PISTON MACHINE, MODULAR CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM FOR A PISTON MACHINE, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A PISTON MACHINE

Abstract

The invention relates to a modular construction system for a piston machine (100), comprising at least two separate housing parts capable of being joined together into a housing (1) of the piston machine (100), a piston (15) which is configured as a swivel element, is pivotable and is able to be arranged in the housing (1), and a housing cover (7) for covering the housing (1). The piston machine (100) is in particular configured as a modular construction system, the components of which are formed by multiple segments and joined together in a horizontal and a vertical direction in each case. The invention further relates to a piston machine (100) produced using the modular construction system and to a method for producing a piston machine (100).

Claims

1. A piston machine, comprising: a piston, which is mounted in a manner capable of swiveling about a swivel axis in a working chamber having at least one inlet opening and at least one outlet opening; wherein the piston is operatively connected to at least one rotatably mounted shaft; wherein the working chamber is formed by a plurality of housing parts, wherein a cross-section of the working chamber perpendicular to the swivel axis is delimited by at least two separate side walls, wherein at least two separate side walls are arranged axially in sequence in relation to the swivel axis.

2. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the working chamber is delimited on a front side by a housing cover and on the back side by an end wall in relation to the swivel axis, on a top side by a arcuate wall and on a bottom side by a bearing shell in relation to the swivel axis, wherein the side walls extend between the housing cover, the end wall the arcuate wall and the bearing shell, wherein the housing cover and the end wall are each formed by at least two separate segments which are each arranged in sequence in a vertical direction extending between the arcuate wall and the bearing shell, and wherein the arcuate wall is formed by at least two separate segments, which are each arranged axially in sequence.

3. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the piston machine is configured as a multi-stage piston machine, wherein provision is made of multiple compressor stages, wherein the vertical extensions of the side walls configured axially in sequence of each compressor stage differ from one another.

4. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein provision is made of two pistons which form a common working chamber, wherein the two pistons, which are designed to be pivotable, are capable of swiveling between a first position, in which the pistons are arranged at a minimum distance to each other, but without contact, and a second position, in which the pistons are at a maximum distance from each other, wherein the pistons are offset by 180°.

5. The piston machine of claim 4, wherein at least two cooling apertures are provided in the common working chamber in such a way that the two cooling apertures are open in the second position.

6. The piston machine of claim 5, wherein the two cooling apertures are closed in the first position.

7. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein provision is made of three pistons and of three cooling apertures assigned to the respective pistons, wherein a first piston and a second piston are arranged at a minimum distance, but without contact, to each other in a first position, whereas a third piston is arranged at a maximum distance from the second piston in the first position, and wherein the second piston and the third piston are arranged at a minimum distance, but without contact, to each other in a second position, whereas the first piston is arranged at a maximum distance from the second piston in the second position.

8. The piston machine o of claim 7, wherein the cooling aperture assigned to the first piston is closed in the first position, whereas the cooling aperture assigned to the second piston and the cooling aperture assigned to the third piston are open, wherein the cooling aperture assigned to the third piston is closed in the second position, whereas the cooling aperture assigned to the second piston and the cooling aperture assigned to the first piston are open.

9. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein at least two separate side walls are identically constructed.

10. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the at least one working chamber is delimited along the swivel axis of the piston by an end wall and a cover.

11. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the working chamber is delimited transversely with respect to the swivel axis by a bearing shell, two separate side walls and an arcuate side wall.

12. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the side walls delimiting the cross-section of the working chamber perpendicular to the swivel axis are each formed by a plurality of identical housing parts, which are arranged axially in sequence in each case.

13. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the at least two separate side walls are detachably interconnected.

14. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein the at least two separate side walls are arranged symmetrically to a plane which extends perpendicularly to the swivel plane and along the longitudinal axis of the piston in a neutral position.

15. The piston machine of claim 1, wherein all housing parts are arranged symmetrically to a plane which extends perpendicularly to the swivel plane and along the longitudinal axis of the piston in a neutral position.

