Vane tracking in rotary devices

Abstract

Abstract A two-lobe sliding-vane rotary moving-fluid device (FIG. 1) comprises a cylindrical rotor 11 having vanes 12 slidable in substantially radial directions therein, the tip of each vane maintaining substantial contact with the inner cylindrical surface 13 of a cam 14 surrounding the rotor as it traverses sealing spaces 15, 16, 17, 18, and port spaces 20, 21, 22, 23 in the cam alternately during rotation. The port spaces are formed largely of flexible laminations 30, 31, 32, 33; so the cam is deformable by adjusting forces against its rigid portions 25, 26, 27, 28 to change its shape and thus to vary the fluid displacement by adjusting the relative positions of the rotor and the sealing spaces. Throughout the range of displacement positions, any appreciable radial sliding of a vane is only inward as it traverses and maintains substantial contact with the inner surface of each sealing space. Such surface is substantially circular in cross section (FIG. 2), and relative movement of the center of rotation 60 of the rotor is substantially along a portion of the radius 73 from the center of curvature 62 of the inner surface to the trailing edge 68 of the sealing space 15, where the center of rotation can be closer to the sealing space than the center of curvature. The relative movement is substantially along an extension of the radius 74 to the leading edge 71 of the sealing space 16, where the center of rotation 60 can be farther than the center of curvature 63 of the inner surface of the sealing space. A fixed-displacement device is similar, except that the cam is not deformable.

Inventors

• 👤 David L Thomas

Bibliographic Details