Rotary compressor with permanent magnet motor

Abstract

A rotary compressor comprising a rotor having a plurality of permanent magnets mounted thereon and a stator, where the rotor is aligned with respect to the stator via a magnetic attraction between the permanent magnets and the stator. The compressor includes a housing and is configured such that the rotor does not entirely bear against a top or bottom portion of the compressor housing. The permanent magnets of the rotor are sized and configured such that the magnetic attraction between the magnets and the stator, regardless of whether the stator is energized, positions, or suspends, the rotor substantially intermediate the top and bottom portions of the housing. As a result, less or, possibly, even no friction is experienced between the rotor and the compressor housing which reduces the potential for the rotor to seize or stall and allows the compressor to be operated with little or no oil.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 675,623, entitled ROTARY COMPRESSOR WITH PERMANENT MAGNET MOTOR, filed on Apr. 28, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention[0003] The present invention relates to rotary compressors. More specifically, the present invention relates to rotary compressors including a rotor and a stator where the rotor includes permanent magnets which align the rotor with respect to the stator. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Electronic components, such as microprocessors and other integrated circuits, for example, typically generate a lot of heat during operation. Dissipating this heat has become increasingly important to improve the working life and efficiency of these components. In the past, air based cooling systems wer...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The present invention includes a rotary compressor comprising a rotor having permanent magnets and a stator where the rotor is aligned with respect to the stator via a magnetic attraction between the permanent magnets and the stator. In one embodiment, the compressor includes a housing which is configured such that the rotor does not entirely bear against a top or bottom portion of the compressor housing. In this embodiment, the permanent magnets of the rotor are sized and configured such that the magnetic attraction between the rotor magnets and the stator, regardless of whether the stator is energized, positions, or suspends, the rotor substantially intermediate the top and bottom portions of the housing. As a result, less or, possibly, even no friction is experienced between the rotor and the compressor housing thereby reducing the potential for the rotor to seize or stall, especially during the start-up of the compressor. Aligning the rotor in this way, in one embodiment, allows the compressor to be operated with little or no oil in the compressor housing. Also, in one embodiment, the interaction of the permanent magnets and the stator can align the axis of the rotor with the axis of the stator such that the rotor rotates substantially concentrically within the stator. In a further embodiment, the compressor is configured such that the compression chamber of the compressor is located in the interior of the rotor and the permanent magnets are secured within recesses located around the outside perimeter of the rotor.

Problems solved by technology

Electronic components, such as microprocessors and other integrated circuits, for example, typically generate a lot of heat during operation.

Previous refrigerant-based cooling systems were typically very large and heavy and often required more power to operate than the entire electronic system that they were cooling.

As a result, a complex system of tubing or plumbing was necessary to bring the cooling refrigerant into thermal exchange with the electronic components.

Consequently, these refrigerant-based cooling systems were not modular and self-contained and often required special expertise and tools for their operation and maintenance.

In addition, previous refrigerant-based cooling systems were not directly attached to the components that needed to be cooled and a dedicated cooling unit was typically not provided for each heat source.

Further, previous refrigerant-based cooling systems typically employed compressors that were orientation dependent and could not be operated when positioned at angles of more than 30 or 40 degrees with respect to the horizon, for example.

As a result, these previous refrigerant-based cooling systems were particularly unsuited for the electronics industry that often required orientation-independent operation.

Moreover, previous refrigerant-based cooling systems used large amounts of oil to lubricate the moving components of the system.

However, the oil added weight to the refrigeration system and it sometimes leaked therefrom.

However, most compressors, especially miniature compressors for cooling electronic equipment, for example, did not have room for these oil circulation systems.

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