Scroll Compressor Ring-Shaped Counterweight Assembly for Reduced Drag
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing scroll compressors face inefficiencies due to drag and windage caused by counterweights interacting with fluid, which negatively impact operational efficiency and are cumbersome to assemble.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of ring-shaped counterweight assemblies with snap-fit connections, featuring a cover and counterweight that form a ring shape, reducing drag and windage by eliminating the need for screws or mechanical fasteners, facilitating quick assembly, and using lower density materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional counterweights are used in scroll compressors, then bearing loads are reduced and inertial forces are balanced, but drag and windage from working fluid negatively impact operational efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The counterweight assembly is divided into separate components: a counterweight portion and a cover portion that can be assembled together. This segmentation allows the counterweight to be designed for optimal mass distribution while the cover is optimized to minimize fluid interaction and drag, resolving the contradiction between bearing load reduction and operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the counterweight assembly have different properties optimized for their specific functions. The counterweight portion has high density material for effective mass balancing, while the cover portion has a smooth surface and streamlined shape specifically designed to reduce drag and windage from working fluid interaction.
2Strength
If traditional counterweight assemblies with screws or mechanical fasteners are used, then secure attachment is achieved, but assembly is cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
Traditional mechanical fastening systems (screws, bolts, rivets) are replaced with a snap-fit connection system. The cover includes flexible fingers that engage with circumferential grooves on the driveshaft, providing secure attachment through elastic deformation rather than mechanical threading, thereby eliminating assembly complexity while maintaining attachment strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible fingers of the cover automatically engage with the circumferential grooves through their own elastic properties during assembly. The snap-fit connection is self-aligning and self-securing, requiring no additional fastening operations or tools, which dramatically improves assembly productivity while ensuring secure attachment.
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 solution effectively minimizes drag and windage, enhances assembly efficiency, and maintains balanced mass characteristics while reducing material loss and alignment errors, thereby improving operational efficiency and manufacturability.
Implementation Method 1
The cover includes a coupling collar including a circular base and flexible fingers. The flexible fingers are engageable with a circumferential groove defined on the driveshaft to form the snap fit connection.
Data Source
AI summary
A compressor includes a shell, a compression mechanism, a driveshaft operable to drive the compression mechanism to compress a fluid, and a ring-shaped counterweight assembly positioned on the driveshaft. The counterweight assembly includes a counterweight fixed on the driveshaft and a cover attached to the driveshaft via a snap fit connection. The counterweight includes a coupling ring and a main weight having an arcuate shape, the coupling ring defining a bore receiving the driveshaft to fix the counterweight on the driveshaft. The counterweight and the cover cooperate to define the counterweight assembly, the cover extending circumferentially between two cover end surfaces each positioned adjacent one of two circumferential main weight end surfaces to define a disk-shape of the counterweight assembly. The cover includes a coupling collar including a circular base and flexible fingers engageable with a circumferential groove defined on the driveshaft to form the snap fit connection.