The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 19, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 05, 2002
Hiroyuki Makino, Wako, JP;
Makoto Uda, Wako, JP;
Kouhei Ohsono, Wako, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An expander that converts the thermal energy and the pressure energy of a working medium into mechanical energy includes, within a casing (), an operating part such as a group of axial piston cylinders operated by the working medium introduced into an operating chamber, and a hermetically sealed lubrication chamber () in which oil for lubricating at least the operating part resides. Breather chambers () are provided in an upper part of the lubrication chamber (), and a working medium discharge chamber () into which the working medium is discharged from the operating chamber is made to communicate with the breather chambers () via breather passages (Bto B). A mixture of oil and the working medium that has leaked from the operating chamber into the lubrication chamber () is separated in the breather chambers (), the oil is returned to the lubrication chamber (), and the working medium is returned to the working medium discharge chamber () via the breather passages (Bto B). This enables the influence of mixing of the oil and the working medium within the casing of the expander to be minimized.