JPS6391462A - Gas refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a gas refrigerator that generates cold heat by compressing a gas such as air and then adiabatically expanding the compressed gas.

[Prior art] Refrigeration equipment for indoor cooling, food refrigeration, etc. is an extremely common type of refrigeration system that utilizes the phenomenon in which a liquid phase low-boiling point refrigerant takes away the latent heat of vaporization from its surroundings when it transforms into a gas phase. In addition to the conventional type, gas refrigerators have been known for quite some time that utilize the cooling phenomenon of gas when a compressed gas is expanded adiabatically.

The main components of a gas refrigerator are a gas compressor, a radiator for cooling the gas whose temperature has risen due to compression, an expansion device for adiabatic expansion of the cooled compressed gas, and a radiator for cooling the gas whose temperature has decreased due to expansion. This is a cold energy absorption device for utilizing cold energy.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned gas refrigerator has a disadvantage in that the size of the device increases due to its inefficiency in converting mechanical work into usable thermal energy. As a solution to this problem, it is also possible to reduce the external dimensions of the device by, for example, making one of the two left and right cylinder chambers divided by the piston into a gas compression chamber and the other into a compressed gas expansion chamber.

However, using a crank mechanism as a conventional means to drive a piston is not preferable in order to make the device more compact, and not only does it complicate the structure, but it also causes considerable loss of driving energy in the moving parts. .

The present invention incorporates a gas compression device and an expansion device into one cylinder that shares one piston, and by devising a shallow groove (for driving this piston), the device external size can be made compact, and the structure can be simplified. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a gas refrigerator that can improve the operating efficiency.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the gas refrigerator according to the present invention includes: a) one piston made at least partially of a ferromagnetic material and a gas that shares the piston; a compression cylinder and a cylinder for expanding the compressed gas; an electromagnet that applies a magnetic attraction force to the ferromagnetic body to move the piston forward (rearward); a means for intermittent energization of the electromagnet; (Back) A reciprocating dynamic pump consisting of a spring acting body that moves forward, b) Cooling means for compressed warm gas interposed in an air passage connecting the discharge port of the compression cylinder and the suction port of the expansion cylinder. and C) a means for absorbing cold heat held by the expanded low-temperature gas, which is interposed in a ventilation passage connecting the discharge port of the expansion cylinder and the suction port of the compression cylinder.

[Function and Effects of the Invention] In the gas refrigerator having the above configuration, when the intermittent energizing means is activated to intermittently energize the electromagnet, the piston will have a magnetic attraction force exerted on its ferromagnetic portion. As a result, it moves forward toward top dead center. When the current is cut off, the spring acting body works and the piston moves backward to return to its bottom dead center position.

With this 4G force in front of the piston, the cylinder for gas compression and the cylinder for expansion of compressed gas are operated alternately, so that the compressed and heated gas t discharged from the cylinder for gas compression is
After being cooled by the cooling means, the low-temperature gas flows into the expansion cylinder and is depleted of I5 by adiabatic expansion. After the cold energy is utilized by the cold heat absorption means, it returns to the compression cylinder and recirculates the frozen Nicle.

Such a gas refrigerator can combine a gas compressor and a compressed gas expansion device into one reciprocating pump that shares one piston in an extremely compact external shape.

What's more, the movement of the bisund does not involve a crank mechanism that has a complicated structure and requires a lot of space, but uses an extremely simple drive system that uses electromagnetic attraction force and spring acting force alternately to move the bisnt back and forth. This makes it possible to further reduce the external size and simplify the structure.

[Example] The configuration of the present invention will be specifically described below based on an example shown in the drawings.

1 and 2 show the first embodiment, and the gas refrigerator is roughly divided into a reciprocating pump A, which is a combination of a gas compressor and an expansion device for compressed gas, and a compressor a. It consists of the following main parts: a cooling means B for hot gas, a cold heat absorption means C for utilizing the cold heat held by the expanded cooling gas, and a means for intermittent energization of the electromagnet for driving the piston of pump A. There is.

The reciprocating pump A has a structure in which two pumps that share one cylinder 1 and one piston 6 are combined, and the right side part F of the piston 6 functions as a gas compression cylinder, and the left side part G functions as a gas compression cylinder. It functions as a cylinder for expanding compressed gas.

The compression cylinder F is provided with a suction port 2 having a suction valve 2A and a discharge port 3 having a discharge valve 3A, and the expansion cylinder G is provided with a suction valve 4 that is closed by a spring action force.
A suction port 4 is provided, and a discharge port 5 is provided with a discharge valve 5A that is opened by a minute pressure difference.

