Variable Capacity Compressor

1. Field

The present invention is concerned with variable capacity compressors, vacuum or other pumps or machines, and particularly those reciprocating piston compressors used in single or multiple cylinder refrigeration, air conditioning systems or heat pumps or the like, including machines such as scotch yoke compressors of U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,769, wherein it is desirable to vary the compressor output, i.e., compressor capacity modulation, in accordance with cooling load requirements. Such modulation allows large gains in efficiency while normally providing reduced sound, improved reliability, and improved creature comforts including one or more of reduced air noise, better de-humidification, warmer air in heat pump mode, or the like.

One approach to achieving modulation has been to switch the stroke length, i.e., stroke, of one or more of the reciprocating pistons whereby the volumetric capacity of the cylinder is changed. In these compressors the reciprocating motion of the piston is effected by the orbiting of a crankpin, i.e., crankshaft eccentric, which is attached to the piston by a connecting rod means of any of a variety of structures or configurations and which has a bearing in which the eccentric is rotatably mounted.

2. Prior Art

A proposed mechanism in the published art for switching stroke is the use of a cam bushing mounted on the crankshaft eccentric, which bushing when rotated on the eccentric will shift the orbit axis of the connecting rod bearing radially and parallelly with respect to the crankshaft rotational axis and thus reduce or enlarge the rod bearing orbit radius which changes the piston stroke accordingly.

A difficult problem attends such cam action mechanism in that at reduced stroke the piston does not attain full or primary stroke top-dead-center (TDC) positioning within the cylinder and greatly diminished compression and considerable reexpansion of the only partially compressed refrigerant gas occurs. The efficiency of the compressor is thus markedly compromised.

Such cam mechanisms are shown and described in U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,479,419; 4,236,874; 4,494,447; 4,245,966; and 4,248,053, the disclosures of which with respect to general compressor construction and also with respect to particular structures of cylinder, piston, crankshaft, crankpin and throw shifting mechanisms are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. With respect to these patents the crankpin journal is comprised of an inner and one or more outer eccentrically configured journals, the inner journal being the outer face of the crankpin or eccentric, and the outer journal(s) being termed "eccentric cams or rings" in these patents, and being rotatably mounted or stacked on the inner journal. The bearing of the connecting rod is rotatably mounted on the outer face of the outermost journal.

In these patents, as in the present invention, all journal and bearing surfaces of the coupling structure or power transmission train of the shiftable throw piston, from the crankshaft to the connecting rod are conventionally circular.

Objects therefore of the present invention are: to provide an improved coupling structure for a crankpin throw shifting mechanism for a single or multicylinder compressor wherein the piston always achieves primary TDC position regardless of the degree of stroke change; to provide such coupling structure as a structurally simple mechanism which can be manufactured to give any desired compressor capacity shift; to provide such coupling structure to give different strokes for two or more pistons of multi-cylinder compressors to give a wide range of desired variations in compressor capacity without reducing compressor efficiency thru significant volume clearance, i.e., clearance between the piston top and valve plate at TDC; and to provide a motor control circuit that can be used to advantage with the present invention to achieve markedly improved overall efficiency of operation.

These and other objects hereinafter becoming evident have been attained in accordance with the present invention thru the discovery of a unique, simple and reliable coupling structure for functionally connecting a connecting rod bearing and a crankshaft eccentric. This structure is adapted to change the primary stroke of a piston while always effecting primary top dead center positioning of said piston on its up-stroke regardless of the stroke change. This structure comprises a circular cam bushing which is eccentrically, rotatably mounted on said eccentric and within said bearing wherein the combined eccentricities of said bushing and said eccentric equal the primary stroke of said piston. A first stop moans is provided for stabilizing said bushing on said eccentric upon rotation of said crankshaft in one direction whereby the eccentricities of said eccentric and bushing become aligned and remain so during synchronous orbiting motion of said eccentric and bushing during said rotation of said crankshaft. A second stop means is provided for stabilizing said bushing within said bearing upon reversing rotation of said crankshaft whereby the bushing eccentricity becomes and remains substantially aligned with a stroke axis of said connecting rod while said eccentric moves alone thru its orbit

In certain preferred embodiments:

(a) the first stop means comprises cooperating shoulders on the bushing and the crankshaft, and the second stop means comprises cooperating shoulders on the bushing and bearing, the first and second stop means becoming alternately functional upon opposite rotations of the crankshaft; and

(b) the eccentricities of said bushing and said eccentric are substantially equal whereby the cylinder capacity can be switched from full to substantially one half upon reversing the crankshaft rotation.