Description

[0103] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to appended drawings. Shown are

[0104] FIG. 1 a frontal view of a cross section of a piston machine without a loop drive according to one embodiment variant of the invention;

[0105] FIG. 2 a frontal view of another cross section of a piston machine having a loop drive according to another embodiment variant of the invention;

[0106] FIG. 3a a side view of the piston machine of FIG. 2 with vertical and horizontal segments;

[0107] FIG. 3b a perspective illustration of the piston machine of FIG. 2 with vertical and horizontal segments;

[0108] FIG. 3c a side view of a multi-stage piston machine according to another embodiment variant of the invention with vertical and horizontal segments;

[0109] FIG. 4 a view from above of a piston of the piston machine of FIGS. 2-3a with vertical and horizontal segments;

[0110] FIG. 5 a view of a cross section of another piston machine having a loop drive in the housing, with oil lubrication and a working chamber;

[0111] FIG. 6 a view of a cross section of another piston machine having a loop drive in the piston and two working chambers;

[0112] FIG. 7 a view of a cross section of a piston machine having two pistons and three chambers in a first operating state;

[0113] FIG. 8 a view of a cross section of the piston machine of FIG. 7 in a second operating state;

[0114] FIG. 9 a view of a cross section of another piston machine having two pistons, two lateral cooling apertures and only one central chamber in a first operating state;

[0115] FIG. 10 a view of a cross section of the piston machine of FIG. 9 in a second operating state;

[0116] FIG. 11 a view of a cross section of another piston machine having two pistons, two cooling apertures and three chambers;

[0117] FIG. 12a a view of a cross section of another piston machine having two pistons, two lateral and upper cooling apertures and one chamber in a first operating state;

[0118] FIG. 12b a view of a cross section of another piston machine having two pistons, two lateral and upper cooling apertures and one chamber in a second operating state;

[0119] FIG. 13 a view of a cross section of another piston machine having two dual pistons and seven chambers;

[0120] FIG. 14 a view of a cross section of another piston machine having three pistons and four chambers;

[0121] FIG. 15a a view of a cross section of another piston machine having three pistons, three cooling apertures and two chambers in a first operating state, and

[0122] FIG. 15b a view of a cross section of another piston machine having three pistons, three cooling apertures and two chambers in a second operating state.

[0123] Functionally identical and recurring elements are designated with the same reference symbols in the figures.

[0124] With the invention, provision is made of a modular construction system for producing a piston machine 100. The modular construction system comprises multiple separate housing parts capable of being joined together into a housing 1 of the piston machine 100, at least one piston 15, which is configured as a pivot element, is pivotable and is able to be arranged in the housing 1, and a housing cover 7 for covering the housing 1. Various embodiments of piston machines 100 produced using the modular construction system of the invention are described in FIGS. 1-15 and in the corresponding description of the figures. For example, the piston machines known from publications DE 10 2010 036 977 B3, DE 10 2014 214 435 A1, DE 10 2008 040 574 B4 and WO 2015/173255 A1 can be produced using the modular construction system of this document.

[0125] In the following, reference shall be initially made to FIGS. 1-3. FIGS. 1-3 show an oscillating piston machine 100, which comprises a housing 1 and a gearbox housing 4. The housing 1 forms a working chamber 2, in which a piston 15 is arranged. The chamber 2 has a circular sector-shaped cross section and is delimited in a manner corresponding to the shape of a cylinder sector by two side walls 5, 6 arranged at an angle α of ca. 50° to 60° to each other, an end wall 10, a housing cover 7, a wall 8 having a circularly arc-shaped cross section and a rotary cylinder 9. A bearing shell 3 attaches to the ends of the side walls 5, 6 opposite the arcuate wall 8.

