JPH07119681B2 - Piston ring material wear amount measuring device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a compressor and an internal combustion engine configured such that a piston reciprocates in a cylinder, and the piston is provided with an annular seal member that comes into airtight contact with an inner peripheral surface of the cylinder. The present invention relates to a wear amount measuring device for a piston ring material in an engine or the like.

BACKGROUND ART A reciprocating compressor is used to pump the vaporized gas of liquefied natural gas. In this reciprocating compressor, a piston reciprocates in a cylinder to compress and supply evaporative gas.
In such a compressor, in order to achieve airtightness between the outer peripheral surface of the piston and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder, a rider ring is fitted in the piston, and the rider ring contacts the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In such a prior art, the rider ring wears as the reciprocating compressor operates. If the amount of wear of the rider ring becomes excessive, an accident will occur in which the piston and the cylinder come into contact with each other during operation. The amount of wear on the rider ring can increase rapidly due to changes in operating conditions.
Conventionally, no measure has been taken to measure such an amount of wear, and only the periodical replacement of the rider ring is performed, which may cause the above-mentioned contact accident.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wear amount measuring device for a piston ring member capable of measuring the wear amount of a ring member such as a rider ring.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention relates to a wear amount measuring device for a piston ring member, in which a piston reciprocates in a cylinder, and the piston is provided with an annular ring member that comes into airtight contact with an inner circumferential surface of the cylinder. , A member to be detected provided on the end surface of the piston and having a plurality of reflection areas arranged in the radial direction, and a cylinder head provided with light to irradiate the reflection area with the amount of light reflected from the reflection area. A wear amount measuring device for a piston ring member, which includes a detecting means.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the reflection area forms a step surface displaced in the axial direction of the piston, and each reflection area is a smooth reflection surface.

A further preferred embodiment is characterized in that the reflection region is formed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the piston, and the respective reflectances are different from each other.

Operation According to the present invention, the end surface of the piston is provided with the reflection regions having sequentially different reflectances in the radial direction. The cylinder head is provided with means for irradiating light on a reflection area provided on the piston and for detecting the amount of light reflected from the reflection area. For example, when the ring material such as the rider ring is worn, the axes of the cylinder and the piston are displaced. Therefore, the amount of light reflected from the reflection area is detected by the detection means provided on the cylinder head,
Thereby, the amount of radial deviation of the piston axis can be detected, and the amount of radial wear of the ring material can be measured.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is an end view of a reciprocating compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention. This compressor is used to compress and supply the vaporized gas of liquefied natural gas. A piston 2 is reciprocated in the cylinder 1. This evaporative gas is clean and does not include dust. By the reciprocating movement of the piston 2, the evaporated gas from the suction port 3 is compressed and pressure-fed from the discharge port 4. One end of a piston rod 5 is fixed to the piston 2. The other end of the piston rod 5 is connected to the connecting rod 7 by a pin 6. The connecting rod 7 is connected to the crank arm 9 by a crank pin 8. The crank arm 9 is rotationally driven by a drive shaft having an axis 10.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the piston 2. Piston 2
Is a receiving portion 11 protruding outward in the radial direction of the piston rod 5,
The piston 2 is fixed to the piston rod 5 by being held by the nut 13 via the washer 12. Fitting recesses 14 and 15 are formed in an annular shape on the outer circumference of the piston 2. The fitting recesses 14 and 15 are provided with rider rings 16, which are annular ring members.
17 is fitted. The rider ring 16 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 1. As a result, the gap between the cylinder 1 and the piston 2 is maintained.

