Refrigeration cycle apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10088210-B2
Application number	US-201415509971-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

The refrigeration cycle apparatus includes: liquid-side connection piping that extends from liquid-side refrigerant piping; gas-side connection piping that extends from gas-side refrigerant piping; a refrigerant storage tank that stores refrigerant, an intake side thereof being connected to the liquid-side connection piping, and a discharge side thereof being connected to the gas-side connection piping; an inlet-side electromagnetic valve that is disposed on the liquid-side connection piping, and that is opened when there is no passage of electric current; an inlet-side check valve that is disposed on the liquid-side connection piping, and that allows the refrigerant to flow only toward the refrigerant storage tank; and a valve apparatus that is disposed on the gas-side connection piping, that is opened during passage of electric current to the inlet-side electromagnetic valve, and that is delayed before being shut off after passage of electric current to the inlet-side electromagnetic valve is stopped.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A refrigeration cycle apparatus comprising:
a heating unit that comprises:
a compressor that compresses and discharges refrigerant; and
a condenser that condenses refrigerant that has been discharged from said compressor;

a refrigerating unit that includes:
a decompressing apparatus that decompresses refrigerant that flows out from said condenser; and
an evaporator that evaporates refrigerant that flows out from said decompressing apparatus;

liquid-side crossover piping and gas-side crossover piping that connect said heating unit and said refrigerating unit;
liquid-side refrigerant piping that connects said condenser and said liquid-side crossover piping; and
gas-side refrigerant piping that connects said compressor and said gas-side crossover piping,
said refrigerant being sealed inside a main refrigerant circuit that passes from said compressor through said condenser, said liquid-side refrigerant piping, said liquid-side crossover piping, said decompressing apparatus, said evaporator, said gas-side crossover piping, and said gas-side refrigerant piping, and returns to said compressor,
wherein said refrigeration cycle apparatus further comprises:
liquid-side connection piping that extends from said liquid-side refrigerant piping or said liquid-side crossover piping;
gas-side connection piping that extends from said gas-side refrigerant piping or said gas-side crossover piping;
a refrigerant storage tank that stores said refrigerant, an intake side thereof being connected to said liquid-side connection piping, and a discharge side thereof being connected to said gas-side connection piping;
an inlet-side electromagnetic valve that is disposed on said liquid-side connection piping, and that is opened when there is no passage of electric current;
an inlet-side check valve that is disposed on said liquid-side connection piping, and that allows said refrigerant to flow only toward said refrigerant storage tank; and
a valve apparatus that is disposed on said gas-side connection piping, that is opened during passage of electric current to said inlet-side electromagnetic valve, and that is delayed before being shut off after passage of electric current to said inlet-side electromagnetic valve is stopped.

2. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said valve apparatus is an on-off valve that opens and closes mechanically.

3. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said on-off valve is opened and closed using a refrigerant saturation pressure that corresponds to a discharging portion temperature of said compressor as a driving force.

4. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said valve apparatus is a condensing electromagnetic valve that is opened and stores electric power during passage of electric current, and that maintains an open state using said stored electric power after said passage of electric current is stopped.

5. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said gas-side connection piping is connected to said refrigerant storage tank so as to have an opening in an upper portion inside said refrigerant storage tank.

6. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising refrigerant return piping that links:
a lower portion inside said refrigerant storage tank; and
said gas-side connection piping nearer to said refrigerant storage tank than said valve apparatus,
flow channel resistance of an opening portion of said refrigerant return piping inside said refrigerant storage tank being greater than flow channel resistance of an opening portion of said gas-side connection piping inside said refrigerant storage tank.

7. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:
refrigerant return piping that links a lower portion inside said refrigerant storage tank and said gas-side refrigerant piping or said gas-side crossover piping; and
an outlet-side electromagnetic valve that opens on passage of electric current, said outlet-side electromagnetic valve being disposed on said refrigerant return piping.

8. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said refrigerant storage tank is disposed vertically lower than said liquid-side crossover piping.

9. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein an R410A refrigerant is sealed inside said main refrigerant circuit, a piping diameter of said liquid-side crossover piping is 12.7 mm, and a piping length of said liquid-side crossover piping is less than or equal to 227 m.

10. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein capacity of said refrigerant storage tank is greater than or equal to a liquid volume of said refrigerant that is sealed inside said main refrigerant circuit.

11. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an expansion tank that is connected to said gas-side refrigerant piping or said gas-side crossover piping.

12. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a pressure adjusting mechanism portion that adjusts a pressure inside a high-pressure-side refrigerant circuit of said main refrigerant circuit from a discharge side of said compressor to said refrigerating unit to less than or equal to critical pressure.

13. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said pressure adjusting mechanism portion is a second refrigeration cycle apparatus that cools refrigerant that flows through said liquid-side refrigerant piping.

14. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said pressure adjusting mechanism portion is an internal heat exchanging portion that exchanges heat between refrigerant that flows through said liquid-side refrigerant piping and refrigerant that flows through said gas-side refrigerant piping.

15. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 12 , further comprising:
bypass piping that branches off from said liquid-side refrigerant piping and is connected to said gas-side refrigerant piping; and
a bypass decompressing apparatus that is disposed on said bypass piping,
said pressure adjusting mechanism portion being a bypass heat exchanging portion that exchanges heat between refrigerant that flows through said liquid-side refrigerant piping and refrigerant that has been decompressed by said bypass decompressing apparatus and that flows through said bypass piping.

16. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a liquid receiver that collects refrigerant that is conveyed to said decompressing apparatus.

17. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said refrigerant that is sealed inside said main refrigerant circuit is at least one refrigerant from a refrigerant group that includes carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), R-600a, R-290, R-1234yf, R-1234ze, R-1123, and ammonia (NH 3 ).

18. The refrigeration cycle apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said refrigerant that is sealed inside said main refrigerant circuit is a flammable or toxic refrigerant.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Ishikawa Tomotaka

Classifications

• F25B2700/21152

  at the discharge side of the compressor · CPC title

• F25B2600/2523

  Receiver valves · CPC title

• F25B2600/23

  Time delays · CPC title

• F25B2500/27

  characterised by the stop of the refrigeration cycle · CPC title

• F25B2500/01

  Geometry problems, e.g. for reducing size · CPC title