This disclosure describes new horizontal roller-piston/vane type rotary compressors with novel features such as new lubricating oil circuit designs to provide reliable oil lubrication, and increase tiltability during operation. Also new multi-pump configurations of horizontal compressors are introduced in order to significantly increase redundancy, reliability, and turn down ratio. Rotary compressors may be configured with subsets of the disclosed features to configure those compressors for specific applications.

A climate control system includes a compressor which includes a compressor housing, a compressor element provided in the compressor housing, a lubricant circuit, and an auxiliary sump. The lubricant circuit includes a lubricant sump provided in the compressor housing. The auxiliary sump is in fluid communication with the lubricant sump. A method for maintaining lubrication supply for a compressor of a climate control system includes transferring lubricant from the auxiliary sump to the lubricant sump of the compressor when a height of the lubricant in the auxiliary sump is greater than a height in the lubricant sump and returning the lubricant from the lubricant sump to the auxiliary sump when a height of the lubricant in the lubricant sump is higher than a height of a predetermined minimum level in the lubricant sump. The lubricant in the auxiliary sump and lubricant sump are equalized by gravity.

This disclosure describes new horizontal roller-piston/vane type rotary compressors with novel features such as new lubricating oil circuit designs to provide reliable oil lubrication, and increase tiltability during operation. Also new multi-pump configurations of horizontal compressors are introduced in order to significantly increase redundancy, reliability, and turn down ratio. Rotary compressors may be configured with subsets of the disclosed features to configure those compressors for specific applications.

A compressor system can include a lubricant injection system useful to supply lubricant to an airend. The compressor system can include a variable lubricant flow valve which can be regulated by a controller on the basis of operating conditions of the compressor system. In one form the compressor system also includes an oil separator and/or an oil cooler with or without a them al control valve. The controller can have one or more modes of operation, including a mode in which the controller regulates the flow of lubricant to the airend to increase an internal flow area of the valve when the airend is operated at an unloaded or loaded condition. In some forms the controller can regulate the lubricant flow valve and/or the thermal control valve and/or the lubricant cooler.

A compressor system can include a lubricant injection system useful to supply lubricant to an airend. The compressor system can include a variable lubricant flow valve which can be regulated by a controller on the basis of operating conditions of the compressor system. In one form the compressor system also includes an oil separator and/or an oil cooler with or without a them al control valve. The controller can have one or more modes of operation, including a mode in which the controller regulates the flow of lubricant to the airend to increase an internal flow area of the valve when the airend is operated at an unloaded or loaded condition. In some forms the controller can regulate the lubricant flow valve and/or the thermal control valve and/or the lubricant cooler.

A compressor includes a driving motor, a centrifugation space, a discharge pipe, a rotary shaft, a compression portion, a pump assembly, and an oil pickup. The centrifugation space is defined inside a case by a downstream side of the driving motor and the case, and enables centrifugation of a compressed refrigerant and a lubricant oil. The discharge pipe can discharge the refrigerant from the centrifugation space outside the case. The rotary shaft is coupled to a rotor of the driving motor and defines an oil supply path. The compression portion is provided at an upstream side of the driving motor and can compress the refrigerant as the rotary shaft rotates. The pump assembly is provided below the rotary shaft and can pump oil as rotated with the rotary shaft. The oil pickup defines an oil supply path between the pump assembly and a low oil space formed inside the case.

The scroll compressor (1) includes a fixed scroll (7); an orbiting scroll (8); a support arrangement (5) including a thrust bearing surface (9) on which is slidably mounted the orbiting scroll (8); a rotation preventing device configured to prevent rotation of the orbiting scroll (8) with respect to the fixed scroll (7), the rotation preventing device including a plurality of orbital discs (28) respectively rotatably mounted in circular receiving cavities (29) provided on the support arrangement (5), each orbital disc (28) being provided with an outer circumferential bearing surface (31) configured to cooperate with an inner circumferential bearing surface (32) provided on the respective circular receiving cavity (29); and a lubrication system configured to lubricate the inner and outer circumferential bearing surfaces (32, 31) with oil supplied from an oil sump (36), the lubrication system including a plurality of oil reservoirs (43) each arranged in a bottom surface of a respective circular receiving cavity, and a plurality of oil stirring arrangements each configured to stir oil contained in a respective oil reservoir (43).

A compressor module includes: a rotational driving machine having an output shaft which is rotationally driven around an axis; a compressor which is disposed so as to be adjacent to the rotational driving machine in an axial direction in which the axis extends; a base plate which supports the rotational driving machine and the compressor from below in a vertical direction; and a storage tank which is configured to store a lubricating oil used in the rotational driving machine and the compressor. The storage tank has a tubular tank main body that is provided on an outer side of the base plate in a width direction and extends in a direction including the axial direction.

The disclosed invention provides an unmodified scroll compressor with enhanced oil management system that enables the compressor system to compress helium. The compressor system includes a standard scroll compressor, oil separator, and an adsorber. The compressor includes a housing containing an orbiting scroll and a stationary scroll, a motor, and an oil sump in a bottom of the housing. The stationary scroll has one or more injection ports, and the housing contains a single discharge port, a return port, and a single injection port connected to the injection ports of the stationary scroll. The oil separator receives a mixture of helium and oil from the discharge port. The compressor system further includes a line bringing a first fraction of oil from the oil separator to the injection port, one or more lines bringing a second fraction of oil to the return port along with helium. The adsorber retains a third fraction of oil.

In a vertical cylindrical hermetically sealed container, a rotary compressor includes a motor unit and a compression unit below the motor unit. The compression unit includes a shaft having an eccentric portion, a piston shaped to fit into the eccentric portion, a flat plate-shaped vane pressed against an outer circumferential surface of the piston, and a cylinder that accommodates the piston and the vane and forms a suction chamber and a compression chamber. The rotary compressor stores, in the hermetically sealed container, lubricating oil of which amount causes immersion of a part of the compression unit. The rotary compressor has a hollow portion on a lower end side of the shaft, and has an oil supply diagonal hole that is inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the shaft and causes the hollow portion and an upper end of the eccentric portion to communicate with each other.