[0126] The rotary cylinder 9 is arranged in the bearing shell 3 in such a way that it can rotate about a swivel axis 14. A piston 15 configured as a swivel plate is fix-connected to or integrally molded on the rotary cylinder 9 such that the piston 15 can be made to swivel about the swivel axis 14, about the swivel angle α. The piston 15, which is typically configured as a hollow body, is situated in the working chamber 2 and sealingly abuts with a top edge 26 on an inner surface of the arched circular-arc-shaped wall 8. The top edge 26 of the piston 15 is circularly arc-shaped in cross section. Inlet valves 22, 24 and outlet valves 23, 25 are formed in each case in both side walls 5, 6 of the chamber 2. A swivel movement of the piston 15 defines a swivel plane, the end wall 10 and the housing cover 7 opposite the end wall 10 being oriented parallel to the swivel plane. In a manner analogous to the piston machine 100 shown in FIG. 9, it is also possible to dispense with one or both side walls 5, 6.

[0127] The gearbox housing 4 is arranged parallel to the working chamber 2 and to the piston 15 and also parallel to the housing cover 7 and to the end wall 10. A swivel lever 16, which has a guide slot or loop 17 extending over the length thereof, is arranged in the gearbox housing 4. A crankpin 18 of a crankshaft 19 mounted rotatably in the gearbox housing 4 engages in the loop 17. The drive can also be designed differently.

[0128] FIG. 5 shows a view of a cross section of another piston machine 100, which was produced using the modular construction system. The piston machine 100 of FIG. 5 differs from the piston machine 100 shown in FIGS. 1-3 only in that the gearbox housing 4 attaches to the bearing shell 3 in a radial direction rather than adjoining the housing cover 7. The gearbox housing 4 has an oil sump 12 for lubricating the crank mechanism, i.e., the loop 17 and the crankpin 18 sliding therein. The working chamber 2 is hermetically sealed with respect to the gearbox housing 4 by means of sealing strips 13 integrated in the bearing shell. The piston 15 and the swivel lever 16 are rigidly attached diametrically opposite each other to the rotary cylinder 9.

[0129] FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment of a piston machine 100 produced using the modular construction system and configured with two working chambers 2 extending oppositely from the rotary cylinder 9. The dual piston swivel plates 15, 15′ associated with each working chamber 2 and driven synchronously in respectively opposite directions are mounted opposite one another on the rotary cylinder 9. The connecting rod 16 is an integral component of the piston 15′ configured with a loop 17 (guide slot), which rod has a correspondingly greater thickness and thus also a correspondingly larger dimensioning of the working chamber 2′, as FIG. 6 shows. The drive can also be designed differently.

[0130] The housing 1 and the piston 15, 15′ of the piston machines 100 described above can be made of diverse materials such as a metal, a ceramic material or a plastic.

[0131] The piston machines 100 described above can operate as reciprocating pumps or reciprocating compressors, as follows, and can also function as compressed-gas motors, which are not described in the function here:

[0132] During the rotary movement of the crankshaft 19, the crankpin 18 slides in the loop 17 of the swivel lever 16, which thus executes a swivel movement and transmits this swivel movement to the piston 15, 15′.

[0133] As the piston 15 swivels from the position shown in FIG. 1, 5 or 6 at the left side wall 5 of the chamber 2 to the right side wall 6, the left inlet valve 22 and the right outlet valve 25 are opened, whereas the left outlet valve 23 and the right inlet valve 24 are closed. A previously aspirated fluid is thus expelled from the chamber 2 via the right outlet valve 25. On the other side, a working fluid is aspirated via the left inlet valve 22 and then expelled as the piston continues to swivel with the left inlet valve 22 closed and the left outlet valve 23 open, whereas on the right side, fluid is aspirated via the inlet valve 24. The piston 15 therefore operates as a dual piston with two working surfaces 129 and 130.

[0134] Alternatively, provision can be made such that, for example, the crankpin 18 of the crankshaft 19 engages in a connecting rod eye of a swivel lever articulatingly connected to the piston 15. However, use can also be made of alternative drives or outputs. The drive or output of the piston machine 100 is thus not limited to the illustrated embodiments.

[0135] For the operating principle of the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 1-6, reference is also made by way of example to publications DE 10 2010 036 977 B3, DE 10 2014 214 435 A1, DE 10 2008 040 574 B4 and WO 2015/173255 A1, which are made part of the present document.