The piston 2 has a common horizontal axis with the piston rod 5,
This axis coincides with the axis of the cylinder 1 when the rider rings 16 and 17 are not worn. When the rider rings 16 and 17 wear as the vehicle runs, the piston 2 and the piston rod 5 move downward by an amount corresponding to the amount of wear (second
(In the downward direction of the figure), which causes the axis lines of the piston 2 and the piston rod 5 and the axis line of the cylinder 1 to deviate from each other.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view near the fitting recess 14 of the rider ring 16. The rider ring 16 is made of, for example, Teflon (trade name), or has a structure in which Teflon contains carbon. The same applies to the other rider ring 17. The cylinder 1 and the piston 2 are made of a metal material such as high chrome nickel. The distance d between the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 1 and the outer peripheral surface of the piston 2 is determined by the rider ring 1
In the initial state where 6 and 17 are not worn, it is about 5 mm, and the minimum usable value is about 0.7 mm.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the end portion of the piston 2 on the cylinder head 20 side, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the detected member 19.
A thin rectangular member 19 to be detected is fixed to the piston 2 and thus to the nut 13. The member to be detected 19 has a plurality (5 in this embodiment) of reflection regions N1 to N5 extending parallel to the one diameter line of the piston 2. The reflection areas N1 to N5 are formed in a so-called stepwise manner, and each reflection area of N1 to N5 is the rider ring 16,1.
In the first non-wearing state of 7, it is perpendicular to the axis of the piston 2. The reflection areas N1 to N5 are connected by step portions M1 to M4 parallel to the axis. The reflection regions N1 to N5 are provided so as to sequentially approach the cylinder head 20 side as it goes upward in the vertical direction. In the initial state in which the rider rings 16 and 17 are not worn, the axis of the piston 2 coincides with the center line of the reflection area N1 in the width direction and is indicated by the reference sign p1. The center line in the width direction of the reflection area N2 is indicated by reference numeral p2, and similarly, the center lines in the width direction of the reflection areas N3 to N5 are indicated by reference numerals p3 to p5. The reflective areas N1 to N5 have the same reflectance.

An end portion 23 of an optical fiber 22 is fixed to the cylinder head 20. This end 23 has an axis which coincides with the axis of the cylinder 1. The optical fiber 22 has a large number of optical fiber strands, which are divided into two groups. The optical fiber strands 22a of one group are supplied with the light from the light source 24, and the optical fiber strands 22a of the other group are supplied. The optical fiber element 22b is connected to the light receiving element 25.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the end portion 23 of the optical fiber 22. light source
The optical fiber wire 22a to which the light from 24 is supplied is indicated by a white circle in FIG. 6, and the light is emitted from the end portion 23 toward the detected member 19. The optical fiber element 22b to which the reflected light is guided is indicated by a black circle in FIG.
In FIG. 6 (1), the optical fiber wires 22a and 22b are mixed, and in FIG. 6 (2), they are divided into right and left of a straight line passing through the axis of the end portion 23, and FIG. ), An optical fiber element 22a is arranged near the center and an optical fiber element 22b is arranged on the outer periphery thereof. At the end portion 23 of the optical fiber 22, the optical fiber wires 22a and 22b may be arranged in the mode shown in FIG. 6 or may be arranged in other modes.

FIG. 7 shows a waveform in which the peak values of the output voltage with the passage of time of the output of the light receiving element 25 are linked. When the rider rings 16 and 17 are not worn, the cylinder 1 axis and piston 2
Coincides with the axis of the optical fiber 22
The axis line of 23 and the center line p1 of the reflection area N1 of the detected member 19 coincide with each other. At this time, the light from the optical fiber 22a is
Then, the light is irradiated onto the reflection area N1, and the light is reflected and guided to the light receiving element 25 through the optical fiber element 22b. Light fiber 2
2 is larger than the distance between the end portion 23 of the optical fiber 22 and each of the other reflection areas N2 to N5, the light receiving amount of the light receiving element 25 is relatively small, and its output voltage is Is small as indicated by the reference V1.

As time passes, the lower portions of the rider rings 16 and 17 are brought into sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 1 to wear, and the amount of wear increases. As a result, the light from the end portion 23 through the optical fiber element 22a is applied to the reflection area N2, and the light reflected by the reflection area N2 is received from the end portion 23 via the optical fiber element 22b. 2
Given to 5. Since the distance between the end portion 23 of the optical fiber 22 and the reflection area N2 is smaller than the distance between the end portion 23 of the optical fiber 22 and the reflection area N1, the output voltage with respect to the amount of light received by the light receiving element 25 is indicated by the reference numeral in FIG. Rise as indicated by V2. Furthermore, the wear of the rider rings 16, 17 causes the end 23
The light from is reflected in the order of the reflection areas N3, N4, N5. As a result, the output voltage corresponding to the amount of light received by the light receiving element 25 sequentially increases and changes to V3, V4, and V5 with the passage of time.

