Air Compressor

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/356,685, filed on Jul. 21, 2023, (CU-76068-FG), the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to an air compressor, and particularly relates to an air compressor that is mounted on a tank.

In the traditional two-stage compressor, the motor is directly connected to the crank and connecting rod mechanism of the compressor. Under high load conditions, the motor torque needs to be increased to meet the high load conditions, so that the cost of the motor and the whole machine will be greatly increased.

Therefore, there is a need to have a better and efficient compressed air control device with a high pressure air output and high torque.

In one aspect, one embodiment discloses an air compressor. The air compressor comprises a pair of pistons, a motor, a flywheel, a pulley, and a crankshaft. Each piston is reciprocable in a corresponding one of the cylinders so as to reciprocate along the axis of the corresponding cylinder to vary a working volume of the cylinder. The motor comprises an output shaft. The pully transmits torque from said output shaft to said flywheel so as to rotate said flywheel about said axis upon rotation of said output shaft. The crankshaft interconnects said flywheel with said piston so as to reciprocate said piston in said cylinder upon rotation of said flywheel. The diameter of the pulley is smaller than that of said flywheel.

Optionally in any aspect, the ratio between the diameter of the pulley and that of flywheel is about 27:104.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor further comprises a drive belt transmitting torque from said output shaft to said flywheel.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor further comprises a bearing supporting said flywheel for rotation about an axis.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor further comprises a shaft extending along said axis between said flywheel and said bearing, wherein said shaft has a first end portion and a second end portion.

Optionally in any aspect, said first end portion is journaled in said bearing for rotation about said axis.

Optionally in any aspect, the second end portion is received within a bore in said flywheel.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor further comprises a connecting rod, wherein the piston is configured to connect to one end of the connecting rod.

Optionally in any aspect, the cylinders have at least one low pressure cylinder and a high pressure cylinder.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor may further comprise a conduit connecting the low pressure cylinder and the high pressure cylinder.

In further another aspect, one embodiment discloses an air compressor. The air compressor comprises at least two separate cylinder housings, a pair of pistons, a motor, a flywheel, a pulley, and a drive belt. The at least two separate cylinder housings have each cylinder housing defining a cylinder with an axis. The axes are parallel and spaced apart. The pair of pistons with each piston is reciprocable in a corresponding one of the cylinders so as to reciprocate along the axis of the corresponding cylinder to vary a working volume of the cylinder. The motor has an output shaft. The pulley is on the output shaft of the motor. The drive belt connecting the pulley and flywheel. The drive belt transmits torque from said output shaft to said flywheel so as to rotate said flywheel about said axis upon rotation of said output shaft.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor further comprises a crank shaft interconnecting said flywheel with said piston so as to reciprocate said piston in said cylinder upon rotation of said flywheel.

Optionally in any aspect, the diameter of the pulley is smaller than that of said flywheel.

Optionally in any aspect, the ratio between the diameter of the pulley and that of flywheel is about 27:104.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor further comprises a shaft extending along said axis between said flywheel and said bearing.

Optionally in any aspect, the air compressor may further comprise a connecting rod, wherein the piston is configured to connect to one end of the connecting rod.

Optionally in any aspect, the shaft has a first end portion and a second end portion, said first end portion is journaled in said bearing for rotation about said axis, wherein the second end portion is received within a bore in said flywheel.

In still further another aspect, one embodiment discloses an air compressor. The air compressor comprises at least two separate cylinder housings, a pair of pistons, a distribution valve unit. Each cylinder housing may define a cylinder with an axis. The axes are parallel and spaced apart. Each piston is reciprocable in a corresponding one of the cylinders so as to reciprocate along the axis of the corresponding cylinder to vary a working volume of the cylinder. The motor has an output shaft. The pulley is on the output shaft of the motor. The drive belt connects the pulley and flywheel. The drive belt transmits torque from said output shaft to said flywheel so as to rotate said flywheel about said axis upon rotation of said output shaft. The crank shaft interconnects said flywheel with said piston so as to reciprocate said piston in said cylinder upon rotation of said flywheel.

