JPH09158842A - Air compressing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out downsizing of each tank, facilitate work, and manufacture an air compressing unit in a low cost by dividing a surge tank for reserving compressed air which is compressed by an air compressor and for taking out the compressive air in a constant pressure level, and connecting a plurality of tanks to each other in series. SOLUTION: A tank 30 is arranged on the back flow side of an oil separator 6, and a tank 31 is arranged on the back flow side thereof. The oil separator 6 is formed in a shape smaller than a prior art, and the function of a surge tank is obtained by three parts of the oil separator 6 and the tanks 30, 31. A solenoid opening/closing valve 33 is interposed in a connecting piping 32 for connecting the oil separator 6 and the tank 30 to each other. Pressure sensors 36 to 38 are installed on the oil separator 6 and the tanks 30, 31 respectively, each detected pressure is inputted to a controller 39, start/stop operations of an air compressor 1 are controlled according to the detected pressure, and also each solenoid opening/closing valve 33, 35 is opening/closing controlled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an air compression unit including an air compressor and a surge tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A schematic system diagram of a conventional air compression unit is shown in FIG. Motor of oil-cooled air compressor 1
When driven by 28, air is sucked into the compressor 1 through the air filter 2, the check valve 3, and the suction pipe 4 and compressed.
The compressed air discharged from the compressor 1 is introduced into the oil separator 6 which also functions as a surge tank through the discharge pipe 5.
By turning inside this, most of the oil contained in the compressed air is separated.

Next, this compressed air separates the oil remaining in the cylindrical oil separator element 7 in the process of flowing from the outside to the inside, and then the air supply pipe 32, the check valve 8, and the flexibility. It is supplied to the customer through the hose 9 and the opening / closing operation valve 10.

The oil separated from the compressed air by the oil separator 6 drops and is temporarily stored in the lower part thereof. And
This oil O is extracted from the bottom of the oil separator 6 by the oil return pipe 11, enters the oil cooler 13 via the flexible hose 12, is cooled by the outside air blown by the fan 29, and then is flexible hose. 14, the temperature control valve 15, the oil filter 16, the electromagnetic on-off valve 17, and the orifice 18, and enters the suction pipe 4, and is sucked into the compressor 1 along with the air flowing therein.

The oil separated from the compressed air by the oil separator element 7 accumulates in the oil pan 7A that covers the lower end opening of the oil separator element 7, and the suction pipe
The gas enters the suction pipe 4 through the check valve 20, the check valve 20, and the capillary tube 21, and is sucked into the compressor 1 along with the air flowing therein.

When the temperature of the oil passing through the temperature control valve 15 falls below a predetermined value, the temperature control valve 15 is opened, which causes the oil return pipe.
The oil from 11 is guided to the oil filter 16 through the bypass pipe 22 and the temperature control valve 15. In addition, 23 is an air vent pipe, and this air vent pipe 23 has a safety valve 24, a pressure switch 25, a pressure gauge 26,
An electromagnetic opening / closing valve 27 is provided.

[0007]

In the conventional air compression unit described above, the volume of the compressed air region 6A of the oil separator 6 is expanded in order to mitigate the pressure fluctuation due to the change in the amount of compressed air used at the demand destination. Since it also functions as a surge tank, there is a problem that the oil separator 6 becomes large and the cost and installation space increase.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been invented to solve the above problems, and its gist is to provide an air compressor and compressed air compressed by the air compressor. An air compression unit comprising a surge tank for storing and taking out at a constant pressure, wherein the surge tank is divided into a plurality of tanks, and the plurality of tanks are connected in series. .

The compressed air compressed by the air compressor is taken out at a constant pressure through a plurality of tanks.

If the air compressor is composed of an oil-cooled air compressor and the tank on the most upstream side of the plurality of tanks also serves as an oil separator, the compressed air discharged from the oil-cooled air compressor is The contained oil is separated from the compressed air in the tank on the most upstream side which also serves as an oil separator.

A pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the compressed air therein is provided in each of the plurality of tanks, and an electromagnetic opening / closing valve is provided in each of the connecting pipes connecting the plurality of tanks. It is possible to control the operation / stop of the air compressor by the pressure detected by the pressure sensor of the tank, and sequentially control the opening / closing of the electromagnetic on-off valve at the inlet side thereof by the pressure detected by the pressure sensor of the downstream tank.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, a first tank 30 is arranged on the downstream side of the oil separator 6, and a second tank 31 is arranged on the downstream side thereof.

The oil separator 6 and the first tank
A first electromagnetic opening / closing valve 33 is installed in a connection pipe 32 connecting the same with 30, and a second electromagnetic opening / closing valve 35 is installed in a connection pipe 34 connecting the first tank 30 and the second tank 31. An operation valve 41 is provided in the outlet pipe 40 of the second tank 31.

Oil separator 6, first tank 30, second
The tank 31 has a first unit for detecting the pressure of the compressed air in the first unit.
The pressure sensor 36, the second pressure sensor 37, and the third pressure sensor 38 are attached, and the pressure detected by these pressure sensors 36, 37, 38 is input to the controller 39.

