Rotating fluid machine

Abstract

A trap chamber having an air intake port opening inside a rotor in the radial direction and an exhaust port opening outside in the radial direction is formed within each vane slidably fitted to a vane groove of the rotor. When the vane has shifted inward in the radial direction, only the air intake port communicates with a reservoir to suck a liquid phase working medium into the trap chamber, and when the vane has shifted outward in the radial direction, only the exhaust port communicates with the vane chamber in the exhaust stroke to discharge the liquid phase working medium in the trap chamber. Since the air intake port and the exhaust port do not communicate with the liquid reservoir and the vane chamber at the same time, a gaseous phase working medium in the liquid reservoir is obstructed from flowing out to the vane chamber via the trap chamber, so that the gaseous phase working medium having still usable pressure energy is prevented from being wastefully discarded.

1 . A rotating fluid machine provided with a rotor chamber formed in a casing, a rotor accommodated rotatably in the rotor chamber, a plurality of vanes slidably supported by a plurality of vane grooves radially formed in the rotor, a static pressure bearing for supporting the vanes in a floating state with a liquid phase working medium fed to the sliding faces of the vane grooves and the vanes, and a reservoir formed inside the rotor in the radial direction to reserve the liquid phase working medium functioning as the static pressure bearing, 
 the rotating fluid machine converting the pressure energy of a gaseous phase working medium fed to a vane chamber partitioned by the rotor, the casing and the vanes in the air intake stroke and the exhaust stroke, into the rotational energy of the rotor and vice versa,    wherein a trap chamber having an air intake port opening inside the rotor in the radial direction and an exhaust port opening outside in the radial direction is formed within the vanes and, when the vane has shifted inward in the radial direction, only the air intake port communicates with the reservoir to suck the liquid phase working medium into the trap chamber, and when the vane has shifted outward in the radial direction, only the exhaust port communicates with the vane chamber in the intake stroke or the exhaust stroke whichever is lower in pressure to discharge the liquid phase working medium in the trap chamber.    
     
     
         2 . The rotating fluid machine according to  claim 1 , further comprising first energy converting means in which pistons are slidably fitted into cylinders provided in the rotor and second energy converting means in which the vanes are slidably fitted into the vane grooves of the rotor, 
 wherein, when it functions as an expander, the first and second energy converting means integratingly supply the mechanical energy generated by each, and when it functions as a compressor, the first and second energy converting means integratingly supply the pressure energy generated by each, and    wherein a gaseous phase working medium having leaked out of the energy converting means of the higher pressure out of the first and second energy converting means to the reservoir is supplied to the energy converting means of the lower pressure via a one-way valve.    
     
     
         3 . The rotating fluid machine according to  claim 2  wherein the first and second energy converting means consecutively operate in succession on a common gaseous phase working medium.