Scroll Compressor High-Pressure Port and Modular Drive Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-side scroll-type displacement machines face challenges in routing high-pressure fluid efficiently, leading to increased size, weight, and manufacturing complexity, as well as limited flexibility in adapting to different motor types and power transfer devices due to the need for dedicated spaces and custom designs.
Innovation Solution
The high-pressure port is located at the center of the orbiting scroll, eliminating the need for fluid communication between the fixed scroll and the compressor housing, and integrating the eccentric drive bearing, counterweights, and Oldham coupling into a single module to simplify the design and allow for easier adaptation of various motor sizes and types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the high-pressure port is located at the center of the fixed scroll with separate fluid communication paths, then fluid isolation is achieved, but the device size, weight, and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the high-pressure port location with the orbiting scroll center rather than the fixed scroll center, merging the fluid communication path directly through the orbiting scroll. This eliminates the need for separate fluid communication paths and complex isolation mechanisms between the fixed scroll and compressor housing, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining reliable fluid isolation through the integrated design
Solution Approach 2:
The orbiting scroll is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as both the moving compression element and the high-pressure fluid communication conduit. By locating the high-pressure port at the center of the orbiting scroll, the same component handles both mechanical compression and fluid routing, eliminating the need for separate dedicated fluid paths and reducing overall device complexity
2Adaptability or versatility
If dedicated spaces and custom designs are provided for different motor types, then motor adaptation is enabled, but the device size and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The compressor housing is designed with a universal mounting structure that can accommodate various motor types and sizes without requiring dedicated spaces or custom housing designs. The standardized mounting interface allows different motors to be adapted to the same housing, reducing the overall size and weight of the housing while maintaining versatility
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting structure incorporates adjustable and flexible mounting features that can adapt to different motor configurations. This dynamic design allows the housing to accommodate various motor types without requiring rigid dedicated spaces, thereby reducing housing weight while maintaining adaptability
3Ease of manufacture
If the eccentric drive bearing, counterweights, and Oldham coupling are integrated into a single module, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the precision of individual components may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The eccentric drive bearing, counterweights, and Oldham coupling are integrated into a single modular assembly that is manufactured as one unit. This merging of components simplifies the manufacturing process by reducing the number of separate parts and assembly steps, while precision is maintained through careful design of the integrated module to ensure proper clearances and tolerances are built into the single-piece construction
Solution Approach 2:
The integration into a single module allows for optimization of the overall assembly parameters rather than individual component parameters. The design adjusts the geometric parameters of the integrated module to achieve the necessary precision for eccentric drive operation, counterweight balancing, and Oldham coupling function, maintaining manufacturing precision through parameter optimization of the unified structure
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 configuration results in a more compact, simpler, and easier-to-manufacture high-side scroll machine that can accommodate a range of motor sizes with minimal design changes, reducing size and weight while maintaining efficient fluid management and dynamic balance.
Implementation Method 1
an Oldham coupling (or ring) to prevent rotation of the orbiting scroll relative to the fixed scroll
Implementation Method 2
The high pressure flow serves to cool the bearings and any other heat-generating components such as motors or sliding mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
A scroll-type displacement machine, e.g. scroll compressor, has fixed and orbiting scrolls and an Oldham ring to prevent relative rotation between scrolls. A drive module positioned between the orbiting scroll and drive shaft incorporates an eccentric drive system and first and second counterweights for dynamic balancing. The motor, motor bearings, and motor shaft (i.e., drive shaft) are packaged as a separate, modular unit (e.g. “off-the-shelf” motor) that attaches to the compressor frame. The machine is configured as a high-side machine with a low-pressure port at a radial outer portion of the fixed scroll and a high-pressure port or discharge port located in the floor of the orbiting scroll at its axis, with high pressure flow passing over and around the eccentric drive bearing and drive mechanism. The Oldham ring is distributed on a lateral or radial plane of the scroll pair with a portion surrounding a portion of the fixed scroll and another portion surrounding a portion of the orbiting scroll. The ring may be formed as four arcuate members arranged on two levels, to occupy otherwise unused space in the scroll-type machine.