Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.

Scroll Technologies

University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.

Danfoss Scroll Technologies, LLC

General Electric Company

Gregory William Hahn

Thomas R Barito

Zili Sun

Joseph Wilson Latham

Srujan Kusumba

Michael Lee McIntyre

John Robert Williams

Jason J Hugenroth

Carlos Armando Zamudio

James William Bush

Joe T Hill

Robert Carl Witham

Tracy Lanier Milliff

Gene Michael Fields

Srinivas Mallampalli

Mariano Pablo Filippa

Todd W Dewar

Sudarshan K Narasipura

Brent Alden Junge

Michael Goodman Schroeder

Natarajan Venkatakrishnan

David G Beers

David M Fenocchi

Edward A Tomayko

Charles Anthony DeCataldo

Joseph T Hill

Praveena Alangar Subramanya

Adam Kemerer

Thomas R Barlto

Harshal Upadhye

William Cargile

Stephen Avary

Mohammad Taghi Mohebbi

Brad Allen Meeks

Slawomir Pawel Bolek

Marvin Wayne Burchfield

Srinivas Satya Mallampalli

A compressor includes a housing defining a sump for collecting lubricant, a pump for circulating the lubricant within the housing, the pump comprising a lubricant intake tube defining a pump inlet positioned within the sump, and a noise dissipation media positioned within the sump on a surface of the lubricant and above the pump inlet, wherein a media void is defined around the lubricant intake tube.

Noise reduction media for a reciprocating compressor

A linear compressor or sealed system may include a casing, a piston, an driving coil, an inner back iron assembly, and a planar spring assembly. The casing may include a cylinder assembly defining a chamber along an axial direction. The piston may be slidably received within the chamber of the cylinder assembly. The inner back iron assembly may be positioned in the driving coil. The planar spring assembly may be mounted to the inner back iron assembly. The planar spring assembly may include a first planar spring, a second planar spring axially spaced apart from the first planar spring, and a polymer shim layer disposed between at least a portion of the first planar spring and the second planar spring.

Linear compressor and planar spring assembly

A reciprocating compressor includes a piston slidably mounted within a compression chamber and defining a suction port. A valve selectively permits a flow of gas through the suction port and includes a sealing portion positioned over the suction port, an attachment portion mechanically coupled to a compression face of the piston, a support portion that extends away from the attachment portion along the radial direction such that the attachment portion is positioned between the sealing portion and the support portion, wherein the support portion defines a flattened end opposite the sealing portion along the radial direction such that the valve has a non-circular shape, and a connecting portion that mechanically couples the support portion to the sealing portion and permits the sealing portion to move between an open position and a closed position.

Valve assembly for a reciprocating compressor

A reciprocating compressor includes a piston slidably mounted within a compression chamber and defining a suction port for receiving a flow of gas. A flex mount is mechanically coupled to the piston and has an inner surface that defines a suction cavity. A suction muffler is positioned at least partially within the suction cavity and includes an inlet tube extending along the axial direction within the suction cavity and defining an inlet passageway configured to receive the flow of gas and a plurality of chamber plates that extend along the radial direction from an outer surface of the inlet tube, the plurality of chamber plates and the flex mount defining a plurality of resonance chambers to reduce compressor noise.

Suction muffler for a reciprocating compressor

A method for operating a variable capacity drive circuit of a compressor includes operating first and second four-quadrant switches in a first state in which the first four-quadrant switch is closed and the second four-quadrant switch is open such that a voltage seen by the motor is equal to an AC line voltage. The method also includes operating the first and second four-quadrant switches in a second state where the first four-quadrant switch is open and the second four-quadrant switch is closed such that the voltage seen by the motor is to zero. Further, the method includes providing a positive firing angle and a negative firing angle for defining when the first and second four-quadrant switches are operated in each of the first and second states. Moreover, the method also includes transitioning between the first and second states using the firing angles at a switching frequency determined by the AC line voltage frequency.

Variable capacity drive circuit for a linear compressor in a refrigeration appliance

A linear compressor includes a housing defining a sump for collecting a lubricant and a pump for circulating a flow of lubricant within the housing. A heat dissipation or heat exchange assembly includes a plate mounted on a lower portion of the housing to define one or more fluid passageways between the plate and the housing. Hot oil is collected from the working components of the linear compressor and is passed through the one or more fluid passageways to discharge heat through the housing before the oil is returned to the sump.