In still further another aspect, one embodiment discloses an air compressor. The air compressor comprises a pair of pistons, each piston being reciprocable in a corresponding one of the cylinders so as to reciprocate along the axis of the corresponding cylinder to vary a working volume of the cylinder; a motor having an output shaft; a flywheel; a pulley on the output shaft of the motor; a drive belt connecting the pulley and flywheel, wherein the drive belt transmits torque from said output shaft to said flywheel so as to rotate said flywheel about said axis upon rotation of said output shaft.

In yet further another aspect, one embodiment discloses an air compressor. The air compressor comprises a motor having an output shaft; a flywheel; a pulley on the output shaft of the motor, a shaft extending along an axis between said flywheel and a bearing; and a connecting rod, wherein a piston is configured to connect to one end of the connecting rod.

The invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, and reagents described herein because they may vary. Further, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities or qualities, properties used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques.

Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters set forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measures.

As used herein, the term “about” means plus or minus 10% of the numerical value of the number with which it is being used. Therefore, about 50 means in the range of 45-55.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms and any acronyms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art in the field of the invention. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are described herein. The technical means, creative features, objectives, and effects of the patent application may be easy to understand, the following embodiments will further illustrate the patent application. However, the following embodiments are only the preferred embodiments of the utility patent application, not all of them. Based on the examples in the implementation manners, other examples obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. The experimental methods in the following examples are conventional methods unless otherwise specified. The materials used in the following examples can be obtained from commercial sources unless otherwise specified.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an air compressor for a source of compressed air on motor vehicles, and method for designing a more efficient reciprocating piston compressor.

The present disclosure relates to a two-cylinder piston compressor for generating compressed air. The piston compressor has a crankcase for rotatably mounting a crankshaft on which a number of connecting rods are rotatably mounted so as to run counter to one another. The number of connecting rods corresponds to the number of pistons with associated cylinders.

On account of the associated very high compressed air demand, two-stage piston compressors are usually used here, which are correspondingly of two-cylinder design. With two-cylinder piston compressors of the above type, the required compressed air demand can be generated within short periods of time.

The present disclosure relates to a two-cylinder piston compressor for generating compressed air. The piston compressor includes a crankcase having an interior, and a crankshaft rotatably mounted in the crankcase. Also included are two connecting rods mounted in the crankshaft and configured to run counter to one another. Further included are two cylinders mounted in the crankcase and a piston arranged at an end of each of the connecting rods and configured to run in a respective one of the two cylinders.

The present disclosure encompasses the technical teaching that, in order to assist the pumping effect, each piston operates in a separate cylinder. The separate cylinders are generated by separating means which are arranged in the crankcase and which surround the crankshaft, so that different pressure conditions are generated in the chambers. The air compressor is constructed in accordance with the invention, and operates to supply a storage chamber with compressed air. An outlet hose (not shown) may extend from the air compressor to a pneumatically powered tool (not shown) such a hand-held nail gun, impact wrench, or the like.

As shown in, the air compressorcomprises a motor, a pair of pistonsand, a flywheel, a pulley, a crankshaft. Each pistonoris reciprocable in a corresponding one of the cylinders, andso as to reciprocate along the axis C-C′ and B-B′ (shown in) of the corresponding cylinderandrespectively, to vary a working volume of the cylinderand.

The motorcomprises an output shaft. Attached onto the output shaftis a bearingto support the pully. The pullymay transmit torque from said output shaftto said flywheelso as to rotate said flywheelabout said axis D-D′ (shown in) upon rotation of said output shaft. The crankshaftinterconnects said flywheelwith said pistonorso as to reciprocate said pistonorin said cylinderorupon rotation of said flywheel. The diameter of the pulleyis smaller than that of said flywheel.

In one embodiment, the ratio between the diameter of the pulleyand that of flywheelmay be about 27:104. The gear ratio between the pulleyand the flywheelmay be about 27:104. In one embodiment, the drive beltmay be used to transmit torque from the output shaftto the flywheel.

The motorhas an output shaftwith a longitudinal central axis E-E′ (shown in). A first end portionof the output shaftprojects a distance from the motorat one side of the air compressor. A second end portionof the output shaftprojects oppositely from the motorand is opposite from the first end portion. A cooling fanis mounted on the second end portionof the output shaft. Also mounted on the second end portionis a pulleyfor a drive beltthat transmits torque from the output shaftto the flywheel.