The piston 6 has a right piston rod 7A on its right side.
Further, a left piston rod door B is attached to the left side to form a piston rod 7. Both pistons [1] project to the outside of the cylinder through piston rod insertion holes drilled in the end wall of the cylinder F or cylinder G, respectively. The gaps surrounding the piston rod in these insertion holes are kept airtight by mechanical seals 17, and bearings 18 are disposed at these locations to help the piston rod 7 move smoothly from side to side.

A small cylindrical ferromagnetic piece 8 is externally fitted and fixed near the right end of the right piston rod 7A.
A solenoid coil 10 for intermittently applying an N magnetic attraction force to move the piston rod 7 forward intermittently,
It is assembled in the position shown.

Further, a disk-shaped intermediate flange 9 is attached to the right piston rod 7A, and this flange 9 is connected to the cylinder 1.
The piston is connected to the right end of the piston [1] and is fitted in the T1 support cylinder 11. The free end of the right piston rod 7A is bored in the cylinder end wall of the support cylinder 11 [1] and protrudes further to the right with an insertion hole, and a bearing 18 is also provided in this insertion hole. has been done.

Near the right end of the piston rod support cylinder 11, there is provided an annular inner wall plate 11A that serves to form a storage space for the solenoid coil 10, and between this annular inner wall plate 11A and the intermediate flange 9 of the right piston rod 7A. A first coiled resonant spring 12 is fitted into the cylindrical gap created in the cylindrical gap. Further, a second coiled resonance spring 13 is fitted into a cylindrical gap created between the intermediate flange 9 and the right cylindrical end surface of the cylinder 1. The natural vibration periods of both resonant springs 12 and 13 are made to substantially match the movement period of the piston rod 7 which is moved forward by the solenoid coil 10.

A cover cylinder 16 that wraps around the piston rod 7A protruding from this end face is connected to the right cylinder end face of the piston rod support @11, and the piston []
A first microswitch 101 whose contacts open when pressed is attached to the tip of the turad A. 101A and 101
B is a movable contact and a fixed contact, respectively.

A cover cylinder 17 that wraps around the left piston door B protruding from this end is connected to the left cylinder end face of the cylinder 1, and the opening end of the cover cylinder 17 has a contact point that opens when pushed by the piston Ron door B. Two microswitches 102 are installed. 102A and 102B are a movable contact and a fixed contact, respectively.

The compressed high-temperature gas cooling means B has a general structure as a heat exchange solution for heating or cooling gas, and for example, as shown in the figure, it is installed in a cooling air passage 20 equipped with an air inlet and outlet. It is made up of a serpentine pipe 21 that circulates cold water.

The air inlet 21 of the cooling air passage 20 communicates with the discharge port 3 of the compression cylinder F through a ventilation passage 23, and the air outlet 22 is connected to the suction port 4 of the expansion cylinder G through a ventilation passage 24.

The cold heat absorbing means C is shown in this embodiment as a cold insulation box 30 of a small refrigerator. This heat insulating box 30 has a cold air intake 31 for introducing cooling air generated in the expansion cylinder Q outside the door for loading and unloading items (not shown), and a cold air intake 31 for introducing the cooling air generated in the expansion cylinder Q, and heat exchanges with the cooled items in the box to warm them. A warm air outlet 32 is provided for discharging the air, and the cold air 31 is sent to the discharge port 5 of the expansion cylinder G through a ventilation path 33, and the warm air outlet 32 is connected to the intake of the compression cylinder F through a ventilation path 34. Connected to mouth 2.

In FIG. 2, which shows an example of a power supply circuit that serves as a means for intermittent energization of the solenoid coil 10 as an electromagnet, 1
For example, 10 is self! J] A DC power source such as a battery installed in a car, and 111 outputs a rectangular wave with a desired pulse width based on the input signals from the normally closed first and second microswitches 101 and 102. 112 is a drive circuit; 113 is a relay for turning on and off the power supply to the solenoid coil 10;
03 is a manual switch that starts or stops the gas refrigerator by intermittent power supply to the rectangular wave generation circuit 111.

Next, the operation of the refrigerator of the above embodiment will be explained. FIG. 1 depicts a state in which the manual switch 103 is turned off to stop the operation of the refrigerator, and the piston 6 occupies an intermediate position in its reciprocating stroke.

By turning on the switch 103 and energizing the rectangular wave generating circuit 111, the energizing circuit to the solenoid coil 10 is closed and the refrigerator starts operating.

The magnetic attraction force exerted by the solenoid coil 10 causes the magnetic material piece 8 to
As a result, the piston rod 7, which is integral with the magnetic piece 8, moves to the right while compressing the first resonance spring 12 with its intermediate flange 9, and accordingly, the compression cylinder E moves into the compression process. and compresses the air inhaled during the previous intake stroke. At this time, the expansion cylinder G1. follows the expansion process.

