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US 4,544,334 AGranted
Mechanical means for holding air gaps on bolt-down stators in refrigerant compressors
AssigneeLennox Industries Inc.
InventorCharles B. Ellis
Life of this patent
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AssigneeLennox Industries Inc.
InventorCharles B. Ellis
Estimating the term…
A refrigerant compressor (10) including a compression mechanism (18) resiliently supported within a sealed outer casing (12) is provided with means for maintaining the air gap between the rotor (40) and stator (42) of the electric drive motor (20) for the compression mechanism. The rotor is secured to a drive shaft or crankshaft (26) journaled in the compression mechanism. The stator is bolted to the compression mechanism. The means for maintaining the air gap comprises a plurality of balls made from a relatively hard material, which are indented into the relatively softer material of the stator and of the compressor body during assembly of the stator to the compressor body. The stator is fixed relative to the compressor body and to the rotor journaled in the compressor body, thus maintaining the air gap between the stator and the rotor during shipping and handling.
In a refrigerant compressor including compression mechanism comprising a body, cylinder means within said body, piston means movable within said cylinder means, and a drive shaft for driving said piston means and motor means for actuating said drive shaft including rotor means and stator means, there being an air gap between the stator means and the rotor means, said rotor means being operatively connected to said drive shaft, the improvement comprising means for maintaining the air gap between the rotor means and the stator means disposed between the stator means and the body for the compression mechanism, said maintaining means including a plurality of spherical members indented into and secured between the stator means and the body for the compression mechanism.
A method of assembling a refrigerant compressor having a compression mechanism with a drive shaft and an electric motor, including a rotor means and a stator means, said rotor means being mounted on said drive shaft there being an air gap between the rotor means and the stator means of the electric motor, the method operating to maintain the air gap between the rotor means and the stator means of the electric motor comprising the steps of orienting the stator means relative to the compression mechanism, placing a plurality of spherical members between the stator means and the compression mechanism, and securing the compression mechanism to the stator means by indenting the spherical members into the stator means and the compression mechanism, respectively, whereby the position of the rotor means on the drive shaft will be fixed relative to the stator means, thus maintaining the air gap after assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.