US 4,560,332 AGranted

Rotary vane-type compressor with vanes of more thermally expansible material than rotor for maintaining separation of rotor from housing side plate during high temperature operation

AssigneesNippondenso Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsMasato Yokoyama, Eiichi Nagasaku, Tosiki Taya, Toshiyuki Kato

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Abstract

In a rotary vane-type compressor the rotor, the housing and the side plates are made of the same kind of material as one another. A plurality of vane grooves the length of each of which is as long as the thickness of the rotor is provided on the rotor. A set of vanes which is made of a different material than the rotor, more particularly a material the coefficient of thermal expansion of which is larger than that of the rotor, is received in the vane grooves in such manner that the end faces thereof face against the side plate. And the width of the vanes longitudinally of the rotor is determined as follows. The width is slightly less than the thickness of the rotor when the temperature there of is less than normal, but when the temperature becomes high the vane width becomes slightly greater than the thickness of the rotor because of the difference of the coefficients of thermal expansion.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A rotary vane-type compressor, comprising:

housing means defining a closed cylindrical cavity with an inner peripheral surface and opposite ends;
means defining a refrigerant gas inlet to said cavity and a compressed refrigerant gas outlet from said cavity;
valve means interposed in said inlet and outlet for controlling flow of refrigerant gas to and from said cavity;
a rotor having an outer peripheral surface and axially opposite end surfaces, said rotor being provided in said outer peripheral surface with a plurality of radially outwardly opening slots, each of which extends from one end of the rotor to the other;
a set of vanes, each radiating from a respective said slot in said rotor and being movably mounted therein for variable radial projection outwardly of said outer peripheral surface of said rotor, each vane having a radially outer end;
a shaft journalled for rotation with respect to said housing means and sealingly extending axially into said cavity;
said rotor being eccentrically disposed in said cavity and mounted to said shaft to be rotated with said shaft with said vane ends in sliding contact with said inner peripheral surface of said cavity and dividing said cavity into a plurality of chambers;
said rotor being made of a material having a smaller coefficient of thermal expansion than that of the material of which said vanes are made;
said rotor and vanes being of such corresponding dimensions, axially of said cavity, that when said rotary vane-type compressor is operating at a preselected intermediate temperature, said corresponding dimensions are substantially equal and both said vanes and said ends of said rotor are in sliding contact with said housing means at opposite ends of said cavity, but when said rotary vane-type compressor is operating at a lower temperature said vanes are gapped from said housing means at at least one of said opposite ends of said cavity so that refrigerant gas in said cavity may escape from one said chamber to another said chamber between said vanes and said at least one end of said cavity, and when said rotary vane-type compressor is operating at a higher temperature said vanes protrude sufficiently beyond said axially opposite end surfaces of said rotor as to prevent said rotor from fusing to said housing means at said opposite ends of said housing.

6 more elements

A rotary vane-type compressor, comprising:

a shaft portion constructed and arranged to be rotated by rotary power;
a cylindrically shaped rotor constructed and arranged to rotate with said shaft portion;
vane groove means provided in said rotor so as to extend fully longitudinally across said rotor;
vane means radially slidably located in said vane groove means;
the coefficient of thermal expansion of said vane means being greater than that of said rotor;
the width of said vane means, longitudinally of said rotor, being slightly shorter than the longitudinally-measured thickness dimension of said rotor while the temperature thereof is less than a predetermined normal steady-state operating temperature of said rotor and the width of said vane means being slightly greater than the thickness of said rotor when the temperature thereof becomes higher than said predetermined normal steady-state operating temperature;
a housing having a cylindrical cavity rotatably, eccentrically containing said rotor and defining a working chamber with an outer peripheral surface of said rotor and side surfaces of said vane means, and with a side plate made of the same kind of material as said rotor, said side plate forming a side of said housing and closing said cavity;
said rotor and said housing including said side plate thereof being made of steel and said vane means being made of an aluminum alloy.

5 more elements

A rotary vane-type compressor, comprising:

housing means defining a closed cylindrical cavity with an inner peripheral surface and opposite ends;
one of said ends of said housing means being defined by a side plate constructed and arranged for closing said one end;
a shaft portion sealingly extending axially into said cavity through said side plate and being constructed and arranged to be rotated about its own longitudinal axis;
a cylindrical rotor having an outer peripheral surface and two opposite ends, said rotor being disposed in said cylindrical cavity with said ends thereof facing corresponding said ends of said cylindrical cavity, and said outer peripheral surface of said rotor facing said inner peripheral surface of said housing means, said rotor being mounted to said shaft portion for rotation therewith;
vane grooves provided in said rotor so as to extend fully longitudinally of said rotor throughout at least two corresponding, diametrically opposed radially outer portions of said rotor and so as to extend fully diametrically of said rotor;
said outer peripheral surface of said rotor being of a smaller diameter than said inner peripheral surface of said housing means cavity, and said shaft portion having said longitudinal axis thereof disposed parallel to but laterally displaced from the longitudinal axis of said inner peripheral surface of said housing means cavity, whereby said rotor is arranged eccentrically with respect to said cavity;
vane means diametrically slidably located in said vane groove means with both opposite radially outer ends thereof juxtaposed with said radially inner peripheral surface of said housing means cavity and with both longitudinally opposite ends thereof juxtaposed with corresponding opposite ends of said housing means cavity within where said vane groove means extends fully longitudinally of said rotor, so that said vane means divides said cavity into at least two angularly adjacent working chambers;
said rotor and said housing means including said side plate all being made of materials having substantially equal coefficients of thermal expansion, but said vane means being made of a material having a greater coefficient of thermal expansion longitudinally of said housing means;
said vane means being constructed and arranged to be of a width, longitudinally of said housing means, which:
(a) substantially equals the corresponding thickness dimension of said rotor, longitudinally of said housing means, only when said rotary vane-type compressor is operating at a predetermined steady-state condition at which said rotor is too cool to fuse to said side plate,
(b) is shorter than said corresponding thickness dimension only when said rotary vane-type compressor is operating at a lower temperature than at said steady-state condition, so as to permit some working fluid in said cavity to flow from one said working chamber to another said working chamber between said vane means and at least one said end of said housing means cavity, and
(c) is longer than said corresponding thickness dimension only when said rotary vane-type compressor is operating at a higher temperature than at said steady-state condition, and protrudes beyond at least said end of said rotor which faces said end plate, so as to prevent said rotor from fusing to said end plate when said rotor is otherwise hot enough to fuse to said end plate.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.