The invention will be understood further from the drawings herein which are not drawn to scale and in which certain structural portions are exaggerated in dimension for clarity, and from the following description wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partially cross-sectional view of portions of a refrigerant compressor, illustrating a piston in the top dead center position;

FIG. 2 is a view of a section of the crankshaft and eccentric (crankpin) taken along line 2--2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a segment of FIG. 1 showing a variation in the stop mechanism structure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view as in FIG. 1 taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows and showing a variation in the stop mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows and rotated 90.degree. in the plane of the drawing sheet;

FIG. 6 is an isolated view of the cam bushing per se of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a motor control schematic for full capacity compressor operation; and

FIG. 8 is a motor control schematic for motor reversal and reduced capacity compressor operation.

Referring to the drawings and with particular reference to the claims hereof, one of the present coupling structures generally designated 12 is shown as an example in a refrigerant compressor having a piston 8 mounted in a cylinder 9, and having a reed type discharge valve 21 mounted on a valve plate 10 having a discharge port 11 therethrough. The coupling structure for mounting a connecting rod which pivotally mounted on piston 8 by wrist pin 28 and having a bearing 13, comprises an eccentric 14 of a crankshaft 15, a circular cam bushing 16 eccentrically, rotatably mounted on said eccentric 14 and within said bearing 13 wherein the combined eccentricities 19 and 18 of said bushing and said eccentric respectively equal the primary stroke length 17 of piston 8 between a top dead center ("TDC") position 80 and a first bottom position 82, first stop means generally designated 20 for angularly stabilizing said bushing on said eccentric upon rotation of said crankshaft in one direction 22 whereby the eccentricities of said eccentric and bushing become aligned and remain so during synchronous orbiting motion of said eccentric and bushing during said rotation, and second stop means generally designated 24 for angularly stabilizing said bushing within said bearing upon reverse rotation 26 of said crankshaft whereby the bushing eccentricity becomes and remains substantially aligned with the piston stroke axis 25 while said eccentric moves alone thru its orbit to move piston 8 through a reduced stroke length 81 between TDC position 80 and a second bottom position 84.

It is noted that as the eccentric 14 moves alone thru its orbit during reduced stroke the bushing eccentricity 19 will be swung back and forth to each side of the piston stroke axis 25, but as indicated by the approximate dotted lines 23, the bushing eccentricity will remain substantially aligned with the connecting rod axis 23.

The first stop means 20 comprises cooperating shoulder means such as pin 30 on said bushing and shoulder 32 machined into said eccentric, and wherein said second stop means 24 comprises cooperating shoulder means such as pin 34 on said bearing and shoulder 36 machined into said bushing. The pins 30 and 34 are continually urged radially inwardly from their sockets 38 by compression springs 40.

As an alternative stop mechanism, as shown in FIG. 3, a leaf-type spring or equivalent structure 42 is affixed by screw 44 or the like in a slot 43 machined into bearing 13 and is normally sprung into slot 46 machined into bushing 16. As bushing 16 orbits counterclockwise, spring 42 is flexed radially outwardly in to slot 43. It is noted that spring 42 and slot 46 can be dimensioned such that the spring does not strike against the slot floor 48 upon each counterclockwise orbit of the eccentric and bushing and create objectionable clicking sound. Also in this regard, the radius 50 of the exit from slot 46 further reduces or eliminates any noise created by contact of spring 42 with the bushing. Such structure can also be used for the eccentric-to-bushing junction.

Referring to FIGS. 4-6, a further variation of the stop structure is shown as being operable thru a break-down linkage which eliminates unnecessary contact of the stop with a rotating structure. In this embodiment as applied, for example, to the cam bushing and rod bearing, a stop arm generally designated 52 is affixed to a sleeve 53 rotatably mounted on eccentric 14 within a recess 54 in a face 55 of cam bushing 16. Arm 52 is comprised of an inner section 56 affixed to sleeve 53 and an outer stop section 58 providing a stop end 59. Sections 56 and 58 are pivotally connected by a hinge pin 60.

