Concentric Rotary Fluid Machine Gate Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Concentric rotary fluid machines face challenges in operational efficiency, ease of manufacture, and susceptibility to failure due to the design and configuration of gates and lobes, which affect sealing efficiency and pressure leakage.
Innovation Solution
The concentric rotary fluid machine features a gate and body configuration where the gate seals at an end distant from its swing axis, with a leading ramp of the lobe contacting the sealing portion before the swing axis, allowing for a substantial seal against both the supporting and non-supporting bodies, and a gate pocket configuration that enables the lobe to form a seal between the swing axis and the sealing portion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the gate seals at an end distant from its swing axis against both bodies, then sealing efficiency is improved and pressure leakage is reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases due to high tolerance specifications
Solution Approach 1:
The gate is divided into multiple segments or surfaces, with different portions having different curvature radii. This segmentation allows each surface to be manufactured independently with standard tolerances, while collectively achieving the complex sealing geometry required to seal against both bodies at a location distant from the swing axis.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the gate have different local geometric properties, specifically different curvature radii tailored to match the corresponding surfaces of the supporting and non-supporting bodies. This local customization of geometry enables effective sealing at the distant end while maintaining manufacturability of each individual surface.
2Productivity
If the lobe contacts the gate at an end distant from the swing axis to retract the gate, then operational efficiency is improved, but the design complexity of the gate and body configuration increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of the lobe contacting the gate near the swing axis as in conventional designs, the lobe is positioned to contact the gate at an end distant from the swing axis. This inverted contact point provides more effective leverage for retracting the gate into the gate pocket, improving operational efficiency while the modular design manages the increased configuration complexity.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If substantially matching curved surfaces are formed on the lobe and gate, then pressure leakage is minimized, but manufacturing tolerance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The curved sealing surfaces are segmented into multiple zones with different curvature radii. Each zone can be manufactured with standard tolerances independently, and the segmented surfaces collectively provide the substantially matching curved geometry needed to prevent pressure leakage between the gate and lobe.
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
This design enhances operational efficiency, ease of manufacture, and reduces pressure leakage by allowing the lobe to form a substantial seal against both bodies, improving the overall performance and reliability of the machine.
Implementation Method 1
the gate and the bodies being relatively configured such that when the gate is in an extended position the gate forms a seal against both the supporting body and the non-supporting body
Implementation Method 2
The pressure of fluid entering through the inlets acts equally on all components within the working chamber and consequently has the effect of causing the rotor to rotate
Implementation Method 3
a leading ramp of the lobe contacts the gate at an end distant the swing axis in order to retract the gate into a corresponding gate pocket
Data Source
AI summary
A concentric rotary fluid machine includes a first body and a second body that are rotatable relative to each other and coaxially arranged one inside the other. A plurality of gates are supported by the second body in gate pockets. Each gate pocket includes: a gate retention recess that receives a gate cylinder of a gate; a gate seal recess that receives a sealing portion of a gate; and an intervening land. The sealing portion is configured to reciprocate up and down within a corresponding gate seal recess while maintaining contact with the recess and the second body. A plurality of lobes on the first body cause the gates to swing about respective swing axes as the first body rotates relative to the second body. The lobes and the lands are configured so that a lobe forms a substantial seal against a land when in mutual radial alignment.