Stirling cycle apparatus with metal bellows seal
AssigneeNorth American Philips Corporation
InventorCharles Balas, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A Stirling cycle engine or refrigerator with a reciprocating piston within a cylinder and a reciprocating displacer rod within the bore of the piston, has a first generally cylindrical metal bellows sealing the space between the cylinder and piston and a second metal bellows sealing the space between the piston and displacer rod. A constant volume of substantially incompressible liquid is maintained in spaces adjacent and supporting one side of each bellows with the opposite sides respectively exposed to working gas at operating pressures of the apparatus.
Claims12
In a thermodynamic cycle apparatus including a cylinder having a bore and cylinder walls;
- a piston and an other element axially spaced apart and reciprocated within said bore;
- a hollow piston rod fixed to and extending downward from said piston and an other element rod fixed to and extending downward from said other element, through said piston and through the bore of said hollow piston rod for relative axial reciprocation;
- said cylinder and said piston defining a variable volume compression space for containing a working gas, and a space below said piston in said cylinder bore and including said piston and other element rods,
- the improvement wherein a portion of the cylinder wall and said piston rod define an outer annular space therebetween, and the hollow piston rod inner wall and said other element rod define an inner annular space therebetween, and
- said apparatus further comprises a metal outer bellows and a metal inner bellows, each having a generally cylindrical shape with opposite top and bottom ends, said outer bellows being secured in said outer annular space, with its top end fixed and hermetically sealed to said piston and its bottom end similarly fixed to said cylinder, arranged so as to define and separate an outer liquid space and an outer gas space;
- said inner bellows being secured in said inner annular space, with its top end fixed and hermetically sealed to said piston, and its bottom end similarly fixed to said other element rod, arranged so as to define and separate an inner liquid space and an inner gas space,
- means for filling said inner and outer liquid spaces with a substantially incompressible liquid,
- means for maintaining the volume of each of said inner and outer liquid spaces, and the liquid therein, substantially constant, and
- means for maintaining working gas in said inner and outer annular gas spaces at a pressure greater than that of said liquid in said liquid spaces,
- whereby said working gas is prevented from flowing from said compression space past said piston to said inner or outer liquid spaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.