US2835436A - Refrigerating apparatus - Google Patents

Description

y 1958 w. K. STEINHAGEN ET AL 2,835,436

' REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed April 8. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. l-

D no T g 26 ii a/zljollzllz "m n 100 I4 JNVENTOR. Wil/iamKSfeinhagen John 00/20 and Philip L. Francis Q. J.

Their Attorney.

May 20, 1958 w. K. STEINHAGEN ET AL 2,835,436

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed April 8. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Their Attorney.

y 0, 1958 w. K. STEINHAGEN ET AL 2,835,436

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed April 8. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

WiIliamKSteinhagen John 00/20 and Philip L. Franc/s By W fheir Atfornev.

w/k. STEINHAGEN ET AL 2,835,436

May 20, 1958 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-sheaf, 4

Filed April 8. 1953 JNVENTOR. William K Sfeinhagen John Dolza and Philip L. Francis f8. 02.,

Their Attorney.

,- REFRIGERATING APPARATUS William K. Steinhagen, Royal Oak, John Dolza, pavisburg, and Philip L. Francis, Pontiac, Mich, asslgnors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Micln, a corporation of Delaware Application April 8, 1953, Serial No. 347,556

4 Claims. (Cl. 230-486) the compression chamber to be relieved without injuryto the valves. 7

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved oiling arrangement capable of supplying lubricant to all parts of the compressor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cornpressor suitable for use with an automobile air conditioning system wherein the compressor is required to operate at widely varying speeds.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, where in a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an elevational view with parts broken away showing a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view showing the refrigerant inlet and outlet connections;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4- l of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 6--6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a sectional view with parts broken away taken substantially on line 7-7 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a guide shoe and is taken substantially on line 8-8 of Figure 3; and,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 9--9 of Figure 8.

For purposes of description the pump will be referred to as a refrigerant compressor whereas certain aspects of the invention are equally applicable to pumps used for other purposes. Referring now to the drawing wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, reference numerals 10, 12 and 14 designate the crankcase, cylinder block and cylinder head respectively of the compressor. Reference numeral 16 designates a two piece main drive shaft which has secured thereto a drive pulley 18 adjacent its one end. The pulley 18 is adapted to be driven through the belt 20 from the main crankshaft of car engine (not shown) or any other suitable source of power. The pulley 18 is keyed to the shaft 16 by means of a conventional key 22 and is held in place on the shaft by means of the usual cap screw and washer assembly 24. r A ball bearing assembly 26 supported within the one end of the crankcase 10 serves to rotatably support the one end of the drive shaft 16.

An end bell 28 is secured to the one end of the crankcase and serves to support a conventional shaft seal assembly 34 and an oil pump retaining plate 32. A gear type of oil pump is mounted between the plate 32 and the end wall of the crankcase and comprises a first pumping gear 34 keyed to the main compressor drive shaft 126 and a complementary pumping gear 36 journaled on a stud 38 carried by the end wall of the crankcase Ill as best shown in Figures 4 and 5.

The lower portion of the crankcase 10 serves as an oil sump for a body of oil 40 from whence the oil pump withdraws oil through the inlet passage 42 (see Figures 1 and 4). The oil leaves the gear pump through the outlet port 44 which communicates through an aligned opening in plate 32 (not shown) with the cavity 46 in which the shaft seal 30 is mounted so as to build up oil pressure within the shaft seal cavity.

The amount of pressure which is allowed to build up in the shaft seal cavity 46 is limited by a spring loaded safety valve 43 (see Figure 5) mounted between the retaining plate 32 and the end wall of the crankcase lit. The valve 48 is so calibrated that when the pressure within the chamber 46 exceeds a desired value, the valve will open so as to allow excess lubricant to return to the crankcase 10 through the passage 50.

A hearing sleeve 52 is keyed to the shaft 16 by means of a pin 54 which also keys the oil pump gear 34 to the shaft. The sleeve 52 is provided with an oil passage 56 (see Figures 1 and 3) which is in alignment with a radially extending oil passage 58 provided in the shaft 16. The radially extending passage 58 communicates with an axially extending oil feed passage 68 provided in the main drive shaft 16 whereby oil under pressure which discharges from the oil pump is delivered to the oil supply passages 60 in the drive shaft 16. The central portion of drive shaft 16 is provided with an offset crank portion so which serves to drive a wobble plate assembly 68 as best shown in Figure 3. The wobble plate assembly 63 is provided with a plurality of sockets 7t) which receive the spherical ends of the connecting rods 72.

