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US 2004/0170512 A1Published application
Compressor
AssigneeCarrier Corporation
InventorsDonald Yannascoli, Stephen L. Shoulders
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
To counter downstream oil infiltration through a shaft seal, a small portion of the compressed fluid is diverted from downstream to upstream through a passageway in a rotor. The diverted fluid is introduced to a space at a downstream side of the seal. An exemplary implementation is in a compressor having a central male rotor intermeshed with a pair of female rotors. The seal is located at an upstream (inlet) end of the lobed working portion of the male rotor.
Claims14
A compressor comprising:
- a housing assembly;
- and
- a male rotor having a male screw-type body portion, the male rotor extending from a first end to a second end and held by the housing assembly for rotation about a first rotor axis;
- a female rotor having a female screw-type body portion enmeshed with the male body portion, the female rotor extending from a first end to a second end and held by the housing assembly for rotation about a second rotor axis;
- at least a first bearing on an inlet side of the male body portion and radially retaining the male rotor relative to the housing assembly while allowing the male rotor to rotate at least in a first direction about the first axis, rotation in said first direction acting to compress a fluid and drive the fluid in a downstream flow direction defining inlet and outlet ends of the male and female body portions and an associated inlet-to-outlet direction;
- and
- at least a first seal, sealing a first rotor of the male rotor and female rotor relative to the housing assembly at a location between the first bearing and the body portion of the first rotor,
- wherein:
- the first rotor has at least one passageway having first and second ports and positioned to direct a portion of the fluid to a space between the body portion of the first rotor and the first seal.
6 more elements
A compressor comprising:
- a housing assembly;
- and
- a male rotor having a screw-type male lobed portion, the male rotor extending from a first end to a second end and held by the housing assembly for rotation about a first rotor axis;
- a female rotor having a screw-type female lobed portion enmeshed with the male lobed portion, the female rotor extending from a first end to a second end and held by the housing assembly for rotation about a second rotor axis;
- a motor coupled to the male rotor to drive the male rotor in at least a first direction about the first rotor axis, rotation in said first direction acting to compress a fluid and drive the fluid in a downstream flow direction defining inlet and outlet ends of the male and female body portions and an associated inlet-to-outlet direction;
- at least a first bearing on an inlet side of the male body portion and radially retaining the male rotor relative to the housing assembly while allowing the male rotor to rotate about first axis;
- oil lubricating the bearing;
- at least a first seal, having a first radially inward directed portion sealing the male rotor relative to the housing assembly at a location between the first bearing and the male body portion;
- and
- means for diverting a flow of said fluid through at least one of the male and female rotors to resist infiltration of said oil between said first seal and said male rotor.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.