Monolithic Lubricant Guide Member for Compressor Splash Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lubricant guide members in splash lubricating oil systems for compressors are prone to failure due to unforeseen modal stresses and high cycle fatigue, leading to expensive warranty claims and inefficiencies in lubricant distribution.
Innovation Solution
A lubricant guide member with a monolithic, unitary construction from sheet metal, featuring a central portion and side members with angled lubricant flow surfaces and stress relief features, which captures and directs lubricant effectively while reducing peak stresses and deflections, and is designed to be more robust and reliable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional guide members are used in splash lubricating oil systems, then the system can operate, but the guide members fail due to modal stresses and high cycle fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the guide member by introducing curved surfaces with specific radii of curvature (R1, R2, R3) and optimized thickness variations. These parameter changes redistribute stress concentrations and eliminate modal resonance conditions that caused failure in conventional straight-edged guide members.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates stress relief features including rounded corners, curved transition zones, and variable thickness sections that anticipate and cushion against peak modal stresses before they cause failure. The design preemptively addresses high cycle fatigue by eliminating stress concentration points through geometric softening.
2Ease of manufacture
If the guide member design is simplified for manufacture, then manufacturing cost decreases, but the ability to capture and direct lubricant may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member is designed as a single monolithic piece formed from one blank of sheet material, segmented only by the functional curvature features. This approach simplifies manufacture by eliminating multiple parts and assemblies while the curved surfaces provide the necessary lubricant capture and direction functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses standard sheet metal forming processes to create the curved surfaces with optimized radii. The parameter changes in geometry are achieved through conventional forming techniques, maintaining ease of manufacture while improving lubricant capture effectiveness through the curved flow paths.
3Reliability
If the guide member has complex geometry to improve lubricant capture, then lubricant distribution improves, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The complex lubricant capture geometry is achieved through a single integrated forming operation on one sheet metal blank, rather than assembling multiple complex components. The segmentation of the blank into functional zones (capture area, flow paths, discharge points) is achieved through forming, not assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curved surfaces with optimized radii of curvature to create efficient lubricant flow paths. The curved geometry naturally guides lubricant from the sump through the bearing assembly, providing effective distribution without requiring complex multi-component structures.
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 improved lubricant guide member enhances lubricant capture and distribution, reduces peak stresses by 60%, decreases deflections by 35%, and increases the first-order resonance frequency, thereby extending the component's life and reducing the likelihood of modal failures.
Implementation Method 1
Rotation of the slinger generates centrifugal action that effectively transfers, or slings, the lubricant from the rolled peripheral edge
Implementation Method 2
When installed in the lubricating system, the body member is disposed transverse to a longitudinal axis of a shaft that is configured to rotate a slinger member
Data Source
AI summary
A lubricant assembly that is configured as part of a lubricating system that flings, or slings, fluid lubricants about the interior of compressors. In one embodiment, the lubricant assembly includes a lubricant guide member with a body member that has a pair of peripheral side members with angled surfaces. The construction is amenable to more consistent fabrication constraints (e.g., tolerances), as well as to offer features that can improve operation of the lubricating system, e.g., as operative in the compressors. In use, the lubricant guide member is disposed transverse to a longitudinal axis of a shaft that is configured to rotate a slinger member to fling the lubricant. This configuration captures lubricant that falls downwardly from other parts of the compressors. The angled surfaces of the side members direct this captured lubricant toward the shaft, and other rotating components, of the lubricating system.