For purposes of illustrating this invention, a compressor having five cylinders has been shown whereas the number of cylinders may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention. The wobble plate assembly 68 is provided with five of the sockets '70 for receiving the ends of five connecting rods like the connecting rod 72 which is visible in Figure 3. The free ends of each of the connecting rods 72 are provided with spherical portions as shown. Pistons Sti having socketlike formations 82 engage the one end of each connecting rod '72.. The pistons 8t? operate within compression chambers or cylinders provided in the cylinder block 12 whereby upon rotation of the shaft 16 the wobble plate so will cause reciprocation of the pistons 8% within the compression chambers 84.

The wobble plate 63 is prevented from rotating by means of a shoe assembly 99 which projects from one side of the wobble plate 68 and slides within a slot 92 provided in one wall of the crankcase it) as best shown in Figure 3. The shoe ssembly 99 is best shown in Figures 8 and 9 and consists of a pair of guide shoe elements 94 and 96 which are keyed loosely together by means of a key 98 so as to allow the guide shoe elements 94 and 96 to adjust themselves within the guide slot 92.

A valve plate 100 is provided adjacent the head end of the cylinder block 12 and is provided with a common central inlet port 111 which serves all of the cylinders 3 and a plurality of outlet ports 102 through which the compressed refrigerant discharges into the circular outlet chamber 104 provided in the cylinder head 14] The compressed refrigerant leaves the chamber 104 through the discharge line 105. Suitable outlet valves 106 have been provided adjacent each of the outlets 102 in accordance with conventional practice. For purposes of illustration reed type outlet valves have been shown Whereas any type of valve could be used insofar as certain aspects of the invention are concerned.

The refrigerant to be compressed enters through the suction line 108 which leads to a central inlet cavity 110 also provided in the cylinder head 14. An impeller 112 supported adjacent the one end of the main drive shaft 16 serves to separate some of the incoming oil from the refrigerant vapor by means of the centrifugal action of the rotating impeller 112 on the oil.

The flow of low pressure gas from the chamber 110 into the various compression chambers 84 is controlled by a rotating valve element 116 which is splined to the drive shaft 16 so as to rotate in unison with the drive shaft while being free to slide axially on the drive shaft for a purpose to be explained hereinafter. As best shown in Figure 7, the valve plate 116 is provided with a pair of ports 118 which allow the refrigerant to be compressed to enter the various compression chambers 84 during the respective suction strokes of the pistons 80. As best shown in Figures 3 and 7 a portion of the valve element 116 is cut away as at 120 whereby the ports 118 communicate with more than one of the compression chambers at the time. The relative position of the valve element 116 on the drive shaft 16 is such that the low pressure gas or refrigerant is only admitted to the cylinders during the suction stroke. The valve 116 normally prevents the escape of compressed gas from each of the compression chambers during the compression stroke. However, in the event that any liquid slugs should enter any of the cylinders so as to produce excessive pressures within one or more of the cylinders such excessive pressure would be suflicient to move the valve element 116 against the force of the retaining spring 122 so as to relieve such excessive pressure. It will be observed that such movement of the valve element 116 serves to connect all of the cylinders 84 together and thereby completely unload the compressor until such a time as the liquid slug condition has been relieved at which time the valve element 116 will again move into sliding engagement with the end wall of the cylinder block.

A bearing insert 130 serves to support the shaft 16 within the cylinder block 12. Radial oil feed passages 132 have been provided for feeding oil from the main oil passage 60 to the bearings 130. An oil feed passage 134 serves to feed oil to the wobble plate bearing assembly 136 and to the sockets 70 as well as the guide shoe assembly 90. As shown in Figure 1 of the drawing, oil separated out from the incoming low pressure gas by means of the impeller 112 is free to return to the main oil sump 40 through the oil return passage 138. Excess oil escaping from the bearing 130 may also return to the oil sump 40 through the oil return passage 140. Whereas only one oil passage 140 shows in Figure 1, additional passages 142 similar to the passage 140 are provided as shown in Figure 6 so as to allow for equalization of pressures within the crankcase and the chamber 144. It will also be noted that the right-hand end of the shaft 16 as viewed in Figure 3 is provided with passage means 146 connecting the chamber 144 with the inlet chamber 110. A felt washer 148 has been provided as shown in Figure 3 so as to prevent the oil which enters the chamber 144 from returning to the inlet side of the compressor. As shown in Figure 3, oil for the main bearing assembly 26 is supplied thereto directly from the shaft seal cavity 46 through the oil feed passage 150 formed in the plate 32 and the end wall of the crankcase 10.

