Compressor Motor Feedthrough Sealing With Conductive Sleeves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional glass-to-metal feedthroughs for electrically driven compressors are energy-intensive, costly, and difficult to produce, with poor electrical conductivity and high electrical losses, especially at high input voltages, and require complex assembly and insulation to prevent fluid leakage and electrical shorts.
Innovation Solution
A sealing arrangement with a connection arrangement that includes a holding element and a sealing sleeve, using conductive materials like copper or aluminum for connecting elements, and elastomer for the sealing sleeve, which is integrated into the stator of the electric motor, providing a compact, hermetic, and efficient electrical feedthrough.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If glass-to-metal feedthroughs are used for electrical connections, then hermetic sealing is achieved, but production costs increase and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the glass-to-metal feedthrough component and replaces it with a simpler sealing arrangement using elastomer seals and insulating materials. The connecting elements are passed directly through the casing with simplified sealing, eliminating the complex glass-to-metal bonding process while maintaining hermetic sealing through alternative means.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs cheaper sealing materials such as elastomer seals and insulating coatings instead of expensive glass-to-metal feedthroughs. These alternative sealing solutions are more cost-effective and easier to manufacture, achieving the required hermetic sealing without the high production costs associated with glass-to-metal bonding processes.
2Reliability
If glass-to-metal feedthroughs are used for electrical connections, then hermetic sealing is achieved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the glass-to-metal feedthrough component from the assembly, eliminating the need for precise glass bonding to metal surfaces. The simplified sealing arrangement uses elastomer seals and insulating materials that are more tolerant to manufacturing variations and easier to assemble with standard tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters from rigid glass-to-metal bonds to flexible elastomer seals and insulating coatings. This parameter change allows for greater tolerance in positioning and assembly, reducing the manufacturing precision requirements while maintaining effective hermetic sealing.
3Reliability
If steel plug-in connectors are used, then hermetic sealing is achieved, but electrical conductivity decreases and electrical losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material structures for connecting elements, combining highly conductive materials such as copper or aluminum with insulating coatings or elastomer seals. This composite approach maintains excellent electrical conductivity for low energy losses while providing the necessary hermetic sealing through the insulating or sealing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary materials such as insulating coatings or elastomer seals that wrap around highly conductive connecting elements. These intermediaries provide hermetic sealing without significantly impeding electrical conductivity, allowing the use of superior conductive materials like copper or aluminum while maintaining sealing integrity.
4Reliability
If complex insulation and sealing arrangements are used, then electrical insulation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into integrated components. The sealing arrangement combines electrical insulation, hermetic sealing, and mechanical support into unified structures such as elastomer seals with integrated insulating properties or insulating coatings that simultaneously provide both insulation and sealing functions, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs universal components that perform multiple functions. For example, elastomer seals provide both hermetic sealing and electrical insulation simultaneously, and insulating coatings offer both electrical isolation and protective sealing. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying the overall device structure and assembly process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution minimizes production costs, reduces complexity, and ensures reliable hermetic sealing and high electrical conductivity, reducing electrical losses and assembly time while maintaining operational safety and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a sealing sleeve (21) of a sealing element (20-1, 20-2, 20-3), each sealing sleeve (21) full-circumferentially enclosing an electrically conductive connecting element (13) in an area of a feedthrough hole (2a) of the casing (2) and a through hole (14a) of the holding element (14), fluid-tight as well as electrically insulating on the connecting element (13) as well as on the casing (2) and on the holding element (14)
Data Source
AI summary
A sealing arrangement for passing electrical connections through a wall of a casing of a device for driving a compressor, formed as an electric motor with a stator and a rotor. The sealing arrangement has a connection arrangement with a holding element and at least one electrically conductive connecting element, which protrudes through a feedthrough hole of the casing from a volume enclosed by the casing. The connection arrangement has a sealing element in each case with a sealing sleeve for a connecting element, which, in an area of the feedthrough hole of the casing and a through hole of the holding element, full-circumferentially enclosing the connecting element, abuts in each case on the connecting element and on the casing and on the holding element in a fluid-tight and electrically insulating manner between the connecting element and the casing, and between the connecting element and the holding element.