Heat dissipation assembly for a linear compressor

A linear compressor and methods of operation, for example, to control extension of the linear compressor, are provided herein. A method may include supplying a time varying voltage to a motor of the linear compressor, determining an uneven fatigue condition at the linear compressor, and applying a limiting force at the motor in a negative axial direction in response to the determining step.

Linear compressor and methods of extension control

A method for operating a linear compressor includes establishing a set of predictors, and establishing a model for an estimated head clearance of the linear compressor with the set of predictors. Coefficients of the model for the estimated head clearance of the linear compressor may also be established. The model for the estimated head clearance of the linear compressor may be used to calculate an estimated head clearance during operation of the linear compressor.

Method for operating a linear compressor

Systems and compression assemblies thereof are provided. In one example aspect, a system includes a cooling fluid circuit and a piston slidably received within a chamber of a casing. The casing defines an inlet passage and an outlet passage. The inlet passage receives a cooling fluid, e.g. oil or a refrigerant, from the cooling fluid circuit. The cooling fluid flows into the inlet passage and downstream into an inlet groove defined by the piston along its outer surface. The cooling fluid flows downstream to a cooling channel defined by a piston head of the piston and thereafter into an outlet groove defined by piston along its outer surface. The cooling fluid then flows into outlet passage of casing and is returned to cooling fluid circuit. The passage of cooling fluid through the passages, grooves, and channels removes heat from the casing and the piston.

Cooled piston and cylinder for compressors and engines

A linear compressor includes a piston with a piston head and a cylindrical side wall. An inner surface of the cylindrical side wall defines a ball seat. A coupling extends between a mover and a piston. The coupling includes a flex mount that extends between a first end portion and a second end portion. The flex mount is connected to the mover away from the first end portion of the flex mount. A ball nose is positioned at the first end portion of the flex mount. The ball nose contacts the piston at the ball seat of the piston. A spring urges the ball nose against the ball seat of the piston.

Linear compressor with a coupling

A method for detecting head crashing in a linear compressor includes sampling a rolling average of a peak applied voltage and a desired peak current each time that a current controller adjusts the desired peak current. The method also includes calculating a linear regression for a predicted peak applied voltage as a function of the desired peak current, calculating the predicted peak voltage for the motor of the linear compressor with the linear regression and a current value for the desired peak current from the current controller, and establishing that a piston of the linear compressor is soft crashing when the predicted peak voltage is different than the current value for the rolling average of the peak applied voltage by more than a threshold value.

Method for detecting head crashing in a linear compressor

A method for operating a linear compressor includes substituting a first observed velocity, a bounded integral of the first observed velocity, an estimated clearance, an estimated discharge pressure, and an estimated suction pressure into the mechanical dynamic model for the motor, calculating an observed acceleration for the piston with the mechanical dynamic model for the motor, calculating a second observed velocity for the piston by integrating the observed acceleration for the piston, calculating an observed position of the piston by integrating the second observed velocity for the piston, and updating an estimated clearance, an estimated discharge pressure, and an estimated suction pressure based upon an error between the first and second observed velocities and an error between the bounded integral of the first observed velocity and the observed position.

A linear compressor and methods of operation, for example, to detect polarity for the linear compressor are provided herein. The method may include supplying an initial time varying voltage to the motor of the linear compressor at an assumed polarity; estimating a first acceleration of the motor of the linear compressor when the motor is at a bottom dead center position; estimating a second acceleration of the motor of the linear compressor when the motor is at a top dead center position; comparing the first acceleration to the second acceleration; and determining whether the assumed polarity is correct based on the comparison.

Linear compressor and methods of polarity detection

A method for operating a linear compressor includes providing a dynamic model for a motor of the linear compressor, estimating values for each unknown constant of a plurality of unknown constants of the dynamic model for the motor and repeatedly updating the estimate for each unknown constant of the plurality of unknown constants of the dynamic model for the motor in order to reduce an error between a measured value for the electrical dynamic model and an estimated valve for the electrical dynamic model.

A discharge valve assembly includes an outer shell. An inner sleeve is positioned within the outer shell. A side wall of the inner sleeve is spaced from a side wall of the outer shell along a radial direction. A distal end of the side wall of the inner sleeve is spaced from an end wall of the outer shell by a gap along an axial direction. The inner sleeve divides an interior volume of the outer shell into a first muffler cavity and a second muffler cavity. A related compressor is also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Louisville, KY, United States of America

Gregory William Hahn