[0136] According to one embodiment of the invention, the housing 1 of the piston machine 100 comprises at least two separate, interconnected housing parts.

[0137] In FIG. 1, it is indicated that the side walls 5, 6, the bearing shell 3, the arcuate wall 8 and the end wall 10 form separate housing parts, which are assembled into the housing 1 shown in FIG. 1. Also, the arcuate wall 8, the side walls 5, 6 and the bearing shell 3 are each of multi-part construction. Accordingly, the arcuate wall 8 can have a plurality of wall parts 28, the side walls 5, 6 can each have a plurality of side wall parts 29 and the bearing shell 3 can have a plurality of bearing shell parts 30. In a preferred embodiment, the number of wall parts 28, the number of side wall parts 29 and the number of bearing shell parts 30 are equal. As indicated in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the wall parts 28, the side wall parts 29 and the bearing shell parts 30 is able to be arranged in sequence in the manner of discs in an axial direction.

[0138] In the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4, the arcuate wall 8 has three separate wall parts 28, the side wall 5 comprises three separate side wall parts 29, the side wall 6 comprises three separate side wall parts (not illustrated) and the bearing shell 3 comprises three separate bearing shell parts 30. As can be discerned from FIGS. 3a and 3b, the wall parts 28, the side wall parts 29 and the bearing shell parts 30 are each arranged along the swivel axis 14 in an axial direction. Accordingly, 12 individual housing parts are situated between the housing cover 7 and the end wall 10.

[0139] Overall, the housing 1 of the piston machine 100 thus comprises three wall parts 28, six side wall parts 29 (each side wall 5 and 6 having three), three bearing shell parts 30 and an end wall 10 such that the housing 1 is constructed from 13 interconnected individual parts. The number of housing parts used can vary in different embodiments and is in particular not limited to 13.

[0140] Due to the modular construction of the housing 1, individual housing parts can be economically produced and replaced as needed. Furthermore, a volume of the housing 1, in particular a volume of the chamber 2, can be reduced or enlarged by omitting or by adding housing parts, respectively.

[0141] According to one embodiment, the piston 15 furthermore has at least two interconnected piston parts 20.

[0142] In one embodiment, the number of piston parts 20 is equal to the number of wall parts 28, the number of side wall parts 29 and/or the number of bearing shell parts 30; the number of piston parts 20 being three in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3. The number of piston parts 20 can also be less than or greater than three. A volume of the chamber 2 can be modified by varying the number of piston parts 20 and/or housing parts.

[0143] The left inlet valve 22, the left outlet valve 23, the right inlet valve 24 and the right outlet valve 25 can also be discerned in the perspective illustration of the piston machine of FIG. 3b. It can furthermore be discerned that the housing cover is formed by the segments 7, 7′, 7″, which extend vertically in sequence. Moreover, the arcuate wall, which is arranged on the top side and in which the valves 22, 23, 24 and 25 are inserted, is subdivided axially and horizontally into 3 segments in each case. The same applies to the bearing shell 3, which is subdivided axially into three segments 30 in each case. The (right) side wall is subdivided into 3 segments arranged axially in sequence and into 3 segments arranged vertically in sequence, in other words into 9 segments in total; segments arranged vertically in sequence being designated with the reference symbols 6, 6′ and 6″. The same applies in analogous manner to the left side wall 7 not shown in FIG. 3b.

[0144] FIG. 3c shows a side view of a piston machine according to an alternative embodiment variant of the invention. The piston machine of the embodiment variant of FIG. 3c essentially corresponds to the piston machine according to the embodiment variant of FIGS. 1 to 3b. However, the piston machine of the embodiment variant of

[0145] FIG. 3c comprises multiple compressor stages 71, 71′ and 71″, which each correspond to separate side walls 6, 6′ and 6″with different vertical extensions, whereas the separate side walls 29 of the piston machine according to the embodiment variant of FIGS. 1 to 3b are each equal in size (vertically).

