Internally constrained vane compressor

An internally constrained vane rotary compressor comprising:

• a stator having a hollow interior, circumferential interior wall, two end walls, and two openings through said circumferential interior wall defining an inlet to and an outlet from said stator interior;
• a rotatable rotor having a hollow interior, said rotor eccentrically mounted within said stator such that the axis of rotation of said rotor is parallel to and offset from the axis of said stator;
• a rotatable drive shaft passing through one of said end walls of said stator and projecting into said stator interior, said rotor affixed to said drive shaft for rotation therewith;
• a fixed carrier shaft extending from one of said end walls towards said stator interior such that the cylindrical axis of said carrier shaft coincides with said axis of said stator;
• a carrier ring residing within said rotor interior, said carrier being freely rotatable about said carrier shaft;
• and
• a plurality of vanes radially slideable within said rotor, said vanes hingedly connected to said carrier, whereby upon rotation of said rotor, said carrier constrains and guides said vanes such hat their distal ends come close to, but do not engage the surface of said circumferential interior wall of said stator;
• said hinged connection between said vanes and said carrier being defined by:
• an arcuate passage extending through said carrier for each said vane;
• and
• a means of connection between each vane and its adjacent arcuate passage allowing a degree of tangential motion in the arcuate passage while effectively preventing radial movement of the vane outward from the carrier center of rotation;
• said engaging means on each said vane comprising a vane pin extending from said vane into said arcuate passage;
• said stator circumferential interior wall having a profile substantially matching the path formed by the distal tips of said vanes when rotated in said stator interior, said path defined by coordinates (X, Y):
• X=[(r.multidot.cos (a)-X.sub.r)(1+V/((r.multidot.cos (a)-X.sub.r).sup.2 +(r.multidot.sin (a)-Y.sub.r).sup.2).sup.1/2)]+(X.sub.r -X.sub.c)
• Y=[(r.multidot.sin (a)-Y.sub.r)(1+V/((r.multidot.cos (a)-X.sub.r).sup.2 +(r.multidot.sin (a)-Y.sub.r).sup.2).sup.1/2)]+(Y.sub.r -Y.sub.c)
• where
• r=the radial distance from said cylindrical axis of said carrier shaft to the cylindrical axis of said vane pin;
• v=the linear distance from said cylindrical axis of said vane pin to said distal tip of said vane;
• a=the angle of rotation of said vane pin expressed from 0.degree.-360.degree.;
• X.sub.r, Y.sub.r =the cartesian coordinates of said axis of rotation of said rotor;
• X.sub.c, Y.sub.c =the cartesian coordinates of said cylindrical axis of said carrier shaft;
• and
• X,Y=the cartesian coordinates of said distal tip of said vane, at said angle of rotation a;
• said means on each said vane engaging its adjacent arcuate passage comprising a triple roller assembly comprising three rollers rotatably mounted about said vane pin, said vane pin secured to said vane;
• said arcuate passage comprising an arcuate interior wall positioned radially towards said carrier axis of rotation, said interior wall being engaged by the inner roller of said triple roller assembly, said arcuate passage including an arcuate outer wall, said arcuate outer wall including a central clearance channel providing clearance for said inner roller and being engaged by each of the outer rollers of said triple roller assembly on either side of said inner roller and said clearance channel;
• a resilient member lining said arcuate interior wall of said arcuate passage which tends to bias said triple roller assembly into engagement with said outer wall.

An internally constrained vane rotary compressor comprising:

• a stator having a hollow interior, circumferential interior wall, two end walls, and two openings through said circumferential interior wall defining an inlet to and an outlet from said stator interior;
• a rotatable rotor having a hollow interior, said rotor eccentrically mounted within said stator such that the axis of rotation of said rotor is parallel to and offset from the axis of said stator;
• a rotatable drive shaft passing through one of said end walls of said stator and projecting into said stator interior, said rotor affixed to said drive shaft for rotation therewith;
• a fixed carrier shaft extending from one of said end walls towards said stator interior such that the cylindrical axis of said carrier shaft coincides with said axis of said stator;
• a carrier ring residing within said rotor interior, said carrier being freely rotatable about said carrier shaft;
• and
• a plurality of vanes radially slideable within said rotor, said vanes hingedly connected to said carrier, whereby upon rotation of said rotor, said carrier constrains and guides said vanes such hat their distal ends come close to, but do not engage the surface of said circumferential interior wall of said stator;
• said hinged connection between one of said vanes and said carrier being pinned so as to allow rotation of the vane about the pin axis, but so as to prevent tangential motion of the vane relative to the carrier;
• the hinged connection between the remaining vanes and said carrier being defined by an arcuate passage extending through said carrier for each said remaining vane;
• and
• a means of connection between each said remaining vane and its adjacent arcuate passage allowing a degree of tangential motion in the arcuate passage while effectively preventing radial movement of the vane outward from the carrier center of rotation;
• said means on each said vane engaging its adjacent arcuate passage comprising a triple roller assembly comprising at least two rollers rotatably mounted about a common axle, said axle being secured to said vane;
• said arcuate passage comprising an arcuate interior wall and an arcuate outer wall, such hat at least one roller will contact said arcuate outer wall to effectively constrain the vane from outward radial motion, while inward radial motion is constrained by at least one other roller contacting said arcuate internal wall;
• a resilient member lining said arcuate interior wall of said arcuate passage which tends to bias said triple roller assembly into engagement with said outer wall.

A method for increasing the operation efficiency in an internally constrained vane rotary compressor comprising:

• a stator having a hollow interior, circumferential interior wall, two end walls, and two openings through said circumferential interior wall defining an inlet to and an outlet from said stator interior;
• a rotatable rotor having a hollow interior, said rotor eccentrically mounted within said stator such that the axis of rotation of said rotor is parallel and offset from the cylindrical axis of said stator;
• a rotatable drive shaft passing through one of said end walls of said stator and projecting into said stator interior, said rotor affixed to said drive shaft for rotation therewith;
• and
• a plurality of vanes radially slideable within said rotor;
• said method comprising;
• employing a fixed carrier shaft extending from one of said end walls towards said stator interior such that the cylindrical axis of said carrier shaft coincides with said cylindrical axis of said stator;
• mounting a rotatable carrier ring on said carrier shaft and within said rotor interior;
• constraining and guiding said plurality of vanes at said rotor interior by hingedly attaching said vanes to said carrier ring such that their distal ends come close to but do not engage the surface of said circumferential interior wall of said stator, each of said vanes including a pair of tongues embracing either side of said carrier and means serving as a pin extending between said tongues and through an aperture in said carrier, there being an aperture in said carrier for each said vane and said vane pin;
• at least one of said apertures being sufficiently small relative to its respective one of said pins that rotation of said rotor and said vanes causes said carrier to rotate with said rotor, the engagement of said pin means and said at least one aperture also preventing radial outward movement of said vane;
• at least each of the remainder of said apertures comprising an arcuate passage with an arcuate interior wall positioned radially towards said carrier axis of rotation and an arcuate outer wall spaced outwardly therefrom, said interior and exterior arcuate walls being joined at their ends by arcuate passage end walls, the distance between said end walls being sufficiently short that said arcuate passages do not extend continuously from one passage to the next adjacent passage, and being sufficiently long to allow a degree of tangential motion in the arcuate passage, while said outer arcuate passage wall effectively prevents radial movement of the vane outward from the carrier center of rotation;
• and
• forming said stator circumferential interior wall to substantially match the path the distal tips of said vanes trace within said stator interior upon rotation of said rotor.