When the piston 6 reaches the rightmost position (top dead center) of its return stroke due to the movement of the piston rod 7, the tip surface of the right piston rod 7A touches the first micro switch 1.
By pressing the movable contact 01 to turn off this switch, the current to the solenoid coil 10 is cut off, and the rightward movement biasing force against the piston 6 is lost.

At this time, the force of the compressed first resonance spring 12 to return to its original shape is applied to the piston rod 7 via the intermediate flange 9 portion, so the piston 6 moves to the left. As the piston rod 7 moves to the left, the 20th co-loading spring 13
is pressed by the intermediate flange 9 and compressed.

Piston 6 is at the leftmost position (bottom dead center) of its reciprocating stroke
When it reaches this point, the tip end surface of the left piston rond presses the movable contact 102A of the second microswitch 102 to turn it off, and this off signal is sent to the rectangular wave generation circuit 111. During this time, the movable contact 101A of the first microswitch 101 is released from the pressing force and returns to the on state, and this on signal is input to the rectangular wave generation circuit 111. When the piston 6 reverses and moves to the right, the second microswitch 102 also loses the pressing force against the movable contact 102A and is twisted into the on state, and this on signal is input to the rectangular wave generation circuit 111.

Two pulse wave signals generated from the first and second microswitches 101 and 102, respectively, as the refrigerator operates are processed in the rectangular wave generation circuit 111 to calculate the difference in the generation period of both pulse waves. By generating a rectangular wave current having a pulse width and passing this current through the drive circuit 112 to the power supply relay 113 to the solenoid coil 10, the solenoid coil 10 intermittently generates a magnetic attraction force at a predetermined period.

Therefore, when the piston 6 reaches the bottom dead center as described above,
When the solenoid coil 10 is energized, the piston 6
is moved back toward top dead center.

At this time, the second resonant spring 13 releases compression energy to assist in this return movement. At the same time that the piston 6 reaches the top dead center, the energization to the solenoid coil 10 is cut off, and the biasing force for the return movement is lost. Thereafter, such a reciprocating motion of the piston 6 will be repeated.

The high temperature compressed gas generated during the compression stroke of the compression cylinder F is pushed by the piston 6 and flows from the discharge port 3 through the air passage 23 into the cooling air passage 20, where it is cooled by exchanging heat with cooling water. , follows the ventilation path 24 and flows into the suction port 4 of the expansion cylinder G, which is in the expansion stroke at this time. Suction valve 4A
has a structure in which the valve is mechanically opened in conjunction with the movement of the piston 6 when it reaches the bottom dead center, and the valve is closed by the action of an attached spring while the piston 6 is moving in reverse toward the top dead center. As the valve closes, the compressed gas flowing into the expansion cylinder G is adiabatically expanded and its temperature decreases.

When the piston 6 reaches the top dead center, the discharge valve 5A is opened based on the minute pressure difference generated between the inside and outside of the expansion cylinder G, so the low temperature gas whose pressure has dropped to normal pressure is It is pushed by the piston 6 which has moved into reverse motion and is pushed out from the discharge port 5 through the ventilation path 33 into the heat insulating box 30 to cool the object to be cooled.

The gas that has been deprived of cold energy and returned to room temperature is sent to the compression cylinder F.
As the air moves to the suction stroke, it is sucked into the cylinder F through the air passage 34.

In this embodiment, by adopting a power supply circuit using two microswitches, even when the gas load on the reciprocating pump A fluctuates, the power supply to the solenoid coil 10 is reduced to one.
Although care has been taken to ensure that the period g and the reciprocating period of the piston 6 do not deviate from each other, a power supply circuit using only one microswitch is also possible. Further, intermittent power supply can also be performed by an oscillation circuit using a transistor.

3 to 5 show the second embodiment, which differs from the first embodiment in that the first and second resonance springs are incorporated into the inner space of the cylindrical piston, and the piston rod is omitted. Another advantage is that one piezoelectric element is used instead of two microswitches.

The right end of the cylinder 1 is provided with an annular protrusion 1B for housing the solenoid coil 10 so as to be fitted onto the outside of the cylinder 1. At the center of the cylinder 1 in the axial direction, first and second A resonance spring fixing member 1A having the role of fixing one end of each of the coiled resonance springs 12 and 13 is attached as shown.

A hollow hole 6A is bored in the top surface of the hollow cylindrical piston 6 so that the piston 6 can slide inside the cylinder 1 while avoiding the resonance spring fixing member 1A. This piston is made of a ferromagnetic material, at least the portion facing the solenoid coil 10.

