Variable Cavity Counterweight for Scroll Compressor Balancing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing design of counterweights for rotary machines, such as scroll-type compressors, requires frequent changes in mold development to achieve optimal mass, leading to increased development time and capital costs due to the need for different masses with varying dimensions.
Innovation Solution
A counterweight design featuring a variable-sized cavity, allowing for adjustment of mass by changing the size and depth of a recess, enabling the production of counterweights with common outer dimensions and different masses, thus eliminating the need for tooling modifications on the assembly line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If new molds are developed for each counterweight mass variation, then optimal mass can be achieved for specific applications, but development time and capital costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The counterweight is segmented into a fixed outer shell and a variable inner cavity. The outer shell maintains consistent dimensions and mounting features, while the inner cavity volume can be varied independently to achieve different masses. This segmentation allows the same mold to produce counterweights of different masses by adjusting only the cavity portion.
Solution Approach 2:
A single universal mold design is created that can produce counterweights of multiple masses by varying the cavity dimensions. The mold includes features that allow adjustment of the cavity volume while maintaining the same outer dimensions and mounting interface, making the mold versatile for producing different counterweight configurations without requiring new tooling.
2Adaptability or versatility
If new molds are developed for each counterweight mass variation, then optimal mass can be achieved for specific applications, but capital costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single universal mold design is created that can produce counterweights of multiple masses by varying the cavity dimensions. The mold includes features that allow adjustment of the cavity volume while maintaining the same outer dimensions and mounting interface, making the mold versatile for producing different counterweight configurations without requiring new tooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold design incorporates adjustable parameters, specifically the cavity volume, that can be modified to produce counterweights of different masses. By changing the cavity dimensions within the same mold structure, various mass configurations are achieved without altering the fundamental mold geometry or requiring new tooling investments.
3Adaptability or versatility
If counterweights with different outer dimensions are used to achieve different masses, then mass optimization is possible, but assembly tooling must be modified for each configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The counterweight design applies local quality by maintaining uniform outer dimensions and mounting interface characteristics across all mass variations, while allowing the internal cavity to vary. This ensures that the assembly tooling interacts only with the consistent outer features, eliminating the need to modify tooling for different mass configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The assembly tooling is designed to be universal, accommodating all counterweight configurations through their common outer dimensions and mounting features. The tooling interacts only with the standardized external interface, making it adaptable to any counterweight mass produced by the universal mold without requiring modification.
Data Source
AI summary
A balancing system for different compressors utilizes a counterweight having a common exterior configuration. The mass of the counterweight is optimized for each compressor by changing the size of a recess located in the counterweight. In one embodiment, the recess is an arcuately shaped recess; and in another embodiment, the recess is a plurality of holes.