The widths of the respective reflection regions N1 to N5 of the detected member 19 are equal to each other,
The dimension l1 is, for example, 0.5 mm, and when the axis of the optical fiber 22 coincides with the axis p5, for example, the rider ring 16,1
It can be detected that 7 is displaced downward by a total of 2 mm. In this way, it is possible to measure that the wear amount of the rider rings 16 and 17 is 2 mm. Dimensions of each step M1 to M4
l2 are equal to each other, and when l2 is, for example, 0.2 mm, the output voltage with respect to the amount of light received from each of the reflection regions N1 to N5 in the light receiving element 25 is shown in Table 1.

According to such an experimental example, the electrical structure is not exposed in the cylinder chamber 18, and thus the explosion-proof structure is essentially formed. Further, since the electric structure is provided outside the cylinder 1, there is an advantage that such electric structure can be maintained and repaired without stopping the movement of the piston 2. Since the evaporated gas of the liquefied natural gas is clean, the end face 23 of the optical fiber 22 and the detected member 19 are not likely to be contaminated.

In the above-described embodiment, the detected member 19 has its reflection area N1.
~ As N5 goes vertically upwards, cylinder head 20
However, it may be provided so as to be separated from the cylinder head 20 side as it goes upward in the vertical direction. Further, the detected member 19 is formed in a square shape, but as another embodiment of the present invention, the detected member 19 is formed in a thin disk shape and concentrically formed with step portions in which the respective reflection areas are sequentially equal. It may be provided and formed.

At this time, the axis of the disc-shaped member to be detected 19 is arranged so as to coincide with the axis of the piston 2.

As still another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of reflective regions sequentially arranged in the radial direction are formed in a common plane perpendicular to the axis of the piston 2, and the reflectance of each reflective region is set in the radial direction. It may be configured to be sequentially different. Further, the surface roughness may be changed in order to change the reflectance, or the reflectance may be made different by devising such as applying paints of different colors. With this configuration,
The same effect as that of each of the above-described embodiments can be expected.

The present invention can be implemented not only in the compressor but also in other reciprocating mechanism, for example, in an internal combustion engine. In each of the above-described embodiments, the piston 2 is provided with the rider rings 16 and 17, but such a ring material may be provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 1 so as to face the piston 2.

Effects According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to measure the amount of wear of a sealing material such as a rider ring that hermetically holds the outer peripheral surface of the piston and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder. Therefore, even if the amount of wear of the ring material suddenly increases due to changes in operating conditions, the amount of wear can be detected, and this can prevent the piston and cylinder from coming into contact and breaking. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view in the vicinity of a piston 2, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view in the vicinity of a fitting recess 14 of a rider ring 16, and FIG. Is an enlarged sectional view of the end of the piston 2 on the cylinder head 20 side, FIG. 5 is a front view of the detected member 19, FIG. 6 is a front view of the end 23 of the optical fiber 22, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram showing the elapsed time of the output voltage of FIG. 1 ... Cylinder, 2 ... Piston, 16,17 ... Ridering, 19 ... Detected member, 22 ... Optical fiber, 24 ... Light source, 25 ... Light receiving element, N1 to N5 ... Reflecting area, M1-M4 ……
Step

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shozo Endo 5-1 Hirano-cho, Higashi-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Osaka Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Isamu Kintaka 3-1-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Yoshiharu Mitsunaga 3-15, Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Masaki Nakasuka 1-15-6, Odominami, Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Yoshiyoshi Tsuruya, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture Hyogo Mizuki-dori 10-chome 1-4 (56) References Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-18294 (JP, B2)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A wear amount measuring device for a ring member for a piston, wherein an annular ring member is provided which is in airtight contact with an inner peripheral surface of the cylinder, the piston being reciprocated in the cylinder. A member to be detected having a plurality of reflection areas arranged in a radial direction, and means provided on the cylinder head for irradiating the reflection area with light and detecting the amount of light reflected from the reflection area. A wear amount measuring device for piston ring material. 2. The piston according to claim 1, wherein the reflection area forms a stepped surface displaced in the axial direction of the piston, and each reflection area is a smooth reflection surface. For measuring wear of ring materials for automobiles. 3. The wear of the piston ring material according to claim 1, wherein the reflection region is formed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the piston, and the respective reflectances are different from each other. Quantity measuring device.