While the form of embodiment of the. invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a refrigerant compressor or the like, means forming a crankcase adapted to contain lubricant, a main drive shaft projecting through one wall of said crankcase, bearing means for said shaft, a cylinder block having a plurality of compression chambers circumferentially arranged relative to said shaft, piston means operated by said shaft within said chambers, a cylinder head and valve plate assembly closing the ends of said compression chambers, said valve plate including a plurality of ports co'mmunicating with said chambers, valve means for said ports, said cylinder head cooperating with said valve plate to form a discharge chamber and a suction chamber each communicating with each of said compression chambers through said ports, means forming a passage connecting said crankcase to said suction chamber whereby the pressure in said crankcase is substantially equal to the suction pressure, and pump means operated by said shaft and having an inlet communicating with lubricant in said crankcase, said pump having an outlet for discharging lubricant under pressure to said bearing means.

2. In a multiple cylinder wobble plate compressor, a casing'forming an'oilsump, a cylinder block adjacent one end of said casing and provided with a plurality of cylinder bores having their ends exposed within said oil sump, a stationary valve plate secured to one end of said cylinder block and provided with a plurality of inlet and outlet port means communicating with said cylinder bores, individual valve means for said outlet ports, a main drive shaft having one end journalled in said cylinder block and having its other end journalled in one wall of said casing, a wobble plate supported on and operated by said shaft, a plurality of pistons operable within said bores, connecting rods connecting said pistons and said wobble plate, a cylinder head arranged in abutting relationship to said valve plate and havinga first chamber communicating with said inlet port means and a second chamber communicating with said outlet port means, and means forming a passage connecting said oil sump to said first chamber.

3. In a multiple cylinder wobble plate compressor, a casing forming an oil sump, a cylinder block adjacent one end of said casing and provided with a plurality of cylinder bores having their ends exposed within said oil sump, a stationary valve plate secured to one end of said cylinder block and provided with a plurality of inlet and outlet port means communicating with said cylinder bores, individual valve means for said outlet ports, a main drive shaft having one end journalled in said cylinder block and having its other end journalled in one wall of said casing, a wobble plate supported on and operated by said shaft, a plurality of pistons operable within said bores, connecting rods connecting said pistons and said wobble plate, a cylinder head arranged in abutting relationship to said valve plate and having a first chamber communicating with said inlet port means and a second chamber communicating with said outlet port means, and means forming a passage connecting said oil sump to said first chamber, said cylinder head comprising an one-piece casting having inlet and outlet apertures for the fluid to be compressed.

4. In a multiple cylinder wobble plate compressor, a casing forming an oil sump, a cylinder block adjacent one end of said casing and provided with a plurality of cylinder bores, a stationary valve plate secured to one end of said cylinder block and provided with a plurality of inlet and outlet ports, individual valve means for said outlet ports, a main drive shaft having one end journalled in said cylinder block and having its other end journalled in one wall of said casing, a wobble plate supported on and operated by said shaft, a plurality of pistons operable within said bores, connecting rods connecting said .pistons and said wobble plate, a cylinder head arranged in abutting relationship to said valve plate and having a first chamber communicating with said inlet ports and a second chamber communicating With said outlet ports, and means forming a passage connecting said oil sump 5 to said first chamber, said cylinder head comprising a one-piece casting having inlet and outlet apertures formed therein for the fluid to be compressed, said second chamher being arranged so as to substantially surround said first chamber. 10

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,416,731 Martin May 23, 1922 15 6 Pick Oct. 8, Erling July 14, Woods Jan. 5, Dick July 6, Beeh July 31, Cowles Oct. 21, Stoyke Jan. 31, Cardillo Nov. 6, Floraday July 2,

FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland July 15,

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