The controller 39 outputs to the drive motor 29 of the air compressor 1 to control the operation / stop of the air compressor 1, and outputs to the first electromagnetic on-off valve 33 and the second electromagnetic on-off valve 35 to open / close the same. To control.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the pressure detected by the first pressure sensor 36 rises to the first set pressure, the air compressor 1 is stopped, and when it falls to the rated pressure, the air compressor 1 is operated. It Further, the pressure detected by the second pressure sensor 37 is the second
The first solenoid on-off valve 33 is closed when the set pressure is increased, and is opened when the set pressure is decreased.

Similarly, when the pressure detected by the third pressure sensor 38 rises to the third set pressure, the second electromagnetic on-off valve 35 is closed, and when it falls to the rated pressure, it is opened. The first set pressure, the second set pressure, the third set pressure, and the rated pressure are set to decrease in this order.

The oil separator 6 is smaller than the conventional one, and the oil separator 6, the first tank 30 and the second tank 31 serve as a surge tank. Other configurations are the same as those of the conventional one shown in FIG. 4, and corresponding members are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the pressure is detected by each of the pressure sensors 36, 37 and 38 during the operation of the air compressor 1. If the pressure detected by the third pressure sensor 38 is equal to or higher than the third set pressure, the second electromagnetic opening / closing valve 35
Is closed, and when the pressure in the second tank 31 drops to the rated pressure, the second electromagnetic on-off valve 35 opens and the compressed air in the first tank 30 passes through the connection pipe 34. Second
It is supplied into the tank 31.

When the pressure detected by the second pressure sensor 37 is equal to or higher than the second set pressure, the first electromagnetic opening / closing valve 33 is closed, and the pressure in the first tank 31 drops to the rated pressure. When it descends, the first electromagnetic on-off valve 33 opens and the compressed air in the oil separator 6 passes through the connecting pipe 32 to the first pipe.
It is supplied into the tank 30.

If the pressure detected by the first pressure sensor 36 is equal to or higher than the first set pressure, the air compressor 1 is stopped, and if the pressure in the oil separator 6 is lowered to the rated pressure, The operation of the air compressor 1 is restarted.

Thus, the separator 6, the first tank 30,
Since the surge tank function is performed by the three members of the second tank 31, it is sufficient that the internal volume of each of them is small. Therefore, if they can be miniaturized and their withstand pressure is constant, their plate thickness can be reduced. Since it can be made thin, it is easy to process and can be manufactured at low cost.

The first set pressure, the second set pressure, and the third set pressure
Since the set pressure and the rated pressure are lowered in this order, it is possible to reduce the pressure fluctuations of the compressed air supplied to the demand destination and when the amount of compressed air used at the demand destination is small, that is,
When the capacity of the air compressor 1 has a margin, compressed air can be stored in the upstream tank, so that pressure fluctuations due to a sudden increase in the usage amount can be suppressed.

In the above embodiment, since the oil-cooled air compressor 1 is used, the oil contained in the compressed air discharged from the air compressor 1 is separated by the oil separator 6. If it is not oil-cooled, the oil separator can be omitted. Further, the number of tanks is not limited to three, and two or three or more tanks may be provided.

[0025]

According to the present invention, since the surge tank is divided into a plurality of tanks and the plurality of tanks are connected in series, the plurality of tanks fulfill the function of the surge tank. Therefore, the plurality of tanks can be miniaturized and the plate thickness can be reduced, so that the processing is easy and the manufacturing cost is low.

If the air compressor is composed of an oil-cooled air compressor and the tank on the most upstream side of the plurality of tanks also serves as an oil separator, it is contained in the compressed air discharged from the oil-cooled air compressor. Oil can be separated from compressed air in the most upstream tank that also serves as an oil separator.

A pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the compressed air therein is provided in each of the plurality of tanks, and an electromagnetic opening / closing valve is provided in each connection pipe connecting the plurality of tanks. If the pressure detected by the pressure sensor in the tank controls the operation / stop of the air compressor, and the pressure detected by the pressure sensor in the tank on the downstream side controls the opening / closing of the solenoid valve on the inlet side, it will be supplied to the customer. It is possible to reduce the pressure fluctuation of the compressed air to be generated and to store the compressed air in the upstream tank when the capacity of the air compressor has a margin. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the pressure fluctuation due to the rapid increase of the usage amount.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram of a conventional air compression unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Air compressor 28 Motor 6 Oil separator 30, 31 Tank 32, 34 Connection piping 33, 35 Electromagnetic on-off valve 36, 37, 38 Pressure sensor 39 Controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An air compression unit comprising an air compressor and a surge tank for storing compressed air compressed by the air compressor and extracting the compressed air at a constant pressure. The surge tank is divided into a plurality of tanks. However, the air compression unit is characterized in that a plurality of these tanks are connected in series. 2. The air compression unit according to claim 1, wherein the air compressor is composed of an oil-cooled air compressor, and the most upstream tank of the plurality of tanks also serves as an oil separator. 3. The plurality of tanks are provided with pressure sensors for detecting the pressure of the compressed air therein, and the connection pipes connecting the plurality of tanks are also provided with electromagnetic opening / closing valves, respectively, and the uppermost stream of the plurality of tanks is provided. The operation and stop of the air compressor is controlled by the pressure detected by the pressure sensor of the tank on the side, and the opening and closing of the solenoid valve on the inlet side is controlled by the pressure detected by the pressure sensor of the tank on the downstream side. The air compression unit according to claim 1 or 2.