Rotating Cam Compressor Sliding End Vane Seal Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotary compressors and pumps face challenges in maintaining seals and performing maintenance due to complex and expensive designs, particularly with worn or broken components.
Innovation Solution
A fluid compression apparatus featuring a housing with a rotating cam and sliding end vanes that divide a sloped annular channel into inlet and outlet chambers, allowing for efficient fluid transfer and easy maintenance through modular design and sealing mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a rotary compressor design with slanted compression plate and vanes is used, then continuous energy transfer efficiency is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The compression chamber is divided into multiple compression spaces by partition walls with compression plates, allowing independent compression cycles in each space. This segmentation enables continuous operation while simplifying the overall structure compared to a single complex rotating mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple compression spaces are created as copies of each other, each with identical suction and compression processes. This allows the system to achieve continuous energy transfer through parallel operation of multiple simplified compression units rather than a single complex unit.
2Reliability
If seals are placed around suction space and compression space on each side of compression plate, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but maintenance difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
Flexible sealing rings are used at the interfaces between compression spaces and the cylinder wall. These flexible seals maintain effective sealing while being easily replaceable components that can be accessed and maintained without disassembling the entire compressor structure.
3Productivity
If vanes and slanted compression plate are integrated into the rotating assembly, then compression efficiency is improved, but ease of maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The compression plate is extracted as a separate, removable component from the rotating assembly. This allows the compression plate and vanes to be easily removed and replaced for maintenance without affecting the overall rotating mechanism, while still maintaining compression efficiency during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The compression plate is designed to be dynamically adjustable or replaceable during operation. This dynamic design allows maintenance personnel to access and replace worn components without shutting down the entire system or performing complex disassembly procedures.
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 apparatus provides efficient fluid compression and pumping with simplified maintenance, reducing costs and complexity by allowing for easy replacement of components and maintaining effective seals.
Implementation Method 1
a first end vane slidably mounted within a slot in the first end wall so as to extend into the first sloped annular channel for sliding therein as the rotating cam rotates
Implementation Method 2
the first end vane being biased towards the ramp so as to divide the sloped annular channel into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
An apparatus for compressing or pumping fluid includes a housing having an interior chamber. The housing includes an end wall having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. A rotating cam is rotatably mounted within the interior chamber and includes a cam body having an end with a sloped annular channel formed therein. The apparatus also includes an end vane slidably mounted within a slot in the end wall so as to extend into the sloped annular channel for sliding therein as the rotating cam rotates. The end vane divides the sloped annular channel into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber such that, as the rotating cam rotates, the inlet chamber expands and communicates with the fluid inlet for receiving the fluid, and the outlet chamber contracts and communicates with the fluid outlet for expelling the fluid.