In the operation the stop mechanism of FIGS. 4-6 with the motor and crankshaft rotating in a clockwise direction for reduced stroke wherein only the eccentric will orbit clockwise, the eccentric will drag bushing 16 also clockwise to engage its recess edge 68 with stop arm 52 and move it and straighten it from its dotted line neutral position 70 to its operative stopping position 72 as shown in FIG. 4 wherein end 59 is set into socket 74. This action locks the cam bushing 16 to the rod bearing at the precise position that the eccentricity of bushing 16 is aligned with the stroke axis 23 of the connecting rod to assure TDC. A light spring 76 affixed to the top of one of the sections 56 or 58 and slidable on the other may be used to urge section 58 downwardly (as viewed in the drawing) to assist in its insertion into socket 74. Other springs such as a torsional spring mounted over an extension of pivot pin 60 may also be used.

Reversal of the motor and crankshaft direction to a counterclockwise rotation for full stroke will forcibly rotate bushing 16 to engage its recess edge 78 with arm 52 and break it down easily against the force of spring 76 as indicated by the dotted line positions 70 of arm sections 56 and 58 in FIG. 4. This action, at precisely said positions 70, will maintain alignment of the eccentricities of 16 and 14 in cooperation with the stop means which operatively connects eccentric 14 and bushing 16 for simultaneous orbiting to ensure TDC.

It is apparent that the present invention in its broad sense is not limited to the use of any particular type of stop structure and the components of the stops shown herein can be reverse mounted, e.g., the spring 40 and pin 34 can be mounted in the cam bushing and the shoulder 36 cut into the bearing.

In the embodiment shown, in FIGS. 1 and 2 the eccentricities of the bushing and the eccentric are substantially equal whereby the cylinder capacity can be switched from full to substantially one half upon reversing the crankshaft rotation.

It is particularly noted that the first and second stop means or stop mechanisms may be positioned at any angular position around the crankpin and bushing, and around the bushing and bearing respectively as long as the two eccentricities are aligned for full stroke, and the bushing eccentricity is substantially aligned with the connecting rod stroke axis for the reduced stroke.

A unique electrical circuit has been developed for controlling the reversible motor and may be employed in a preferred embodiment of the invention as described below in connection with a single cylinder compressor, the circuit being shown schematically in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The control schematic of FIG. 7 is equivalent to industry conventional PSC (permanent, split capacitor) wiring schematics using predetermined power supply. Line 1 runs through the common terminal (C) which leads into the motor protection. After leaving the motor protection, the current flow will split, going through both the start (S) and main, i.e., run (R) windings with M (motor) High contactor closed. This stage will be using the run winding as the main winding and places the run capacitor in series with the start winding, obtaining standard motor rotation with the piston fully active, i.e., full capacity operation.

The present unique Control Schematic of FIG. 8 employs a predetermined power supply depending on application. Line one will run through the common terminal (C), which leads to the motor protection. After leaving the motor protection, the current flow separates going through both the original start and original main windings with M low contactor energized. The compressor will now be using the start winding as the main and placing the run capacitor in series with the original main winding. Run capacitor placement in this mode facilitates both motor and mechanical rotation changes and simultaneously reduces motor strength to match the resulting reduced piston stroke, thus maximizing motor efficiency for the reduced load. It is particularly noted that for certain applications the original main winding and start capacitor, in reduced compressor capacity mode, may be taken off-line by a centrifugal switch or the like after the motor attains operational speed.

Suitable exemplarly solenoid actuated contactors or switches for use as the "switching means" of the present invention are shown and described in the General Electric, Product information brochure GEA-11540B 4/87 15M 1800, entitled "Definite Purpose Controls", 23 pages, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As best known at this time for use with a single cylinder compressor described below, the power unit would employ the following structures and operating characteristics:

Motor--reversible, squirrel cage induction, PSC, 1-3 hp;

Protector--Protects against overload in both load modes. Senses both T.degree. and current;

Power Supply--Single or three phase of any frequency or voltage, e.g., 230V--60 H.sub.z single phase, or 460V--80 H.sub.z three phase;

Switching Mechanism--control circuit which is responsive to load requirements to operate solenoid contactor and place the run capacitor in series with either the start winding or main winding, depending on the load requirements.

The compressor would have substantially the following structure and operating characteristics:

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications will be effected with the spirit and scope of the invention.