HERMETICALLY ENCAPSULATED REFRIGERANT COMPRESSOR

Abstract

The hermetically encapsulated refrigerant compressor includes a cylinder, a reciprocating piston arranged in the cylinder and having a reciprocating piston axis, a valve plate comprising a suction valve opening and a discharge valve, a cylinder head on the side of the valve plate facing away from the cylinder, a cylinder head cover which has an outlet for compressed refrigerant, and a sound absorber. On the side of the valve plate facing away from the cylinder, a nozzle is arranged as an inlet for refrigerant to be drawn in, the nozzle having a first end arranged at the suction valve opening and a second end. The nozzle is inclined at a maximum angle of inclination of between −45° and +45° in relation to the reciprocating piston axis. The sound absorber has a housing with a suction opening into which the second end of the nozzle leads.

Claims

1.-8. (canceled)

9. A hermetically encapsulated refrigerant compressor comprising a cylinder formed in a cylinder block and having an open end, a reciprocating piston arranged in the cylinder and having a reciprocating piston axis along which the reciprocating piston reciprocates, a valve plate comprising a suction valve opening and a discharge valve, the valve plate being attached to the cylinder block at the open end of the cylinder, a cylinder head on the side of the valve plate facing away from the cylinder, the cylinder head defining a cylinder head space at least above a portion of the valve plate which contains the discharge valve, the cylinder head comprising a cylinder head cover which has an outlet for compressed refrigerant, wherein, on the side of the valve plate facing away from the cylinder, a nozzle is arranged as an inlet for refrigerant to be drawn in, the nozzle having a first end leading to the suction valve opening and a second end opposite to the first end, with the nozzle being inclined at a maximum angle of inclination of between −45° and +45° in relation to the reciprocating piston axis, and wherein the refrigerant compressor has a sound absorber arranged outside of the cylinder head and comprising a housing, the housing defining a cavity and a suction opening for refrigerant to be drawn into the cavity and a discharge opening for refrigerant to be discharged from the cavity being formed in the housing, the nozzle passing through the cylinder head cover or, if the cylinder head covers only a portion of the valve plate which contains the discharge valve, the nozzle being arranged outside of the cylinder head space, the second end of the nozzle leading to the cavity of the sound absorber through the discharge opening.

10. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the nozzle comprises a pipe section or a conical hollow body.

11. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the nozzle has a curved or kinked configuration, with the maximum angle of inclination of any portion of the nozzle ranging between −45° and +45° in relation to the reciprocating piston axis.

12. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the nozzle is integral with the cylinder head cover.

13. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the nozzle has a shape which essentially corresponds to the cross-sectional area of the suction valve opening, in particular an essentially circular or elliptical shape.

14. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the housing of the sound absorber is made of a synthetic material.

15. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the discharge opening is arranged in a side wall of the housing of the sound absorber, with the discharge opening being arranged in the upper half of a side wall of the housing of the sound absorber.

16. A refrigerant compressor according to claim 9, wherein the discharge opening is arranged in a top side or a bottom side of the housing of the sound absorber.

Description

[0022] The invention will now be explained in further detail on the basis of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the drawings.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a hermetically encapsulated refrigerant compressor with a cylinder head cover comprising a nozzle according to the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the refrigerant compressor depicted in FIG. 1.

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the cylinder head cover integral with the nozzle.

[0026] Hereinafter, reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2, which show a hermetically encapsulated refrigerant compressor 1 according to the invention. The refrigerant compressor 1 comprises a cylinder 3 formed in a cylinder block 2 and having an open end, a reciprocating piston 4 arranged in the cylinder 3, a valve plate 5 comprising a suction valve opening 6 and a discharge valve 7, the valve plate being attached to the cylinder block 2 at the open end of the cylinder 3, and a cylinder head 8 located above the valve plate 5 and defining a cylinder head space 9 around the side of the valve plate 5 facing away from the cylinder 3. The reciprocating piston 4 has a reciprocating piston axis 4a along which the reciprocating piston 4 reciprocates. The cylinder head 8 has a cylinder head cover 10 which has an inlet for refrigerant to be drawn in and an outlet for compressed refrigerant. A sound absorber 12 is connected to the inlet of the cylinder head cover in that the inlet for refrigerant to be drawn in is formed in the cylinder head cover 10 as a nozzle 11 passing through the cylinder head cover 10, with a first end 11a of the nozzle 11 being arranged at the suction valve opening 6 and a second end 11b of the nozzle 11 protruding from the cylinder head cover 10. However, the cylinder head 8 could also be configured such that it covers only a portion of the valve plate 5, said portion containing the discharge valve 7. It is also not necessary for the nozzle 11 to pass through the cylinder head cover 10, but it could also be arranged outside of the cylinder head space 9, i.e., to the side, above or below the cylinder head cover 10. The nozzle 11 can be designed in one piece with the cylinder head cover 10. As an alternative, the nozzle 11 and the cylinder head cover 10 can be designed as separate components. It is also possible to design the nozzle 11 in several parts, with a one-piece design being preferred. In the present case, the nozzle 11 is designed as a straight pipe section and has a longitudinal axis 11c which can be arranged at an angle of inclination a of between −45° and +45° in relation to the reciprocating piston axis 4a, wherein the angle of inclination a between the longitudinal axis 11c of the nozzle 11 and the reciprocating piston axis 4a is 0° in the illustrated exemplary embodiment, i.e., the nozzle 11 is arranged in parallel to the reciprocating piston axis 4a. Depending on the position of the suction valve opening 6 in the valve plate 5, a coaxial arrangement of the nozzle 11 in relation to the reciprocating piston axis 4a is also provided in alternative embodiments of the invention. The nozzle 11 could also be designed as a conical hollow body and/or could have a curved or kinked design, with the maximum angle of inclination a of each portion of the nozzle 11 in relation to the reciprocating piston axis 4a also being between −45° and +45° in such an embodiment.

