Development Of A Miniature Air Compressor Producing Both Pressure And Vacuum

Pneumatic driving technology is widely used in small robots and other automatic devices. There are two kinds of different work mediums used in pneumatic driving devices. They are positive pressure air and negative pressure air. Positive pressure air is usually provided by air compressor, and negative pressure air is usually provided by vacuum air pump. So it is necessary to provide both the air compressor and vacuum air pump on the occasion of both positive pressure air and negative pressure air needed by some pneumatic driving devices. That makes it difficult to make the pneumatic driving devices in small size. Miniature Air Compressor Producing both Pressure and Vacuum developed in this project is a new type of pneumatic energy source. Because of the same working principle of the piston air compressor and piston vacuum air pump, the functions of air compressor and vacuum air pump are integrated in the Miniature Air Compressor Producing both Pressure and Vacuum which can produce both positive pressure air and negative pressure air. It is simpler and lighter than the traditional air compressor. So it is beneficial to build a power saving pneumatic driving system that is simpler and lighter. By using this kind of miniature air compressor, energy source built-in type driving systems can be easily structured and tubeless pneumatic driving equipments can also be made. Miniature Air Compressor Producing both Pressure and Vacuum is developed on the basis of the current piston air compressor. The new type of pneumatic energy source mainly consists of an improved piston air compressor, a negative pressure air tank, two solenoid operated valves and a special designed microprocessor controller. It is advanced, practical and adapted to mass production. Experiments prove that the work performances of the developed compressor have reached the plan targets. It is adapted to be used in small type of pneumatic driving systems. Practical application proves that the conversion between air compressor and vacuum air pump is possible, the design of system structure is appropriate and reliable, and the pressure control is accurate.