Electric compressor

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an electric compressor capable of ensuring safety and capable of reducing cost. [Solution] When an electric compressor 10 is assembled, an inverter 40 is accommodated in a front case 11, and subsequently, a gasket 14 is attached to an attachment surface of the front case 11. At this time, positioning pins 521, 522 of a filter case 52 are inserted into positioning holes 141a, 142a of positioning pin receiving parts 141, 142 of the gasket 14. After the gasket 14 is attached to the front case 11, a cover 13 is attached to the front case 11. At this time, the positioning pins 521, 522 of the filter case 52 are inserted into positioning holes 131, 132 of the cover 13.

Description

Electric compressor

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric compressor.

[0002] Techniques related to the attachment of inverter components during the assembly of an electric compressor have been disclosed (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] Japanese Patent No. 7040406, Japanese Patent No. 6265072

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an electric compressor that can ensure safety and reduce costs.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, an electric compressor includes a compression mechanism that compresses a working fluid by the movement of a movable member relative to a fixed member, an inverter including inverter components, a case that houses the compression mechanism and the inverter, and a cover attached to the case via a sealing material. The inverter component has a resin positioning pin, and the sealing material and the cover are positioned and assembled by the positioning pin.

[0006] According to the present invention, an electric compressor that can ensure safety and reduce costs can be provided.

[0007] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an electric compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electric compressor. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electric compressor with the lid member removed. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of the positioning of the cover and the gasket. FIG. 5 is a front view of the gasket.

[0008] Hereinafter, an electric compressor 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

[0009] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the electric compressor 10 is used in a refrigerant circuit or the like of an air conditioner for a vehicle. The electric compressor 10 is a compressor that sucks and compresses a working fluid such as a refrigerant that circulates in the refrigerant circuit of the air conditioner and discharges it to a discharge pipe. That is, the electric compressor 10 is a horizontally mounted inverter integrated scroll type electric compressor.

[0010] The electric compressor 10 comprises a compression mechanism 20, a motor 30, and an inverter 40. The electric compressor 10 comprises a front case 11, a rear case 12 attached to one end of the front case 11, and a cover 13 attached to the other end of the front case 11. The cover 13 is attached to the front case 11 by a number of screws 15 via a gasket 14 which serves as a sealing material. Note that the sealing material is not limited to a gasket, and packing may be used as a sealing material.

[0011] The front case 11 houses the compression mechanism 20, the motor 30, and the inverter 40. A partition wall 111 is formed inside the front case 11. The inverter 40 is housed in the inverter housing section S, which is surrounded by the partition wall 111 and the cover 13 of the front case 11.

[0012] The compression mechanism 20 compresses the working fluid by the movement of the movable member 22 relative to the fixed member 21. For example, the working fluid is compressed by the orbital motion of a movable scroll member, which is the movable member 22, relative to a fixed scroll member, which is the fixed member 21.

[0013] The motor 30 drives the compression mechanism 20. The inverter 40 converts the DC current from the vehicle's battery into a three-phase AC current and supplies it to the motor 30.

[0014] As shown in Figure 4, the inverter 40 includes inverter components 50. The inverter components 50 include an inverter board 51, a filter case 52, and a connector 53.

[0015] The filter case 52 is made of resin. The filter case 52 covers components such as capacitors mounted on the inverter board 51. The filter case 52 is attached to one side of the inverter board 51. That is, of the two sides of the inverter board 51, the filter case 52 is attached to the side facing the rear case 12 when the inverter 40 is housed in the front case 11.

[0016] The filter case 52 has resin positioning pins 521 and 522 integrally formed with it. In other words, the inverter component 50 is equipped with resin positioning pins 521 and 522. The positioning pins 521 and 522 are inserted into holes 511 and 512 formed in the inverter substrate 51. The positioning pins 521 and 522 protrude from the side of the inverter substrate 51 opposite to the mounting surface of the filter case 52. That is, the positioning pins 521 and 522 protrude from the side facing the cover 13 when the inverter 40 is housed in the front case 11.

[0017] Connector 53 supplies power from the vehicle's battery to the inverter 40. Connector 53 includes lead terminals 531 and positioning pins 532. The positioning pins 532 are made of resin, similar to the body of connector 53. The positioning pins 532 position the relative positions of the inverter board 51 and connector 53.

[0018] The inner surface of the cover 13 has bottomed positioning holes 131 and 132 into which the positioning pins 521 and 522 of the filter case 52 can be inserted. Note that screw holes and other features formed in the cover 13 are omitted in Figure 4.

[0019] As shown in Figure 5, the gasket 14 includes a positioning pin receiving portion 141 into which the positioning pin 521 of the filter case 52 is inserted, and a positioning pin receiving portion 142 into which the positioning pin 522 of the filter case 52 is inserted.

[0020] The positioning pin receiving portions 141 and 142 protrude inward from the gasket 14. When the gasket 14 is attached to the front case 11, the positioning pin receiving portions 141 and 142 are positioned such that the positioning pin receiving portion 141 is located above the positioning pin 521 and the positioning pin receiving portion 142 is located above the positioning pin 522.

