Scroll Cooling Duct Geometry to Prevent Fan-Side Air Vortices
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Solution Overview
Problem
In scroll-type fluid machines, temperature rises due to compression heat and bearing heat lead to efficiency decreases and reliability issues, with existing cooling air passage designs suffering from inefficient airflow and increased costs due to complex mold requirements.
Innovation Solution
A scroll-type fluid machine with a cooling air passage featuring a bent portion where the outer peripheral wall intersects a plane perpendicular to the drive shaft at an obtuse angle, preventing vortex formation and allowing efficient airflow without increasing production costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cooling air passage includes a bent portion with a small radius to change flow direction efficiently, then the cooling air can be directed to components, but a vortex is generated on the inner peripheral side preventing efficient flow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the bent portion by setting the radius to be equal to or larger than a specific value (R≥D/2, where D is the width of the cooling air passage). This parameter change eliminates vortex formation while maintaining effective cooling air flow direction control.
2Loss of energy
If the radius of the bent portion is set large to allow cooling air to flow efficiently, then vortex formation is prevented, but the mold becomes large in height direction increasing cost and reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the radius parameter within a specific range (R≥D/2) that prevents vortex formation without requiring excessively large dimensions. This balanced parameter selection achieves both efficient cooling air flow and reasonable mold size for productive manufacturing.
3Loss of energy
If multiple diagonal planes are used to form the cooling air passage, then cooling air can flow efficiently, but the mold height increases requiring complex multi-plane molding reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric configuration by using a bent portion with optimized radius rather than multiple diagonal planes. This single-plane approach with proper curvature achieves efficient cooling air flow while simplifying the mold structure to one plane, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity.
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 design enhances airflow efficiency, reduces noise and energy loss, and improves reliability while maintaining productivity by preventing vortex formation and simplifying mold production.
Implementation Method 1
since the cooling air flows on an outer peripheral side of the bent portion because of the centrifugal force, a vortex is generated on an inner peripheral side thereof
Data Source
AI summary
A scroll-type fluid machine includes a fixed scroll, an orbiting scroll, a drive shaft, a cooling fan, and a cooling air duct. In a bent portion, immediately adjacent to the cooling fan, where a direction of the cooling air duct is changed from a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft to a direction of the drive shaft, a part of an outer peripheral wall which is distant from the drive shaft is planar and defines a plane which intersects a plane perpendicular to the drive shaft at an obtuse angle. With this configuration, a main stream of the cooling air is prevented from separating from an inner peripheral wall of the bent portion.