| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
(1) A reciprocating air microcompressor with a piston diameter of 1 mm is proposed. This microcompressor is simple to fabricate and has lots of space to install inlet and outlet ports. The inlet port of the microcompressor does not have a moving valve, while the outlet port is equipped with a miniature reed valve.
(2) A prototype model of the compressor was designed, fabricated, and tested. A maximum discharge pressure of 80 kPa (gage) was obtained in an oil-free condition. When oil was supplied to the cylinder, however, a discharge pressure of 250 kPa (gage) was obtained.
(3) The movement of the reed valve was experimentally studied using a laser displacement meter. The motion of the reed was observed to be generally good in response to the piston motion. However, a small clearance was also observed between the reed and the valve seat, even for the period when the valve should have been tightly closed. A numerical analysis showed that the presence of the clearance lowered the compressor performance considerably under the oil-free condition.
(4) By observing the behavior of oil in the compressor, the supplied oil was found to stay in the clearance between the reed and the valve seat for a long time.It prevented air leaking, even when the oil amount was as small as one drop per hour. The reason the oil remained for such a long time was considered to be a size effect of the the small construction.
(5) In our tests, a reed made of polyethylene film produced the best compressor performance. However, it was not sufficiently durable under high-pressure operating conditions. How to improve the valve durability will require further study.
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