Electrical control valve for an air conditioning compressor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10451048-B2
Application number	US-201715459757-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2017
Priority date	Sep 16, 2014
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

A control valve for an air conditioning compressor is disclosed. The control valve comprises a control piston, an electric motor, a sensor, and a control unit. The control piston connects a refrigerant flow between a high-pressure area and a crankcase pressure area of the air conditioning compressor in a first position. The control piston further connects the refrigerant flow between the crankcase pressure area and a low-pressure area of the air conditioning compressor in a second position. The electric motor moves the control piston between the first position and the second position. The sensor determines the position of the control piston. The control unit is connected to the sensor and the electric motor. The control unit controls the electric motor to move the control piston and control the refrigerant flow based on the position of the control piston determined by the sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control valve for an air conditioning compressor, comprising:
a control piston connecting a refrigerant flow between a high-pressure area and a crankcase pressure area in a first position and connecting the refrigerant flow between the crankcase pressure area and a low-pressure area in a second position;
an electric motor having a gearing mechanism translating a rotational movement of the electric motor into a translational movement of the control piston between the first position and the second position;
a sensor determining the position of the control piston, the sensor is a Hall sensor;
a permanent magnet disposed on an end of the control piston opposite the Hall sensor, a distance between the permanent magnet and the Hall sensor changes as the control piston moves between the first position and the second position and the position of the control piston is determined as a change in a magnetic field;
a control unit connected to the sensor and the electric motor, the control unit controlling the electric motor to move the control piston and control the refrigerant flow based on the position of the control piston determined by the sensor; and
a casing guiding movement of the control piston between the first position and the second position, the electric motor has a fixed position in the casing as the control piston moves between the first position and the second position, the control piston extends through the electric motor with the permanent magnet disposed on an opposite side of the electric motor from a portion of the control piston disposed adjacent the high-pressure area and the low-pressure area.

2. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein a first cross-section of a first connection through the control piston between the high-pressure area and the crankcase pressure area and a second cross-section of a second connection through the control piston between the crankcase pressure area and the low-pressure area are continuously variable between the first position and the second position.

3. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the control piston has an actuation rod and a seal body disposed between the actuation rod and the casing.

4. The control valve of claim 3 , wherein the seal body cooperates with a first annular recess in the casing between the high-pressure area and the crankcase pressure area and a second annular recess in the casing between the crankcase pressure area and the low-pressure area.

5. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the electric motor moves the control piston between the first position and the second position by a helical movement.

6. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the electric motor moves the control piston between the first position and the second position by a straight movement.

7. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the gearing mechanism is a worm gearing mechanism or a bevel gearing mechanism.

8. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the Hall sensor surrounds the permanent magnet in at least one of the first position and the second position.

9. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the end of the control piston opposite the Hall sensor is formed from a metal or a metal alloy.

10. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the Hall sensor determines at least one of the first position and the second position without being moved.

11. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the control unit receives a pulse-width modulated input signal to control the refrigerant flow.

12. The control valve of claim 11 , wherein a power provided by the pulse-width modulated input signal is used to both move the control piston by the motor and by the sensor to determine the position of the control piston.

13. An air conditioning compressor, comprising:
a control valve having a control piston connecting a refrigerant flow between a high-pressure area and a crankcase pressure area in a first position and connecting the refrigerant flow between the crankcase pressure area and a low-pressure area in a second position, an electric motor having a gearing mechanism translating a rotational movement of the electric motor into a translational movement of the control piston between the first position and the second position, a sensor determining the position of the control piston, the sensor is a Hall sensor, a permanent magnet disposed on an end of the control piston opposite the Hall sensor, a distance between the permanent magnet and the Hall sensor changes as the control piston moves between the first position and the second position and the position of the control piston is determined as a change in a magnetic field, a control unit connected to the sensor and the electric motor, the control unit controlling the electric motor to move the control piston and control the refrigerant flow based on the position of the control piston determined by the sensor, and a casing guiding movement of the control piston between the first position and the second position, the electric motor has a fixed position in the casing as the control piston moves between the first position and the second position, the control piston extends through the electric motor with the permanent magnet disposed on an opposite side of the electric motor from a portion of the control piston disposed adjacent the high-pressure area and the low-pressure area.

14. The control valve of claim 1 , wherein the electric motor is a servomotor comprising the sensor.

Assignees

• Te Connectivity Germany Gmbh

Inventors

• Domke Daniel

Classifications

• F16K37/0025

  Electrical or magnetic means (F16K37/0075 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F04B53/10

  Valves; Arrangement of valves · CPC title

• F16K37/0033

  using a permanent magnet, e.g. in combination with a reed relays · CPC title

• F16K31/04

  using a motor · CPC title

• F16K31/041

  for rotating valves (F16K31/055 takes precedence) · CPC title