The bearingsandsupport the shaftand the flywheelfor rotation about an axis D-D′ parallel to the axis E-E′ of the output shaft().

The pistonis supported for reciprocating movement along an axis C-C′ perpendicular to the axes D-D′ and E-E′. Similarly, the pistonis supported for reciprocating movement along an axis B-B′ perpendicular to the axes D-D′ and E-E′.

The pistonorin one embodiment is part of a linkage memberorthat is connected to the flywheel. The linkage membermay comprise a connecting rodand bearing A() supports the linkage member. The linkage membermay comprise a connecting rodand bearing A() which supports the linkage memberon a support memberthat projects from the flywheel. The support member, in one embodiment, is screw, for example. The screw may be a flat head screw.

When the flywheelrotates about the axis D-D′, the screwmoves along a circular path extending around the axis D-D′. This causes the linkage memberalso to move around the axis D-D′, and simultaneously to move back and forth along the axis B-B′. The pistonthen reciprocates along the axis B-B′, and thus pumps compressed air to an outlet port, upon rotation of the flywheelunder the influence of the output shaftat the motor.

Similarly, the flywheel's rotation about the axis D-D′ also causes the linkage memberto move around the axis D-D′, and simultaneously to move back and forth along the axis C-C′. The pistonthen reciprocates along the axis C-C′, and thus pumps compressed air to the outlet port, upon rotation of the flywheelunder the influence of the output shaftat the motor. In one embodiment, cylindermay be a low pressure cylinder. Cylindermay be a high pressure cylinder.

Furthermore, the compressed air is released from the outlet portof the cylinderto the cylindervia a conduit, wherein the conduitforms a plurality of bends. As shown in, the conduitmay be used to connect the low pressure cylinderand the high pressure cylinder. The conduitmay comprise a one way valve (not shown), which help air to move from the low pressure to high pressure. The conduitis designed as a plurality of continuously bent pipes, which can extend the flow path of the compressed air, thereby achieving the effect of heat dissipation. Preferably, the conduitis a copper pipe, for example.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the cylinderis connected to an air storage tank (not marked in the figure) via an air outlet. The air storage tank is used to store compressed air. Generally, an aluminum tank or other metal tanks that can bear a certain pressure are selected, and a one-way guide valve is provided between the cylinderand the air storage tanks.

More specific features of the air compressorare shown in. For example, as shown in, the air compressorfurther comprise bearingsandsupporting the flywheelfor rotation about an axis D-D′. The air compressormay further comprise a shaft extending along said axis D-D′ between said flywheeland said bearing. The shaft has a first end portion and a second end portion. The first end portion may be journaled in the bearingfor rotation about the axis D-D′.

The flywheelhas an inner surfacedefining a borein which the second portion of the shaftis received. In one embodiment, the inner surfacemay be parallel to the axis D-D′, for example. In another embodiment, the inner surfacemay be frustoconical shape and is tapered uniformly along its length such that an inner end of the boremay have a diameter that is slightly less than the diameter at an outer end. The shaftmay be equally tapered at its outer surface, and is received within the borein an interference fit with the flywheel.

The outer surface of the shaftis engaged in an interference fit with the first bearingin the same manner. The shafthas a cylindrical outer surface which is likewise engaged in an interference fit with the second bearing.

The shaftis machined such that the outer surface complies with close dimensional tolerances. However, the inner surfaceof the flywheelmay not machined to close dimensional tolerances, but instead has the original configuration attained upon formation of the flywheelas a cast metal part. The tapered or non-tapered of the adjoining surfacesand cylindrical outer surface of the shaftenables the interference fit to be established without the need for precision machining at the inner surface. The manufacturing process is simplified, and a corresponding cost savings are achieved, by forming the torque-transmitting connection between the flywheeland the shaftin this manner.

The linkage memberis an elongated part with a longitudinal central axis C-C′ (). A first end portion of the linkage memberis configured as a circular disk with a diameter generally perpendicular to the axis D-D′. The second end portion of the linkage memberdefines the piston(), as noted above.