrigerant. And
The compression mechanism (3) compresses the refrigerant from which the liquid phase component has been separated by the gas-liquid separator (13o).
Gas compressor (1).   The gas-liquid separator (13o) is partitioned from the housing space by a wall (13c) interposed between the housing (7) and the housing space of the compression mechanism (3). ) And a cylinder portion (13p) communicating with the through hole (13i) of the wall portion (13c), and a refrigerant sucked into the inside from the outside of the main body housing (7). The gas compressor (1) according to claim 1, further comprising a suction port (13n) that is introduced into the outer periphery of the cylinder portion and forms a swirling flow of the refrigerant on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion (13p). A circuit accommodating portion (12a) in which a drive circuit (9) of an electric motor (5) for driving the compression mechanism (3) is accommodated and partitioned from the housing (7) by a partition wall (12d);
A liquid reservoir that is provided on one side (12i) side of the partition wall (12d) exposed to the housing (7) and stores the liquid phase component separated from the refrigerant by the gas-liquid separator (13o). (15a)
Of the other surface (12e) of the partition wall (12d) exposed to the circuit housing portion (12a), the drive contacted with the contact portion (12h) facing the liquid reservoir portion (15a) A heating component (9b) of the circuit (9);
The gas compressor (1) according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

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