Cimdesign in Hamburg has invented and designed a novel heat pump compressor for various applications.

• Low noise at high compression performance.
• Significantly fewer parts. No reciprocating parts from pistons and connecting rods.
• As a result, extremely lower forces on the crankshaft and housing at higher pressures.
• Therefore low in vibration and low in noise.
• Crankshaft now only possible from plates and pins.
• Rolling bearings between the connecting rod eye on the crankshaft possible.

Kinematics of conventional piston compressors

Piston compressors still work today as a slider-crank mechanism based on the steam engine principle:

Crankshaft 1 is now held fixed — it thus becomes the frame — and the cylinder 4 rotates together with piston 3 around the common frame pivot point Bo:

In this rotating crank loop, piston 3 still moves relative to cylinder 4 as before, but no longer through space — instead along a shared circular path. Conclusion: the back-and-forth motion of piston and connecting rod is eliminated.

• The crankshaft is stationary.
• Here the entire star-shaped cylinder arrangement rotates.
• The master connecting rod (light green) accommodates the 5 connecting rods (orange) on rotating bearings.
• Here: the eccentricity of the stationary crankshaft relative to the rotating cylinder is 8mm.

The new heat pump compressor can generate much higher pressures with low noise compared to scroll compressors.

• Circulation and compression medium: propane or even ambient air.
• Exhaust valves in the cylinder heads.
• Exhaust valves seal in the valve seat by centrifugal force.
• Exhaust valves are positively opened by a cam track in the stationary housing.
• No valve springs required.

• Positive opening via negative cam (21).
• Exhaust valve 27 opens and closes during cylinder rotation within the angular range (20).
• Sealing in cylinder seat (28) by natural centrifugal force.

• Positive opening when rotating in a groove as the cam lobe in the housing is reached.
• Valve closes after the cam lobe by centrifugal force.
• Here: 2 compressors arranged axially in series one behind the other.

Summary:

• The novel heat pump compressor compresses using pistons, cylinders and connecting rods.
• But without the high acceleration and deceleration forces of cylinder and connecting rod as found in conventional piston compressors.
• Much higher pressures can be generated with low vibration and low noise compared to scroll compressors.
• This makes less toxic circulation media possible, such as propane or even ambient air.
• The cylindrical discs of the novel heat pump compressor can also be connected in series axially in a multiple arrangement, in order to generate very high pressures with low noise and high efficiency.