[0146] According to the embodiment variant of FIG. 3c, in particular the vertical extensions of the side walls 6, 6′, 6″ arranged axially in sequence differ from one another. It is thus preferred if the vertical extension of the side walls 6, 6′, 6″ along the axis 14, preferably from the end wall 10 to the cover 7, diminishes with each segment 6, 6′, 6″.

[0147] Because the piston machine according to the embodiment variant of FIGS. 1 to 3b can easily be converted to the piston machine of the embodiment variant of FIG. 3c, the advantage of the modular construction is obvious.

[0148] A view of a longitudinal section of the piston 15 and of the rotary cylinder 9 of FIGS. 1 to 3 is shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, it can be discerned that the piston 15 has three piston parts 20, which are interconnected to form the piston 15. The rotary cylinder 9 also has rotary cylinder parts 21, which are each connected to the piston parts 20. The rotary cylinder parts 21 are fastened to one another in a disc-like manner and jointly form the rotary cylinder 9. The swivel axis 14 is also indicated in FIG. 4. The piston parts 20 and the rotary cylinder parts 21 are arranged axially in sequence along the swivel axis 14. In another embodiment, each piston part 20 comprises a plurality of radial piston parts 31 arranged in a radial direction; the radial piston parts 31 are indicated by dashes in FIG. 3a.

[0149] The housing parts, the piston parts 20 and the rotary cylinder parts 21 have means such as pins, tongue-and-groove connections or the like for joining, fastening and fixing the components. In addition or as an alternative to said connection methods, the piston parts 20 and/or housing parts can be bonded, welded or soldered together. To this end, the piston parts 20, rotary cylinder parts 21 and/or housing parts can have designated welding points, bonding points or soldering points.

[0150] In comparison to the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 1-5, the piston machines 100 depicted in FIGS. 7-15 have at least one further piston 15″, which is configured as a swivel element, is pivotable and arranged in the housing 1. The pistons 15 and 15″ are driven synchronously and in parallel, opposite directions in each case, and a swivel axis 14′ of the piston 15″ runs parallel to the swivel axis 14 of the piston 15.

[0151] For the method of operation of the multi-piston piston machine of FIGS. 7-15, reference is made to, for example, publications DE 10 2010 036 977 B3 and WO 2015/173255 A1, wherein the disclosed content of these publications is made part of the present application. In order to avoid redundancy, features that have already been explained in conjunction with the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 1-6 shall not be discussed in any further detail in the following. Features of the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 1-6 can be combined with the features of the piston machines of FIGS. 7-15 and vice versa.

[0152] As in the embodiments of FIGS. 1-6, the housing 1 of the piston machines of FIGS. 7-12 is in multi-part form, i.e., the housing 1 comprises multiple interconnected housing parts.

[0153] In addition to the housing parts mentioned above, the housing 1 can comprise a bearing shell 3′, a side wall 5′, a arcuate wall 8′, a rotary cylinder 9′, an inlet valve 22′, an outlet valve 23′, an inlet valve 24′ and/or an outlet valve 25′, inter alia.

[0154] The arcuate wall 8′ and the bearing shell 3 are configured as a first chamber head section 60. In addition, the arcuate wall 8 and the bearing shell 3′ are configured as a second chamber head section. The chamber head sections 60, 62 comprise multiple one-piece discs, which are arranged axially in sequence in a manner analogous to that of the wall parts 28, the side wall parts 29 and the bearing shell parts 30 of FIG. 3a. The number of axial discs of a chamber head section 60, 62 is exactly equal to the number of piston parts 20. As can be discerned in the figures, the two chamber head sections 60, 62 can have the same shape.

[0155] Like the piston 15 or the rotary cylinder 9, the piston 15″ or the rotary cylinder 9′ can also be in multi-part form. For the details of the multi-part piston 15″ and of the multi-part rotary cylinder 9′, reference is made to FIG. 4 and to the corresponding description above.