[0027] The sound absorber 12 has a housing 12a defining a cavity 12d. In the housing 12a of the sound absorber 12, a suction opening 12b for refrigerant to be drawn into the cavity 12d and a discharge opening 12c for refrigerant to be discharged from the cavity 12d are formed. In this exemplary embodiment of the refrigerant compressor 1, the discharge opening 12c is arranged in a side wall of the housing 12a of the sound absorber 12. In the installation position of the sound absorber 12, the discharge opening 12c is in this case located in the upper half, more precisely in this exemplary embodiment in the upper third of a side wall of the housing 12a of the sound absorber 12. The second end 11b of the nozzle 11 leads through the discharge opening 12c into the cavity 12d of the sound absorber 12, wherein, in the illustrated embodiment, the second end 11b of the nozzle 11 protrudes through the discharge opening 12c of the sound absorber 12 into the cavity 12d of the sound absorber. The first end 11a of the nozzle 11 rests directly on the suction valve opening 6 of the valve plate 5.

[0028] The nozzle 11 preferably has a shape adapted to the cross-sectional area of the suction valve opening 6, e.g., a substantially circular or elliptical shape or combinations thereof. For example, the nozzle 11 can be shaped like a mouth, as can be seen in FIG. 3, wherein the ends 11a, 11b of the nozzle 11 can each be shaped differently from one another. For example, the first end 11a of the nozzle 11 can have a mouth-shaped design, and the second end 11b can have a circular design.

[0029] The cylinder head cover 10 and the nozzle 11 are preferably designed as an integral unit, which can be produced by injection moulding, for example. If the nozzle 11 and the cylinder head cover 10 are designed separately, the cylinder head cover 10 can be connected to the nozzle 11 by means of a non-positive connection, e.g., a press fit, or by screw threads or gluing. The material of the nozzle 11 is preferably a metal or a metal alloy, e.g., aluminium or an aluminium alloy, but can also be another material known from the prior art, such as, e.g., a synthetic material, which optionally is fibre-reinforced. The cylinder head cover 10 is preferably made of the same material as the nozzle 11.

[0030] In the illustrated embodiment, the sound absorber 12 is arranged at the second end 11b of the nozzle 11 which is opposite to the valve plate 5, wherein the nozzle 11 can be several centimetres, e.g. up to 10 cm, long and can protrude from the cylinder head cover 10 for a length of several centimetres, e.g. up to 5 cm. The second end 11b of the nozzle 11 which faces away from the valve plate 5 is thereby arranged at the discharge opening 12c of the sound absorber 12 and has a shape of its external surface which is adapted to the contour of the discharge opening 12c, whereby the second end 11b of the nozzle 11 can be inserted through the discharge opening 12c of the housing 12a of the sound absorber 12 into the cavity 12d of the housing 12a of the sound absorber 12 in an essentially sealing manner. The sound absorber 12 is preferably connected to the nozzle 11 by means of a non-positive connection, in particular by means of a press fit, in such a way that a tight connection is created. In the simplest case, this connection can be established by attaching the sound absorber 12 to the nozzle 11. Alternatively, the sound absorber 12 can also be integrally bonded to the nozzle 11, e.g., by gluing or welding, in which case the sound absorber 12 and the nozzle 11 are preferably made of the same material. However, for reasons of sound pressure dampening and thermal insulation of the refrigerant, the material of the sound absorber 12 is preferably a synthetic material. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the sound absorber 12 is shown schematically as having a simple cuboid shape. However, the sound absorber 12 can, of course, also have other shapes, which, on the one hand, result from the shape of the other parts of the refrigerant compressor 1 and, on the other hand, are configured in such a way that the sound absorber 12 has a volume of its cavity 12d that is as large as possible.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the cylinder head cover 10 comprising the nozzle 11. The cylinder head cover 10 having a circular design is connected to the cylinder head 8, which also has a circular design, by means of a non-positive connection, in particular a screw connection, whereas, alternatively, they can also be materially interconnected, e.g., by means of a weld joint. Both the cylinder head cover 10 and the cylinder head 8 can have a shape which deviates from the circular cross-sectional shape, with the cylinder head cover 10 and the cylinder head 8 preferably having the same cross-sectional shape. In addition, a seal not shown in the figures, e.g., an O-ring, can be arranged on the surface 10a of the cylinder head cover 10 which faces the valve plate 5 in order to tightly connect the cylinder head cover 10 to the cylinder head 8.