Slide member, refrigerant compressor incorporating slide member, refrigerator and air conditioner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10704541-B2
Application number	US-201314379838-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2013
Priority date	Feb 20, 2012
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

A slide member of the present invention is used in a slide unit which is included in a refrigerant compressor for compressing a refrigerant and provided inside a sealed container which reserves lubricating oil therein. The slide member is provided with an oxide coating film on a surface of a base material. The oxide coating film is configured such that (1) when the base material comprises an iron based material, the oxide coating film has a three-layer structure including a first layer comprising Fe 2 O 3 , a second layer comprising Fe 3 O 4 , and a third layer comprising FeO in this order from an outermost surface, (2) the oxide coating film has a dense structure having minute concave/convex portions with a height difference which falls within a range of 0.01 μm to 0.1 μm, or (3) when the base material comprises the iron based material, the oxide coating film has a three-layer structure in which the three layers comprise the iron oxides and are different in hardness.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A slide member which is used in a slide unit which is included in a refrigerant compressor for compressing a refrigerant and provided inside a sealed container which reserves lubricating oil having a viscosity in a range of VG3 to VG100 therein, the slide member comprising:
a sliding surface comprising an oxide coating film formed directly on a surface of a base material of the slide member, the base material comprising an iron based material, the oxide coating film being entirely formed on the surface of the base material by oxidizing the base material, and the oxide coating film being provided on the entirety of the sliding surface, wherein
the oxide coating film comprises a three-layer structure including a first layer comprising Fe 2 O 3 , a second layer comprising Fe 3 O 4 , and a third layer comprising FeO in this order from an outermost surface of the slide member, and
the oxide coating film has a dense structure and minute concave/convex portions with a height difference in a range of0.01 μm to 0.1 μm, the concave/convex portions being on an outermost surface of the slide member.

2. The slide member according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first layer has a thickness T1, the second layer has a thickness T2, and the third layer has a thickness T3 such that a ratio of T1:T2:T3 is at or within the ranges 5 to 20:10 to 50:30 to 85.

3. The slide member according to claim 1 ,
wherein the third layer comprises FeO having an amorphous structure.

4. The slide member according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxide coating film including the first layer, the second layer and the third layer has a thickness in a range of 1 μm to 3 μm.

5. The slide member according to claim 1 ,
wherein at least the first layer has a structure in which iron oxide particles are gathered together in a layer form; and
wherein the iron oxide particles have a particle diameter in a range of 0.1 μm to 4.0 μm.

6. A refrigerant compressor comprising:
a sealed container which reserves lubricating oil having a viscosity in the range of VG3 to VG100 therein;
an electric component accommodated in the sealed container; and
a compression component which is accommodated in the sealed container and activated by the electric component to compress a refrigerant;
wherein the compression component includes a slide unit including the slide member according to claim 1 .

7. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 6 ,
wherein the compression component includes:
a crankshaft including a main shaft section and an eccentric shaft;
a bearing section which supports the main shaft section such that the main shaft section is rotatable;
a thrust section formed in the bearing section;
a cylinder block having a bore defining a compression chamber;
a piston which is reciprocatable inside the compression chamber;
a piston pin which is placed in parallel with the eccentric shaft and fastened to the piston; and
a connecting rod for connecting the eccentric shaft to the piston;
wherein the slide member is at least one of the crankshaft, the thrust section, the bore of the cylinder block, the piston, the piston pin, and the connecting rod.

8. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 6 ,
wherein the electric component is inverter-driven at any one of operating frequencies including at least an operating frequency which is equal to or lower than a power supply frequency.

9. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 6 ,
wherein at least a natural refrigerant or a HFC based refrigerant is used as the refrigerant compressed by the compression component.

10. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 9 ,
wherein the natural refrigerant is at least one of R600a, R290, and R744, or a mixture of R600a, R290, and R744.

11. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 10 ,
wherein at least one selected from a group consisting of mineral oil, ester oil, alkyl benzene oil, polyvinyl ether, and polyalkylene glycol is used as the lubricating oil.

12. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 9 ,
wherein the HFC based refrigerant is at least one of R134a, R152, R407C, R404A, R410, and R32, or a mixture of R134a, R152, R407C, R404A, R410, and R32.

13. The refrigerant compressor according to claim 12 ,
wherein at least one selected from a group consisting of ester oil, alkyl benzene oil, polyvinyl ether, and polyalkylene glycol is used as the lubricating oil.

14. A refrigerator comprising the refrigerant compressor according to claim 6 .

15. An air conditioner comprising the refrigerant compressor according to claim 6 .

16. The slide member according to claim 1 , wherein the first layer provides the outermost surface of the slide member that is configured to be exposed to sliding wear.

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp
• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ishida Yoshinori
• Kawabata Hirotaka
• Fukuhara Hiroyuki
• Kume Yuichiro
• Futagami Yoshiyuki

Classifications

• F04B39/023 Primary

  Hermetic compressors · CPC title

• C10N2040/30

  Refrigerators lubricants {or compressors lubricants} · CPC title

• F16C2360/42

  Pumps with cylinders or pistons · CPC title

• C10N2030/06

  Oiliness; Film-strength; Anti-wear; Resistance to extreme pressure · CPC title

• F05C2253/12

  Coating · CPC title