[0156] In comparison to the piston machine of FIGS. 7-8, the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 9 to 12b have cooling apertures 70 in the housing 1 for convectively cooling the piston or the housing 1. The cooling aperture 70 can be a gap in the housing 1, which extends in an axial direction. To form the cooling aperture 70 or the gap, housing parts can be spaced apart from one another. Accordingly, the piston machine shown in FIG. 11 comprises chamber head sections 60 or 62 and arcuate walls 8′ or 8 spaced apart therefrom; the cooling apertures 70 being arranged between the chamber head section 62 and the wall 8 or between the chamber head section 60 and the wall 8′. The piston machines 100 shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 6 can optionally also have one or multiple cooling apertures.

[0157] According to the embodiments of FIGS. 9, 10 and 12b, the cooling aperture can also be formed by omitting at least one of the side walls. Accordingly, the side walls 5 and 5′ were dispensed with in the embodiment of the piston machine 100 of FIGS. 9 and 10 in order to form cooling apertures 70 and to cool the pistons 15 and 15″ laterally. A working medium enters the working chamber via the inlet valve 24′ and is expelled via the outlet valve 25′.

[0158] As can be discerned from FIGS. 12a and 12b, the pistons 15 and 15″ move between a first position, in which the pistons 15 and 15″ are at a minimum distance from each other, but without contact, and a second position, in which the pistons 15 and 15″ are at a maximum distance from each other. The piston machine is configured in such a way that the pistons 15 and 15″ are always offset by 180° in relation to each other.

[0159] Further details on the cooling apertures 70 are described in publication WO2015/173255 A1, of which the disclosed content is made part of the present document.

[0160] Two further examples of piston machines 100 having four pistons 15, 15′, 15″, 15′″ (FIG. 3a) or having three pistons 15, 15′ (FIG. 4), respectively, are shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. The piston machine 100 of FIG. 13 is a combination of the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 6 and 7. The piston machine 100 of FIG. 14 represents an upgrade of the piston machine 100 of FIG. 7. The piston machines 100 of FIGS. 13 and 14 make it possible to create multiple working chambers A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, which can each operate simultaneously as pumps, compressors, compressed-gas motors and/or expansion motors. The pistons 15, 15′, 15″ and 15′″ can have different lengths, which makes it possible to provide working chambers A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11 having different sized volumes. The piston machines can thus be operated as, e.g., multi-stage compressors or multi-stage vacuum pumps. Furthermore, the working chambers A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11 of the piston machines 100 of FIGS. 13 and/or 14 can each be different sizes in an axial direction.

[0161] As can be discerned in FIGS. 13 and 14, different housing parts can be combined into single parts. Accordingly, a side wall part, a arcuate wall and a part of a bearing shell are assembled into a housing part 64 in FIG. 13. In FIG. 14, two arcuate walls and a bearing shell are combined into a housing part 66. Also in FIG. 14, two bearing shells and a arcuate wall are joined into a housing part 68. The housing parts 64, 66, 68 can each have multiple interconnected discs in an axial direction.

[0162] FIGS. 15a and 15b show a view of a cross section of a further piston machine having three pistons, three cooling apertures, and two chambers with different positions of the pistons 15, 15′ and 15″in each case.

[0163] The piston machine 100 has three pistons 15, 15′ and 15″, which jointly form two working chambers A12 and A13 with the housing parts 66, 68 and the three cooling apertures 70. In a first work step starting from the piston positions of FIG. 15b, the pistons 15 and 15′ move toward each other in order to compress the working chamber A12 with the inlet valve 24 and the outlet valve 25. In this step, the piston 15″, starting from the piston positions of FIG. 15b, swivels away from the piston 15′ (i.e., outwardly to the right) such that in a neutral position (FIG. 15a), the bottom cooling aperture 70 is briefly closed by the piston 15′ and the right cooling aperture 70 and the left cooling aperture 70 are also briefly closed by the pistons 15 and 15′, respectively. The pistons 15 and 15′ then continue to swivel towards each other such that they have a minimum distance from each other (end position opposite the end position of FIG. 15b, not illustrated). In this process, the bottom cooling aperture 70 and the right (or left) cooling aperture 70 are opened (end position of FIG. 15b or opposite end position—not illustrated). The working chamber A12 can thus be cooled in a particularly effective manner during the compression of the working chamber A13 (FIG. 15b) or conversely, the working chamber A13 can be cooled in a particularly effective manner during the compression of the working chamber A12 (not illustrated). It is thus possible to dispense with additional cooling means (e.g., active cooling systems).