[0021] The positioning pin receiving portion 141 has a positioning hole 141a into which the positioning pin 521 can be inserted. The positioning pin receiving portion 142 has a positioning hole 142a into which the positioning pin 522 can be inserted.

[0022] Furthermore, the gasket 14 has multiple screw insertion holes 143 into which screws 15 for fixing the cover 13 and the gasket 14 to the front case 11 are inserted.

[0023] As shown in Figure 4, the electric compressor 10 configured as described above has its cover 13 and gasket 14 positioned during the assembly process. Specifically, after housing the inverter 40 in the front case 11, the gasket 14 is attached to the mounting surface of the front case 11.

[0024] At this time, the positioning pin 521 of the filter case 52 is inserted into the positioning hole 141a of the positioning pin receiving portion 141 of the gasket 14. Also, the positioning pin 522 of the filter case 52 is inserted into the positioning hole 142a of the positioning pin receiving portion 142 of the gasket 14. This positions the gasket 14 relative to the front case 11.

[0025] After attaching the gasket 14 to the front case 11, the cover 13 is attached. At this time, the positioning pin 521 of the filter case 52 is inserted into the positioning hole 131 of the cover 13, and the positioning pin 522 of the filter case 52 is inserted into the positioning hole 132 of the cover 13. This positions the cover 13 relative to the inverter component 50.

[0026] In this way, the positioning pins 521 and 522 of the filter case 52 allow the gasket 14 and cover 13 to be positioned and the electric compressor 10 to be assembled.

[0027] Furthermore, because the inverter board 51 and the cover 13 included in the inverter component 50 have a structure that allows for direct positioning, the inverter board 51 and the cover 13 can be positioned without being affected by the assembly tolerances or component tolerances of the front case 11.

[0028] Therefore, by shifting the position of the cover 13 in the in-plane direction of the inverter board 51, it is possible to prevent a shift in the distance between the components mounted on the inverter board 51 and the cover 13.

[0029] Therefore, variations in the insulation distance set between the inverter board 51 and the cover 13 can be reduced. This prevents accidents caused by short-circuit failures of the electric compressor 10 and ensures safety.

[0030] Furthermore, since positioning pins 521 and 522 are formed in a part of the resin filter case 52, there is no need to create positioning pins for positioning the cover 13 and gasket 14 as separate parts and to provide space for their installation, thus reducing the manufacturing cost of the electric compressor 10.

[0031] Furthermore, if positioning pins for positioning the cover 13 and gasket 14 are provided on the front case 11, it is necessary to provide space for the positioning pins. Therefore, the inner surface of the front case 11 needs to protrude into the installation space for the inverter board 51, which compresses the installation space for the inverter board 51. However, by forming positioning pins 521 and 522 on a part of the filter case 52, it becomes unnecessary to provide space for the positioning pins on the front case 11. This allows for securing installation space for the inverter board 51, thus enabling a more compact front case 11.

[0032] In this embodiment, the cover 13 and gasket 14 were described using positioning pins 521 and 522 of the filter case 52, but the cover 13 and gasket 14 may also be positioned using positioning pins 532 of the connector 53.

[0033] In this case, a positioning pin receiving portion into which the positioning pin 532 of the connector 53 is inserted is formed in the gasket 14, similar to the positioning pin receiving portions 141 and 142. Also, a positioning hole into which the positioning pin 532 of the connector 53 is inserted is formed in the cover 13. Then, the gasket 14 is positioned by inserting the positioning pin 532 of the connector 53 into the positioning pin receiving portion of the gasket 14, and the cover 13 is positioned by inserting the positioning pin 532 of the connector 53 into the positioning hole in the cover 13.

[0034] The gasket 14 and cover 13 may be positioned using at least one of the positioning pins 521 and 522 of the filter case 52 and the positioning pin 532 of the connector 53, or multiple positioning pins 532 may be provided for one connector 53 to position the gasket 14 and cover 13, or multiple connectors 53 may be provided to position the gasket 14 and cover 13 at multiple locations using positioning pins 532.

[0035] Furthermore, although this embodiment describes an example in which positioning pins 521 and 522 are provided in two locations to position the cover 13 and the gasket 14, the number and position of the positioning pins may differ from those in this embodiment.

[0036] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0037] 10: Electric compressor 11: Front case 12: Rear case 13: Cover 40: Inverter 50: Inverter components 52: Filter case 53: Connector 521, 522: Positioning pins

Claims

1. An electric compressor comprising a compression mechanism that compresses a working fluid by the movement of a movable member relative to a fixed member, an inverter including an inverter component, a case housing the compression mechanism and the inverter, and a cover attached to the case via a sealing material, wherein the inverter component has a resin positioning pin, and the sealing material and the cover are assembled by positioning them using the positioning pin.

2. The electric compressor according to claim 1, wherein the inverter component comprises an inverter board and a filter case covering the component mounted on the inverter board, and the positioning pin is formed in the filter case.

3. The electric compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that the inverter component has a connector and the positioning pin is formed on the connector.

4. The electric compressor according to claim 1, wherein a gasket is used as the sealing material, and the gasket has a positioning pin receiving portion into which the positioning pin of the inverter component housed in the case is inserted.

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