The inner space of the piston 6 is fixed by sandwiching the first resonance spring 12 between the right side cylinder end face and the fixing member 1A, and the first resonance spring 12 is fixed between the left side cylinder end face and the fixing member 1A. The second resonant spring 13 is fixed.

One of the two resonance springs 12 and 13 has one end thereof and a resonance spring fixing member IA (or the inner end surface of the piston 6) which serves as a base for fixing this end.
A piezoelectric element 201 is assembled so as to be sandwiched between the
An electromotive force is generated at 1.

In FIG. 4 illustrating the power supply circuit to the solenoid coil 10, 200 is a reference rectangular pulse wave generation circuit, and I
[A wave period detection circuit of the output wave generated from the element 201, and a correction circuit that controls the timing of energization of the solenoid coil 10 to eliminate this deviation when this period deviates from the generation period of the reference pulse wave. This is a built-in power supply control amplifier, and other numerical symbols are the same as those in FIG. 2.

Since the operation of the refrigerator of the second embodiment is the same except for the power supply circuit, only the operation of this circuit will be explained with reference to the operation shown in FIG.

By turning on the manual switch 103, the amplifier 20
0 and the refrigerator enters the operating state. As the solenoid coil 10 is energized, the piston 6 starts reciprocating in the same manner as described above, and when the piston 6 moves leftward, the resonance spring 1 is activated.
3 presses the piezoelectric element 201, so this piezoelectric element 20
1, a wave output having a cycle equal to the reciprocating cycle T of the piston 6 is generated and input to the amplifier 200.

The amplifier 200 has the desired return movement period TO of the piston 6.
A reference square wave generator 202 is built in which generates a pulse wave with a puzzle width equal to
The wave output from 01 is sent to a pulse width correction circuit 203 which receives the wave output as feedback information. If the actual piston reciprocation period T deviates from its desired period TO, circuit 203 instructs circuit 202 to modify the pulse width of the reference rectangular pulse so that period T is equal to period To.

The reference rectangular pulse wave whose pulse width has been corrected is sent to the amplifier 2.
The current flows from the output terminal 00 through the drive circuit 112 to the excitation coil of the relay 113 for switching on/off the current to the solenoid coil 10.

As mentioned above, the natural frequency of the resonance springs 12 and 13 is
Although designed in advance to match the desired reciprocating period TO of the piston 6, it is natural that the load applied to the reciprocating pump A may vary during its operation. For example, in accordance with the above embodiment, the load changes depending on the opening and closing of the door of the heat insulating box 30. As the load changes, the reciprocating period of the pistons becomes T.
If the value of o deviates from the value of o, the resonance timing of the resonance springs 12 and 13 with the piston 6 will be shifted, and the role of the resonance springs will be greatly impaired when assisting the drive of the piston 6, but the pulse width correction The operation of the circuit can avoid such inconveniences.

The means for detecting the actual reciprocating period of the piston 6 is not limited to the piezoelectric element 201, and a Hall element that generates an electromotive force when exposed to a magnetic field may be used, for example.

Specific uses of the gas refrigerator according to the present invention include, in addition to cooling small refrigerator hooks, it is also possible to create a small air conditioner configured to blow generated cold air to a blower fan, and to absorb cold heat. In addition to an "open refrigeration cycle" in which cold air is communicated with the atmosphere at the means part, this part can also be shut off from communication with the atmosphere and used as a heat exchanger similar to an "evaporator."

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show a first embodiment, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a gas refrigerator, and FIG. 2 is a power supply circuit to an electromagnet. 3 to 5 show the second embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic side sectional view of the reciprocating pump portion of the gas refrigerator, and FIG.
5 and 5 respectively show a power supply circuit to the electromagnet and its operation flowchart.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) a) A piston made at least partially of a ferromagnetic material, a cylinder for compressing gas sharing the piston, and a cylinder for expanding the compressed gas, and the ferromagnetic material A reciprocating pump comprising: an electromagnet that applies a magnetic attraction force to move the piston forward (backward); a means for intermittent energization of the electromagnet; and a spring acting body that moves the piston forward (backward); b) cooling means for compressed high-temperature gas interposed in an air passage connecting the discharge port of the compression cylinder and the suction port of the expansion cylinder, and c) the suction port of the expansion cylinder and the compression cylinder. A gas refrigerator is equipped with means for absorbing the cold heat held by the expanded low-temperature gas, which is interposed in the air passage connecting the mouths. 2) The intermittent energizing means is a power supply circuit connected to one or more microswitches whose electrical contacts open and close in response to the movement of the piston. gas refrigerator. 3) The intermittent energization means is characterized by comprising a means for detecting the longitudinal movement period of the piston, and a power supply circuit equipped with a rectangular wave generator whose pulse width is controlled using this detection period as feedback information. A gas refrigerator according to claim 1.