[0164] The piston machines disclosed in the preceding were described according to an aspect of the invention as multi-part piston machines, i.e., the working chamber is formed by a plurality of housing parts. However, according to another aspect of the invention it is possible for all of the piston machines disclosed herein to have a one-piece working chamber. Although it may not be possible to produce the latter using the modular construction system explained herein, these piston machines can achieve the other advantages disclosed in the application.

[0165] The invention also provides a method for producing the piston machines 100 shown in FIGS. 1-15. The method comprises at least the following steps: [0166] Provision of at least two separate interconnectable housing parts, [0167] Provision of at least two separate interconnectable piston parts 20, 31, [0168] Provision of a housing cover 10, [0169] Joining of said housing parts into a housing 1, [0170] Arrangement of the piston parts 20, 31 in the housing 1, [0171] Formation of a piston 15, which is configured as a swivel element, is pivotable and arranged in the housing 1, by means of the piston parts 20 and [0172] Closing of the housing 1 by means of the housing cover 10 in order to form the piston machine 100.

[0173] Additional steps may be added in order to produce the specific features of the piston machines 100 shown in FIGS. 1-15.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0174] 1 Housing [0175] 2 Chamber [0176] 3 Bearing shell [0177] 3′ Bearing shell [0178] 4 Gearbox housing [0179] 4′ Gearbox housing (segment) [0180] 4″ Gearbox housing (segment) [0181] 5 Left side wall [0182] 5′ Side wall [0183] 6 Right side wall [0184] 6′ Right side wall [0185] 6″ Right side wall [0186] 7 Housing cover [0187] 7′ Housing cover (segment) [0188] 7″ Housing cover (segment) [0189] 8 arcuate wall [0190] 8′ arcuate wall [0191] 9 Rotary cylinder [0192] 9′ Rotary cylinder [0193] 10 End wall [0194] 10′ End wall [0195] 10″ End wall [0196] 11 Crank radius [0197] 12 Oil sump [0198] 13 Sealing strip [0199] 14 Swivel axis [0200] 14′ Swivel axis [0201] 15 Piston [0202] 15′ Piston [0203] 15″ Piston [0204] 15′″ Piston [0205] 16 Swivel lever [0206] 17 Loop [0207] 18 Crankpin [0208] 19 Crankshaft [0209] 20 Piston part [0210] 21 Rotary cylinder part [0211] 22 Left inlet valve [0212] 22′ Inlet valve [0213] 23 Left outlet valve [0214] 23′ Outlet valve [0215] 24 Right inlet valve [0216] 24′ Inlet valve [0217] 25 Right outlet valve [0218] 25′ Outlet valve [0219] 26 Top edge of the piston [0220] 27 Shaft [0221] 28 Wall part [0222] 29 Side wall part [0223] 30 Bearing shell part [0224] 31 Piston part [0225] 60 Chamber head section [0226] 62 Chamber head section [0227] 64 Housing part [0228] 66 Housing part [0229] 68 Housing part [0230] 70 Cooling aperture [0231] 71 Compressor stage 1 [0232] 71′ Compressor stage 2 [0233] 71″ Compressor stage 3 [0234] 100 Piston machine [0235] 129 Working surface [0236] 130 Working surface [0237] α Swivel angle [0238] A1 Working chamber [0239] A2 Working chamber [0240] A3 Working chamber [0241] A4 Working chamber [0242] A5 Working chamber [0243] A6 Working chamber [0244] A7 Working chamber [0245] A8 Working chamber [0246] A9 Working chamber [0247] A10 Working chamber [0248] A11 Working chamber [0249] A12 Working chamber [0250] A13 Working chamber