Scroll Compressor Flow Restrictor Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional scroll compressors face challenges in reducing manufacturing costs and power loss due to the difficulty in forming a flow restrictor with a small enough cross-sectional area, which requires higher accuracy and complicates the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a flow restrictor formed by a gap between an oil supply hole in the fixed scroll and an insertion member, where the gap is designed as a spiral groove on either the inner or outer peripheral surface, allowing for adjustable length and cross-sectional area, reducing the need for precise manufacturing and using a standard metal set screw for easier assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the cross-sectional area of the flow restrictor is reduced to decrease power loss, then power loss is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow restrictor is segmented into multiple components: the oil supply hole and the insertion member with spiral groove. This segmentation allows the flow restrictor to be formed by assembling standard components rather than requiring high-precision machining of a single integrated part, thus reducing manufacturing precision requirements while maintaining small cross-sectional area for low power loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow restrictor cross-sectional area is controlled not only by radial dimensions but also by the axial length of the spiral groove. This dimensional approach allows achieving small flow area through longer axial path rather than requiring small radial dimensions, reducing manufacturing precision requirements.
2Loss of energy
If the cross-sectional area of the flow restrictor is reduced to decrease power loss, then power loss is reduced, but productivity decreases due to higher accuracy requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The flow restrictor is divided into the oil supply hole and the insertion member that can be assembled together. This segmentation enables the use of standard set screws and simplified machining processes, significantly improving productivity while maintaining the small cross-sectional area needed to reduce power loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The insertion member uses a standard set screw that is inexpensive and easily replaceable. This approach prioritizes ease of manufacture and assembly over using expensive, highly precision custom components, thereby improving productivity without compromising the flow restrictor's effectiveness in reducing power loss.
3Ease of manufacture
If a flow restrictor with small cross-sectional area is formed in the elastic plate by press, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flow restrictor is segmented into the oil supply hole in the fixed scroll and the insertion member with spiral groove. This segmentation allows the elastic plate to be pressed with standard precision while the flow restrictor geometry is defined by the assembled components, reducing the precision requirements for the pressing process while maintaining low manufacturing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The insertion member acts as an intermediary that provides the precise flow restrictor geometry (spiral groove) without requiring high-precision pressing of the elastic plate itself. This intermediary component enables cost-effective manufacturing while achieving the required flow restrictor precision.
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 reduces manufacturing costs and power loss by simplifying the production of the flow restrictor and ensuring it has a sufficiently small cross-sectional area, enhancing the efficiency of the scroll compressor.
Implementation Method 1
The gap is in the form of a spiral groove provided in at least one of an inner peripheral surface of the oil supply hole and an outer peripheral surface of the insertion member
Implementation Method 2
The elastic plate is held between the peripheral wall of the fixed scroll and the fixed block. The movable scroll is urged toward the fixed scroll by elasticity of the elastic plate
Implementation Method 3
an oil separation chamber for separating lubricating oil from refrigerant gas discharged from the compression chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A scroll compressor includes a housing having therein a discharge pressure region, a compression pressure region and a suction pressure region; a fixed scroll to form a discharge chamber as the discharge pressure region; and a movable scroll cooperating with the fixed scroll to form a compression chamber as the compression pressure region. The discharge pressure region includes an oil separation chamber connected to at least one of the compression pressure region and the suction pressure region through an oil supply passage having a flow restrictor. The flow restrictor is provided by a gap between an oil supply hole formed in the fixed scroll and an insertion member inserted in the oil supply hole. The gap is in the form of a spiral groove provided in at least one of an inner peripheral surface of the oil supply hole and an outer peripheral surface of the insertion member.