Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft

Erich Gaschler

Cornelia Schwarz

Peter Hofbauer

A drive aggregate for a heat pump includes a cylinder block defining cavities for forming at least one cylinder of an internal combustion engine and at least one cylinder of a compressor driven by the engine; a common crankshaft passing through the cylinder block for serving both the engine and the compressor; and a plurality of bearings mounted in the cylinder block and supporting the crankshaft. The cavities all have the same height dimension. There is further provided a valve plate sealingly secured in each cavity which forms a compressor cylinder. The valve plate which defines an end of the compressor cylinder formed by the respective cavity, is recessed with respect to the height of the cavity in which it is situated.

Drive aggregate for a heat pump

A drive aggregate for a heat pump includes a common cylinder block which combines a heat pump compressor and an internal combustion engine driving the compressor. Bearings mounted in the cylinder block support a common crankshaft which serves both the engine and the compressor and which is formed of a first crankshaft part and a second crankshaft part. The two crankshaft parts (engine-side and compressor-side crankshaft parts) have adjoining end portions which are mutually non-rotatably interconnected. The bearings comprise a first and a second end bearing. The second end bearing supports both adjoining end portions, whereas the first end bearing supports the other end of the first crankshaft part. Between the first and the second end bearings there is situated at least one intermediate bearing which is split for permitting lateral installation thereof on the first crankshaft part. The first crankshaft part has, adjacent the first end bearing, a terminal crank arm, one portion of which is detachable from the first crankshaft part. Likewise, the intermediate bearing is detachably secured to the cylinder block. Thus, after detaching the crank arm portion and the intermediate bearing, the first crankshaft part is removable, by longitudinal displacement, from the second end bearing and thereafter from the cylinder block.

An eccentric-rotor machine includes a housing having a longitudinal axis and defining a plurality of work chambers; radial housing walls bounding the work chambers; a multi-lobe rotor arranged in the housing for orbital motion therein to sequentially and cyclically vary the volume of each chamber in the execution of inward strokes and outward strokes. The rotor has opposite radial rotor walls each defining a clearance with an adjacent respective radial housing wall; and a sealing ring of circular course arranged in the clearance for sealing the work chambers. The sealing ring is concentric to the housing axis and has a diameter so dimensioned that in each chamber a length portion of the sealing ring is situated externally of the outline of the rotor when the volume of the respective chamber is at a maximum. Thus, in each chamber, a length portion of the sealing ring is out of contact with the respective radial rotor wall only during a terminal phase of the outward strokes (such as intake strokes) and a beginning phase of the inward strokes (such as compression strokes) of the rotor.

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Wolfsburg, Germany

Erich Gaschler